Caecilius V
Ocean Albatros Arctic and Antarctic Cruises
Premium
We booked with Polartours and our ship was the Ocean Albatross.
We left for a 12 day trip in mid February.
The trip was amazing, for all trips to the south-pole there is a itinerary, but this can change due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances. The second day the weather on the drake passage was so bad (huge waves and cyclone winds) we had to wait in de Beagle channel, i believe every ship at that moment did the same. After that our expedition leader changed our trip so that we immediately went for the crossing of antarctic circle and worked our way up the peninsula from there. And after the every moment was one of amazement. The first iceberg you see (1200 meters), the first seal, the first penguin the first whale, everything takes your breath away.
After that we did 2 trips a day (weather permitting) with zodiacs and landings and saw some amazing and beautiful scenery and wildlife. Large colonies of penguins (Adelie, chinstrap but mostly Gentoo), resting seals (furseals, weddelseals, leopard seals) and whales passing by (Fin Whale, Seiwhale and lot of humpbacks showing there flukes).
Some of the beautiful locations we visited: Thorne Point, Detaille island, Petermann Island, Plenau island, Lemaire Channel, Stony Point, Port Lockroy, Neko Harbor, Cuverville island, Deception Island and Halfmoon island.
The zodiac cruises where very nice and well organized, the crew was helpful and knowledgeable, you are put in different color groups, that will be called one after a other to change in the mudroom and take place in the zodiacs, the first 2 groups will do a landing the second 2 groups will do a zodiac tour, and after 1 hour to 1,5 hour the group switches (you can only have a maximum amount of persons on a landing at any given time). This happens twice a day, one in the morning around 8, and one during the day. I really enjoyed the zodiac trips, you can see the wildlife and beautiful Blue icebergs from a different perspective. The temperature outside was about 0 degrees Celsius, around 32 Fahrenheit, however it can get cold when the wind starts to blow or comes from the glaciers.
The ship: Its a really modern ship from 2023, and feels luxurious, we had a room with a balcony, and it was spacious, it had a king sized bed, a desk a small 2 person couch, large television, nice bathroom with shower and plenty of closet space. The ship has 2 restaurants, the main one, where most people will eat (mostly buffet for breakfast and lunch, diner a la carte if the weather isn't choppy), the other restaurant was stone grill, you need to make a reservation, but it's a nice experience. There is a small gym, and sauna a very nice viewing platform on the topdeck and off course the large lecture hall, where you will get briefings, lectures and sometimes a game or show.
The crew: Very nice an knowledgeable, most of them look in there early 30's but they are very qualified, they have masters, Phd's (sometimes multiple) and some are professors at universities, there knowledge differs, some know a lot about birds,some about whales, some about plate tectonics or weather. A very divers group of people (also from every place around the globe) who are very helpful. The teamleader Simon did al the briefings and the wake up calls was very helpfull, told us about weather changes, changes in the program and the reasons why. (weather can change drastically very rapid) It was really helpful and I'm going to miss the wake up calls.
The booking operator: Polartours, the site was very helpful, and found one of the best prices around (I did a lot of searching for this trip, because it isn't cheap) and this was one of the best options i could find. Bruna Garcia was the one helping us with the booking process and the rest of the trip, and she was very helpful, even do she was across the ocean, i could ask questions per mail and would get a quick reply, but could also call her and she would be very informative on the phone. She also reminded us that we needed to fill out some forms (sometimes a bit much, but i actually find that very helpful). As you can see Bruna I remembered i just like to take my time.
In all, it was a trip of a lifetime, It's hard to describe what to expect and what you will see, but it exceeded my expectations and was worth every penny.
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