So thankful to read posts regarding recent and current Antarctica travel. I’m scheduled on the upcoming 2/8 departure so i’m taking it all in. From beautiful pictures & onboard experiences from Sealord, to the recent Covid related ordeals that some of you experienced. I just hope the current 1/19 trip continues with good health and pray I stay healthy through all the upcoming covid testing checkpoints for 2/8 departure…
So far, this has been a “stealth” cruise. ‘Ask me no questions, I will tell you no lies’. We are proceeding to our eighth excursion site which is a planned Zodiac expedition. For those thinking about dates to choose, our weather has been spectacular with lots of sunshine and temperatures mostly above freezing. When you are in a Zodiac cruising in 33 degree water it is still very cold. Dale has confirmed that people have fallen overboard from the Zodiacs. She said the one on her trip barely got wet except for the fact that he peed his pants when he fell in, while standing without permission. The Zodiac hit some ice and stopped rather suddenly, and over he went. (I don’t know why that picture is upside down. It’s right side up on my iPad.)
Your weather looks wonderful. January would have been my pick if I went there, almost their height of summer in the Southern Hemisphere.. Shame about my fear of Drake, but it looks as if you will have a smooth trip back too! Enjoy more and send more pics!
I think I accidentally deleted this (previous) post. We are nearing the end of our ‘stealth’ cruise. “Ask me no questions … I will tell you no lies”. This afternoon we will do our eighth excursion. It is a ‘planned’ Zodiac expedition. Our weather has been perfect with mostly calm seas, calm winds, and temperatures mostly above freezing, and lots of sunshine. It is still very cold when you are in a rubber dingy in 33 degree water. ‘British’ … put it on your list. I’m not aware of anyone getting seasick. Some, including our traveling companions, are wearing the patch, but our Drake crossing was not anything like what I saw in the webcams during the past cruises. We have only had one planned landing canceled due to rough water. We did a Zodiac expedition that was a ‘near’ Moby Dick’ experience, hovering very close to a humpback whale. I think we have decided that the ‘scenic’ experience of Antarctica is unsurpassed even by Africa, but the ‘animal’ experience is in Africa remains unsurpassed.
The ‘stealth’ cruise just got back from our eighth excursion. We have one more day and two more expeditions before we had back across Drake’s Passage. We have had another spectacular day of sunshine and very little wind. Presently sitting in Enterprise Bay getting ready for a Tauck cocktail party. We are beyond “the end of the World”, and pretty much on our own. (that was yesterday … it didn’t send.)
Today we are in Niko Harbor. We skipped the first excursion as it involved an immediate climb up a hill to avoid any possible tsunami activity. My new knees don’t do hills well. We are having an antigen test this afternoon … our last day in Antarctica. We don’t have wifi in our stateroom so if my posts suddenly stop you may know why. You might also figure out why I call this the ‘stealth’ cruise. (;-) We have another day of brilliant sunshine, calm seas, and no wind. January!!!
This is near the top of our list of favorite trips ever. The beauty of the white continent cannot be matched anywhere. I think the trip would be a great one even if you never left your stateroom balcony … which I understand has happened to some. We have our last excursion this afternoon after our antigen test aboard the ‘stealth’ cruise. We left the ‘end of the world’ and sailed off of the edge. We have just been out here doing our thing and no one has bothered us. Tonight we will head back across the ‘passage’, and back to reality. We don’t get wifi in our stateroom, so if you don’t hear from us again you will no where we are …
The rusty sunken ship was a whale oil factory ship that caught on fire and sank … on the same date many years ago that I took the picture … it is the Governoren … a Norwegian ship.
Sealord, if you liked this trip, you'd probably like the Tauck Patagonia trip, as well. Plenty of glaciers to see in addition to land-based animals and amazing scenery.
So, dare I ask THAT question…..Has anyone tested positive, tour group or crew? Anyone quarantined in their rooms?
Yes, Patagonia is wonderful, it’s worth a second trip, we would have had it scheduled again by now if restrictions were not still in place for the two countries.
There have been people in the pool. It is quite warm … getting out is a religious experience. I don’t expect any announcements about the testing until after the last excursion. All activities are proceeding as normal below the ‘end of the world’. We are in the last group to depart today … in about an hour. I will let you know about the ‘stealth’ ship test results as soon as we are advised. We were told that we would have been told by now if ‘we’ were positive.
Time to get the ‘moon suit’ on. We our going for our last little RIB ride in freezing water in about 45 minutes. It takes a little time to get ‘suited up’.
Glad to hear no Covid positives yet. Hope exit testing goes well. I can attest that being able to sit on the balcony during quarantine made it tolerable. We did first two days of outings. But I would love to return to that wonderful “other worldly” place to do it right. I call my trip Antarctica Lite. For those interested in Patagonia I would urge you to go when travel opens. It’s a great trip also.
“Antarctica has this mythic weight. It resides in the collective unconscious of so many people, and it makes this huge impact, just like outer space. It’s like going to the moon.”. Jon Krakauer.
Ten crewmembers and ten passengers tested positive for covid in the first round. None of the crewmembers were ‘service’ people. We get tested again tomorrow. No one is particularly alarmed and the Captain seems quite at ease about it. The ‘gala’ tonight will come off as planned. They are quite ‘stealthy’ about who tested positive including one of our TD’s who tested positive. The name of the game is ‘figure out who is missing’. The ‘positive’ people will be transferred to one of the quarantee ships in Ushuaia for an additional five days or so. Activities on the ship are totally normal except for a few folks who are in their rooms enjoying TV and the view from the balconies. Interesting also is that the ‘companions’ of the positive people all tested negative.
We have left the good weather behind and we are rocking and rolling across the Drake Passage in the rain. It is a fantastic adventure. We did nine of the ten excursions, skipping the one that involved climbing a hill in deep snow.
Sealord - Was that 10 Tauck passengers that tested positive or ten out of 'all' the passengers? I think you said there were 66 Tauck people on the boat and about 185 total people.
Your pictures in the sunlight have been great. The snow and ice are much more impressive photogenically in the bright sunlight.
This is a laboratory experiment in the (lack of) reliability of Covid testing.
Here we have a group of people all vaccinated and all tested prior to being isolated from the world for 10 days. Yet the virus snuck through. Testing is truly a fiasco..
Sealord
9:29AM edited 9:41AM
I don’t think anyone is “sick”. There may have been a ‘method to their madness’ in not testing until we were about done with the excursions.
Sounds like a plan- test after the last excursion (or before it and don't check the results until later) so part of the quarantine is during the Drake passage. If they haven't already, they'll have this down to a "science" for future trips.
They could offer a "COVID cruise"- Antarctica + Hawaii- ensure everyone was exposed when they first come aboard in Ushaiao- hand them a special "hot" towel as they board, and given a second one if needed after a day or so. Then the whole ship is quarantined from the start, not people and not in cabins- just normal cruising on the voyage. All would be clear by the time the ship gets to Hawaii.
Comments
So thankful to read posts regarding recent and current Antarctica travel. I’m scheduled on the upcoming 2/8 departure so i’m taking it all in. From beautiful pictures & onboard experiences from Sealord, to the recent Covid related ordeals that some of you experienced. I just hope the current 1/19 trip continues with good health and pray I stay healthy through all the upcoming covid testing checkpoints for 2/8 departure…
So far, this has been a “stealth” cruise. ‘Ask me no questions, I will tell you no lies’. We are proceeding to our eighth excursion site which is a planned Zodiac expedition. For those thinking about dates to choose, our weather has been spectacular with lots of sunshine and temperatures mostly above freezing. When you are in a Zodiac cruising in 33 degree water it is still very cold. Dale has confirmed that people have fallen overboard from the Zodiacs. She said the one on her trip barely got wet except for the fact that he peed his pants when he fell in, while standing without permission. The Zodiac hit some ice and stopped rather suddenly, and over he went. (I don’t know why that picture is upside down. It’s right side up on my iPad.)
Your weather looks wonderful. January would have been my pick if I went there, almost their height of summer in the Southern Hemisphere.. Shame about my fear of Drake, but it looks as if you will have a smooth trip back too! Enjoy more and send more pics!
I think I accidentally deleted this (previous) post. We are nearing the end of our ‘stealth’ cruise. “Ask me no questions … I will tell you no lies”. This afternoon we will do our eighth excursion. It is a ‘planned’ Zodiac expedition. Our weather has been perfect with mostly calm seas, calm winds, and temperatures mostly above freezing, and lots of sunshine. It is still very cold when you are in a rubber dingy in 33 degree water. ‘British’ … put it on your list. I’m not aware of anyone getting seasick. Some, including our traveling companions, are wearing the patch, but our Drake crossing was not anything like what I saw in the webcams during the past cruises. We have only had one planned landing canceled due to rough water. We did a Zodiac expedition that was a ‘near’ Moby Dick’ experience, hovering very close to a humpback whale. I think we have decided that the ‘scenic’ experience of Antarctica is unsurpassed even by Africa, but the ‘animal’ experience is in Africa remains unsurpassed.
The ‘stealth’ cruise just got back from our eighth excursion. We have one more day and two more expeditions before we had back across Drake’s Passage. We have had another spectacular day of sunshine and very little wind. Presently sitting in Enterprise Bay getting ready for a Tauck cocktail party. We are beyond “the end of the World”, and pretty much on our own. (that was yesterday … it didn’t send.)
Today we are in Niko Harbor. We skipped the first excursion as it involved an immediate climb up a hill to avoid any possible tsunami activity. My new knees don’t do hills well. We are having an antigen test this afternoon … our last day in Antarctica. We don’t have wifi in our stateroom so if my posts suddenly stop you may know why. You might also figure out why I call this the ‘stealth’ cruise. (;-) We have another day of brilliant sunshine, calm seas, and no wind. January!!!
What's the story of that rusty ship?
This is near the top of our list of favorite trips ever. The beauty of the white continent cannot be matched anywhere. I think the trip would be a great one even if you never left your stateroom balcony … which I understand has happened to some. We have our last excursion this afternoon after our antigen test aboard the ‘stealth’ cruise. We left the ‘end of the world’ and sailed off of the edge. We have just been out here doing our thing and no one has bothered us. Tonight we will head back across the ‘passage’, and back to reality. We don’t get wifi in our stateroom, so if you don’t hear from us again you will no where we are …
The rusty sunken ship was a whale oil factory ship that caught on fire and sank … on the same date many years ago that I took the picture … it is the Governoren … a Norwegian ship.
How come nobody's in the pool?
Sealord, if you liked this trip, you'd probably like the Tauck Patagonia trip, as well. Plenty of glaciers to see in addition to land-based animals and amazing scenery.
So, dare I ask THAT question…..Has anyone tested positive, tour group or crew? Anyone quarantined in their rooms?
Yes, Patagonia is wonderful, it’s worth a second trip, we would have had it scheduled again by now if restrictions were not still in place for the two countries.
There have been people in the pool. It is quite warm … getting out is a religious experience. I don’t expect any announcements about the testing until after the last excursion. All activities are proceeding as normal below the ‘end of the world’. We are in the last group to depart today … in about an hour. I will let you know about the ‘stealth’ ship test results as soon as we are advised. We were told that we would have been told by now if ‘we’ were positive.
Time to get the ‘moon suit’ on. We our going for our last little RIB ride in freezing water in about 45 minutes. It takes a little time to get ‘suited up’.
Glad to hear no Covid positives yet. Hope exit testing goes well. I can attest that being able to sit on the balcony during quarantine made it tolerable. We did first two days of outings. But I would love to return to that wonderful “other worldly” place to do it right. I call my trip Antarctica Lite. For those interested in Patagonia I would urge you to go when travel opens. It’s a great trip also.
“Antarctica has this mythic weight. It resides in the collective unconscious of so many people, and it makes this huge impact, just like outer space. It’s like going to the moon.”. Jon Krakauer.
Ten crewmembers and ten passengers tested positive for covid in the first round. None of the crewmembers were ‘service’ people. We get tested again tomorrow. No one is particularly alarmed and the Captain seems quite at ease about it. The ‘gala’ tonight will come off as planned. They are quite ‘stealthy’ about who tested positive including one of our TD’s who tested positive. The name of the game is ‘figure out who is missing’. The ‘positive’ people will be transferred to one of the quarantee ships in Ushuaia for an additional five days or so. Activities on the ship are totally normal except for a few folks who are in their rooms enjoying TV and the view from the balconies. Interesting also is that the ‘companions’ of the positive people all tested negative.
We have left the good weather behind and we are rocking and rolling across the Drake Passage in the rain. It is a fantastic adventure. We did nine of the ten excursions, skipping the one that involved climbing a hill in deep snow.
Sealord - Was that 10 Tauck passengers that tested positive or ten out of 'all' the passengers? I think you said there were 66 Tauck people on the boat and about 185 total people.
Your pictures in the sunlight have been great. The snow and ice are much more impressive photogenically in the bright sunlight.
That is ten out of all the passengers. They will not tell us how many are from Tauck.
This is a laboratory experiment in the (lack of) reliability of Covid testing.
Here we have a group of people all vaccinated and all tested prior to being isolated from the world for 10 days. Yet the virus snuck through. Testing is truly a fiasco..
This has been an incredible trip! The sites are spectacular!! Here’s just a few of my favorite photos. Easily have taken over 3000 shots!
I don’t think anyone is “sick”. There may have been a ‘method to their madness’ in not testing until we were about done with the excursions.
We had a final Champagne toast aboard the Zodiac, then when we boarded Le Lyrial they took away our life vests.
What an amazing trip you have had!
Sounds like a plan- test after the last excursion (or before it and don't check the results until later) so part of the quarantine is during the Drake passage.
If they haven't already, they'll have this down to a "science" for future trips.
They could offer a "COVID cruise"- Antarctica + Hawaii- ensure everyone was exposed when they first come aboard in Ushaiao- hand them a special "hot" towel as they board, and given a second one if needed after a day or so. Then the whole ship is quarantined from the start, not people and not in cabins- just normal cruising on the voyage. All would be clear by the time the ship gets to Hawaii.
Great idea 😂😂😂