Quark Expeditions

If Quark does not want to tell us the truth of what is now happening in South America on the virus, then on the final talk let passengers who have cell phones talk about what they have learned- countries banning flights out of South America to U.S. and then Quark at the end can mention airlines are consolidating flights out of South America. I do not own a cell phone and my roommate cell phone had no reception. Therefore do not think everyone is able to find out what the latest news is on the virus. If you did not sit at a table with people who are keeping up on the news, then you will never know. I happen at one meal time to sit with people who were keeping up with the news. I did not ask questions, so news was limited for me. I did not realize how bad the situation was. Anyway I made it home with being uninform about the virus situation. I had to look on the internet when I got home to see what was going on. Very poor info on Quark end. I rated you low do to no virus info.

This was my 5th trip to Antarctica, 4th with Quark Expeditions. The lectures were fantastic, experts in every way. Each day we ventured to land and then a zodiac cruise. Then we did not land but only cruised! I was on this trip to land and see the penguins up close as possible as many times as possible not be driven around looking for whales (which we could see from the ship itself)!!! Actually we only landed 3 times out of a possible 8, not due to storm, rough seas but just that was the call of Mr. Solan. We actually heading North back to Ushuaia early for no reason at all. Yes because we were so close, we did see Cape Horn but actually docked at just before 12 midnight and not 6:30 in the morning as scheduled. Paid a lot of money and really do not think this trip was worth the price.

Firstly, make sure you aren’t the first sailing after a fly and sail as their weather delays from can delay your expedition. Myself and my husband took a trip on the Island Sky in February 2018 and our trip was delayed approximately 30 hours. We decided on to sail the Drake Passage after discussing with a Polar Advisor the ramifications of the fly and sail cruise and the consequences of weather delays possibly canceling the whole trip if a flight cannot get out. However, the Island Sky is apparently used for fly and sail and sail, being switched off and on during the season and the cruise before us was a fly and sail cruise. So, the at the end of the previous expedition, the fly and sail, the weather was too poor to land the plane and those passengers couldn’t be flown out until the next day, delaying our expedition 30+ hours, resulting in us loosing an entire day and night in Antarctica. Had, it been explained to us that the cruise prior to us was a fly and sail and that any delay they have could then be imparted on us, causing us to lose our valuable time in Antarctica on a once in a life time trip, we would have booked the next trip as the previous expedition fly and sail cruise didn’t impact and ruin our trip. And, e had to make sure we hurry and left right at 6pm on the 2nd day on Antarctica to make sure we were back in plenty of time to ensure the next expeditions was able to leave in time. Nothing was done about the time we lost, except a tour that was really like a 7 hour lunch (it was a 2.5 hour lunch and then visits to 2 lakes were we pulled off a side of the road to take a few pictures of a lake for about 10 -15 minutes a stop, and had to switch hotels). In Quark’s terms and conditions, they allow for up to 4 days to try and land a flight to commence a fly and sail cruise, however, they only leave a few hours for cruise turn arounds. Basically, passengers from 1 expedition disembark at 8am and new passengers embark at 4pm for the next expedition. Quark doesn’t divide up the fly and sails or build in extra time to account for passengers delay from the fly and sail into a sail. They fly and sail cruises should either be designated for one ship or the season should be split in half, so the passengers who chose to sail to avoid weather delays aren’t then penalized by prior fly and sail cruises on the same ship. Or, at the very least explain the first sailing after a fly and sail should be provided with the possible weather impacts of from the fly and sail trip before them so the customer can have all of the information. I am sure, if that was explained, people wouldn’t chose the first sailing after a fly and sail, especially without a built in buffer day. Further, other than the email informing us of the delay less than 12 hours prior to our flight departure for Ushuaia, Quark has not in any way tried to rectify the situation or even sent an email apologizing for the delay. The only email we have gotten were responses to email that I sent. We went with Quark based on their reputation for our once in a lifetime trip, but the delay and the way Quark schedules these fly and sail and back to back with sailings and then Quark’s response has been pretty much absent, and it’s been over a week since we disembarked. We lost 30+ hours in Antarctica, and entire day and night in Antarctica because of someone else’s weather delay, time we can never get back, time lost in the most amazing place in the world. Before you book, make sure it isn’t a ship that is shared with fly and sail expeditions.

I have mixed feelings about our trip. I was very disappointed that there was no one from Quark to meet us at the airport in Punta Arenas, someone from our group had to call and 30 minutes later a bus came to pick us up. This was a bad start to the trip! When it was decided to fly us to Puerto Natales, we were placed in a two star hotel and the Quark staff stayed in a 5 star hotel. The Quark staff seemed unprepared and untrained to deal with the many disgruntled people. We have received a full refund and Quark did pay for our hotel and food while we unsuccessfully waited for the weather to improve and we are grateful for that. We definitely want to try to visit Antarctica again and wish that Quark had more opportunities for us to try again for approximately the same price we had previously paid which was $8697.00 each. I hope that Quark will reach out to us if they can arrange another try for us.

Staff was very good but ship is in extremely poor condition. We had category A cabin and we were thoroughly disappointed.