Quark Expeditions

The North Pole was spectacular and made the rest of the trip tolerable. I did not appreciate being solicited for donations by way of an auction. I did not appreciate sharing the boat with a bunch of drunks. I did not appreciate having the children from hell on the boat. I did not appreciate having the lecturers lecture me with their personal agenda. The food was wonderful The staff were wonderful The Polar Bears were wonderful Nikita the Polar Bear expert was wonderful

It was a great adventure and I would recommend to those who enjoy new adventures. It was great to be amongst the wildlife in the region and the spectacular view. It really is a foreign land that is still pristine and wild. Watch out for that Drake Passage!

Hard to write a review of something that didn’t happen. Because of bad weather at the landing field we could not make it to Antarctica. Quark did the best it could in a difficult situation. Some points could have been handed better but they were not major.

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1) This exercise appears to be similar one to one done on board. So I will not repeat myself, but will add a few points. 2) The seating throughout the Ocean Atlantic was uncomfortable since the chairs were straight backed. There were none where one could lounge in comfort. 2) On the last day, the porthole of cabin 508 leaked and wrecked my camera that sat below it in a well. The well filled up with some water from the leak caused by heavy weather on the starboard side. A warning sign would have obviated this loss. 3) There were plenty of cakes and biscuits available. Some people like me, must restrict sugary items from our diets. To correct this imbalance, I suggest that cut vegetables be presented as as alternative. 4)There is no way I could have shared 508 with anyone. How was I to know that storage space was very limited. To avoid a mistake in the future, I suggest some details are given about the space limitations from a practical sense. For example, two Quark jackets would fill the cupboard. Where would stuff be held, with two people in a tiny cabin such as 508? 5) I enjoyed the cruise, but ranked the experience rather low as the ship was old, leaky and uncomfortable. 6) There was no heating in the cabin 508. There was an airflow control, but the temperature was not adjustable. Bye the way, it can get cold in those cabins.