Final thoughts and helpful tips - Icebergs and Penguins - 14
Final thoughts and helpful tips
Even though I usually don't write a separate section with a conclusion and further tips, I'd like to make an exception this time.
Was this the “trip of a lifetime”?
For many of the passengers, it probably was, simply because of the cost involved. But I also didn’t meet a single person who was unhappy with the trip itself. If you’ve read the entire report, you already know that includes me.
What you see and experience here can’t be found anywhere else. Not even in the Arctic. On the contrary - I’ve heard several comments from travelers who went north after visiting Antarctica and were extremely disappointed.
For some people, however, it wasn’t the trip of a lifetime. There were quite a few re-visitors.
Are cruises a good fit for someone who likes to organize things on his own?
First, it’s important to note that an expedition cruise has little in common with a typical cruise. Perhaps the closest part would be the itinerary during the arrival and departure.
The trip itself was tightly organized. Given the restrictions in Antarctica, it is impossible to do otherwise. But once you’re ashore, you can move around relatively freely within the given boundaries. You go from station to station at your own pace instead of trudging behind a guide.
There was quite a bit of entertainment on board. However, this usually consists of lectures. There’s simply no space for shows or anything like that. The music consists mainly of piano and guitar.
Apart from that, the level of service is exceptional, but never intrusive. Everything is geared toward ensuring the guest has a wonderful time. Or as our captain, Jörn Gottschalk, ended each of his messages: “Whatever you do, enjoy your life.”
As a first-timer on a cruise ship - and especially on one of the HANSEATIC ships - I had quite a few questions. So here are a few tips, which, of course, are based solely on the experiences of this trip.
The Ship
I’m not going to include a detailed description of the ship here. You can find plenty of ship and cabin tours [↗] on YouTube; while they date back to when the ship was first commissioned, they’re still valid.
But here are a few notes anyway: A (small) section of the bathroom wall is heated. Great for drying a T-shirt or your merino underwear. There’s also a retractable clothesline in the shower area. However, there are no guest washing machines or similar facilities. Anything that can’t be washed in the sink has to be handed in.
One of the tips you read everywhere is to bring magnets and hooks. I never needed mine. For one thing, the walls are partially covered and therefore no longer magnetic. For another, there’s so much storage space that I never felt the need to attach anything to the wall.
The issue of noise might also be worth mentioning. I never heard anything from the neighboring cabins. Almost every hotel could take a leaf out of their book. It’s a bit noisier from the corridor, but unless you have a very unfavorable location, there isn’t much traffic in the hallways either.
On the flip side, the ship constantly makes noises. It creaks here and groans there, and often you can’t even pinpoint where it’s coming from. It gets extreme in rough seas and when the ship is moving through ice. Then there can even be some pretty heavy bumps. Depending on the cabin’s location, the anchor can also make quite some noise when it’s being raised or lowered.
If you’re sensitive to noise, you should definitely bring earplugs.
Dress Code
The official dress code is smart casual. However, there were differing statements about what to wear at events or in specialty restaurants.
I brought a jacket and wore it twice. I wasn’t overdressed, but I was definitely the exception. Someone wearing a tuxedo or even just a tie would stand out considerably.
Fabric pants (sometimes jeans), T-shirts, dress shirts, or polo shirts, and sweaters were the standard for men. Similar attire applied to women. Shorts, flip-flops, and alike are not welcome - especially not in the evening. Given the cruise route, this wasn’t really an issue anyway. Nevertheless, it was mentioned in one of the daily programs “due to recent events”.
Food
The food is high-quality and varies. Especially in the evening at the full-service and specialty restaurants, it’s at a Michelin-star level.
Until the end of last year, all beverages outside the minibar in the cabin had to be paid for. Since the beginning of the year, water, juices, soft drinks, etc., are free of charge. This didn’t quite work out during the trip and was only sorted out in the final bill. The prices for alcoholic beverages are comparable to those in a restaurant on land.
Aboard the HANSEATIC inspiration, no one will suffer from hunger. If anything, you’re more likely to have trouble maintaining your weight. Here’s an overview of the options on a typical day
- 7:00-10:00 a.m. Early Bird Breakfast
- 7:30-10:00 a.m. Breakfast buffet in the buffet restaurant
- 8:00-9:30 a.m. Breakfast buffet in the full-service restaurant
- 10:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Late risers’ breakfast
- 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Hot broth at the pool bar
- 12:30-2:00 p.m. Lunch buffet
- 12:30-1:30 p.m. Lunch in the full-service restaurant
- 1:00-5:00 p.m. Homemade soft-serve ice cream
- 3:00-5:00 p.m. Coffee and cake
- 3:00-5:00 p.m. Homemade waffles
- 7:00-9:00 p.m. Dinner in the buffet, full-service, and specialty restaurants
+ 24-hour cabin service
I only tried a fraction of these options.
Passengers
Even though the HANSEATIC ships are designed for more passengers, only 199 passengers (or 200 - there are differing claims) are taken to Antarctica. I already explained the reasons for this at the beginning of the report. My trip was fully booked.
As expected, most guests came from Germany, Austria or Switzerland, though the proportion of Swiss passengers was surprisingly high. A large tour group came from China. They even had their own translator/tour leader with them. In total, the passengers came from 15 countries.
Since the beginning of the year, all Hapag-Lloyd cruises are bilingual. This ship even has both European and American power outlets. All announcements are in German and English, and the lectures are also offered in both languages.
According to the hotel director, there were 120 solo travelers on board. Since the ship doesn’t have that many cabins, this likely includes friends traveling together, mother-daughter pairs, and similar groups. I’d estimate the number of true solo travelers to be around 30-40.
Age-wise, the majority were probably between 50 and 70, with a few younger or older. Only the Chinese passengers significantly lowered the average age.
Very few were in top physical shape. However, very few were truly overweight either. Most people were generally quite fit. Of course, exceptions prove the rule, which was especially evident when boarding the Zodiacs at the beach. But with the sailors’ help, everyone made it on board 😉.
Three people stood out: a woman with limited mobility and two older men who could barely walk upright. Nevertheless, they joined many of the excursions. Whether that was wise in the face of ice and snow (and hundreds of kilometers from a decent hospital) is a question everyone must answer for oneself.
Photo Equipment
Finally, a few words about photography equipment:
Approximately half of the passengers took photos with their cell phones. Perhaps another 30% had compact cameras or small DSLRs. The rest came with serious gear, some even with extreme focal lengths.
The advantage of a trip to Antarctica is that the animals are relatively unafraid. It’s rather a problem to maintain the required distances. Nevertheless, long focal lengths make sense for certain motifs.
Bringing a tripod would be unnecessary or even a hindrance.
For those who are interested: I took a 24-240mm lens on a full-frame camera and a 100-400mm lens with a 1.4x converter on an APS-C camera. A few shots were taken with an iPhone 17 (mainly those from the ship) and a DJI Osmo Nano (for shots near the water in the Zodiac).
