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Linda Gaughran and Kenneth Grimes

(MS Andrea Antarctica Cruise + Iguazu Falls, Feb 2005)

This was an amazing trip. We want to go back!

Thank you so much for your help in planning our trip. It was spectacular. Our accommodations and adventures on the side trips as well as the local contacts for tours and transportation were great. Adventure Life took great care of us, and the add-on trips to Buenos Aires, Yacutinga and Iguazu Falls were also spectacular. You guys rock!

Here is the advice I can offer to you and your clients about traveling to Antarctica….

NOTES FROM OUR ANTARCTICA, SOUTH GEORGIA, FALKLANDS TRIP ON THE MS ANDREA

RUBBER BOOTS

Cheap rubber boots are fine. I spent $20 from Gemplers.com. Make sure they are 16+” high, completely waterproof and that they have a good tread/lug depth - the ice and the penguin poop can be slippery and you will be stepping into the water getting in and out of the rafts. Do not bring lined or insulated boots because they will not dry out in time for your next landing. Get the boots a couple sizes bigger than usual to accommodate thick socks. I wear a women’s size 9 shoe and bought men’s size 9 boots (equivalent of women’s size 10.5), which gave me enough extra length and width to accommodate the socks. The best combination we found was a Smartwool or Coolmax sock liner under a heavyweight wicking hiking sock. That way you can wash and dry the liners overnight and wash the heavyweights less often.

I was worried about my feet getting cold but they didn’t. I took lots of chemical toe warmers (like hand warmers for skiing) but I only used them twice: once on a long day on deck and once on a long raft ride around an island. Basically, if I was inactive outside for several hours they added to my comfort but were not essential.

You don’t need hiking boots. They are difficult to transport in the rafts. Everyone hiked in their rubber boots and did just fine. My husband did use his hiking boots in South Georgia but had to carry his rubber boots the whole hike - not worth it. There is a place you can rent boots in Ushuaia and my husband rented his there (Adventure Life gave us their website and you can reserve through the website). They have a good selection but he found a spare pair on the boat that fit him better. There are usually a few spares on the boat but I wouldn’t count on getting your size. I took my boots with me and left them onboard at the end of the cruise so I didn’t have to pack them home.

OTHER SHOES

I took another pair of shoes with good lug soles (Landsend.com water-resistant mocs) and they worked well both aboard ship and in the Falklands where we didn’t need rubber boots as much. And a third pair of shoes to wear to dinner…dressier than lug soles but still casual, like flats or loafers.

RAINPANTS

Bring waterproof, windproof, un-insulated, unlined rain pants. Mine were treated nylon. Your pants will get splashed with seawater and penguin poop so you will want to be able to hose them off and know you can wear them again right away. These pants will be your best friends, keeping you warm, dry and clean. Make sure they are not lined or insulated because they will not be dry in time for your next landing.

GLOVES

Absolutely get 2 pairs of waterproof/windproof gloves. Your gloves will get wet in the rafts and then your hands will be cold, especially with the wind chill. I took 2 pair of gloves: an expensive ski glove type, which were waterproof on the back and fingers with leather palms and a cheaper all waterproof pair. The cheaper pair was better because the leather palms of the expensive pair took forever to dry and while wet made my hands cold. You will want a minimum of 2 pairs because you’ll do several landings per day and it’s nice to have reasonably dry gloves. I also took waterproof/windproof glove liners (rei.com) and used them frequently. It was nice to slip off my outer glove to use the camera and still have something on my hand that blocked the wind. I also took chemical hand warmers that are used for skiing and was glad to have them on a couple long raft rides and a few deck days. My husband, whose fingers don’t get as cold, used fingerless glove liners and was happy with them for working the camera.

HATS

Your parka will have a hood but you will want a warm hat. A wind-resistant (or Windbloc) polarfleece ski-cap style worked great and fit under the parka hood. I took a lightweight polarfleece cap and a heavy windbloc balaclava (hood and face mask combo), but one was too light and the other too heavy/hot. Next time I’ll bring just one mid-weight windbloc or wind-resist cap.

PARKA

The Andrea gives you a parka that is adequate. It’s not wind- or waterproof so you will want a few layers of clothing under it. Some parkas didn’t snap or zip well, while others weren’t a good fit. They had a few spares to exchange with but not many and not all sizes. The zippers open from both top and bottom so you can regulate temperature and fit fairly easily. You can keep the parkas after the cruise…we didn’t want to pack ours home so we just removed the MS Andrea embroidered patch for our souvenir.

OTHER OUTERWEAR

I took a heavy windbloc polarfleece pullover but rarely used it. Most days I used a regular warm polarfleece zip jacket with my parka over it. On deck my husband was often happy with a Land’s End Marinac jacket that has a windblocking layer in it. If you got cold on deck you could always duck inside to warm up and then come out again.

LAYERS

A few good base layers are essential. I took 2 lightweight polypro base layer tops and 1 silk underwear top - all from REI. I could use just one or layer 2-3 depending on temperature and activity levels. Over those went my polarfleece zip top jacket (see outerwear above) and then my parka. Bottom layers were 1 heavyweight, 1 midweight and 1 lightweight (silk) pair of long underwear. That let me arrange combinations depending on temperature. I mainly used the lightweight + heavyweight. My husband (the always warm guy) was happy with just a midweight pair. Your rain pants go right over your long underwear…no other pants needed. So standing on the beach surrounded by penguins I’d typically be wearing: 1-2 base layer tops, a polarfleece zip jacket, my parka, 1-2 pair long underwear, rain pants, 1-2 pair of socks, rubber boots, polarfleece hat, glove
liners and gloves. Oh yeah, you will be wearing a very lightweight life jacket over the top of all of that. There was always someone standing guard over the rafts on the beach so you could leave parkas or excess stuff there while you hiked…most people just wore everything.

EQUIPMENT

You’ll want a good camera. Binoculars. A walking/hiking stick - some people had the ones that break into smaller sections for transport (this was the one thing we didn’t bring that we really wished we had). Next time I’ll bring a video camera too. Also bring something to record the sounds of penguins and seals. Lots of people have asked us what the penguins sound like.

Some people wore backpacks to carry cameras, extra gloves, etc. The backpack will get wet on the raft ride so take a waterproof one or have a plastic bag to put your electronics in. Several people got tired of having the added bulk and the struggle to get in and out of the pack for their gear. I ended up putting my camera case strap around my neck and tucking it inside my parka and zipping Kleenex, handwarmers, etc. in my pockets instead of taking a backpack. Much simpler.

Make sure to bring sunblock and good sunglasses. The sun reflecting off the ice can be blindingly bright.

SHIPBOARD CLOTHES

The ship is comfortably heated so regular indoor clothing is fine. There are interior stairwells except to the bridge. While inside, people wore long-sleeved T-shirts, jeans, khakis, casual button shirts, etc. Lots of people kept their parkas with them or a jacket if they wanted to duck outside for a while, but the ship isn’t big and it takes about 3 minutes to go back to your cabin to get what you need.

People cleaned up a little more for dinner - still casual but nicer pants and tops. Others came in jeans. There were two “dressier” dinners but the most I saw was a sports coat or two and there were still jeans at those meals. If you’re clean and presentable you’ll be fine.

CABIN LOCATION ON THE ANDREA

We were on Deck 3 in an outside cabin with a porthole. We wanted to be low in the ship and at the midpoint of the ship because we had heard the seas could be rough. Also, I saw that Deck 4 cabins overlook the public decks and I thought there wouldn’t be any privacy with people walking by. We chose an outside cabin because we wanted to see what was going on outside at any time. In reality, they had to put a steel hatch over the porthole for much of the trip because of rough seas so we might as well have had an inside cabin. And, with so few passengers and plenty of deck space, the Deck 4 cabins’ privacy wasn’t impacted at all by the decks outside them. Next time we would choose Deck 4... still low enough for stability but the windows didn’t get covered.

That said, we were very happy with our cabin and the amenities... just would make a different choice next time. Be prepared for very limited space… the cabin was the smallest we’ve had on a ship (maybe 150 sq ft?) but it was still OK. And, hey, it’s an adventure, right?

OTHER SHIP INFO

The Andrea was very comfortable. Officers and crew were friendly and sociable and amazingly hard-working. Most of the crew was Eastern European or Filipino. Officers were Croatian or Russian. The Chef was Austrian (great desserts).

There is an open bridge policy. You can visit the bridge 24 hours a day. They did a tour of the engine room also.

There were two computers with email/internet access. The fees were the same for any cruise ship… I think around $3/minute. They were Windows computers with USB ports. Some people brought the cords for their digital cameras and were able to preview their photos on the computers (don’t know if they had to bring their software disks too). Some people brought USB hard drives and used the computers to transfer their photos to their hard drives. We just took a lot of compact flash cards.

There is a small but good bookcase of leisure reading material. People often leave books they’ve read. There were a few books about Antarctica but bring your own if you want a reference book with you.

There’s plenty of space to socialize and plenty of space to be alone with a book.

The expedition leaders put up maps each day with our course marked. We wish we had copied these onto our own map for a souvenir. The course can change dramatically from the plan of the day due to weather.

The expedition leaders kept a log of what happened every day and we got a copy of it mailed to us (via Adventure Life) about 2 months after the cruise.

We had lectures from the 6 naturalists (who also drove the rafts and led the shore expeditions). These people really knew their stuff and we learned a lot about what we were seeing from both a scientific and historical perspective. Most of them had lived and worked at research stations in the Antarctic and had specialties ranging from krill to fur seals to glaciers. I can’t say enough about how great they were. They also socialized and ate with us… very interesting people.

Shore excursions ranged from strenuous hikes to standing on the beach. There was usually a choice at each stop: you could stay on the beach or do the hike. They tried to describe how strenuous each hike would be.

Food and food service was very good. There was a buffet at every meal plus menu service. The menu usually had two choices for each course. You could mix and match buffet and menu. It was open seating, which was great as we got to sit with several different people. There were three meals a day plus afternoon tea. Coffee, tea and hot chocolate were available anytime. There was also a full bar with Happy Hour daily.

Demographics on our cruise were: 6-8 people under 45 years old; 15-20 people in the 45-59 range; the majority were in their 60’s or very early 70’s; a few in their mid-70’s. Everyone was adventurous and well traveled. Even the people in their 70’s were out on the hikes. Some of the most interesting people we’ve ever traveled with.

Our cruise was mostly British passengers with a scattering of Americans and one Australian. We heard the previous sailing was mostly Americans with a few British.

SEASICKNESS and SAFETY

We didn’t get seasick but some people did. Many people used patches; we took Marezine pills (over the counter or at drugstore.com) for the 2- day crossing of the Drake Passage and for the 2-day crossing between Antarctica and South Georgia. We’ve cruised a lot and these 2 crossings were the roughest seas we’ve seen. This combined with the ship being a smaller cruise ship it made for some rocking and rolling and some fitful sleeping. The cruising around the Peninsula, South Georgia and The Falklands was relatively calm because it was in more protected waters.

Be careful walking around on board in heavy seas. Don’t hold onto the door jambs as the doors can close on your fingers; hold on to something while on deck to make sure you don’t fall. If you do have an accident, there is a doctor on board who can provide first aid.

Before we went I was concerned about getting in and out of the rafts, but in fact the crew keeps a firm hold on you until they see you are safe and stable. You climb down a metal staircase on the outside of the ship and from the bottom landing the crew helps you step into the raft. There’s a crewman holding you on the landing and one holding you as you step into the raft. There are rope handholds in the rafts.

OTHER STUFF

If you can include South Georgia on your trip, do so. It was spectacular.

If you’re not on the Andrea, be sure to pick a ship with less than 100 passengers. Regulations say that only 100 people can be ashore at a time and, because the weather can change quickly, sometimes the first 100 get ashore and then no one else can go. We talked to people on the Marco Polo (500 passengers) and they only got off the ship 3 times during their whole cruise due to weather changes and logistics. It simply takes a long time to unload/reload all those people so they don’t get to go to as many places. We got off our ship 2-3 times every day at different locations.



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