Arctic cruise research

[love_the_life]

Is that medical form for Ponant required for all their cruiases, or was it specific for the Antarctic one?

From what I gather, specific for Antarctica. It is listed in the cruise contract info so should be easy to check if needed for anywhere else.
Sikversea (and others) have them but you can fill them out yourself not have to rely on the GP.

 

[k_sheep]

From what I gather, specific for Antarctica. It is listed in the cruise contract info so should be easy to check if needed for anywhere else.
Sikversea (and others) have them but you can fill them out yourself not have to rely on the GP.

Not required for our Ponant South Georgia/Antarctica itinerary in dec 2022.

Definitely want to do Svalbard et al soon ... just keeping an eye out for good deals!

 

[love_the_life]

Not required for our Ponant South Georgia/Antarctica itinerary in dec 2022.

Definitely want to do Svalbard et al soon ... just keeping an eye out for good deals!

Interesting you didn't require this - maybe Ponant has changed its requirement. It was a bit of a pain as I don't attend a GP often at all and so she was a bit miffed at having to fill out the form.

 

[k_sheep]

Yes I think it must be recently changed; we had some paperwork that said you needed an ECG before being allowed to do the polar plunge. I asked the travel agent to clarify that, and they said no longer required.

Not that we got to do it - never had a weather window. So have to go back! (have done arctic, need to do antarctic).

 

[RooFlyer]

we had some paperwork that said you needed an ECG before being allowed to do the polar plunge

I didn't need an ECG to know that my cardiologist would say "no".

 

[k_sheep]

I didn't need an ECG to know that my cardiologist would say "no".

Currently my cardiologist is my landlord / roommate .... and he loves my cooking so I reckon I'd get away with it

Sooooo .... anyone found any good deals lately? I'm unashamed to admit I'll jump on someone elses bandwagon ...

 

[RooFlyer]

As a solo traveller, the Ponant voyage I linked to in post 20 is good deal ( no single supplement - and a number of voyages at that time to choose from) but for a couple that might just be meh.

I avoided any cruise that spent more than one night in Iceland as I’ve been there a couple of times already. I really wanted to include Greenland with Svalbard, but that was nearly impossible except for a long, very expensive cruise.

 

[smckay]

I have booked this cruise (no single supplement ) , and will take my chances on French lectures etc. May be different date.

Cruise Fjords and glaciers of Spitsbergen from Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen to Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen - June 2025 | Ponant

Somewhere in the High Arctic, between 76 and 80 degrees latitude North, Spitsbergen, meaning "pointed mountains”, awaits you for seven days of unforgettable travel looking out for wild life. You will lift the anchor in Longyearbyen, where colourful wooden

uk.ponant.com

We booked the Northeast passage with Ponant and were very disappointed. It turned into the Northwest passage after Putin decided to ruin the sandpit and we went the other way over Canada.
The Arctic is very different to the Antarctic - barren, rocky, mainly flat and not as picturesque.
The locals also treat the place as a rubbish tip and leave all sorts of junk around

Our Antarctic cruise with Ponant was 11/10 but the Arctic was frankly 5/10. Ran out of booze, didn't lodge paperwork so we couldn't dock/leave, Canada Customs were mucked around so we all sat doing nothing whilst they found whatever wasn't ready and made it ready, this broke, that failed....
TBH this was straight after COVID and things were still getting settled but the cost vs. delivery was just not there.
The French side I ignore, they waffle on for 10 minutes then say the same thing in English in one sentence. But I saw what I want, drank and ate what I wanted to and we didn't sink so I call that a success. Except that time the expedition leader made us all wait for a loooong time whilst the crew filmed a dead carcass on a lake floor for promotional vids leaving us hoping the group of Polar bears on the far shore stayed a while. French arrogance at its' finest, the UK zodiac driver nearly had a coronary when I gave him my best Aussie encouragement to get the flock outta there and forget Rene.

 

[aplmac]

Just completed a Quark Arctic Expedition cruise in June this year, their Arctic 2024 Introduction to Spitsbergen (Longyearbyen, Svalbard). Brilliant and highly recommended. About 175 passengers, 10 days, very well organised and executed. Yes, did the Arctic Plunge! Yes, saw polar bears up close.
Heading back to Norway in January to do a Hurtigruten "mail boat" Northern Lights cruise along the west coast of Norway from Bergen to Kirkenes then overland down to Helsinki

 

[RooFlyer]

The French side I ignore, they waffle on for 10 minutes then say the same thing in English in one sentence.

I know what you mean! When I lived in Ontario, I used to go on some geological excursions and commentary at various stops was given to separate groups in English and French. The English was always much shorter than the French

My cruise begins and ends in Svalbad (flights from/to Paris, so organisationally uncomplicated. My Ponant Kimberley cruise Darwin-Broome was fine, except for the captain, a very arrogant merde .

For the price (especially no SS) and itineraries Ponant fits my bill OK; known faults but can accommodate them. I've just booked Ponant again for Dec 2025, east across the Indonesian archipelago, Bali-Cairns (and its the dry season there, then, not wet).

Going to a Ponant seminar in Brisbane in November where their chief expedition guy will be on. I have some suggestions for him

I will be interested to see your final itinerary. It’s a long way for 7 nights; will you add on something else?

A couple of days in Paris to adjust, then fly to Dubrovnik to do a 11 day Exodus small group tour of the Balkans (booked that for last year but had to return home the day before due to an emergency), then 4 days checking out the chateaux of the Loire, then back to Paris, fly to Longyearbyen and the cruise, back to Paris onto Barcelona, 5 days around there and Andorra, meeting, I hope, the family I met on my Namibia tour . Then back to Paris and fly home.

A bit over a month.

 

[VPS]

A couple of days in Paris to adjust, then fly to Dubrovnik to do a 11 day Exodus small group tour of the Balkans (booked that for last year but had to return home the day before due to an emergency), then 4 days checking out the chateaux of the Loire, then back to Paris, fly to Longyearbyen and the cruise, back to Paris onto .

Happy to discuss the chateaux of the Loire and accommodation

 

[RooFlyer]

Happy to discuss the chateaux of the Loire and accommodation

See you at dinner at the Brunswick. I’ll bring my notepad.

 

[VPS]

See you at dinner at the Brunswick. I’ll bring my notepad.

No problems. I'll make a few notes if I can