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Thursday 9th Feb 2012
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Antarctica, South Georgia And The Falklands.
Antarctica, South Georgia and The Falklands. |
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Reviewed By: Edmondson, Stowmarket on 22nd Feb 2009
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| Cruise Line: Spirit of Adventure |
Times cruised before: 10+ |
| Cruise Ship: Spirit of Adventure |
Sailed:
January,
2009 |
| Destination:
Antarctica
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Age: 65+ |
| Cabin: Inside |
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Spirit of Adventure.
Antarctica, South Georgia and The Falkland Islands. Jan/Feb 09.
Overall, it was a first class cruise to some very memorable places.
A small sized ship, it was easy to find ones way around and to get to know the crew, staff and passengers.
Cabins were adequate in size and were well equipped with storage facilities, hooks, coathangers, fridge, TV, DVD, hairdryer, binoculars, robe, various lotions and drying line.
An excellent captain, staff and crew who socialised and kept one well informed.
Superb and interesting lecturers with good presentation techniques. Topics covered included the history, geology, ornithology and exploration of the areas to be visited.
Two restaurants - one self service although help was readily available. We even sat out on deck to eat the occasional lunch.
Terrific range of foods available and a good variety of well-cooked and attractively presented dishes. It was very easy to over indulge. A range of fruit juices, water, coffees, teas and hot chocolate available until 10.00p.m. and even an ice cream machine. On cooler days the hot chocolate was laced with rum etc.
We were fortunate with the weather. It ranged from cool and misty to warm and sunny. Seas relatively calm although we did have one rather stormy day with a large freak wave in the afternoon while near South Georgia, but in spite of the resulting damage and clearing up (including the kitchen), the staff and crew were absolutely marvellous, ensuring not only that everyone was alright but also that a hot meal was still served in each cabin in the evening.
A well-stocked library (much larger than we have seen on other ships, even the larger ones) with good computer and internet facilities.
Good quality anoraks, boots and waterproof trousers were provided.The anoraks can be kept afterwards.
Safety was paramount. The landing crew and zodiac pilots checked out and marked the landing position and walking route in advance so that passengers, the wildlife, flora and fauna were not endangered. Everyone wore lifejackets while on the zodiacs and the boots were throughly cleaned twice after use then returned to you.
Any problems or queries were immediately attended to.
There is a laundry room. 2 dryers and an iron were available but the 2 washing machines were out of action - due to the vicinity the ship was having to wait for parts to be flown out to Argentina. To counteract this, a price reduction was applied to the ships laundry service.
All excursions, gratuities, shuttle buses and wine with meals was included.
A small shop on board sold most items required.
Zodiac cruises and landings are weather dependent. Also there are limits as to how many passengers can land at any one time - ranges from 50 to 100. The ship organised a good rota system for this.
We experienced fantastic sightings of scenery, glaciers, iceberg formations, sunsets, varying varieties of penguins (it was estimated that in one place there were at least 100,000 pairs) from chicks to youngsters to teenagers to adults, many seals and a few sighting of whales. The bird watchers were not disappointed either.
South Georgia is the 'jewel' of the area. We certainly appreciated what hardships the early explorers such as Scott and Shackleton endured.
The Falkland Islands was a most interesting visit. Going on a Battlefields tour gave us an insight to the 1982 conflict.
A shuttle bus was arranged to take passengers to Gypsy Cove and in to Stanley itself (they were walkable too). Being a small ship we had been able to tie up on shore, while the passengers of the 2 large cruise ships in at the same time had to be tendered with long queues forming for their return.
The only problems we experienced with this trip was on the administration side, mainly in the UK. (We note that someone who had tried to book from Australia has made a comment on this website about the difficulties). Misinformation plus the fact that our long haul flight seats were separated (in spite of booking as a couple with the same surname and booking reference) were the main problems. The lack of correct information also applied to the stopover in Buenos Aires.
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| Quality of Food |  |
| Both restaurants about equally. | | Entertainment |  |
| Small band and one occasional singer - mainly jazz. | | Shore Excursions |  |
| Best was St Andrews Bay, South Georgia. | | Staff | |
| All of them. | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities |  |
| Library, board games and card tables, computers and internet, table tennis, painting, quizzes. | | Cabins | |
| Yes | | Overall Rating | |
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