Antarctica – Day T-2 to 1 – The Southern Most City on Earth

I recently visited my 7th continent, Antarctica, by taking a 12 day cruise with Seabourn. The ship we sailed on was Seabourn Ventures. The adventure starts from Buenos Aires. We arrived two days before our scheduled departure. Seabourn will arrange for transport from the airport to the hotel they provide the Alvear Icon Hotel (there is another Alvear called Palace so make sure you know which one you are at). On our arrival in Buenos Aires, we were met by a Seabourn representative who then took us to our driver. The rep then accompanied us to our hotel. My initial impression was not great as the car they sent for us was tiny and dirty. This was not consistent with Seabourn promoting itself as an “ultra-luxury” line. However, the rep was excellent and gave us a wealth of knowledge and recommendations for Buenos Aires. Check in was efficient and the staff were very friendly. After checking in, we went to the Seabourn desk where they provide you some initial info on the cruise and offer some optional excursions within the city. We opted for a tango show which I will write about more below. Anyway, I was very happy with the room Seabourn booked for us:

The next day we went to the Rojo Tango show that Seabourn was offering. The venue was the Faena hotel, which is a 5 minute walk from the Alvear Icon (the Faena has a nice bar in case you are looking for a spot to have drinks). We were told to be in the lobby at 6PM. Upon arrival, the scene was disorganized. There was no Seabourn rep there to direct anyone where to go. Further, when a bus finally arrived, which we assumed was going to take everyone to the venue, everyone got on, then there was big confusion with the driver, and then they told everyone to get off. It turns out, someone had booked a private transport to the venue, they would go first, then the bus would come back for everyone else. So far, I was not impressed with Seabourn. Anyway, when we finally got to the venue, we were sat at the back, far from the stage, and grouped with others who were going on the cruise. The food at the show was ok. I had the octopus carpaccio, lamb and tres leches. The show was pretty good.

My thoughts on the show: I would look for a more traditional show/venue, but if you do the Rojo Tango, book it yourself and try to get a seat in the front. After the show, they gave us vouchers for a drink at the hotel bar.

The night before you board the cruise ship, you will have to leave any checked bags outside your hotel room. Also, you will be told which bus you will be on, which will take you to the airport for a 3 hour “private” flight to Ushuaia. There are two flights, one earlier than the other. In the morning, Seabourn has some breakfast available, but our departure was so early, we didn’t try it (I think we had to be in the lobby at 4 or 5AM). Once we got to the airport, a Seabourn rep walked us to security, then disappeared. There was confusion over where our boarding gate would be. Someone finally figured it out and we proceeded to our gate. So far, my experience with Seabourn was not positive with lots of disorganization. When we finally boarded the plane, I was disappointed again. The seating was “European Business Class Style” with 3×3 seating and the middle seat blocked off. Leg room was not good. This should not be marketed as a private flight as you do have to go through security, and the amenities are inconsistent with the luxury that Seabourn markets itself as. After some time, there was a breakfast service which was worse than standard airplane food. It consisted of an extremely poor sandwich and other items.

As we approached our destination, I got some early glimpses of Ushuaia, the Southernmost city on earth. Although there is a more southern settlement in Chile, it is considered a town so technically, Ushuaia, with 80,000+ residents, is the Southernmost city.

After landing in Ushuaia, we boarded busses that would finally take us to our ship. However, we were informed that the ship was not quite ready for us to the bus driver gave us a brief tour of the city. One of the stops gave us a glimpse of the ship that would be our home for the next 12 days.

Soon it was finally time to board the ship. Check in was fast and painless. Then we were shown to our room:

Once I saw the room, any doubts about Seabourn up to this point went away. I loved the room! We had upgraded to a Panorama suite, and though not the biggest or most expensive, I believe this is the best room on the ship. To me, the curved glass and open layout of the panorama makes it the best. I was able to view the standard rooms (not open, no curved glass), the Wintergarden suite (two floors), and the penthouse suite (poor layout), so I have some basis of comparison. A few minutes after we got into our room, our 2 attendants came to introduce themselves. They brought some mimosas and a bar of soap.

After we got settled, we decided to try one of the restaurants for lunch, the Colonnade. All food, including room service, and drinks, including alcohol are included (and unlimited). Also, you can order bottles of liquor for your room. I asked for whisky and vodka and was impressed that they delivered a full bottle of Grey Goose and bottle of scotch. There are two main places to have lunch and dinner on board:

1.The Colonnade, buffet and a la carte, more informal, and with daily ethnic themes.

2. The Restaurant, classic a la carter and daily chef specials

The food at lunch was pretty good. I had the lobster bisque, some buffet items, and ordered the burger and fries. The fries on the ship are very good and I ordered them almost everyday.

Before departure, we had some time to look around the town so we disembarked. Our first stop was the tourist office where you can get an Antarctica passport stamp.

Then we walked around the town (not much to see), and noticed the prevalence of what seemed to be German Architecture.

We then reboarded the ship and before I knew it, it was time to set sail.

Shortly after setting sail, we attended one of 2 or 3 mandatory briefings. This one was about safety on board. After the briefing, we went for a pre-dinner drink at the Constellation lounge. Here was part of the drink menu.

After some drinks, we moved to the Club for more drinks and sushi. Note that the Club and Constellation are on the same floor, one at the bow and the other at the stern. Both have live music at night but I believe the Club is open later. Another great thing about the Club is that they serve sushi daily from 6PM. Here is a look at the menu:

To my surprise, the sushi was really good on the ship. The chef was Japanese and the rice and fish was done correctly. I would end up having this as much as possible during the voyage.

It was here that we decided to test if they really had “unlimited” caviar on the ship. The result:

I will have more to say about the caviar on a later post. Anyway, this basically brought to an end the first day on board the ship. The following day, we would enter the Drake passage, which is one of the roughest passages of water in the world…