Anyone going on the Janiuary 29, 2014 Antarctica trip?

I see topics on the other trips but none yet on this trip. Thought I would start one. My wife and I are booked on this one? Flights are booked, most of the clothes are lined up. Looking forward to it. This is our first Tauck trip but we have traveled a lot with others.

Comments

  • My adult son and I are booked on this tour. We are in a party of 10 but look forward to meeting fellow travelers. This is our first rip to Antarctica and looking forward to this exciting and educational tour. MJR
  • I'm not going until late 2014 so am hoping you post your thoughts and experiences on this site when you return. In particular, what gear are you glad you had & what would you have left behind.

    Have a great trip
  • We would be happy to post our thoughts and comments after the trip.
  • we are leaving on January 18 for antartica. Any info?
  • We are back! Great trip! It exceeded our expectations in every way. Buenos Aires was hot and rainy. We just did a couple bus tours and dinner at the hotel.
    Follow the luggage guidelines. They enforce the 44 lb rule on the charter out of Buenos Aires and check carry on's. We did not have a problem. They are a little more relaxed on the return trip which was good as we had our parkas in the bags then. It is hard to say what you need and don't need as it totally depends on the weather at the time of your trip. We used ski pants that were water proof and they were great. I don't see why anyone would need rain pants if you use ski pants. Needed base layers, good hat, gloves. We only used the heavy gloves one day. My wife took a pair of low cost boots from home that worked great. I rented mine and that was fine too. I ended up with the same size boot as my shoes even with the heavy socks. We did business casual + for most meals in main dining room. Some men wore sport coats and some women dressed up a little but it definitely was not a hard requirement. We have never used walking sticks and did not have them on this trip. A number of people did but it is a personal preference and not a requirement.
    Food was good with multiple choices at each meal. Service was great in restaurants and lounges.
    Daily expeditions were very well organized. 2 expeditions every day and they went off like clockwork. The naturalists on the boat are very passionate about their work and shared their expertise with us. We loved the open bridge policy. Many people used it on our trip as we sailed through the channels to watch for whales and seals. The captain likes whales and was always working to spot them and make sure everyone knew they were around. Sometimes he would stop the boat and turn to extend the viewing.
    The boat is very nice and the rooms were quite comfortable. We used motion sickness patchs only on the crossing as a preventative measure. We were fortunate and had very easy crossings both ways. Actually our weather was very good until the last morning in the penisula when it snowed and was windy. More like true Antarctica weather.
    The scenery was fabulous with the mountains, icebergs, whales, penguins, seals, birds, etc. Way more than we expected.
    This is one of the top trips we have ever taken. This was certainly the trip of a lifetime.
  • Sounds like you enjoyed the voyage. Mine is scheduled for next February and I am certainly eager to go. The problem with scheduling these vacations so far in advance is that you are very excited to make the trip and you want the time to go quickly. At my age (66) hoping for time to go by quickly is counter productive.

    Life is like a roll of toilet paper, it goes faster at the end.

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