MV Hondius
Dec 7, 2019 5:37:41 GMT
Post by Admin on Dec 7, 2019 5:37:41 GMT
Review of OceanWide Expeditions - Hondius - F/SG/A Nov 2019
Satie37 from Toronto, Canada headed off to Antarctica for the second time - on board Oceanwide's newest vessel - for an Antarctica - Falklands - South Georgia Is combo.
www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowTopic-g1-i12337-k13076058-Review_of_OceanWide_Expeditions_Hondius_F_SG_A_Nov_2019-Antarctic_Adventures.html
6 Dec. 2019, 7:16 am
This was my second trip to Antarctica (first 2018 21 day with Quark East/West) and first to Falklands/South Georgia. Timing: If I had a 'do over' for a November trip I would stick with Falklands and South Georgia and enjoy Antarctica later in the season when there is more wild life and icebergs.
Timing was perfect for Falklands and South Georgia as we were there for Elephant Seals and Albatross before they close down some of the landing sites to protect breeding colonies. Of course we saw lots of penguins - King, Macaroni, Gentoo, Magellenic - we missed the landing with Rock Hoppers. We were also fortunate in that we had good weather for all the major South Georgia landing sites. I can't say enough good things about our time on South Georgia. The captain of the Hondius was also amazing and was able to get us into landings and areas that we may not have been able to venture due to conditions - in some cases high waves and winds. I did like the fact that we had alot of time on shore during our landings - 3 hours generally - much more than we had with Quark.
Hondius Ship: This ship had alot of good things about it and some which could be improved. Our cabin and some of the other cabins I saw - were larger than equivalent cabins on other ships. We had a twin deluxe on the 6th deck and I can't fault anything - lots of space, closet space, sitting, desk and two huge windows. The bathroom was spa like. Our boots/lifejackets were stored in the room and I think having a rubber mat to avoid wet carpets would be a good thing. Also, I am not sure how this will work out later in the season when landing areas are messier. With Quark there was a locker area on the ship where people kept outer wear and boots to prevent dirt and smell in the cabins.
Having said that..... the Hondius staff were obsessive about biosecurity (yeah!!) and our boots had to be spotless before going on landings and we scrubbed boots before and after shore landings.
Public areas on the ship: The main public area is the lounge. I found it strange that it has very few chairs/tables set up as conversation groups. Instead there are rows of bench like seating which I did not find particularly comfortable. For this reason, I didn't end of spending alot of time in the lounge. Alot of the lectures and any daily wrap ups were held here. There is also a lecture room which was not used alot. The lounge does have 2 fancy coffee machines which are available 24/7 for lattes, cappuccinos, hot chocolate etc.
Diningroom - breakfast/lunch were buffet style and dinner was always served. The dining room was comfortable with lots of tables of different sizes. Food for the most part was good - except there were some very strange food combinations and a lot of use of polenta (I am not a fan).
Deck space - there was alot of deck space on this ship - the back decks also had sitting areas. The side decks had nooks where you could get out of the wind and cold. The bridge had an open door policy and I spent alot of time up there.
Overall, what adds to the itinerary is the staff and I felt this was the main let down of this trip. Some of the staff was excellent - engaging with passengers, very knowledgeable with a field of expertise. These staff gave very interesting talks on their subject areas. Other staff..... we had one person regurgitate information from a google search, another staff had absolutely no presentation skills at all .... reading verbatim their slides with no added value. Other workshops which were offered throughout the trip seemed to be put together at the last moment without much thought. For example, the photography program.... no informative presentations were given on sea days (missed opportunity IMHO) when they could have offered tips on cold weather photography - how to protect gear etc. They could have given a photography briefing for next days landings suggesting lenses, tips for wildlife photos etc. None of this was done! My impression was the programs offered (except for the videography) were just a bit thoughtless - not thought through or planned out well.
That seemed to be the general theme on this expedition. For example, the Hondius had 2 shell doors which open for zodiak boarding..... so you descend the stairs from inside the ship and step onto/into the zodiac which is secured alongside the ship. We were divided into 4 groups for shore trips/zodiac cruising. Instead of calling one group at a time and rotating shore time across the 4 groups they would call 2 groups at a time. So this resulted in 70 passengers in warm clothing all being in the small boarding space at the same time. Often only 1 shell door was open for boarding however, there was no sign notifying which shell doors were open. This resulted in confusion and delays. The loading of passengers into the zodiacs ended up being a slow, hot and painful process. It could have been streamlined simply by: a) calling 1 group (35 people) at a time b) having signs advising on shell doors (1 or 2 or both open) c) using more zodiacs (there were LOTS of zodiacs on the stern - I think only 4-5 zodiacs were used to ferry passengers) d) rotating across the 4 groups so each group had a turn to be first on the landing.
We had a few rough sea days but at no time was there ever an announcement made to the passengers regarding safety during rough seas. No one knew that there were safety barriers under our mattresses!! Some of us found this out by chance. When one of the passengers asked about railings for their top bunk they were told there were none. When they asked another staff member they were informed it was not their area and they should ask a hotel staff. So just a lack of follow up and initiative in general. I would have expected a general announcement and information on this with verbal instructions on how to put up the railings if needed.
I also suspect that one afternoon was spent testing the ice strengthened hull in the Weddel. The day before we had been told we might look for and navigate to the large berg left over from one of the ice shelfs - but the next day no more was said of that - we were told we were going to look for emperor penguins floating on ice bergs in the Weddel and the afternoon was spent crunching empty pan ice. I doubt there are Emperor Penguins on icebergs in November and rather, the captain was wanting to test out the Polar 6 ice capabilities of the ship.
So.... in spite of all this, yes it was an amazing trip. South Georgia absolutely was the highlight. If I ever go again I likely would not travel with Oceanwide but might be tempted to travel with them simply because of the Hondius and I think with the right itinerary it is really tough to mess up a trip to this region of the world.
Satie37 from Toronto, Canada headed off to Antarctica for the second time - on board Oceanwide's newest vessel - for an Antarctica - Falklands - South Georgia Is combo.
www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowTopic-g1-i12337-k13076058-Review_of_OceanWide_Expeditions_Hondius_F_SG_A_Nov_2019-Antarctic_Adventures.html
6 Dec. 2019, 7:16 am
This was my second trip to Antarctica (first 2018 21 day with Quark East/West) and first to Falklands/South Georgia. Timing: If I had a 'do over' for a November trip I would stick with Falklands and South Georgia and enjoy Antarctica later in the season when there is more wild life and icebergs.
Timing was perfect for Falklands and South Georgia as we were there for Elephant Seals and Albatross before they close down some of the landing sites to protect breeding colonies. Of course we saw lots of penguins - King, Macaroni, Gentoo, Magellenic - we missed the landing with Rock Hoppers. We were also fortunate in that we had good weather for all the major South Georgia landing sites. I can't say enough good things about our time on South Georgia. The captain of the Hondius was also amazing and was able to get us into landings and areas that we may not have been able to venture due to conditions - in some cases high waves and winds. I did like the fact that we had alot of time on shore during our landings - 3 hours generally - much more than we had with Quark.
Hondius Ship: This ship had alot of good things about it and some which could be improved. Our cabin and some of the other cabins I saw - were larger than equivalent cabins on other ships. We had a twin deluxe on the 6th deck and I can't fault anything - lots of space, closet space, sitting, desk and two huge windows. The bathroom was spa like. Our boots/lifejackets were stored in the room and I think having a rubber mat to avoid wet carpets would be a good thing. Also, I am not sure how this will work out later in the season when landing areas are messier. With Quark there was a locker area on the ship where people kept outer wear and boots to prevent dirt and smell in the cabins.
Having said that..... the Hondius staff were obsessive about biosecurity (yeah!!) and our boots had to be spotless before going on landings and we scrubbed boots before and after shore landings.
Public areas on the ship: The main public area is the lounge. I found it strange that it has very few chairs/tables set up as conversation groups. Instead there are rows of bench like seating which I did not find particularly comfortable. For this reason, I didn't end of spending alot of time in the lounge. Alot of the lectures and any daily wrap ups were held here. There is also a lecture room which was not used alot. The lounge does have 2 fancy coffee machines which are available 24/7 for lattes, cappuccinos, hot chocolate etc.
Diningroom - breakfast/lunch were buffet style and dinner was always served. The dining room was comfortable with lots of tables of different sizes. Food for the most part was good - except there were some very strange food combinations and a lot of use of polenta (I am not a fan).
Deck space - there was alot of deck space on this ship - the back decks also had sitting areas. The side decks had nooks where you could get out of the wind and cold. The bridge had an open door policy and I spent alot of time up there.
Overall, what adds to the itinerary is the staff and I felt this was the main let down of this trip. Some of the staff was excellent - engaging with passengers, very knowledgeable with a field of expertise. These staff gave very interesting talks on their subject areas. Other staff..... we had one person regurgitate information from a google search, another staff had absolutely no presentation skills at all .... reading verbatim their slides with no added value. Other workshops which were offered throughout the trip seemed to be put together at the last moment without much thought. For example, the photography program.... no informative presentations were given on sea days (missed opportunity IMHO) when they could have offered tips on cold weather photography - how to protect gear etc. They could have given a photography briefing for next days landings suggesting lenses, tips for wildlife photos etc. None of this was done! My impression was the programs offered (except for the videography) were just a bit thoughtless - not thought through or planned out well.
That seemed to be the general theme on this expedition. For example, the Hondius had 2 shell doors which open for zodiak boarding..... so you descend the stairs from inside the ship and step onto/into the zodiac which is secured alongside the ship. We were divided into 4 groups for shore trips/zodiac cruising. Instead of calling one group at a time and rotating shore time across the 4 groups they would call 2 groups at a time. So this resulted in 70 passengers in warm clothing all being in the small boarding space at the same time. Often only 1 shell door was open for boarding however, there was no sign notifying which shell doors were open. This resulted in confusion and delays. The loading of passengers into the zodiacs ended up being a slow, hot and painful process. It could have been streamlined simply by: a) calling 1 group (35 people) at a time b) having signs advising on shell doors (1 or 2 or both open) c) using more zodiacs (there were LOTS of zodiacs on the stern - I think only 4-5 zodiacs were used to ferry passengers) d) rotating across the 4 groups so each group had a turn to be first on the landing.
We had a few rough sea days but at no time was there ever an announcement made to the passengers regarding safety during rough seas. No one knew that there were safety barriers under our mattresses!! Some of us found this out by chance. When one of the passengers asked about railings for their top bunk they were told there were none. When they asked another staff member they were informed it was not their area and they should ask a hotel staff. So just a lack of follow up and initiative in general. I would have expected a general announcement and information on this with verbal instructions on how to put up the railings if needed.
I also suspect that one afternoon was spent testing the ice strengthened hull in the Weddel. The day before we had been told we might look for and navigate to the large berg left over from one of the ice shelfs - but the next day no more was said of that - we were told we were going to look for emperor penguins floating on ice bergs in the Weddel and the afternoon was spent crunching empty pan ice. I doubt there are Emperor Penguins on icebergs in November and rather, the captain was wanting to test out the Polar 6 ice capabilities of the ship.
So.... in spite of all this, yes it was an amazing trip. South Georgia absolutely was the highlight. If I ever go again I likely would not travel with Oceanwide but might be tempted to travel with them simply because of the Hondius and I think with the right itinerary it is really tough to mess up a trip to this region of the world.