“WORLD’S TOP-RATED EXPEDITION SHIP”
11 Days ~ Luxury ~ "m/s Minerva"
All Expeditions Are INCLUDED
Gourmet Wines and Premium Spirits
All Flights ~ All Charters ~ All Tranfers
Buenos Aires Hotel + Shipboard Credit + Gratuities
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Jan. 14, 2009 Ushuaia, Argentina |
Condé Nast Traveler
INCLUDED:
Complimentary economy class air to/from Buenos Aires. Complimentary overnight hotel stay in Buenos Aires, Argentina (in addition to 11 nights on board). Included charter flights to and from Ushuaia, Argentina, transfers and city tour with lunch en route to ship. Complimentary beverages, including select wines and spirits, served throughout the ship. All onboard gratuities. Expedition team of over a dozen experts in their field. All Zodiac® excursions. Complimentary backpack and parka. Boots and binoculars available on board for use during expedition. Optional shore excursions in the Falkland Islands. Optional pre- and post-cruise Land Adventures. $100 per person shipboard credit.
In Antarctica, the word "extremes" takes on new meaning. It holds the world's largest reservoir of fresh water. Yet it is a vast desert as dry as the Sahara. It is a frozen wilderness locked in a Pleistocene time warp. Yet in summer during the miracle of rebirth, Antarctica's open skies are alive with swooping seabirds, its pure snow and water filled with the largest concentration of pelagic life on our planet. Rookeries of penguins that number in the tens and even hundreds of thousands. Seals and whales in glorious abundance.
Equally glorious is the stark, raw beauty of Antarctica. Giant, blue-tinted icebergs sparkle like diamonds in a midnight blue sea. Towering snowcapped mountains reach toward the eternal midnight sun. Vast snowfields, blinding white, stretch to eternity. All this we invite you to witness aboard Minerva, the world's top-rated expedition cruise ship.
An expedition staff of sixteen respected naturalists, geologists, zoologists, historians and ornithologists accompany each expedition. These experts brief guests about the natural wonders, wildlife and history of the White Continent, escort each zodiac foray and recap the day's discoveries at informal get-togethers.
Zodiacs are the workhorses of any Antarctica expedition. Minerva has a fleet of ten rubber motorized boats, safe and stable rubber rafts that make it possible to explore remote Antarctic shores and cruise through the narrow channels for a close-up view.
When you're not out on the Promenade Deck whale watching and glacier-gasping, you can work out in the gym, (fitness room) unwind in a sauna, enjoy a massage or watch a movie at the cinema. Each day you'll meet for informal pre-shore briefings or post-excursion wrap-ups in the ship's lounge or theater-style auditorium. Mid-morning bouillon and afternoon tea are served daily. And the gracious, wood-paneled Library with its 4,000+ volumes is the largest at sea. The Bridge stays open 24-hours-a-day and the ship has a photo lab and a card room.
Shackleton Lounge is the social heart of the ship, where you can chat with newfound friends and enjoy informal lectures. Two open bars, the Shackleton and the Wheeler, provide additional corners where you'll probably spend a good deal of time socializing with fellow guests and mingling with members of the expedition. The atmosphere is informal and unregimented, with a warm sense of camaraderie. Most liquors, wines and beverages are complimentary on board.
For deck plans and cabin photos of m/v “Minerva" http://abercrombiekent.com/escorted/deckplans/MINERVA.pdf
Activities
Dining Options
Entertainment
Staff and Services
Spa and Fitness
Ship Information
Our group rates are based on double occupancy.
Your port charges and taxes, are INCLUDED.
Fares and schedules are subject to change.
m/v "Minerva" Deck Plan and Suites
OWNER’S ~ $24,090 SOLD OUT.
SUITE ~ ~ $19,390 SOLD OUT.
DELUXE ~ $16,745 WAIT LIST. Sit/Area. 2-closets. Picture Window 226 Sq.Ft.
SUPERIOR $14,490 Dressing area w/walk-in closet. Picture Window 162 Sq.Ft.
CAT. A ~ $12,845 Double closets. Picture Window. 140 Sq.Ft.
CAT. B ~ $11,590 Double closets. Two Port holes. 140 Sq.Ft.
CAT. SA ~ $10,890 Single Closet. Two Port holes. 140 Sq.Ft.
Single Supplement: 15% in categories: “A” “B” “SA”
Free coach air form 86 (United States) gateway cities
$1,200 air credit for using your frequent flyer miles.
Business Class Air is $3500 additionalon: UA, AA, DL, LA.
Coach Class is FREE on: DL, CO, LA, UA.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises charges a $200 per booking cancellation fee for cancellations made before September 15, 2008. Final payment will be due on October 15, 2008.
Jan. 12, 2009. Depart USA gateway for overnight flight to Buenos Aires.
Jan. 13, 2009. Arrive Buenos Aires and transfer to hotel for complimentary overnight stay.
Jan. 14, 2009. Complimentary charter flight to Ushuaia for all guests. Embark Regent Seven Seas’ m/s “Minerva.”
Depart USA and arrive in Buenos Aires, Argentina the following morning. Enjoy a complimentary overnight hotel stay in Buenos Aires before flying to Ushuaia to begin your expedition. The Argentine city offers history-rich sightseeing and dozens of other attractions. If your flight arrives early enough, you’ll have time for an optional city tour.
Fly to Ushuaia for a sightseeing tour along the steep streets of the southernmost city in the world. Here we board Minerva and settle in for our first night at sea. Take advantage of the austral summer daylight to toast a bon voyage out on deck as we set sail past the cormorant and seal colonies of the magnificent Beagle Channel.
As we cruise east towards the Falklands, our team of experts begin their informal discussions on the fauna, flora and history of Antarctic exploration. Tonight is the Captain’s Welcome Dinner. This evening and our last aboard ship are the only two nights where informal attire is suggested. All other evenings will be country club casual.
Enjoy a taste of Victorian England in the South Atlantic. Take a walk through the streets of the Falklands’ quaint frontier capital with its colorful houses and friendly residents. A choice of optional excursions is available.
A virtual parade of natural wonders fill the landscape during our days at sea and throughout the rose-colored nights. Amid the spectacular scenery and ice-filled channels, we’ll look for whales and seals, giant albatross and blue-eyed shag. After each evening’s leisurely dinner, there’s time to stroll the deck and gaze at the seascapes in the lingering light of an Antarctic summer twilight with its spectacular iceberg sculptures.
We plan to land on the Antarctic Peninsula and also visit a number of islands in the South Shetlands. On most days we’ll make two landings, heading out in swift and versatile Zodiacs, accompanied by lecturers. In the sunken caldera at Deception Island, some may dare to take a dip in the thermal springs of Pendulum Cove. Ashore, thousands of penguins strut like miniature Charlie Chaplins. Crabeater, Weddell and leopard seals laze in the sun. We’ll transit the Lemaire and Neumayer Channels*, filled with some of the most dramatic and humbling landscapes of unimaginable beauty, and sail through “Iceberg Alley,” with its calving glaciers and passing mountains of ice sculpted like giant mounds of whipped cream or avant-garde art. If weather permits, we may also try Zodiac cruising for a view of the various leopard seals, sea lions and penguins resting on ice floes. Invariably every outing reveals another wonder.
This remote 600-mile stretch teems with wildlife at this time of year, when the warm waters of the north converge with the icy waters of Antarctica, creating a nutrient-rich feeding ground of krill and plankton for multitudes of seabirds and whales. Now is the time to compare notes and exchange addresses with your fellow shipmates while the guides recap the highlights of your voyage. In Drake Passage, where the cold Antarctic waters converge with warmer northern water, you will see breaching Humpback, Minke, and Orca whales and an abundance of seabirds such as black-browed albatross, sooty shearwaters and white-chinned petrels.
Today we disembark for our complimentary charter flight to Buenos Aires to catch connecting flights home. If you’ve added an optional hotel or land extension, your transfers are included.
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