Antarctic Peninsula - M/V Antarctic Dream

Written by Randy Green

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The 84-passenger M/V Antarctic Dream has been just refitted for polar expeditions. It provides a spacious dining room, observation lounge, bar, lecture room, fitness room as well as sauna and boutique.

The Antarctic Dream, which also is part of our summer Spitsbergen fleet, is an excellent vessel for polar cruising and a great choice for your Antarctic Peninsula cruise. Join us this season and follow the path of history’s polar explorers!

(For an in-depth experience of one of our Antarctic voyages, visit our blog page and read Randy & Susie Green's account of our Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica cruise aboard the Clelia II!)

Looking for longer Antarctica cruises? Check out our Falklands, South Georgia & Antarctic Peninsula itineraries!

For an in-depth experience of one of our Antarctic voyages, visit our blog page and read Randy & Susie Green's account of our Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica cruise aboard the Clelia II!

All itineraries are for guidance only. Programs may vary depending on local ice and weather conditions and in order to take advantage of opportunities to see wildlife. Flexibility is paramount for expedition cruises. 

Vessel: Antarctic Dream 11D/10N

Day 1: Embark in Usuaia
Day 2 & 3: At sea, Drake Passage
Day 4: Potter Bay and Aitcho Island
Day 5: Cruising the Antarctic Peninsula; Neko Bay; Port Lockroy
Day 6: Paradise Bay; Cuverville Island
Day 7: Petermann Island; Pleneau
Day 8: Deception Island; Whaler’s Bay; Pendulum Cove
Days 9 & 10: At sea, Drake Passage
Day 11: Arrive Ushuaia, disembark for flight home.

8D/7N with air one way

Day 1: Depart: Ushuaia, Argentina, board ship
Day 2 & 3: Drake Passage
Day 4: Base Esperanza & Brown Bluff
Day 5: Paulet Island & Astrolobe Island
Day 6: Cuveerville Island & Port Lockroy
Day 7: Deception Island & Robert Point
Day 8: Fildes Bay flight to Punta Arenas, Chile

Looking for longer Antarctica cruises? Check out our Falklands, South Georgia & Antarctic Peninsula itineraries!

Shore Destinations

The Antarctic Peninsula

The peninsula encompasses a large number of islands, straits and inlets and we’ll explore many of them, weather conditions permitting. Below are just some of the possible targets and their features.

Paulet Island: Preserved by the cold climate, remains of several early 20th Century expeditions dot the island, such as the Nordenskiöld Expedition, and we’ll find a colony of hundreds of thousands of Adelie penguins here also.

Trinity Island: View thousands of gentoo penguins and Weddell and fur seals hauled out on the beach.

King George Island: Home to several research stations, and if time and the stations’ schedule permits, we will visit some for a look at the scientists’ activities.

Deception Island: Carefully navigating our ship through the impossibly narrow channel of Neptune's Bellows, we’ll anchor in a ancient caldera where volcanic activity warms the water enough for a swim! Explore old whaling installations and abandoned boats, along with cliffs with petrel nests.

Cuverville Island: a small precipitous island, nestled between the mountains of the Antarctic Peninsula. It contains a large colony of gentoo penguins and breeding pairs of brown skuas.

Charlotte Bay: A chance to set foot on the Antarctic Peninsula itself as well as observe crabeater seals.

Hannah Point: One of the best wildlife spots in the area. Great for giant petrels, cape pigeons, blue-eyed shags, gentoo, chinstrap and possibly macaroni penguins, plus elephant seals.

Paradise Bay: Home to colonies of thousands of chinstrap and gentoo penguins.

Gerlach Straits, Lemaire, Neumeyer, Errata Channels: Some of the most spectacular scenery on your voyage can be viewed here. Precipitous mountains and massive tidewater glaciers line the shore and enormous icebergs dot the channels.

At Sea: While sailing between our land destinations, your time will be spent attending fascinating lectures by our top expedition staff and speakers. On deck, you’ll want to be ever-vigilant for a wide variety of whale species: orca, humpback, minke and possibly a blue whale. Seabirds follow our ship and will keep your binoculars busy: MacCormick skua, snow, giant, white-chinned and storm petrels and the elusive juvenile emperor penguins.

Departure Information for:

Antarctic Dream 11D/10N 2011-2012

Departures	Cape Horn		Piloto Pardo		Shackleton		Amundsen
	Single	Double	Single	Double	Single	Double	Single	Double
Nov. 1-11; Nov. 11-21; Nov. 21-01 Dec.; Dec. 1-11; Feb. 25-06 Mar., 2012	$17,200	$11,450	$15,570	$10,450	$12,410	$8,250	$10,300	$6,900
Feb. 5-15, 2012	$21,300	$14,200	$19,300	$12,900	$15,350	$10,200	$12,800	$8,550

8D/7N with air one way to Punta Arenas from Villa Esperanza & Brown Bulff

Departures	Cape Horn	Piloto Pardo	Shackleton	Amundsen
	Single/Double	Single/Double	Single/Double	Single/Double
Dec. 22-29, 2011	$23,600/$15,700	$21,400/$14,300	$16,990/$11,300	$14,200/$9,500
Dec. 29-06 Jan, 2012**	$23,600/$15,700	$21,400/$14,300	$16,990/$11,300	$14,200/$9,500
Jan. 6-13, 2012	$23,600/$15,700	$21,400/$14,300	$16,990/$11,300	$14,200/$9,500
Jan. 13-21, 2012 **	$23,600/$15,700	$21,400/$14,300	$16,990/$11,300	$14,200/$9,500
Jan. 21-28, 2012	$23,600/$15,700	$21,400/$14,300	$16,990/$11,300	$14,200/$9,500
Jan. 28-05 Feb., 2012**	$23,600/$15,700	$21,400/$14,300	$16,990/$11,300	$14,200/$9,500

** Air from Punta Arenas to Villa Esperanza & Brown Bluff

Single supplement: 1.7 times share rate in any style cabin.

Prices for Antarctic Dream include: Cruise, all meals on voyage, all excursions and activities, lectures by naturalists, transfers between Ushuaia Airport and ship. Single Supplement is as indicated. Not included: air from your home to Ushuaia, Argentina, hotel accommodations, alcoholic beverages, laundry and items of a personal nature. Because of the high cost of fuel, a reasonable fuel surcharge may be billed on final invoice, depending on fuel price fluctuations).

All Tours:

Registration
To confirm your space on these tours, please complete the enclosed registration form (or download from our website) and mail to our office with a deposit of 20% of the tour amount to our office. VISA/MasterCard accepted for deposit only. Balance is due 90 days prior to departure and is payable by check only.

Deposit: 25% of trip cost

Cancellation Policy
In the event you must cancel your reservation, refunds will be made according to the following schedule: Deposit is nonrefundable. 90 to 61 days prior to departure, 50% of total is nonrefundable; less than 60 days prior to departure, 100% nonrefundable.

Insurance
Because many advance logistical arrangements have been made prior to the running of this trip, we must adhere to the above policy. In light of this, we strongly recommend trip cancellation insurance. An application form will be sent to you upon request, or you may purchase it on your own. Because of the remote location, emergency medical evacuation insurance is required. Please check your personal insurance coverage and make sure it is applicable in foreign countries. Emergency medical evacuation insurance is a component of the insurance program IWA offers.

Fuel Charge

Antarctic Shipping S.A. has the right to charge a fuel surcharge of $25 USD per person, per night if fuel prices reach or exceed $90 USD of Brent Barrle prior to departure.

The MV Antarctic Dream

M/V “Antarctic Dream” is a Dutch built ice-reinforced vessel and served under the name Piloto Pardo for the Chilean Navy. The vessel was rebuilt as an unrestricted, worldwide passenger vessel and was completely refurbished in July 2005. M/v “Antarctic Dream” is registered in Panama. The vessel features a spacious dining room / observation lounge, bar, lecture room, fitness room plus sauna, boutique and passenger bridge.

The vessel offers accommodation for 84 passengers in 42 twin cabins with private toilet and shower, 4 suites, 6 superior cabins and 29 twin private cabins have portholes or windows and either two separate lower beds or queen beds. 3 additional twin private cabins have no portholes / windows (inside cabins). All cabins have furthermore a desk, closed circuit TV, and inter-cabin phone service. Satellite email and phone service is available in the library.

The vessel is manned by 18 well-trained Chilean crew members. The on board staff consists of 1 expedition leader, 4 guides / lecturers, 1 hotel manager, 1 barman, 1 doctor, 3 chefs and 6 waitresses / cabin cleaners. The Antarctic Dream's expeditions offer you the ideal introduction to the Great White Continent. Departing from and finishing in the port of Ushuaia, we take in the most exciting sights of the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula. Our program is orientated to the viewing of wildlife and the breathtaking scenery of narrow waterways, glaciers, icebergs and the rugged mountains.

Cabins of M/V Antarctic Dream

Total number of cabins: 42 twin cabins all with lower beds and private toliet and shower.

antarctic_dream_cabin

Suite:
4 with large windows to two sides, bath (3 with queen beds, 1 with two single beds)

antarctic_dream_superior

Superior:
16 with large window (6 with queen beds, 10 with two single beds)

antarctic_dream_twin_private

Twin private:
19 with small porthole (11 with queen beds, 8 with two single beds)

Twin private inside:
3 no porthole or window (2 with queen beds, 1 with two single beds)