Antarctica Hotels

• leigh767
• Reviews: 293

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Quark Expeditions: Comfortable and casual

I travelled onboard the MV Lyubov Orlova, which is operated by the fantastic Quark Expeditions. It's a 110-person ship, which I found to be a good amount of people. Any larger it would've affected our landing plans since IAATO (International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators) requires that there is to be a maximum of 60 people on a landing site at any one point in time. It's just one of the measures IAATO takes to help minimize impact on the environment :)

For us, that meant rotating between zodiac cruises ad landings so that everyone got a chance to see and do everything in compliance to IAATO laws. On smaller ships of 80~ people, I heard that it was even possible to make 3 landings a day!

So my advice for you when you choose your ship is to make sure that it is not too large-- unless you don't mind having less landing time.

The one issue that I discovered (and other passengers also complained about) was that there was uneven heat circulation on the ship. So while some people would find their rooms very hot and stuffy, others would complain about a freezing cold cabin at the same time. I had the cold cabin and at one point it was so cold my cabinmate and I had to sleep with our wool hats on.

• Opinion of Price: less expensive than average
• Written March 5, 2009

The Lyubov Orlova ("love Orlova" in Russian)

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• globetrott
• Reviews: 12494

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Bark Europa: my cabin

OK, I admit I should have known it better in advance : This is an old ship and we would have 6 berths in 1 cabin. Only 5 of them would normally be used for such trips like Antarctica, so we had at least some extra space, where we could store our luggage during the trip. beds were long enough, maybe 2 meters and about 80 cm wide, 80 cm high.
the wardrobe for each person was about 35x35 cm and 80 cm deep : that sounds a lot but there was never enough light to find anything that I had stored in the backpart of it, nor did I dare to fill it up to the front, because the fixture of my wardrobe was quite stange and opened easily by itself, especially in heavy seas.
I addition there was a drawer under the berths for each person, 15 cm high and 80x80cm deep, good enough for socks, gloves etc. All of the 5 persons in our cabin shared a single wardrobe for hanging clothes: 35 cm wide and 75 cm deep, that was really ridiculous !!! And above all there were only 5 such wardrobes + a single hanging compartment for 6 possible beds in a cabin, that is also quite strange.
The old sailors were travelling with sea-sacks and this might also be the best solution for passengers of this ship. Another possibility might be a soft bag that fits exactely into the wardrobe, and you take it out every time you need something, put it on the floor and search for your things and put back the whole bag again afterwards.

Everyone of us also had just a single hook for wet clothings and that was never enough, because after a tour in the Zodiak you will always be totally wet from your socks to the pants and jackets.
There was a place in the engineroom to store the wet upperclothes as well, we had been 34 passengers on this trip and never had enough space so I wonder how it would be with the total capacity of 48 passengers onboard.

• Opinion of Price: N/A
• Related to: Sailing and Boating, Cruise, Family Travel
• Written December 22, 2008

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• LynCod
• Reviews: 36

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Inner Cabin: Ms Nordnorge

I stayed in an inner cabin without windows, the cheapest available. It was compact,well furnished, bed comfortable and bathroom and shower was fine. It would have been tight with two people sharing but managable.
There were no tea and coffee making facilities in the cabin but free tea,coffee,water and food(sandwiches at night,biscuits & cakes) was available on Deck 4 - 24 hours a day on the Shackleton's Antarctica Reversed voyage. Apparently this free service is not always available on other trips by this ship.
Very little time was spent in the cabin so not being able to see outside was not a problem, i was on deck 6 & could shoot out to the rear deck in a few seconds to see anything important.

The telephone in the cabin you could set so you could hear all the tannoy announcements(calls for landing groups,whale spotted etc) & it also provided one radio channel. You could buy a telephone card for approx £10 for 40 mins so you could ring home, very reasonable considering the distances involved, calls passed through Norway then on to the country you call. Mobile phones work fine, but extremely high cost so would not recommend, texts are a better idea.

• Opinion of Price: about average
• Related to: Eco-Tourism, Sailing and Boating
• Written April 5, 2008

Inner cabin

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• Anita_Porec
• Reviews: 345

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MS Explorer: "The little red ship"

Twin cabin. Good. Small but functional.
Clean with lots of storage space.
Bathroom w/shower.
Has a port hole...but so do all cabins.

Channel #4

If you feel seasink, or just sick...or whatever your excuse for not gettig out of bed,
you can listen to all lectures live on #4

100 Passengers. Very intimate and friendly.

Staff will notify you by shipwide announcment every time they spot whales, seals, etc.... so you can run on the deck and enjoy.
They will aloso notify you about sunrises ...every morning.
(note, sunrise in Antarctica can be at 3h...4h...5h....)

• Opinion of Price: less expensive than average
• Related to: Adventure Travel, Eco-Tourism, Whale Watching
• Written March 14, 2007

ms Explorer

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• peeweekathi
• Reviews: 27

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Polar Pioneer: Ship - Antarctic Voyage

I have just returned (Feb 12, 2007) after travelling on this ship in the Antarctic& it's a fantastic ship to travel on! Only 56 passengers maximum, so you get to know your fellow adventurers, so you all get to go ashore. I stayed in a triple share cabin, which was surprisingly roomy. It consisted on one single bed (stand alone) and a bunk bed. I scored the top bunk (I was the youngest & fittest to climb up & down!) and the bed was very comfortable. Desk & plenty of stowage space also in the rooms. The chefs cooked great, hearty, tasty meals, all day, everyday, we sat in very comfortable and well set up dining rooms and the meals & choices were great. Coffee, tea & biscuits always available. There is a fully stocked bar (which we kept open late each night) with plenty of seating and books, so you could just sit and relax at anytime, if you wanted to. Also had a 'cocktail of the day' to celebrate whatever that day's landings were! Lecture room for information sessions and movies, sauna to soothe our weary or cold bones, a hospital with qualified doctor on board (available all hours) and open access to the captain's bridge for all! Plenty of showers & toilets for those that have to share and I never had to wait! The Russian crew & housekeeping staff were fantastic. Not plush accomodations but I couldn't recommend a better ship to travel on!

This ship is an icebreaker, so we could cut through ice and access areas that others could not! We only saw one other ship, in the distance, on the return trip back to Ushuaia, so it was like we had the Antarctic to ourselves and on more than one occasion, we got really close to really large icebergs. Like I've already said, not plush accomodations, but with so much to see & do, we were barely in our rooms. So, to sum up it's unique quality, I'd have to say the access we had to the Antarctic and of course, the views!!

• Opinion of Price: about average
• Related to: Luxury Travel, Cruise, Adventure Travel
• Written February 11, 2007

The Polar Pioneer

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• toonsarah
• Reviews: 2396

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The Marco Polo: Facilities on board

There are as I’ve said elsewhere both pros and cons to choosing a larger cruise ship for your Antarctic expedition, and one of the pros is the range of facilities on board. On the Marco Polo these include:

Ambassador Lounge – a showroom with stage, piano, dance floor, bar, tiered seating, projection screen. This seats 438 and was the venue for the various lectures and talks as well as the evening shows and the Captain’s receptions.

Polo Lounge – our favourite spot – a piano bar with comfortable chairs and leather seats, cafe tables and full bar – plus those stunning ocean views.

The Charleston Club - a lounge on the aft-deck, with dance floor, banquette seating, full bar – used for the disco each evening, but we never got round to going.

Palm Court – a smaller lounge with rattan furnishings, where afternoon tea was served (we never had room to sample this) and the bridge club met.

Raffles – the informal bistro-style restaurant, with meals served buffet style. Opens onto the aft-deck, where hot drinks were available all day (and ice cream at lunch time!)

Seven Seas Restaurant – the main formal dining room with tables for 4, 6 or 8 (though we had a table to ourselves) and with large picture windows for more great views.

Library – small but well-stocked with international best-sellers, classics and travel books. Staffed at certain times of day, as advertised in the “Daily Program”. This was the place to pick up your free newssheet.

Aerobics studio and gym – various exercise classes took place here, plus a table tennis tournament and other activities.

Casino – with 23 slot machines and an ATM with a hefty surcharge – this proved invaluable though when we arrived back in Ushuaia and needed some cash.

Various shops – souvenirs, medical and beauty necessities, photo shop (film and cameras), boutique.

Spa and beauty centre – I had a great facial, much needed after all that exposure to the elements!

• Opinion of Price: less expensive than average
• Related to: Cruise
• Written February 10, 2007

Coffee on the aft-deck

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• toonsarah
• Reviews: 2396

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Marco Polo: Cabins

When booking a cruise one of the big decisions is which type of cabin to choose. This has a huge bearing on the price you will pay. The difference between a standard inside and outside cabin can be as much as £500 per person, and when you start to look at more luxurious rooms and suites the price really soars. We knew we wouldn’t be spending a lot of time in our cabin so we chose a standard inside one. It was small but comfortable and had everything we needed, but I did miss having some sort of view of the outside world – it felt quite claustrophobic and if possible another time I would find the extra money for an outside cabin of some sort.

We hadn’t been on a cruise before (or since) and were impressed by the level of service and attention we got. The cabin steward was so friendly and helpful but we never felt overwhelmed by attention. And despite regularly returning to the cabin in damp outerwear and those smelly Wellington boots, the place was always kept clean and welcoming.

• Opinion of Price: about average
• Related to: Cruise
• Written January 27, 2007

Our cabin on the Marco Polo

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• Veghel
• Reviews: 280

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• Veghel
• Reviews: 280

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Onboard Grigoriy Mikheev

The Grigoriy Mikheev, a Russian expedition vessel built in Finland in 1990, was our base for 11 days at Christmas 2005. It brought us from Ushuaia (southern Argentina) to Antarctica vice versa.

Grigoriy Mikheev is not a very luxurious ship, though definitely comfortable and very suitable for its purpose. Because of the small size, the atmosphere is great and you know all fellow passengers within one or two days. With 46 passengers, 6 staff and 20 crew, Grigoriy Mikheev is actually the smallest commercial ship travelling to Antarctica.

• Opinion of Price: less expensive than average
• Related to: Cruise, Luxury Travel, National/State Park
• Written September 23, 2006

Bar onboard Grigoriy Mikheev

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