Antarctica!

[vitacura]

Made it to Buenos Aires! Easy transfer to hotel, checked in and had our first swab. Fun fun. Great weather, sunny skies and about 80 degrees F.
Latest guest count is 136.

 

[MrsJonl]

We arrive in the morning. Are we quarantined to the hotel or what is that status? Dinner tomorrow, etc?

 

[vitacura]

We arrive in the morning. Are we quarantined to the hotel or what is that status? Dinner tomorrow, etc?

While it is highly recommended we stay in the hotel, there are several restaurants with outdoor seating nearby as long as you feel comfortable with that. They are not quarantining you in the hotel.

Edit: The one bummer is that we are meeting in the lobby at 4 AM on Monday for our transfer to the airport for our our flight to Ushuaia, better get to bed early if you want some rest!

 

[MrsJonl]

The best news ever -Thank you! I am glad you arrived safe! Looking forward to a great trip!

 

[MrsJonl]

While it is highly recommended we stay in the hotel, there are several restaurants with outdoor seating nearby as long as you feel comfortable with that. They are not quarantining you in the hotel.

Edit: The one bummer is that we are meeting in the lobby at 4 AM on Monday for our transfer to the airport for our our flight to Ushuaia, better get to bed early if you want some rest!

The best news ever -Thank you! I am glad you arrived safe! Looking forward to a great trip!

 

[drewmisha]

Have a good trip! It will be worth it!

We were on the inaugural last month. You can get dinner at the outdoor place couple blocks away. Turn right when you exit the hotel and the restaurant is under the freeway overpass. The restaurant is called El Mirasol de la Recova. Great steaks.

The hotel concierge assisted us in trading our USD for Argentine pesos. We got ~twice the standard exchange. If you pay with pesos, you can get 50% off your meal.

The flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia was a bit hectic at security. Our big group jammed up the line such that the passengers from other flights had to cut in front of us to make it in time. ABD flight was chartered so we had plenty of time. Please let the others through…

 

[vitacura]

Have a good trip! It will be worth it!

We were on the inaugural last month. You can get dinner at the outdoor place couple blocks away. Turn right when you exit the hotel and the restaurant is under the freeway overpass. The restaurant is called El Mirasol de la Recova. Great steaks.

That’s where we are having dinner.. great outdoor seating, service and food! Lots of restaurant choices here, but this one was recommended by our first AbD representative that we met at the airport and escorted us to the hotel.

 

[OhhBother]

Can’t wait to hear reports from this trip. It’s been two years since we were in Antarctica, and I can’t wait to go back. Once was not enough!

 

[vitacura]

Having an amazing time!
Good news is we had an antigen test today and everyone was negative! When the captain made the announcement during dinner, there was cheering throughout the dining venue and ship.

Weather has been great, some snow the first day we did landings. Today we had some early clouds followed by sunshine for our zodiac tours, kayaking and one afternoon landing. Knowledgeable and friendly naturalists giving plenty of lectures and always happy to answer questions. We had the pleasure of seeing two pods of Orcas and one humpback whale today.

I can’t believe we’ve already had two days in Antarctica with three to go, time sure is flying by!

I will write more when I return home, but did want to give a little update!

 

[China Expat]

Bucket list trip...18 months away!

 

[Mathmagicland]

Someone shared this with me, thought I’d pass it along here. It is 13 min, but gives a very good perspective on a Ponant Antarctica cruise experience. I think the person in the video cruised in November, based on a comment about a closed research station that doesn’t open until December. Might be of interest to those on the next round of cruises or who are considering this one in the future.

 

[Onceuponamarathon]

Looking into doing Antarctica with ABD and found this thread. Does anyone know what you get going the ABD route versus booking directly with Ponant? The prices are about the same. For reference we love Disney, which is why our first thought was ABD. However, we don't have children. The on-ice-champagne and included drinks from the video posted here are appealing but it looks as if it wasn't ABD. Wondering if ABD would do similar or if they change the programming on board to be more kid-friendly.

 

[2PrincesseInTow]

Looking into doing Antarctica with ABD and found this thread. Does anyone know what you get going the ABD route versus booking directly with Ponant? The prices are about the same. For reference we love Disney, which is why our first thought was ABD. However, we don't have children. The on-ice-champagne and included drinks from the video posted here are appealing but it looks as if it wasn't ABD. Wondering if ABD would do similar or if they change the programming on board to be more kid-friendly.

We did the first ABD trip in December... I think the main difference is having the Adventure Guides there to make sure all goes well and trouble shoot for you if anything happens. They're always there to take photos, chat, encourage mixing and create a good atmosphere. The ABD trip would also be a mix of people with at least a similar interest in Disney, primarily English speaking, etc. We did the on-ice sheet- champagne on our trip which was really so much fun.

I don't think the on-ship programming was changed for our trip. I think the Adventure Guides added activities for the kids. All of the lectures from the ship's naturalists seemed to be the same as they would have for any cruise..... the lectures didn't seem to be changed to be "kid" friendly (not a criticism).

My family would probably go ABD again if the schedule worked for us but if it didn't we would definitely consider booking with Ponant directly.

 

[Onceuponamarathon]

We did the first ABD trip in December... I think the main difference is having the Adventure Guides there to make sure all goes well and trouble shoot for you if anything happens. They're always there to take photos, chat, encourage mixing and create a good atmosphere. The ABD trip would also be a mix of people with at least a similar interest in Disney, primarily English speaking, etc. We did the on-ice sheet- champagne on our trip which was really so much fun.

I don't think the on-ship programming was changed for our trip. I think the Adventure Guides added activities for the kids. All of the lectures from the ship's naturalists seemed to be the same as they would have for any cruise..... the lectures didn't seem to be changed to be "kid" friendly (not a criticism).

My family would probably go ABD again if the schedule worked for us but if it didn't we would definitely consider booking with Ponant directly.

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Thank you so much for the quick reply! This was really helpful to know