Antarctica Travel Forum

Hi,

We've just booked our Antarctica trip for December with Quark Expeditions on the Orlova. Has anyone here done this trip before or any other trips with Quark? I've looked round on VT and Google but haven't found too many blogs or reviews. Also, is anyone here planning the same trip? (Dec 10th Classic Antarctica tour)

Barry

We did our Antarctica trip with Quark, but on a different ship. It was absolutely excellent! Check my Antarctica page for details......

Thanks Grete, I've just had a re-read of your page and it does sound excellent.

Hi, my husband and I did that very trip on the orlova. We loved it, Antarctica is a fabulous continent and the staff on the orlova were terrific. If you need any assistance please let me know (i will certainly be going to antarctica again in the next few years - it is in my blood).....Heather

There are trips and then there are expeditions. Going to the Antartic peninsula with the other 35,000 people each year is not my idea of seeing what its all about. Did the real thing with Quark on Kapitan Khlebnikov last dec up to the Ross ice shelf, Mt Erubus, dry valleys. Just the ultimate. Cost is high but if you want to go to the moon you will have to pay.

Barry -

My husband and I are on that same trip; Dec 2007. I'm totally counting the days. How excited are you? We've found a few trip reports on-line, and tons of pictures that people have taken. Everyone speaks highly of the Orlova, the crew and Quark.

Where are you coming from? We are flying out of Dulles airport into Miami and then to Argentina. How about you?

Hi FandFmom,

It's great to hear someone else from VT will be on the same trip! We're spending a year in South America from September so we'll probably make our way overland to Ushuaia. Looking forward to meeting you in December.
Barry

Hey Barry and FandFmom -- My husband and I will be on the Orlova with you. Where are you all from? We live in Seattle, WA, USA. We, too, are really excited about the trip and have heard wonderful things about it. My husband especially so because he will finish up his quest to set foot on all seven continents.

sgoulding -

We are located in Ashburn, Va (northern VA, outside of Washington DC).
That's totally awesome about your husband's 7th continent. That's really cool. This trip will be my 4th & 5th and my husband's 3rd & 4th.

I'm excited for the trip because I love penguins and have been collecting them for over 33 years (yikes, that's a long time). We have the means to make a trip like this, so we figured why not. We'll have stories to tell for years.

Are you doing any extra days in Argentina?

Cant wait to meet you and your husband. And you too, Barry. Wow, a year in South America, sounds like an adventure.

Be aware of the following:
We are just back from a trip in the arctic region (Baffin Bay) organized by Cruise of North on the same ship like You (Lyubov Orlova).
We had a lot of desceptions:Non compliance with the route planned,etc.
The ship is not a ice-braker and on the trip before the other the boat was blocked in ice during 3 days and must be rescued by a real ice-braker.
On the inspection by the Public Health Agency in 2006 Orlova has the worstest qualification of 86 between 100 for 70 classified ships (http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/travel-voyage/general/inspection/2006-cruise_ship_inspection-navires_croissieres_inspection_e.html).
In november of 2006 the Malta-flagged cruise ship grounded in Antarctica and was rescued by a Spanish vessel.(http://www.coordmareenoire.net/breve.php3?id_breve=276).

We are going to lodge a complaint against the organizer of the trip and the owner of the boat.

Resiak

hello, I went on the Orlova in Nov. 2005 for the 10 day classic. It was great. The Drake Passage was pretty rough. some tips: If you get seasick I would suggest the patches. They worked, but side effects are dry mouth and slightly blurred vision (not too bad though). Bring 2 cameras in case one breaks. Have 2 pairs of gloves - one liner pair and one pair to go over them - it was really convenient to have the liner pair on to be able to work a camera without having bare hands exposed to the cold. I would suggest hand/feet warmers if you tend to get cold easily. get to know the staff - they're very knowledgable and interesting people. try to get a different one each time on the zodiac for a varied experience. bring plenty of film/cards for your cameras, you'll fill them up. No need to bring a camcorder, after your trip they'll mail you a dvd made from the trip. the dvd it great, with lots of pics and video footage from your trip. just make friends with the on-board photographer and you'll have plenty of screen time.
have a great time!! enjoy the "sledding" (you'll find out...)

FandFMom (and Barry, if you're around too) -- As the trip gets closer, we get more excited and are starting to see what gear we've got and what we have yet to acquire. To follow up on earlier questions/discussion:
1. We are doing more of a surgical strike on this trip....through Buenos Aires overnight, Ushuaia overnight, then straight back on the return. We want to spend Christmas with family in PA.
2. Ashburn, VA -- we know of it, having lived in the DC area for more than 10 years (prior to a move to Denver, then Seattle).
3. I'm not counting continents as the "notches" my husband is, but for comparison, I'll be missing two after this trip: Asia and Africa.
4. We'll be flying out of BWI, having left our doggies in the care of family in PA, after the cross-country flight from WA.

Anyone else out there on the Dec. 10 Orlova trip? Has anyone found another site that connects shipmates?

sgoulding -- I can't believe we're past the 90 day mark, seems like forever since we booked the trip. I've entered the "OMG, we have so much stuff to get" phase. So far we've picked up silk long johns and thats about it, and we have lots of hats. We are picking up parkas and gloves from LL Bean and my sister has lent me some waterproof pants. There are still more odds and ends to pick up, we do a little each weekend.

We are doing a surgical strike as well, only we aren't overnighting in Buenos Aires (we just didn't have the time off from work). We are flying Dulles, to Dallas to Buenos Aires to Ushuaia and then back. Is yours a direct flight?

We aren't really counting continents as "notches" either, but it's kind of a cool way to think about where you've been.

I've seen one person on a TripAdvisor forum mentioning the date of our trip, but that's about it. Some other travel sites do Roll Calls and I guess if you are on that trip, you post in that topic. I'm not totally familiar with that. There is a great trip report I've read (different travel board) from a couple who did a Falklands, South Georgia, Antarctica trip - her pictures were amazing and she had some really good information on what to bring, what not to bring and lots of handy information. If I can find it again, I'll post a link.

Hi FandFMom
We are doing the Explorer's Route trip leaving 15/1/08 and I noticed in your most recent entry you mentioned a site you found where a lady had done the same trip and had lots of info, tips, etc. Could you possibly send me that link if you've managed to find it. Thanks very much. Only 10 weeks and 3 days to go!! - but who's counting!!!!

hi, all.

this is LINDA, from the mainland China

I will be on that ship with all of you, the same date..

does anyone here use MSN?
Mine is LURONG2008@HOTMAIL.COM

Maybe its easier to chat on line, and let's start to plan our brilliant vacation on board!!!

cheers,
Linda

Greetings all!!
My husband and I are on the same trip. We are from Chicago, IL. We are flying to Buenos Aires, Argentina on Dec 6th and staying there few days before going to Ushuai and the Orlova!!!! We are both so very excited. This is my husbands last Continent!! I have one more after this one and that is Africa!!
We got ourgloves, scarves, long underware etc. etc. and we are READY!! I am counting the days now.
By the way Scopalamine patches have worked best for me in regard to motion sickness since, I do get SEVERE motion sickness.
See yo uall there!!!
SunLudEU

Hello All,
I, too, am booked on the Dec. 10 trip. I'm a single retired lady teacher, looking forward to a great new adventure. (Today's news about the EXPLORER is, of course, a little worrisome, but preparation by the crew should be good enough to take of us.) I'll have 10 days in Buenos Aires and Iguazu Falls before heading farther south to Ushuaia for a couple of days prior to meeting the group. I'm booked in a triple cabin with "meet you then" roommates, so if any of the others read this, maybe we can co-ordinate a little before the trip. I leave San Diego on Dec. 1st.

kayowe (California)

Hi Kayowe and others on the Dec. 10 Orlova!
We just got our departure packets today and are getting more excited each minute, despite today's excitement on the Explorer. We're the couple from Seattle (see previous posts), and a friend of ours from Belgium will be on the trip as well. Looking forward to meeting you all. Hey FandFmom -- I tried to reply to your email several weeks ago, but it got rejected....check your message in-box on this site for my reply. See you soon.

Hello sgoulding from Seattle, and others on the Dec. 10th trip,

You mentioned the departure packet: is that the white folder with the luggage tags, etc.? I'm leaving next Saturday for a visit to Argentina and Brazil first. I'll be in Ushuaia starting on the 8th (staying at the same hotel as listed as the starting point for the cruise/trip). Excitement doesn't begin to describe how I feel.

Looking forward to meeting new friends,

kayowe (California)

Hey everyone on the trip...we are starting the packing stage of getting everything ready. Getting our final documents in the mail seemed to make it all a reality. Hope everyone is doing well and getting psyched for our big adventure. I sure am.

Hey sgoulding - I haven't received any e-mails (at VT) from you since the initial ones. And I'm not sure why you wouldn't come through to the earthlink address (crazy spam filters, I'm sure). I'll send you my work address (seeing as how I am here most of the day).

Hey kayowe - it's me Frex from trip advisor.

Can't wait to meet everyone...only 14 days!

Ah yes, I remember you....from Virginia...So now I know of Washington, Connecticut, Virginia, California (me), and some internationals: China, UK...should be an eclectic group.

This fella (Sam) went on the same trip last January - his web site is very comprehensive - albeit it seems a younger crowd gathering in for evening's drinking games. I think that's the time to catch up on reading and/photo explorations.

http://www.sampercy.com/antarctica_com.php

I hope everyone has a safe trip - looking forward to meeting you all in a couple of weeks.

Hey guys. Leaving tomorrow bound for the Orlova. Be pulling in - hopefully :) - on the 11th when you guys are about to get onboard. My name is Dean. Look for me. Also, I am a professional photographer. I specialize in large format panoramics. Look for my shots from our ship in about a month or so on my website: www.southerncrossgalleries.com. Travel safe! Dean

P.S. Only Asia left. Got close. Across the Red Sea in Egypt.

Barry,
My daughter and I have also just booked the 11 night cruise on the Orlova on the 10th of December. Really can't find out alot about it. Is your family going? Wondering if there will be any young people for her to get to know.

Bamachick, I assume you mean the 2008 trip. I was referring to the 2007 trip, which I can now report was excellent. How old is your daughter? I think we had every agegroup represented, the youngest was about 10 or 11! Not many more that young though. I can forward you some sites with pictures on the trip, as well as to my own blog if you like. Barry

Barry,
I would love any information possible. My God, you have been all over the world. What did the kids on the ship do to occupy themselves? Were they sick alot? Did you get a lot of ice time and really feel as if you were in Antarctica?

I think I replied at the wrong place. What did the kids do to amuse themselves when you were not on land. Did you really feel as if you were in Antarctica even though you were not on an icebreaker?

Thanks

Adina (Bama Chick)

Hi Adina,

We did 8 landings over 5 days, as well as a zodiac cruise on the last evening. On days you have landings you will be very busy and you won't need to find something to do. I think kids will enjoy this as much as adults, especially as you see so many penguins and other animals.

The most difficult part of the trip is crossing the Drake passage, which takes 2 days one way, 4 days in all. The seas are quite rough here, and a good number on our trip were seasick on the way out. I wouldn't worry too much about this as not everyone is affected, and there is a doctor on board. This is also the slowest part of the trip but there are movies, lectures, a huge library, and many board games, etc. I don't think you'll be bored! And yes, it did feel very much like ANtarctica, though we didn't quite cross the Circle. There is an email thread going with shared pictures from your trip so if you send me your external email address I will forward them to you. (I'm not sure if I can forward them to your VT mail as there are issues sometimes with external mails). I haven't a VT page yet about the trip, but you can see my blog with a limited amount of pictures at http://www.travelblog.org/Antarctica/blog-229144.html

Barry,
Email is adina.peyton@us.army.mil

adina.peyton@us.army.mil