My perfect cruise: Duluth to Antarctica

Cafe Society
1

Cruise from Duluth to Antarctica in 2023

The Mrs and I are really enchanted by this cruise itinerary. Start out by following the old Edmund Fitz’s track! We both have agreed that we’d love to tour the Great Lakes more than we already have, and would love to see the Thousand Islands too! Plus going down the eastern seaboard is a compelling idea. Stopping in Miami for some cuban cuisine, then Cancun, traversing the Panama Canal, then hitting spots along the western South America coast would also fulfill some fantasies. From there to Antarctica, then up past Cape Horn, then ending up down in Ushuaia sounds amazing! Count us in!

But 73 days? Who’ll take care of the pets? Damn.

Still, one can dream.

Who’s with us?

2

I’m in, at least attitudinally. Hope you can go and publish a travelogue either during or after.

Can’t help you with the pets. Owning non-food livestock has always seemed like too much work for lazy me.

3

Sounds great, but two months+ on a boat? Not for me.

4

Sound awesome; you get to see a desolate, frozen wasteland, and then leave for Antarctica.

Here’s one that I find tempting, https://www.barkeuropa.com/our-voyages/ant-5-cape-to-cape-expedition; Ushuaia, to Antarctica, to South Georgia Island, to Tristan da Cunha, to Capetown, all on a traditional sailing ship.

5

A few years back I visited Midland, Ontario and there was a Great Lakes cruise ship docked there. Out of curiosity I looked up the price and it seemed startlingly expensive to me. $6,000 (minimum) per person for a one-week cruise to Milwaukee?

6

I’ll do it. (Anybody got about $150,000 I can borrow?)

7

I get the feeling that the price point is sort of “industry standard” and that US travelers aren’t the primary market. I say this because the average US traveler interested in visiting all of those places would just drive.

8

I drove to Duluth once. No, sorry, make that twice. First and last time.

9

if I had the money id do it just for the why the hell nots?

10

I’d love that. I have been fascinated with the southern sea for many years, and have explored Ushuaia, South Georgia, Tristan da Cunha via Google Earth countless times. I’d love to visit the Albatross monument on Cape Horn, Gough Island, and the Kerguelens. But I’m waiting for practical teleportation to hit those spots.

11

And a 74th day to return to terra firma? If you want to do this, I’d say go for it!

12

I would definitely do this, but my husband gets seasick.

13

I am in.

Wait, I have to work on Monday.

Never mind.

mmm

14

Regarding getting seasick: I do as well on yachts and sailboats. However, I have never had a problem on any size of cruise ship. And I have spoken to others who have the same experience.

15

You can of course reduce the number of days by starting in South America :wink: :penguin:

16

Or by starting in Green Bay!

17

The legend lives on from Duluth town on down
Of the big cruise down to the Antarctic.
Qadgop, it’s said, thinks the cruise has some cred
But there’s no one for pet care he can pick.*

*Sincere apologies to Gordon Lightfoot.

18

It might be a downer getting stuck in Antarctica on a quarantined, Covid-19-ravaged cruise ship.

We inexplicably keep getting flyers for Viking River Cruises (Amsterdam to Budapest! Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City on the beautiful Mekong!). They don’t currently seem to be promoting any Volga River cruises in Russia, for some reason.

19

Do it! Find temporary foster homes for the pets, but hurry cabins are going fast! I checked the Viking pages, the biggest staterooms are booked! It’d be a trip to see a cruise ship going through LErie canal.

And what’s the southern Ocean like in November?