Hints & tips for July 2023 Arctic trip, from the June trip

[Mathmagicland]

Thank you so much for the report. We are all packed and ready to leave for the July departure…is it Saturday yet? My only concern: How difficult did you (and others) find it getting into/out of the zodiac boats, and will the staff ensure I don’t make a fool out of myself?

How exciting you can finally say you are leaving this week!!!

The staff is great! They help you & explain a specific safe process so you don’t end up falling. You can take the time you need, and after the first time or two you’ll get more comfortable with each outing.

There is a person on each side of you and one in the zodiac at the ship, two on ship gripping both your arms and then one passing you to the person in the zodiac before they let go & direct you to a seat. If you have a backpack or hiking poles or a camera bag, they take that from you, get you in or out, and then they give it back, so you are not having to handle stuff while getting in or out, On land, they will assist as well though all from alongside the zodiac.

Enjoy your trip!!!

 

[LPinFL]

How exciting you can finally say you are leaving this week!!!

The staff is great! They help you & explain a specific safe process so you don’t end up falling. You can take the time you need, and after the first time or two you’ll get more comfortable with each outing.

There is a person on each side of you and one in the zodiac at the ship, two on ship gripping both your arms and then one passing you to the person in the zodiac before they let go & direct you to a seat. If you have a backpack or hiking poles or a camera bag, they take that from you, get you in or out, and then they give it back, so you are not having to handle stuff while getting in or out, On land, they will assist as well though all from alongside the zodiac.

Enjoy your trip!!!

Thanks so much!

 

[AquaDame]

Back in the Grand Hotel after an amazing trip! It was down to the wire, but we also managed to find our polar bear as well as witness guide Tiffany fulfill a lifelong dream of seeing a blue whale. The entire ship erupted when the captain made the announcement with her from the bridge. Tiffany’s whale was kind and stayed with us awhile and showed off its fluke. We also found reindeer, bearded seals including a baby, a fox, walruses, many minke, fin and humpback whales, and as you’d said oh so many birds! The trip to Alkefjellet was spectacular, even if many of us got pooped on. Damien was a hoot the entire trip and got us all into the spirit for Bastille day on a French ship. My husband started a timer for the polar bear the moment we got on the bus and would keep nudging him about it (in good fun) and hugs went all around when we finally got to stop it after 130-some odd hours. On our last night a pod of humpbacks with a calf kept us up on deck for a couple hours putting on a great show until Captain Florian said we had to go or we’d be late to port.

I’m sad they cancelled this trip (for now) but I can see how this might be a rough one to do. The Arctic is receding fast, and I imagine Ponant’s rating goes down with every ship that doesn’t manage to find whatever animal a person is most interested in. That is a LOT of pressure…. The guides mostly insisted it would be back in some form, but during our raffle one of the prizes was the flag they had us hold up for pictures. They didn’t just auction off the artistic navigation map but also several other things as our ship went a little overboard and raised over 4 grand for their crew fund. The guides claimed we were a great bunch of folks for this trip and I fully agree. Everyone seemed to get along well, we were on time to everything - perhaps to a fault as it was a loooong wait for a zodiac if you came on time - and there was very little complaining. Well, at least once we started seeing animals that were not birds… those first few days were anxious for sure.

I’ve no regrets on jumping at this chance, and choosing this one for Joe Rohde. Spending a week in his company as well as his wife (also an imagineer for a time, and they were with another retired woman imagineer as well) was fantastic. They held 3 Joe talks and one with Melody and Peggie about being some of the original women imagineers. Our captain was great, the ship was great (we had no idea there was an issue the day we boarded and they were not even sure we’d sail, they told us on the last night).

I could nitpick - some of the food was weird (that is saying something as I eat almost everything) and the volume in the theatre was way too loud - but it’s a stretch. Nothing that impacted our fun or enjoyment. If anything the amuse bouche of puréed peas, mint, and smoked salmon gave folks something to bond about that night. I didn’t mind that so much myself as I did the bitter orange that kept showing up unannounced in my desserts, and the poached pear that was literally a perfectly poached pear with some hersheys was a laugh. There was a chocolate mint desert the last night that was downright herbally instead of sweet too! I blame my American sweet tooth for any complaints is what I’m trying to say, clearly.

I’m going off on too much of a tangent here, as I really just wanted to pop back in and give a quick bravo. Skål! Or if you prefer, santé!

 

[Mathmagicland]

Back in the Grand Hotel after an amazing trip! It was down to the wire, but we also managed to find our polar bear as well as witness guide Tiffany fulfill a lifelong dream of seeing a blue whale. The entire ship erupted when the captain made the announcement with her from the bridge. Tiffany’s whale was kind and stayed with us awhile and showed off its fluke. We also found reindeer, bearded seals including a baby, a fox, walruses, many minke, fin and humpback whales, and as you’d said oh so many birds! The trip to Alkefjellet was spectacular, even if many of us got pooped on. Damien was a hoot the entire trip and got us all into the spirit for Bastille day on a French ship. My husband started a timer for the polar bear the moment we got on the bus and would keep nudging him about it (in good fun) and hugs went all around when we finally got to stop it after 130-some odd hours. On our last night a pod of humpbacks with a calf kept us up on deck for a couple hours putting on a great show until Captain Florian said we had to go or we’d be late to port.

I’m sad they cancelled this trip (for now) but I can see how this might be a rough one to do. The Arctic is receding fast, and I imagine Ponant’s rating goes down with every ship that doesn’t manage to find whatever animal a person is most interested in. That is a LOT of pressure…. The guides mostly insisted it would be back in some form, but during our raffle one of the prizes was the flag they had us hold up for pictures. They didn’t just auction off the artistic navigation map but also several other things as our ship went a little overboard and raised over 4 grand for their crew fund. The guides claimed we were a great bunch of folks for this trip and I fully agree. Everyone seemed to get along well, we were on time to everything - perhaps to a fault as it was a loooong wait for a zodiac if you came on time - and there was very little complaining. Well, at least once we started seeing animals that were not birds… those first few days were anxious for sure.

I’ve no regrets on jumping at this chance, and choosing this one for Joe Rohde. Spending a week in his company as well as his wife (also an imagineer for a time, and they were with another retired woman imagineer as well) was fantastic. They held 3 Joe talks and one with Melody and Peggie about being some of the original women imagineers. Our captain was great, the ship was great (we had no idea there was an issue the day we boarded and they were not even sure we’d sail, they told us on the last night).

I could nitpick - some of the food was weird (that is saying something as I eat almost everything) and the volume in the theatre was way too loud - but it’s a stretch. Nothing that impacted our fun or enjoyment. If anything the amuse bouche of puréed peas, mint, and smoked salmon gave folks something to bond about that night. I didn’t mind that so much myself as I did the bitter orange that kept showing up unannounced in my desserts, and the poached pear that was literally a perfectly poached pear with some hersheys was a laugh. There was a chocolate mint desert the last night that was downright herbally instead of sweet too! I blame my American sweet tooth for any complaints is what I’m trying to say, clearly.

I’m going off on too much of a tangent here, as I really just wanted to pop back in and give a quick bravo. Skål! Or if you prefer, santé!

So happy you had such a wonderful trip! You definitely saw a LOT more whales than we did. The captain tried for a blue whale but it was off somewhere else our week. And so exciting you also saw a polar bear!!

I can just imagine Damien & Bastille Day!!

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Sounds like an amazing trip, and I'm so glad you saw the polar bear and whales! I'm sad they have stopped this one for now. It was one of the few ABDs we were still considering. I hope they do bring it back in some fashion. Thanks for posting!

 

[AquaDame]

My husband has finally reported he has all of his pics uploaded to our Synology server, and I've downloaded the ABD photos as well. Would anyone be interested in a trip report if I did one, given there are no plans for one in '24..? I keep going back and forth on the usefulness of it....

 

[Mathmagicland]

My husband has finally reported he has all of his pics uploaded to our Synology server, and I've downloaded the ABD photos as well. Would anyone be interested in a trip report if I did one, given there are no plans for one in '24..? I keep going back and forth on the usefulness of it....

I would, to compare your experiences to mine and to see some of your pics . However it is a lot of work for a trip unlikely to happen again anytime soon, which is one reason why I didn’t do one.

 

[AquaDame]

I would, to compare your experiences to mine and to see some of your pics . However it is a lot of work for a trip unlikely to happen again anytime soon, which is one reason why I didn’t do one.

I'm the opposite... knowing it won't be back soon (if ever) kind of made me want to do it more, since by then it would have been forgotten, and there would be nothing to compare new trips to without some kind of record... but it IS a lot of work if no one else cares.

 

[sayhello]

I'm the opposite... knowing it won't be back soon (if ever) kind of made me want to do it more, since by then it would have been forgotten, and there would be nothing to compare new trips to without some kind of record... but it IS a lot of work if no one else cares.

I'd love to see it! But I do know it's a LOT of work! I know a few folks who were on your trip, so I'd love to see what you all were up to!

Sayhello