Quark Expeditions

The Svalbard trip was excellent, but the trip was marred by the covid changes handled badly by Quark. They switched us to a commercial flight because there ‘weren’t enough pilots’ - which seems extremely unlikely (I suspect the boat being 40 customers light meant they didn’t want to pay for the plane). We were therefore stuck in the crappy airport hotel for a whole day. My group would have preferred to stay in town that night. Also we could have bought more luggage - but did not have that communicated. We did not have time to go to Longyearbyen that night, but could have easily visited the town the next morning as we loitered in port waiting for some paperwork until 14.30. The trip leader told me I was wrong when I reported a planned excursion to Longyearbyen (as documented on the itinerary). We then had to catch a commercial flight home which we were forced to arrive for two hours early - which is completely ridiculous.

The Trip was very good nice and interesting. The only thing which was not good was the communication from Expediton Leader Shane. He inform th travellers only in the Last Moment as it happens more or less already. He never inform something in advance - only he was 100% sure. I had in 2008 the Expedtion Leader Lori from Canada - he was much more communicativ and was also willing evertime if something chance to correct his self - that was the much easier way for the traveller. Every communication from Shane was just like last minute and that he should change for further Expeditions. the Rest was ok, also the Expedition Team was good - specially Fabrice with his imens knowledge of bird and the way he makes presentations - perfect.

The trip started out well. The weather was fine. Not only is the ship quite comfortable, but the expedition team is excellent. We all enjoyed experience and learned a lot. The cabins, dinning facilities and service, lounges, etc are all satisfactory and good. Of course, our trip also had some extraordinary experiences-- due to bad weather, our return flight was delayed five days. Needless to say, the anxieties caused by the uncertainty were high during the delayed period. But the staff was top-notch and dealt with this unexpected long delay (we were told we set the weather related delay record for the Quark Antarctic expeditions). Still, all passengers were treated well. No shortage of anything. In fact, the staff team actually tried to do some extra landings during the wait. In the end, despite all the delays and disruptions, we were all able to safely get home. A major downside of this delay is the financial loss for those of us whose flights and lodging had to be cancelled, changed, or rebooked. This makes purchasing travel insurance that can cover such unforeseen problems that much important. Overall, Quark did the very good job. We would go with Quark for some other expedition trips.

the Antarctic Explorer: Discovering the 7th Continent, All-Inclusive from Buenos Aires 10 Day 2017-2018 on 03/03/18

Once in Antarctica, the trip was wonderful. Expedition Leader (Alli) and team were friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. Can only use my experience but wonder if the weather is just too problematic to offer this fly in option. We and the trip behind us were most impacted but I understand the group ahead of us also experienced a delay. I personally missed a $3000 trip to Easter Island as a result of the 5-6 day delay in returning from King George Island to Punta Arenas.