Antarctica!

[llachance]

So after working really hard to fly directly to Buenos Aires it is not to be, unless it changes again. AA rerouted me through Miami. DFW-MIA-EZE. However in their infinite wisdom only gave me an hour between flights - not in Miami even on a good day is that possible. So called and changed to earlier DFW-MIA flight and then an earlier MIA-EZE flight but with a couple of hours between flights so if there is an issue we hopefully will be ok. The US Customs site talks about vaccine protocols and testing to fly into the country. Haven't received anything from the ABD in terms of health forms but will be happy if they can be uploaded. We aren't quite 90 days out yet

 

[Mathmagicland]

Argentina has reopened to tourists-

https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-news/argentina-opening

 

[llachance]

I had been told November 1st. Now want my direct flight back - not sure that will happen though unfortunately. Less then 90 days away at this point Wish I had more information about what's coming up. I know it will be a great time.

 

[teruterubouzu]

It's neat to see that former Imagineer Joe Rohde will be hosting one of these cruises in 2023.

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[sayhello]

It's neat to see that former Imagineer Joe Rohde will be hosting one of these cruises in 2023.

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

He's doing the July 2023 Arctic Expedition cruise.

• Storytelling with Joe Rohde (July 2023 Sailing Only): Join special Guest Joe Rohde for an engaging session filled with amazing tales from a storied 40-year career at Walt Disney Imagineering and how his passion for nature and conservation has influenced the concepts and designs of his projects around the world. You'll also get insightful tips on how to embody your emotions as you capture your experiences in sketches. Learn more about Joe Rohde**
  
  **Joe Rohde recently retired from a 40-year career with Walt Disney Imagineering. During that time he was a pivotal figure in the development of Disney's Animal Kingdom and Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa in Hawai‘i, as well as many other projects around the world. He was part of the original design team for the Norway Pavilion at EPCOT, art directing the concept design of the ride, Maelstrom. His last large project was Pandora: The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, which opened the same year as another of his projects, Villages Nature, an eco-resort adjacent to Disneyland Paris.
  
  Joe's work has always been characterized by high levels of authenticity based on extensive field research. He was instrumental in the creation of the Disney Conservation Fund, which has raised over $100 million for missions worldwide. Joe regularly lectures on design, art history, and conservation and has spoken at TED, NASA, SIGGRAPH, and many other venues. He is an award-winning member of the Explorers Club and carries a large collection of indigenous earrings in his left ear as souvenirs of his many adventures. For fun, he paints and creates art history singalongs for his Instagram account which boasts over 95,000 followers.
  
  Please note: Itinerary, activities and special onboard Guests may vary and are subject to change or cancellation and will be confirmed in the daily shipboard program.

https://www.adventuresbydisney.com/...cruise/daily-itinerary/#!shipboard-activities

The good news is, they don't appear to be charging any more for the July departure than they are for the June departure.

Sayhello

 

[Grifdog22]

Take a look at the postings on ABC Good Morning America today. They are on a National Geo Expedition with Lindinblad in Drake Passage. They have drones also filming the ship. Great reporting and pretty impressive seeing footage of 30 foot waves and their explanation of the Drake Passage is impressive.

 

[sayhello]

Take a look at the postings on ABC Good Morning America today. They are on a National Geo Expedition with Lindinblad in Drake Passage. They have drones also filming the ship. Great reporting and pretty impressive seeing footage of 30 foot waves and their explanation of the Drake Passage is impressive.

Are they online somewhere?

Sayhello

 

[2PrincesseInTow]

Take a look at the postings on ABC Good Morning America today. They are on a National Geo Expedition with Lindinblad in Drake Passage. They have drones also filming the ship. Great reporting and pretty impressive seeing footage of 30 foot waves and their explanation of the Drake Passage is impressive.

Thank you so much for posting this! Watched all of the clips and it's getting me very excited for our trip!

 

[vitacura]

Latest update I received on our 1/30 trip from AbD this evening. Some key points:

Sailing as planned with one change, the excursions in Ushuaia have been cancelled and the ship is now sailing on the evening of day 2 instead of day 3. This will add a fifth day in the Antarctic Peninsula with morning and afternoon excursion, sweet!

Negative PCR test within 72 hours of departure for our entrance into Argentina, Antigen test on Day 2 prior to boarding the ship (no cost to us) and Negative PCR test (no cost to us) for our return trip home.

Guests must be vaccinated and face coverings will be required in public areas of the ship except when eating, drinking, swimming or outdoors where social distancing is possible.

We will have to complete a health assessment online and submit within 24 hours of departure.

 

[NYgent845]

I'm assuming these are actually re-worked National Geographic trips, since Disney owns NatGeo now. Interesting!

Sayhello

very interesting

 

[Mathmagicland]

Are you on

Latest update I received on our 1/30 trip from AbD this evening. Some key points:

Sailing as planned with one change, the excursions in Ushuaia have been cancelled and the ship is now sailing on the evening of day 2 instead of day 3. This will add a fifth day in the Antarctic Peninsula with morning and afternoon excursion, sweet!

Negative PCR test within 72 hours of departure for our entrance into Argentina, Antigen test on Day 2 prior to boarding the ship (no cost to us) and Negative PCR test (no cost to us) for our return trip home.

Guests must be vaccinated and face coverings will be required in public areas of the ship except when eating, drinking, swimming or outdoors where social distancing is possible.

We will have to complete a health assessment online and submit within 24 hours of departure.

Are you on the December or January sailing?

 

[llachance]

Thanks for the Antarctica update. My TA called me yesterday with the details and forwarded me the letter he received this morning. My husband and I are fully vaccinated and have had our boosters so that was easy. I appreciate the extra time in the Antarctic so that is good. Looking forward to the pre vacation in Buenos Aires as well. We sail at the end of January - have to be in Buenos Aires on the 28th for the 4 day pre trip. I am looking forward to it. Hopefully American won't change my flights again

 

[vitacura]

Are you on the December or January sailing?

January

 

[OhhBother]

So excited for those of you who will soon be embarking on this journey. My DH and I sailed to Antarctica with Hurtigruten in February/March 2020 - we were one of the last sailings before the pandemic.

Antarctica is spellbinding, exhilarating, life-changing. We’re already planning a second visit.

If you have any questions about visiting Antarctica, I’ll be happy to share my experiences - everything from what we wore and didn’t wear to surviving the Drake Shake to preparing for the smell of penguin colonies. It truly is a place unlike any other. I can’t wait to go back.

 

[2PrincesseInTow]

Just discussing with my DH the whole what do we need to pack! So, what did you and didn’t you wear? Whatever information you can share I’d love to learn! Thank you so much!

 

[Mathmagicland]

So excited for those of you who will soon be embarking on this journey. My DH and I sailed to Antarctica with Hurtigruten in February/March 2020 - we were one of the last sailings before the pandemic.

Antarctica is spellbinding, exhilarating, life-changing. We’re already planning a second visit.

If you have any questions about visiting Antarctica, I’ll be happy to share my experiences - everything from what we wore and didn’t wear to surviving the Drake Shake to preparing for the smell of penguin colonies. It truly is a place unlike any other. I can’t wait to go back.

Thanks- pls share about Drake passage and the penguin colonies smell, along with what you found you didn’t wear or need and what you wish you’d brought along but hadn’t. .Thanks!

 

[OhhBother]

I’ll do my best to share useful info. When we were planning our trip, I scoured the Internet to find trip reports wherever I could dig them up. But there’s just not a tremendous amount of detailed information out there. So here goes…

Packing tips

First, our cruise went from Ushuaia to Antarctica and back - no Falklands. So that informs some of my packing advice. For instance, we both packed heavy boots and never wore them. On the ship, we most often wore sneakers we could quickly pull on and run around in. And, of course, on land we wore the supplied muck boots. There was zero need for my own boots.

As for clothes, we both packed too much. Our daily go-to outfit ended up consisting of: base layer of Merino wool (very important) followed by sweatpants and a sweatshirt topped with waterproof pants and a jacket. For zodiac cruising, I’d wear my “puffy coat” topped with the supplied jacket from Hurtigruten. But for hiking on land, I left the puffy jacket on the ship. It just wasn’t needed. I can’t tell you how many photos we have where we’ve removed our coats entirely and are walking around just in sweatshirts. When it’s mid-30s and sunny with no wind, you’re plenty warm in Merino wool and a sweatshirt.

I packed two sets of the Merino base layer for each of us, and we definitely needed that. I also packed two pairs of waterproof pants for both of us. We could have done with one pair each, but it was nice to have two. And here’s why…

After your third day or so surrounded by thousands of penguins, you notice the smell clings to your outwear. The supplied jacket, waterproof pants and muck boots got the worst of it. It was nice to have two pairs of pants so that we could rinse them well and let them dry to help with the smell. Pro tip - we left our muck boots in the hall right outside our room when we weren’t using them. The smell definitely sticks to them.

We also both relied on balaclavas at times on the Zodiac. Sometimes, we didn’t need them. But when you’re zipping through the wind and snow is blowing into your face, it feels good to have that cover over you.

Things I didn’t need: special polarized sunglasses - bought them and never wore them; tons of special camera equipment - mostly used our iPhones and Canon and got spectacular photos; expensive outer gloves - wore them once and then relied on normal weight gloves and silk glove liners (these were great on the Zodiac for picture taking while keeping something on your hand).

Packing really does come down to layering. If you get the base layer right, that will go a long way toward keeping you warm. And if your trip is like ours, you’ll find it’s very rarely frigid. It can be really cold on the zodiacs and on open deck when the ship is moving, but when you’re hiking around, we found it mostly pleasant.

Off to bed for now. I’ll do another post tomorrow with info on surviving the Drake. And I’ll share some of my favorite memories. You are going to love this trip so much!

 

[llachance]

I’ll do my best to share useful info. When we were planning our trip, I scoured the Internet to find trip reports wherever I could dig them up. But there’s just not a tremendous amount of detailed information out there. So here goes…

Packing tips

First, our cruise went from Ushuaia to Antarctica and back - no Falklands. So that informs some of my packing advice. For instance, we both packed heavy boots and never wore them. On the ship, we most often wore sneakers we could quickly pull on and run around in. And, of course, on land we wore the supplied muck boots. There was zero need for my own boots.

As for clothes, we both packed too much. Our daily go-to outfit ended up consisting of: base layer of Merino wool (very important) followed by sweatpants and a sweatshirt topped with waterproof pants and a jacket. For zodiac cruising, I’d wear my “puffy coat” topped with the supplied jacket from Hurtigruten. But for hiking on land, I left the puffy jacket on the ship. It just wasn’t needed. I can’t tell you how many photos we have where we’ve removed our coats entirely and are walking around just in sweatshirts. When it’s mid-30s and sunny with no wind, you’re plenty warm in Merino wool and a sweatshirt.

I packed two sets of the Merino base layer for each of us, and we definitely needed that. I also packed two pairs of waterproof pants for both of us. We could have done with one pair each, but it was nice to have two. And here’s why…

After your third day or so surrounded by thousands of penguins, you notice the smell clings to your outwear. The supplied jacket, waterproof pants and muck boots got the worst of it. It was nice to have two pairs of pants so that we could rinse them well and let them dry to help with the smell. Pro tip - we left our muck boots in the hall right outside our room when we weren’t using them. The smell definitely sticks to them.

We also both relied on balaclavas at times on the Zodiac. Sometimes, we didn’t need them. But when you’re zipping through the wind and snow is blowing into your face, it feels good to have that cover over you.

Things I didn’t need: special polarized sunglasses - bought them and never wore them; tons of special camera equipment - mostly used our iPhones and Canon and got spectacular photos; expensive outer gloves - wore them once and then relied on normal weight gloves and silk glove liners (these were great on the Zodiac for picture taking while keeping something on your hand).

Packing really does come down to layering. If you get the base layer right, that will go a long way toward keeping you warm. And if your trip is like ours, you’ll find it’s very rarely frigid. It can be really cold on the zodiacs and on open deck when the ship is moving, but when you’re hiking around, we found it mostly pleasant.

Off to bed for now. I’ll do another post tomorrow with info on surviving the Drake. And I’ll share some of my favorite memories. You are going to love this trip so much!

Thank you so much for sharing. I have been having a lot of back and forth thoughts too! Glad to have someone who has been there to read the information.

 

[Grifdog22]

Thank you so much for sharing. I have been having a lot of back and forth thoughts too! Glad to have someone who has been there to read the information.

You might take a look at Duluth for some of your outerwear gear. We used this on our winter expeditions in Manitoba Canada up near Bissett where it was a lot of different changing conditions. They have a line called Alaska hard gear. I found their gear to be well designed, durable and it does what they say it will do. Good luck and enjoy - wish I were going with you, but we already have two (continued multiple times) ABD trips in the hopper.

 

[Vetinari]

Hello, world! Our family is scheduled for the December 20 cruise, and I just noticed that ABD’s health protocol page differs from the email guidance we received last week. In addition to the PCR test required prior to entering Argentina, the site states that a PCR test must be taken within 72 hours of boarding. Also, the Antarctica cruise includes a second antigen test on Day 2.

Do we think this is older guidance that has been superseded by the email?