I had the chance to cruise aboard the small and trendy SH Vega for his or her 10-night Antarctic Discovery Expedition Cruise in November 2022. We have been one of many first expedition ships to go to throughout the Antarctic summer time season, and it was simply the second time the SH Vega cruised within the Antarctic area.
Late November is a perfect time to go to Antarctica by small ship, with seas iced-up from the tough winter, glaciers and mountains glistening with sensible white and shades of blue. Plus, the penguins return from the ocean to be reunited with their lifelong mating companions. You’ll possible get to see the penguin mating ritual – which is kind of fascinating, as you go to the varied Gentoo penguin colonies.
About the Swan Hellenic SH Vega
Swan Hellenic operates SH Minerva and SH Vega within the Antarctic, two an identical 5-star Polar Code PC 5 expedition cruise ships with ice-strengthened hulls. Both accommodate 152 friends in 76 suites and staterooms, the bulk with giant balconies. A barely bigger PC 6 ice-class vessel, SH Diana, accommodating 192 friends with 96 staterooms and suites can be launching in 2023. All their ships have extra-large stabilizers to make cruising as easy as potential.
Most of the 76 staterooms on the SH Vega are 302 sq. foot balcony staterooms, and there are 6 bigger suites and 16 ocean view staterooms, together with one that’s wheelchair accessible. Adjoining staterooms can be found for households. Children over 8 years of age are welcome aboard, though no kids have been on our crusing.
Accommodations – My Stateroom
Located mid-ship, my balcony stateroom #609, had 2 single beds configured aspect by aspect to create one king mattress, a cushty rest room with bathe stall, a pair of huge closets with sturdy wooden hangers, and a great deal of area to retailer footwear, clothes and expedition gear. I had not seen this a lot well-designed space for storing in a ship stateroom earlier than.
One unusually sensible characteristic in our stateroom was a heavy curtain that could possibly be drawn between the bed room and the sitting space with a desk and small couch, providing some separation when two friends share the cabin. The desk had a built-in make-up mirror compartment and an espresso machine. I used to be in a position to get pleasure from an espresso on our non-public balcony in an opulent bathrobe with out disturbing my sleeping husband.
Exploring the SH Vega
Deck 3 is basecamp for all water-based actions, together with Zodiacs and kayaks and is provided with private lockers to retailer boots, parkas and different tools. The magnificence salon, science lab and library are additionally on this deck.
The Swan Dining Room and reception space are on Deck 4 together with staterooms and the launderette, which is free for visitor use together with detergent.
Deck 7 is the place we spent most of our time whereas aboard. With the big, cozy Observation Lounge that includes panoramic home windows, entry to outside heated areas and an out of doors viewing platform, this deck was ultimate for shows, mingling and enjoyable. The Pool Grill and Cafe, additionally on Deck 7 served lights snacks all through the day, and tea service each afternoon from 4-6 pm. The outside pool was heated and the seating space across the bar had overhead radiant warmth offering for consolation whereas having fun with drinks or eating alfresco!
The wellness middle and sundeck are positioned on Deck 8 and embrace an indoor health club with state-of-the-art health tools and weights. There can be a sauna room with giant home windows and an out of doors scorching tub. An outside sunbathing and stargazing space, with a helipad within the occasion of emergency, may be accessed by stairs on Deck 9.
What is Expedition Cruising?
Expedition cruising is among the quickest rising kinds of cruises. The ships used on these cruises are way more subtle than your common cruise ship, which permits them to navigate near shore in shallow waters. This allows passengers to journey through Zodiac to the shore and discover distant pure environments, and return again to their ship in time for lunch!
The chief of our expedition workforce, Sam was from Quebec City, Canada, and the 12 members of his worldwide workforce hailed from the UK, USA, Netherlands, Russia, Ukraine, Italy and South Africa. Expert photographers, polar meteorologists, ornithologists, naturalists and polar area specialists accompanied us on the Zodiacs and through our landings, and likewise enriched our cruise with fascinating shows.
No two expedition cruises are the identical
Expedition cruises have a level of spontaneity to them, on account of altering climate and water circumstances. We listened intently at every night briefing for the expedition chief to inform us our plans for the following day. While an itinerary is marketed and a every day program was delivered to our staterooms, we had little doubt there can be adjustments and a few disappointments.
For instance, we couldn’t depart the ship for a day and a half on account of unsafe climate circumstances. While disappointing, we understood that we have been crusing within the Antarctic and that the precedence of the captain and the expedition workforce was security. The real-time changes primarily based on climate, wildlife, snow and ice be sure that no two voyages are ever the identical.
Pack your sense of journey and be ready for surprises alongside the way in which.
Our Daily Routine
A breakfast buffet began our day, adopted by dressing in our expedition gear for a morning tour. We left the ship by Zodiac to both do a touchdown the place walkers stayed largely on the rocky seashores, and hikers climbed up the neatly cleared paths to achieve the snow-covered peaks. Some days when a touchdown was deemed too difficult and unsafe, we stayed on the Zodiacs for an tour on the water to see glaciers and wildlife, and the kayakers glided alongside the frigid icy waters beside us.
Watching penguins going about their every day routine of mating, bowing to their companions, and carrying stones to construct nests for his or her eggs was a spotlight. Spotting elusive forms of seals lazing on bergy bits and ice flows was tougher than discovering hundreds of penguins of their pungent smelling colonies.
We may keep on shore for just a few hours, nevertheless, Zodiacs shuttled passengers again to the ship at common intervals in the event that they felt chilly or received moist.
Lunch was all the time served on board both within the Swan Dining Room or on sunny days exterior on the aft on the pool grill. I selected eating al fresco, even with snow falling round us on the deck. Overhead heaters stored us fairly snug at our tables.
The afternoons have been typically a repeat of our morning routine, returning to the SH Vega between 4-5 pm. A debrief of the day and a preview of the following day’s plans was attended by most friends at 6:30 pm within the Observation Lounge, adopted by cocktails and dinner at 7pm.
A singer/pianist entertained within the lounge with loud dance events nightly. There was even a pajama social gathering on the dance flooring with friends in bathtub robes and slippers partying late into the evening, one thing not typical for an expedition cruise. The demographic on our crusing ranged from 17 to virtually 80 years of age, and a minimum of half of the friends onboard have been beneath the age of 40!
Dining
With three eating venues, the Swan Restaurant, Club Lounge and Pool Bar & Grill, there’s one thing for everybody. For early risers, a light-weight breakfast choice was additionally accessible within the Club Lounge. At 7:30am within the Swan Restaurant, a full breakfast could possibly be ordered a la carte on the desk, or from a big buffet that included fruit, yogurt, breads, pastries and eggs.
We loved lunch al fresco on the Pool Bar and Grill when the climate cooperated.
Dinner was served within the Swan Restaurant from a menu that included every day specials.
A alternative of two crimson and two white complementary wines have been provided by the wait employees – nevertheless, for wine aficionados a cellar of classic wines, premium spirits and craft beers have been additionally accessible, at extra cost.
You can even select to get pleasure from your meals with the 24-hour room service.
Itinerary Review
From Ushuaia it took us two full days to cross the notorious Drake Passage. Many passengers, together with my husband, have been seasick, retaining the ship’s physician very busy attending to their wants and offering medicine. This is among the downsides of Antarctic journey, nevertheless this was our third time and we can’t wait to return.
Our itinerary referred to as for us to go to the South Shetland Islands as soon as throughout the Drake Passage, nevertheless, because of the climate forecast, our Captain modified our itinerary to go to the South Shetland Islands on the finish of the cruise as an alternative. You ought to count on to have your itinerary modified – particularly so in case you are touring between November and December.
On the morning of our third day, we crossed the 60th parallel and have been formally in Antarctica to make our first morning touchdown at Mikkelsen Harbor with penguins greeting us of their small colonies. Some passengers kayaked across the space and have been additionally in a position to do a touchdown. During lunch the ship repositioned to Curtiss Bay the place we have been solely in a position to do a zodiac cruise to see seals and penguins on ice flows.
The following day we arrived in Neko Harbor, the place solely Zodiac cruising was provided within the morning. From our zodiacs on our two-hour cruise, we noticed big sleeping humpback whales in a bay that was surrounded by jagged icy mountains.
Over lunch the ship repositioned to Paradise Harbor, one of the vital well-known locations in Antarctica, for a continental touchdown. We had 3 continental landings deliberate on this itinerary (Neko Harbor, Paradise Harbor and Portal Point) nevertheless Paradise Harbor was the one one we have been in a position to full because of the climate. We hiked round Paradise Bay with teams of Gentoo penguins throughout us. Some friends tried to achieve the hilltop which was fairly a climb!
The subsequent day we loved a touchdown at Damoy Point. We visited the previous Damoy Hut utilized by earlier explorers and scientists, after which did a mild hike to look at the penguin shenanigans and admire the breathtaking snow-covered surroundings surrounding us. Some used mountain climbing poles offered by Swan Hellenic.
During lunch the ship repositioned to Port Lockroy to go to the Penguin Post Office and the British Museum. I bought and mailed postcards to my grandchildren there. Once once more, we have been surrounded by gentoo penguins, all the time yielding the best of approach to penguins working up and down their “penguin highways”.
Reaching Enterprise Island for our final operation, we did a Zodiac cruise within the morning to see an previous coal shipwreck with a small sailboat tethered to it. We additionally visited Foyn Harbor, higher often called the Iceberg Graveyard, with probably the most spectacular blue-colored icebergs throughout us. By the afternoon we have been in Portal Point nevertheless it was unsafe for any excursions.
We cruised close to Half Moon Bay and Deception Island, nevertheless as soon as once more the climate didn’t cooperate and the swells have been too excessive to enterprise off the ship. We waited for two hours however the precarious climate circumstances have been altering quickly and the captain lastly determined to proceed into the Drake Passage for our return to Ushuaia.
Cruising the Drake Passage, the captain routed us by Cape Horn, Chile. Some friends attended shows within the lounge whereas others, like us, watched on the TV screens in our staterooms.
The SH Vega was a perfect expedition ship for this Antarctic journey. It felt intimate and private always, and every part was top notch, with attentive housekeeping and restaurant employees, together with educated and skilled expedition workforce members. If you’re fascinated by an expedition crise to see what others don’t within the polar areas or different off-the-beaten-path locations, and you’ve got the will to do it in luxurious and luxury, selecting one in all Swan Hellenic’s expedition ships can be a wonderful choice.
All images credit score Judi Cohen except in any other case famous. Cover photograph SH Vega ready patiently as passengers are mountain climbing with penguins.
Ed. Note: See Swan Hellenic cruises right here Swan Hellenic Cruises (cruisecompete.com)
About Swan Hellenic
Swan Hellenic was relaunched in July 2020 to proudly proceed the spirit of cultural expedition cruising the corporate pioneered within the Fifties. Building on its British roots, the brand new firm has a world cultural cruising outlook devoted to offering friends with the chance to ‘see what others don’t’.
Swan Hellenic’s purpose-built ships characteristic elegant Scandi-design interiors, in depth outside areas and devoted expedition services. SH Minerva and SH Vega, two new 5-star Polar Code PC 5 expedition cruise ships with ice-strengthened hulls, respectively launched in December 2021 and July 2022, every accommodate 152 friends in 76 spacious suites and staterooms, the bulk with giant balconies. A barely bigger PC 6 ice-class vessel, SH Diana, accommodating 192 friends in the identical distinctive consolation and magnificence in 96 staterooms and suites can be arriving in early 2023.
All three ships characteristic 3 eating venues – the Swan Restaurant, Club Lounge and Pool bar & Grill – and are being in-built full compliance with SOLAS Safe Return to Port necessities. Dedicated to friends with a ardour for journey and cultural exploration, the corporate’s meticulously deliberate itineraries discover the wild landscapes, wildlife, peoples and distinctive cultures of the world’s much less traveled areas.
The crews every embrace a workforce of 12 seasoned expedition guides, skilled audio system and lecturers, for a complete complement of 120 and 140 individuals respectively, providing excellent staff-to-guest ratios to ship the best requirements of attentive private service.
Headquartered in Cyprus with workplaces in London, Dusseldorf, Monaco, Fort Lauderdale (serving the North America market) and Hong Kong (serving mainland China, Taiwan, Vietnam and South-East Asia), in addition to partnerships serving India, Japan and Australia-New Zealand, Scandinavia and Iceland, Swan Hellenic helps the journey commerce with specialist native companions to offer prospects with skilled private service worldwide.
Ed. Note: See Swan Hellenic cruises right here Swan Hellenic Cruises (cruisecompete.com)
Also see: Welcome Aboard Swan Hellenic’s Chic New Expedition Ship SH Vega – All Things Cruise