Pretty similar
Andrea
Although we had twice as many passengers there were 12 active zodiacs, so usually all that happened was that we were split in two groups of about 40-50 (some people didn't do the trips), with 8 to 10 on a zodiac. The zodiac then went in two's when cruising our groups were split into walk categories or given freedom to walk within a managed perimeter. As there is no current limits on how many people can be ashore (unlike Antarctica) then we didn't see any problems, other than if you were called second you had half an hour extra wait on deck and got back later. Being first or second out only made a difference once, when those of going out first got absoulutely soaked but saw two polar bears while those out second went another way stayed dry but got only one bear.
The itineray was pretty much two landings or zodiac cruises per day subject to ice, bears and weather.
We decided to do the circumnavigation so we would hopefully get to places like East Nordaustland and Kvitoya - and fortunatelty we were the first ship that year to manage it albeit that we had a full day sailing through up to 90% pack ice when as an ice strengthened ship we were meant to be avoiding anything greater than 60-70% density.
We also because of the slightly bigger passenger numbers had enough expedition staff to cover all the zodiacs and man shore perimeters plus a decicated ship photographer - who all gave interesting lectures in any down time in the discovery lounge.
There was also a small library.
Meals were a single sitting in a well appointed dinning area, all informal; breakfast and lunch were buffet, dinner was served by waiters from three choices one a vegetarian. We tended to sit at different tables each meal. You could actually see well from the dinning area and I saw one Bear and a couple of whales from here (we were usually always with our bins)
Tea and coffee were availble 24/7 and there was a bar with entertainment at night, one of the crew played.
There were four viewing areas two each Bow and Stern at different levels, and you could walk around deck.
(I learned that you should take the hand rail when going up and down no matter how calm).
All in all would recommend this ship for Arctic or Antarctic trips.
David
Could you say a bit more about the ship and operations on it?
I did a similar trip (but early in the season, so not the full circumnavigation, but basically going north from Longyearbyen, a bit into the Hinlopenstratet, a bit into the pack ice, and back), all in a week.
At the time, there were a number of ice-strengthened Russian-owned (but leased by Western companies) boats taking about 50-odd passengers doing these trips.
The number of passengers has an impact when it comes to boarding everybody into zodiacs, for example. With our numbers that worked okay. The ships allowed wildlife watching in the open day either from the bow, or from a deck above that. Shared spaces were two `dining rooms' (everything was very informal), a place where one could get hot drinks, with a small library, and a presentation room in the bowels of the boat. I understand that EU legislation came in that meant these ships would have to be equipped with expensive sprinkler systems in order to operate in these waters, and now these trips are run by boats with roughly twice the number of passengers.
We typically had two outings per day (one in the morning, one in the afternoon), which were either landings or zodiac cruises. (A number of pictures from this trip back in 2006 have recently been added to my gallery.) I've wondered what travelling on the bigger boats is like now, and I'd appreciate some info on that.
In terms of species sighted we're pretty much on a par, although we didn't have ringed seal (and I didn't manage to get onto the only Sabine's gull of the trip).
Andrea
Andrea
Although we had twice as many passengers there were 12 active zodiacs, so usually all that happened was that we were split in two groups of about 40-50 (some people didn't do the trips), with 8 to 10 on a zodiac. The zodiac then went in two's when cruising our groups were split into walk categories or given freedom to walk within a managed perimeter. As there is no current limits on how many people can be ashore (unlike Antarctica) then we didn't see any problems, other than if you were called second you had half an hour extra wait on deck and got back later. Being first or second out only made a difference once, when those of going out first got absoulutely soaked but saw two polar bears while those out second went another way stayed dry but got only one bear.
The itineray was pretty much two landings or zodiac cruises per day subject to ice, bears and weather.
We decided to do the circumnavigation so we would hopefully get to places like East Nordaustland and Kvitoya - and fortunatelty we were the first ship that year to manage it albeit that we had a full day sailing through up to 90% pack ice when as an ice strengthened ship we were meant to be avoiding anything greater than 60-70% density.
We also because of the slightly bigger passenger numbers had enough expedition staff to cover all the zodiacs and man shore perimeters plus a decicated ship photographer - who all gave interesting lectures in any down time in the discovery lounge.
There was also a small library.
Meals were a single sitting in a well appointed dinning area, all informal; breakfast and lunch were buffet, dinner was served by waiters from three choices one a vegetarian. We tended to sit at different tables each meal. You could actually see well from the dinning area and I saw one Bear and a couple of whales from here (we were usually always with our bins)
Tea and coffee were availble 24/7 and there was a bar with entertainment at night, one of the crew played.
There were four viewing areas two each Bow and Stern at different levels, and you could walk around deck.
(I learned that you should take the hand rail when going up and down no matter how calm).
All in all would recommend this ship for Arctic or Antarctic trips.
David
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