Aurora Expeditions

Expedition Cruises

Ushuaia (Tierra del Fuego)

Toronto

Antarctica

Arctic

Excellent

Very Good

Greg Mortimer (Aurora Expeditions)

Sylvia Earle

Expectations met

We wanted the full Antarctica experience so included Falklands and South Georgia as well as Antarctic Penninsula. You’ll most likely only go once so go for all of it. This part did not disappoint at all. Expedition staff were overall young but very experienced and excellent, they worked extremely hard to get us off the ship as much as was possible. Presentations were well-researched and interesting and informative. With only 125 passengers everyone could get off as often as they wanted, usually twice a day. 

Unfortunately their beautiful new ship is not as wonderful as they think but hopefully they have learned from their mistakes ( I think they went cheap on interior designers) and made improvements in the Sylvia Earle, their newest ship. I will credit them in getting all of the expedition related parts of the ship perfect. Other areas not at all, many areas show signs of wear or neglect and this ship is barely three years old, and presumably wasn’t used during Covid. Carpet is already worn in places. Cleaning was adequate but not at all the pristine level you would expect. I had the same spots on the outside of our glass shower divider the whole trip, as in it was never cleaned in 20 days! (I purposely didn’t ask for it to be cleaned to see if it would be, it wasn’t!)  Bathrooms are lined with textured white plastic that they don’t keep clean. Shows smudges and dirt. Hardware, like on wardrobe doors, is already broken. Stalls in the public bathrooms by the restaurant are tiny, (I’m a small person and they were tight for me.) Sad as the ship has excellent expedition outfitting but not hotel design or finishes. Where there is space in cabins for extra hooks they are not there so it’s hard to stow wet gear. 

Safety concerns: Outside doors to the decks are often locked but there is no sign on the outside so you don’t know the door is locked if you need to get in! The cup holder in the bathroom is too close below the mirror so mirror gets chipped when you pick up the cup. ( I saw the chip fly and could pick it up off the floor before I stepped on it.) Exit doors are often blocked with housekeeping carts, as if they didn’t plan a place to store them. 

Food, ah, what we all look forward to on a cruise, was at best OK. A few dishes were pretty good, like some meats and fish and Indian meals, obviously these recipes had been copied or worked out. Vegan meals ( which I have to eat due to allergies, not by personal choice) were for the most part deplorable, they used the same mix of four frozen vegetables with zero herbs, onions, garlic or other flavors in bland sauces. Even staff members admitted they avoided them!  No effort or creativity at all. Breakfast was repetitive with very little variety, no quiche or other baked egg dishes, no freshly baked pastries ( they were frozen), no decaf coffee. Desserts were decent. 

Bar in observation deck was often not staffed. 

Overall a wonderful expedition experience but I’d have to think hard about booking with them again. Ship and meals are just not up to industry standards for the price.

Great expedition, ship, Covid measures and food disappointing

This cruise had the combination we wanted:  small ship, remote travel, emphasis on wildlife viewing as well as ridge and beach walks/hikes, comfort, and well-traveled expedition guides. Following the trail of explorers searching for the Northwest Passage, we learned about the Franklin expedition and the many search expeditions that followed.  Our days were filled with opportunities to go ashore and visit small villages in Greenland and Nunavut Territory, ride in zodiacs to examine ice bergs and rock formations up close, Visit landing sites to visit the remains of human settlements and trading posts.  We hiked up steep hills covered with lichen.  From the deck we viewed the steep sides of cliffs visited by cliff jumpers or bowhead whales working the shoreline in a narrow passage.  We walked a boardwalk to an impressively ice-choked fiord and chose to hike back along a rocky trail.  We saw a variety of whales, birds, seals along with polar bears, musk ox, arctic wolf and arctic hare.  Still enjoying our pictures and remarking what an incredible experience the trip was.

The food was very good with a lot of choices for each course and each meal.  Breakfast included a custom omelette station.  Soups and salads were fresh and changed daily.  Dinner was a la carte.  The food service staff went out of their way to prepare dishes for a fellow traveller with strict dietary restrictions.

Had been to the Antarctic before but wanted to go again as the experience is like none other. It is closest one can get to being on another planet. Once you head south into the Drake Passage - the world as you know it disappears .  Replaced by the most amazing scenery (icebergs , glaciers , whales , penguins, seals ...)

Went with the Greg as the timing suited me as well as I wanted to experience the new ship.

Food, rooms were excellent and service was friendly and efficient. 

Expedition crew were excellent and always willing to inform and help out. Weather plays a big part in landings and places we can visit . The team kept us informed and made decisions  that allowed us to experience the many facets of Antarctica.  Zodiac cruises around the coastline, zipping around icebergs, landing on islands and the actual continent itself. 

Highly recommend a trip at least once in your lifetime. 

I will surely be looking at going on this ship again when I travel to the Arctic.

Crew make the cruise

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