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Before going on the expedition cruise to Antarctica I am just back from, I rather naively thought that an expedition cruise was basically a regular cruise that went to more remote destinations. I was wrong. And here is why and what would have been good to have known.
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0:00
before going on the expedition cruise to
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antarctica i'm just back from i rather
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naively thought that an expedition
0:05
cruise was basically a regular cruise
0:07
that went to more remote destinations i
0:10
was wrong as you're about to find out by
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the way if you're new here welcome
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aboard i'm gary bembridge and it's my
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goal to help make it easier and more fun
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to discover plan and enjoy unforgettable
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cruise vacations like expedition ones
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before i get into some of the unexpected
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aspects of expedition cruising let me
0:27
quickly address some of the more obvious
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ones even though i probably hadn't
0:31
realized the significance of them all
0:33
when i went first of all an expedition
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cruise costs much more per day than a
0:38
regular cruise an antarctic cruise for
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example tools of the arctic will set you
0:43
back around 1 000
0:45
u.s dollars per day per person based on
0:48
dual occupancy of an ocean view cabin
0:50
one of the more affordable lines with
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flights and the cruise second while they
0:54
go to harder and more remote places like
0:56
the arctic antarctica collapse against
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greenland and canadian northwest passage
1:01
i see you can also go on expedition
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crews to places the regular cruises go
1:04
like alaska iceland and the amazon
1:08
that brings me on to the third issue
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where the key difference between an
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expedition cruise is they use a
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different kind of ship in all of these
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places they're smaller to navigate into
1:17
more remote and harder to reach places
1:19
because some places actually restrict
1:21
the number of people that can visit or
1:23
permitted to do landings at any one time
1:25
they need to be smaller in antarctica
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for example
1:28
only 100 people are allowed on land at
1:31
any one time and so most expedition
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ships like pon and la le real i was on
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only carries a maximum of 200 guests to
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be able to kind of offer
1:40
the amount of landings and experiences
1:42
that everyone expects every day
1:44
larger ships in these areas tend to only
1:46
offer sail by scenic cruising for
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example
1:49
then there's a practical thing that
1:50
expedition ships have to have versus
1:52
regular cruise ships they have to have
1:54
strengthened holes if they're going to
1:56
go into the arctic or antarctica for the
1:58
ice they need shallow drafts so they can
2:00
get into smaller more remote places they
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need facilities like a mud room to clean
2:05
off your boots when coming back off land
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they also have to have room for the
2:08
zodiacs and cranes to lower and raise
2:11
the zodiacs into the water they have to
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have space to hold plenty of fuel and
2:15
food because they're going to cruise for
2:17
longer periods of time in areas without
2:19
the ability to restock most also have
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much more limited facilities than
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regular cruise ships usually just a main
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dining room maybe a buffet
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dining room a lounge a lecture theater a
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photo center a small spartan gym you're
2:34
not going to find things like casinos
2:35
and other kind of fancy facilities i
2:38
also found as i planned this last
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expedition cruise is that the most
2:42
established cruise lines in expedition
2:44
are very different to those in regular
2:46
cruising those well-established
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expedition lines include names like lin
2:50
blatt which also run national geographic
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quark uncruise abercrombie and kent
2:54
poloquest atlas aurora intrepid and so
2:58
on but slowly well in fact increasingly
3:01
quickly classic cruise lines are coming
3:03
into the space you've got celebrity who
3:04
degrades in hypergloyd pennant crystal
3:06
seabourn silversea viking most of these
3:10
regular classic cruise lines have
3:12
actually created a separate expedition
3:14
division which is also a clear signal
3:16
that things are incredibly different and
3:19
here's where it gets really interesting
3:21
and where i started to encounter
3:23
a lot of unexpected differences when i
3:26
go on a regular cruise to the caribbean
3:27
the mediterranean alaska and so on i
3:29
know day by day
3:31
where i'm going to be what time i'll be
3:32
getting there what i can do when i'm
3:34
there and what time i'll be leaving
3:36
many ships on these routes run the same
3:39
itinerary week after week and they will
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be
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at the same place at the same time every
3:43
single week
3:45
there may be of course some delays or
3:47
rate changes because of bad weather to
3:48
those itineraries our expedition leader
3:50
rafael who's been doing expedition
3:52
cruising for 12 years claimed that no
3:54
cruise he's done even to the same
3:56
destination in a season is the same as
3:58
the one before there's no fixed
3:59
itinerary there's just a set of goals
4:02
and a rough plan so for example he had
4:04
four goals for the trip that i've just
4:06
got back from to get us to south georgia
4:09
south orkneys the antarctic peninsula
4:11
and the south shetlands he then had a
4:13
rough plan of where we would be going
4:16
in each of those what we'd do when we
4:18
got there but he just didn't know and he
4:20
couldn't promise or guarantee anything
4:23
on expedition cruises like this they can
4:25
only properly plan the next day
4:28
based on the weather and ice that they
4:30
learn about the day before and even then
4:32
we had plans scrapped and changed on a
4:34
number of mornings because once we
4:36
arrived it was just not possible to do
4:38
because of wind the swell or the ice
4:41
there are no ports of call with docks on
4:43
expedition cruises like this when i was
4:45
on there are bays there's old whaling
4:47
stations research stations nesting areas
4:50
penguin colonies or places of historic
4:52
interest we literally just sell into a
4:54
remote spot gone to the zodiacs and went
4:56
exploring on a classic cruise when i get
4:59
my daily program i can be fairly sure
5:01
everything will run as advertised and on
5:04
time this is not the case on an
5:06
expedition cruise the daily program is a
5:09
guideline it's not set in stone and it
5:11
can and it will
5:13
change often
5:14
the other thing i found on an expedition
5:16
cruise which is different to classic
5:18
cruising is to expect sudden
5:20
interruptions and diversions for example
5:23
one lunch time sitting between gritviken
5:25
and santander's bay for our afternoon
5:27
landing we were interrupted by the
5:29
captain during lunch to say we were
5:31
diverting to follow some orca whales
5:34
this happened another evening during a
5:36
briefing we were having a briefing when
5:38
humpback whales were spotted and we
5:40
diverted to follow them and scrapped the
5:42
briefing while that took place another
5:44
unexpected diversion was just after
5:46
dinner one evening when the captain
5:48
announced he'd seen an area in vilamina
5:50
bay where he believed he could
5:52
physically push into the ice shelf and
5:54
let us step out of the ship and walk on
5:56
the ice which we did around 11 o'clock
5:58
at night so when you look at an
6:00
advertised itinerary for an expedition
6:02
cruise
6:03
the list of wildlife you're going to see
6:05
the places it says you will call on
6:07
understand it will be unpredictable
6:10
and definitely changeable another thing
6:13
driven home to me is that expedition
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cruising unlike regular cruising
6:17
has many risks they are higher for
6:21
travelers higher for the cruise line the
6:23
ship the crew and even the places you
6:26
call on in our first briefing we were
6:28
told repeatedly that safety is paramount
6:32
because going into a remote place means
6:34
that one person's misfortune affects
6:36
everybody
6:37
dramatically if someone's injured or
6:40
falls seriously ill the ship would have
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to leave the area and go and find help
6:45
we would have to turn around and had to
6:47
say to asshai in argentina or to the
6:49
falklands many hundreds or thousands of
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nautical miles away it would be at least
6:54
two days to get there on a regular
6:56
cruise it's closer to civilization and a
6:58
medevac or seeking attention at the next
7:01
port a day or so away is possible and
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the entire trip is not thrown off the
7:05
other difference related to this is to
7:07
go on expedition cruise like the one
7:08
hours on versus a regular cruise is i
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had to have much more pre-trip medical
7:13
screening for the trip i did on punant i
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had to have a full medical with my gp my
7:18
doctor who had to sign it off
7:20
saying i was fit and healthy to go
7:23
to do some optional activities like a
7:25
polar plunge or kayaking required even
7:27
more quite a hard scan the other thing
7:30
that really drove home to be the risk is
7:32
we had a series of mandatory briefings
7:34
never on a classic cruise do you see
7:36
anything other than the master drill
7:38
with the word mandatory included for
7:40
example we had a mandatory briefing
7:42
before we were allowed to get off the
7:43
ship in antarctica this is required by
7:46
the international association of
7:48
antarctic tour operators ayato founded
7:50
in 1991. this includes how to behave and
7:54
be safe on land which animals stay away
7:56
from how far to stay away from them what
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to do if they get aggressive and so on
8:01
we had another mandatory briefing where
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we had to go and learn how to get on and
8:05
off the zodiacs for example we then had
8:08
another mandatory activity where all the
8:10
clothes that we were going to wear
8:12
externally had to be checked screened
8:14
vacuumed
8:16
there are really strict rules to stop
8:18
the introduction of foreign plants or
8:19
seeds into antarctica and moving
8:21
anything like that between the different
8:23
sites
8:24
so we had our external clothes rucksacks
8:26
and so on screened and checked in fact a
8:28
couple of times during the cruise and
8:30
when we came back from each landing we
8:32
had to vigorously and rigorously clean
8:34
our boots there were strict rules on
8:37
each landing with areas kind of laid out
8:39
and marked where we could go and no
8:41
divergence was allowed because of the
8:43
risks whether it's slipping on the ice
8:44
or the rocks or being attacked by an
8:46
animal or whatever
8:47
the risks are greater and much more
8:50
intensely enforced compared to a classic
8:52
cruise another big thing i found out is
8:54
exactly how the cruise operates and the
8:56
priorities are very different on an
8:58
expedition versus the classic cruise the
9:01
ship becomes more of a floating
9:03
expedition base than a floating resort
9:05
as it's on as it is on a classic cruise
9:08
it's basically a place to rest relax and
9:10
be briefed between the different
9:12
explorations
9:13
this led to seven big differences i
9:15
discovered across my trip to the way
9:17
regular cruises run first there's no big
9:21
entertainment team which is fundamental
9:23
to a classic cruise instead it's
9:25
replaced by an expedition team on this
9:27
cruise i was on there were 14 in the
9:29
expedition team they were naturalists
9:32
historians bird experts geologists
9:35
marine biologists experts on glaciers
9:38
they are the entertainment entertainment
9:39
is enrichment not production shows
9:41
quizzes bingo and so on enrichment
9:44
lectures on a classic cruise is one of
9:46
the entertainment activities on an
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expedition cruise it is the
9:50
entertainment it is the star we did have
9:52
a bit of live music in the evenings in
9:54
the lounge by a small group of musicians
9:56
and singers but the focus was on the
9:58
talks and on the recaps
10:00
we had up to three lectures a day on sea
10:02
days we had briefings and recaps every
10:04
day based on what we'd seen that
10:06
particular day late nights and partying
10:09
are not a thing on expedition cruises
10:11
unlike on classic cruises secondly the
10:14
photographic team also plays a very
10:17
different role in expedition cruising
10:19
rather than taking pictures of me with a
10:21
captain or whatever they were always out
10:23
taking pictures of the wildlife and
10:25
making a video of the cruising
10:27
experience which of course are available
10:28
to buy still third in terms of
10:31
excursions that's a different thing as
10:33
well on a classic cruise i'm used to
10:35
choosing from a wide range of different
10:37
excursions in any particular port that's
10:40
not what happens on an expedition cruise
10:42
there was basically no choice of things
10:44
to do at a stop i could either take part
10:46
in what was on offer or not take part
10:50
there are three main things that
10:52
happened on this expedition cruise and
10:54
others first of all scenic cruising on
10:56
the ship secondly scenic cruising on
10:57
zodiacs and thirdly wet landings where i
10:59
got to hike or explore in a specific
11:02
area as i mentioned earlier the only
11:03
thing that was optional i could have
11:05
paid to go kayaking in a few spots the
11:08
magical thing for me anyway were the wet
11:11
landings as i could walk on amazing
11:13
beaches see seals penguins and walk
11:16
amongst them
11:17
i also enjoyed the cruising on the
11:18
zodiacs because i got to go and see some
11:20
of the wildlife like birds nesting on
11:22
cliffs close get closer up to icebergs
11:25
and glaciers the fourth key difference
11:27
is packing and clothes it's very
11:28
different to classic cruise the thing
11:31
that gets people worried on a classic
11:32
cruise is the dress code is it a smart
11:35
dress code is there a party night and so
11:37
on on expedition cruises it is different
11:40
first you have to pack very specific
11:42
gear for the region so for the antarctic
11:45
or the arctic i had to bring a series of
11:46
layers the base layers are kind of a
11:48
long john types of stuff then an
11:51
insulating layer then it has an outer
11:53
layer which had to be waterproof most of
11:56
these i had to provide for myself
11:59
most expedition cruisers give you the
12:01
big warm parker which is a bright color
12:04
normally red like the panant one the
12:07
idea is that everybody wears these
12:08
parkers and so on land they can see the
12:10
distance everybody very easily i had
12:13
brought my own boots because i had
12:14
bought them on a previous trip but
12:16
pennant did hire boots to say people
12:19
having to carry them because they're
12:20
pretty heavy to ensure people were
12:22
protected there was a list of mandatory
12:24
things we had to bring as a mandatory
12:26
packing list this included a head
12:28
covering a neck warmer not a scarf
12:30
because that could blow away waterproof
12:32
trousers thick socks waterproof gloves
12:35
inner gloves and the high boots because
12:37
you step off into water of the zodiacs
12:40
there's no mandatory list on a regular
12:42
cruise as even the dress code is largely
12:45
optional talking of dress code i soon
12:47
realized that on expedition cruise that
12:50
no one pays attention to the dress code
12:53
on penance the pre-cruise booklet spoke
12:55
at a length about dress codes for gala
12:57
nights smart casualness no jeans bring a
13:00
suit a tie and four more nights
13:02
nobody paid any attention
13:05
people like me were what we wanted to
13:07
it's because it's all about the
13:08
expedition it's all about having the
13:10
right clothes to go on the tour it's not
13:12
about the dress code back on the ship
13:14
fifthly interestingly dining and food is
13:16
also much less of a focus certainly i
13:18
found of course food is important and
13:20
the food is basically the same as on a
13:22
regular cruise but i've found a really
13:25
big shift in the role of dining on an
13:27
expedition cruise people want to go in
13:29
have lunch have dinner get to bed get
13:32
ready for the next day it was a chance
13:34
to of course socialize share experiences
13:36
from the day but its role
13:38
seemed much more functional i felt
13:40
anyway
13:41
sixthly unlike a regular cruise i found
13:43
that being active and mobile is really
13:46
key
13:46
to have the best and get the most from
13:50
an expedition cruise i had to climb in
13:52
and out of zodiacs often when there were
13:54
swells leap out into the shallow ocean
13:56
for the landing the landings usually
13:58
include hiking kind of up steep snow and
14:01
ice covered hills i did find expedition
14:04
versus regular cruising quite a tiring
14:06
process because it's so active often
14:08
with really early starts
14:10
next
14:11
one of the most important things i
14:13
learnt that's different between a
14:14
classic cruise and an expedition cruise
14:17
as we were advised to do this by the
14:19
expedition leader is the importance of
14:22
standing still and just looking
14:25
on a classic cruise we're all out
14:26
wanting to do things have fun enjoy
14:28
ourselves and to capture that however
14:31
what i realized on an expedition cruise
14:33
is the ultimate thing to do is to put my
14:36
camera down to stand and look at the
14:39
view
14:40
the incredible hill i've hiked up
14:42
the glacier watch the elephant seals the
14:45
antarctic fur seals the king penguins
14:47
and to slowly
14:49
take what is going in listen to the
14:51
sounds drinking the sights just stopping
14:54
standing still and taking it all in is
14:56
something that really matters on an
14:58
expedition cruise i had a number of
15:00
other incredible revelations based on my
15:02
expedition cruise which is in this video
15:05
starting with the biggest shock to me
15:07
around what man has done and is doing in
15:09
these regions see you over there
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