We boarded the Hondius ship around 4:00 PM, with a 6:00 PM departure from the port of Ushuaia, Argentina. The first 2-full days on the ocean include sailing through the Beagle Channel, and the infamous Drake Passage, known for its unpredictable weather, rough seas, and strong winds.
I’m going to document the boarding process, cabin area, and a few other features of the amazing Hondius ship. While this won’t be nearly as exciting as the other photos and videos I’ll be sharing, some of you may be wondering how this process works, as well as what the cabins look like.
I’ll reveal the total cost I paid on my last Antarctica posting, which will be a few days from now. I know everyone wants to know about the costs involved, as it’s not cheap, but once your expedition is over, and you depart the ship, you come to realize it truly is one of the few pristine areas left in the world, you’re at a loss for words to attempt to explain the grandeur, the scope, the beauty, the images, the animals, the mountains and ice, the water, and Antarctica is absolutely, 100% worth every penny you spend.
After getting on board the Hondius ship, you’re given a plastic card and zip cord, which you attach to your belt. This is used to swipe each time you depart or enter the ship, for on board purchases, as well as for safety drills or emergency situations.
We watched a safety video, and also went through a safety drill, including putting on a life vest, and gathering in a pre-determined meeting area, based on what level your cabin is on.
The cabin I was assigned accommodates 2 passengers, so I shared this space with another guy. While the actual bed was small, there was an abundance of storage area, so much so that, even after unpacking, I had several bins left completely empty. The decent sized bathroom includes a nice sized shower. I didn’t feel crowded at all.
During one of the introductory talks, the passengers were invited to fully explore the ship, including the bridge (they asked that you request to visit a short time in advance, just in case they are navigating through a difficult waterway).
The bridge is really impressive, very large, great lines of site, and the captain couldn’t have been any more generous with his time, explaining what a number of the complex controls do or how they work.
Each day there were optional lectures on different subjects, including what types of wildlife and plants we might encounter, photo critics, messages about how to keep the Antarctica pristine, which is an absolute must, as well as many other informative topics.
Our ship held 197 passengers, and about 80+ crew members. Because of its overall small size, they call this an expedition ship.
Approximately 45,000 people visit Antarctica each year, according to the last set of statistics taken.
Antarctica Voyage by Bill: 2019
The Ship
Getting There: the Beagle Channel & the Drake Passage (Day 1 – 3)
As we were sailing east, we were informed that the ship had successfully added two additional ports. The first was Khasab, Oman and the other was a return to Abu Dhabi. “Khasab? Where’s that?”
Khasab (population: 17,700) is situated on a peninsula jutting into the entrance of the Strait of Hormuz. The peninsula is disconnected from the rest of Oman and is completely surrounded by the UAE.
loved the floor arrangement on the dhow
Rather than waste more time trying to cancel flights, we booked a 3 to 4 hour dhow trip ($25) at the port through the Strait of Hormuz, viewing what were called fjords, a dolphin area, and, what turned out to be, an opportunity to go snorkeling. Unfortunately we were not prepared for that.
gorgeous scenery all arounddolphins were quite playful
On the way back to the ship, we were able to see some of the town and visit a “hypermarket.”
Khasab ended up being the highlight of the whole trip – a relaxing day on a floating dhow surrounded by unspoiled natural wonders. We will be happy to repeat the experience if there ever is another chance.
In late 2019, or possibly early 2020, we came across what seemed like an amazing cruise deal. A 14 day round trip from Dubai, stopping at three ports (New Mangalore, Goa, Mumbai) in India, including an overnight in Mumbai, balcony cabin, for under $700 each, including taxes. This was on a cruise line we had never sailed on before, MSC, and one that didn’t have the best reputation, but the price was right and we had never been to India, so we obtained Indian visas and YK began planning the trip.
When we travel to a cruise, we always add other trips to each end to make the most of our plane fare. So YK dutifully booked an around the world itinerary. We were to fly to London (Gatwick), then take an almost 2 hour train and bus ride to Luton where we would catch a flight to Vilnius, Lithuania. After two nights in Vilnius we would join our cruise. Following the cruise we were to fly to India for two nights, then Bangkok for three nights, then back to LA, with a plane change in China. Things did not go as planned.
brown dots on this map show the actual route we ended up taking; the orange dots show the portion of the original plan that we had to give up.
The flight to Dubai (from Vilnius & via Stockholm) was another overnight flight arriving in the early morning. Since we couldn’t board the ship until mid afternoon, YK had arranged for a hotel room where we could nap. Unfortunately, when we got to the hotel we were told we couldn’t check in until 3, making the room useless. YK had explicitly arranged for a morning check-in, but the clerk knew nothing about that. She said we could wait in the lobby and she’d see what she could do.
After about an hour we did get a room, took a nap, had lunch, and headed to the cruise terminal.
morning has broken…
Boarding:
This was Feb. 29 and the coronavirus had just begun its worldwide spread. We had to fill out health questionnaires and have our temperature checked before we could proceed to the checkin counter. It was there that we discovered we had an additional problem when YK handed over her Korean passport.
We were taken aside by a ship’s officer who explained that India was not permitting Koreans to enter the country and we would have to be denied boarding. We explained that YK lives in the US and hadn’t been to Korea in 6 months. We produced her green card and her passport showing the date of her last entry into the US. We could show that we had flown from the US a few days ago and that she could not possibly have left and returned to the US since her last entry stamp. This discussion went on for an hour or two with the officer leaving from time to time to confer with someone. Eventually we were allowed to board.
We were not assigned a stateroom when we booked the cruise, just that we would have a balcony. Given the price we paid, I assumed we would get a low end balcony room, but when we received our assignment the room was described as a suite.
While I wouldn’t call our stateroom a suite, it was by far the largest stateroom we’ve ever had on a cruise. Not sure how that came about.
As I mentioned earlier, MSC does not have the best reputation. They certainly provide less. I was surprised to learn that they do not serve water with meals. If you want water, you need to buy a bottle. For some reason, possibly related to our being in a “suite,” we received a “water package” and free bottled water at lunch and dinner. I’m used to free use of the sauna for all passengers. On MSC it was 10 euro an hour.
MSC advertises that it will match your status on another cruise line. We used our elite status on Celebrity and received gold status on MSC. Calling it a match, however, was not entirely accurate. Our status on MSC entitled us to one 45 minute prosecco “hour,” two free pens and two free hours in the sauna. On Celebrity we get a two hour cocktail hour every night and some free laundry and internet.
Still – the MSC cruise was significantly cheaper and if it had worked out it would have been fine. But it didn’t.
Next on the cruise schedule were two days of sailing east across the Arabian Sea to India. At dinner on the second day we received a message to report to guest services that evening. Once there, we were informed that YK would not be permitted to disembark in India, again the Korean passport thing. To verify how silly this was, I asked and was told that I could disembark, never mind that I had been sharing a cabin with her for a week. The fear appeared to be the passport, not the virus.
This was more of a setback than you may realize. I do no planning for these trips. YK figures out destinations, transportation, etc. and I merely follow. The thought of entering a strange city, in this case, New Mangalore, without her, was daunting. To make matters worse, she was giving me assignments, places to call, sites to visit in order to cancel our now useless return flights.
In the end it didn’t matter. The next morning the captain came on the PA and announced that India had just closed all ports to cruise ships. We floated around for a while looking for alternative ports, but Sri Lanka and the Maldives were also closed. So, we turned around and spent another two days heading back west.
At no time during the two weeks we were on the ship or at port, did I have any concern about the virus. There was never any illness on the ship and there was never a major virus threat in the UAE, Oman, or Turkey, where we changed planes on our return flight.
The first time I felt at risk was at LAX where we were crammed together for two hours in the immigration line with people from all over the world, very few masked. Fortunately, we got home safely. Then the lockdown began.
Small Wide World 