*WDW*Groupie*
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
We leave for Antarctica a few days after you on Christmas. I was torn between A&K and Lindblad/NatGeo. I have heard nothing but good things about each of them. I would have loved to do A&K's Antarctica with South Georgia and the Falkland Islands tour. Alas, not enough vacay time for that one. We booked with Lindblad/NatGeo and are on the Orion expedition cruise. So far so good on our end with them. We did have to provide a medical consent form from our doctor stating we were healthy enough with no life threatening conditions and physically capable of handling the trip. Due to the PTO allotments from our jobs we opted not to add a pre or post stay to the trip. We will be flying from Miami into Santiago Chile and staying one night at the Santiago Mandarin Oriental. We haven't planned any day tours and will just do some exploring on our own or book something spur of the moment if available. Then we take a private charter plane to Ushuaia and embark on the Orion.
As for packing, DH is renting the waterproof boots, pants etc from them. They provide the waterproof parkas when we arrive which we get to keep. Nice touch! I'm renting the boots but not the pants. At 5 feet tall, they will certainly be too long. I am currently purchasing online and narrowing down which waterproof pants look the least hideous. Everything I've read states casual for the trip because it is an expedition ship. None the less, I will bring a couple of slightly dressier sweaters and wear them with black jeans for New Year's eve and my 50th birthday on New Year's Day. DH is happy he doesn't have to dress up. It's just as well that we don't need really dressy clothes too like a suit or dress. Less to pack which is fine since we are in steerage for this trip. Our cabin is only 175 sq feet.
I am excited to hear about your trip and look forward to your feedback! A&K is still on my radar for other trips down the line.
It is too bad we didn't end up on the same trip! We looked at Nat Geo as well, but S. Georgia and the Falkland Islands sold us on A&K. My dd went on a Nat Geo student expedition in the summer and she LOVED it. I found them to be fantastic to deal with.
Interestingly A&K provides the boots, pants and walking sticks (as free rentals - which will be on the ship for us when we get there), but I had to bring my own pants because I need a 35" inseam and the ones they provide are only 31.5" and I am very self conscious about pants that are too short. Parkas are also provided that we get to keep. No medical forms needed, but they did need to see our proof of insurance with evidence of $50,000.00 med evacuation coverage (the insurance cost me just over $1,000.00 ).
I can't wait to see your pics and hear about your trip. Ours is supposed to be casual as well, but I've been in the situation with "casual" trips before where I only had jeans and other guests really dress up. So I am taking a nice skirt, black tights and a few sweaters that I can wear with boots on my birthday, Christmas and New Years!
I didn't know you were a Capricorn as well! Happy early 50th birthday to you! What a great way to spend your special birthday!