When asked my favorite place I have sailed, the answer has always been (hands down) Antarctica. It is truly an amazing place, and I feel privileged that I have been able to visit not only once, but to see and experience its wonder multiple times.
However, this itinerary is not everyone’s cup of tea. We are half-way through the contract on this itinerary, and I thought I would share some observations about the experience. Let’s do this quiz-style!
Are you and a South America/Antarctica cruise a good match? Yes or No....
You love seeing glaciers, fjords, whales, penguins, birds.
You enjoy being out in nature.
You enjoy cold weather cruises.
You enjoy authentic feeling ports of call. For the above three bullet points, you can just as easily book an Alaska cruise (apart from the penguins.). I love the beauty of Alaska, but I find the ports themselves can get too commercial for my taste. The South American ports seem to welcome cruise ship guests, but do not necessarily cater to/depend upon them. They just seem…normal.
Somewhat related to the above point, you are not looking for major shopping opportunities.
You don’t mind (most likely) long flights to join/leave your cruise.
You enjoy long cruises (2 weeks without Antarctica, 3 weeks with)
You enjoy lots of sea days.
You do well with rough seas.
You don’t mind if the majority of ports require the use of tenders.
You are OK with possibility of disappointment due to possible delayed arrivals and canceled ports due to strong winds and weather, including bucket item ports like the Falklands.
You don’t need to bring snacks ashore with you. Chile has very strict agricultural rules and only water is allowed ashore.
The price tag of the cruise and flights are within your budget.
You are comfortable with the footprint of cruising in Antarctica.
You want to tick a (7th!?) continent box not many tick.
Scoring:
30 points possible. Subtract
2 points for each “No” that you feel very strongly about/is a dealbreaker for you.
1 point for every other “No”
The higher the score, the better the fit. For middle and low scores you may wish to consider a different itinerary at this time.
Cruising or expedition cruising - which is better? There are some key differences between the two. Expedition cruises...
are shorter, generally 10 days
are on much smaller vessels
do landings using zodiacs
are exponentially more expensive
Again, I treasure the landings that I have done in Antarctica, and I have been loving the social media posts of friends and colleagues currently doing expedition cruises. If I had the chance to do landings again, I would. But if your budget doesn’t allow or getting in and out of zodiac boats is a physical challenge you do not wish to do, an expedition cruise might not be the right fit for you. Regular cruising can be just as memorable.
Ultimately, your cruise, whatever the destination, is what you choose to make of it. You are potentially making a significant financial and time investment - do your research and be prepared as you would for such an investment. So along those lines.
A few tips:
As with any cruise, plan your air travel to arrive a day early. South American/Antarctic cruises are during North American winters, so inclement weather can play into air travel delays. It is much easier to catch up with a ship in the Caribbean or Mexico.
Read travel insurance small print to make sure medical evacuation and all destinations are covered (not all policies cover Antarctica).
Pack many different layers of clothing and outerwear. Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Santiago and other northern ports can be quite hot and humid, whereas the closer you get to the pole, the chillier it is.
Double check that you have all you need, including toiletries, batteries, etc. It’s not that you can’t find these here, but it is not as easy as other itineraries.
Charge your electronic devices nightly so you are ready to capture those great wildlife shots.
Wi-Fi has been pretty good, but avoid afternoon times for uploading photos and videos to send to loved ones, as everyone else has the same idea. It’s the equivalent of rush hour traffic. Better to share in the evening or the morning.
Attend the talks by the Antarctic team - they have a wealth of knowledge to enhance your cruise.
If you like booking ship-sponsored tours, book early. Most tours have either been sold out or close to sold out at the start of the cruise.
Get outside as much as you can.
Whew. That’s a lot to take in. I’ll keep the rest of the post short and sweet.
Wellness Round Up
Nutrition: I tried to change up my breakfast ordering, but a bagel with muesli is still pretty high in calories. I enjoy the fresh fruit starter (eat a rainbow), and this week I decided to try the various hot cereals. Oatmeal is a staple for me; I also tried grits with sausage and some cheese. Not bad.
For lunch, Mediterranean seems to be this week's theme. Chicken noodle soup and quesadilla lunch was perfect for when I was feeling a little under the weather.
Dinner included some favorites, such as an evening in Canaletto and favorite first dressy night entree of onion goat cheese tart with ratatouille.
Hydration: 64 - 104 oz/day, with 4 of the days over the 80oz mark.
Sleep/Stress: Sleep has been a little more uneven with a few 6.5 hour nights and one 9 hour night. Stress has been ok.
Movement: Tiny habits squats still going strong. And again, having been a little under the weather, this week was not as many steps in and no trip to the gym, Once feeling better, over 10,000steps were in the picture. Yesterday I did the hiking tour, so was easily able to do 16,000 steps in some beautiful scenery along the Strait of Magellan.
That's it for now. Bon Voyage & Bon Appétit!
Post updated August 17, 2024
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