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Ocean Explorer Review

-- / 5.0
Editor Rating
16 reviews

Good experience...but had some rough edges and a lot of small details missed.

Review for Antarctica Cruise on Ocean Explorer
Forecaster05
6-10 Cruises • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Dec 2021
Cabin:

This was a cruise to South Georgia Island, the Antarctic Peninsula and the Falkland Islands returning via Ushuaia and Buenos Aires. The ship was brand new and this was Vantage's first try at Antarctica on their own vessel. The overall experience based on the locations visited (minus the Falklands as they denied us landing due to COVID) was really good. The crew of the vessel was very nice and overall did a good job. The dining room service and food was excellent, the best experience we have had on a cruise ship (Princess and Holland America before this cruise many years ago). The cabin was nice and well appointed (deck 6 with a balcony). The only complaint in the cabin was the TV entertainment system which did not function well. You would get partway into a movie and it would lock up and freeze (everyone else on the ship we ran into said the same thing). The ship's position map on the TV never worked either. The bridge hardly ever gave ship's position or weather information in updates. Every now and again the cruise director would come on with a ship's position, weather, or something interesting nearby. But, overall you would be guessing as to exactly where we were or what you were looking at while transiting between landing locations. Communications with the passengers on the ship was mediocre. The expeditions on zodiacs off the ship and sometimes ashore on the continent or an island got better as the cruise went along, and I think this can just be chalked up to their first time doing these types of Antarctic expedition landings. The best thing about the ship was the dining experience. Food selections were more limited than a larger cruise ship (102 passengers total this trip), but overall the quality of the food was more often than not quite excellent.

15 Helpful Votes
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