Poseidon Expeditions Avis 591

The Sea spirit definitely has the most charm, with an amazing crew, expedition team, restaurant, bar & housekeeping. Even stabilizers for rough seas. This cruise also had an great photographer who gifted everyone with a memorable video (hats off to Piet). Sadly enough, it was a few antarctic scenes short from being epic.

As well travelled, nature & wildlife lovers and photography enthusiasts, we search to spend the most time outdoors looking for wildlife. We chose this cruise as Poseidon advertises this as an expedition, with an itinerary going half way down the Gerlache strait and a detailed summary describing this as the most beautiful and calm area booming with wildlife.
The trip started with the Falklands and the gorgeous sights at South Georgia. An extraordinary place!
Where it all went wrong is that an elderly passenger had tripped and fractured her arm during a mediocre hike. Resulting in an evacuation being necessary. With no contingencies in place to offload a passenger at King George harbour, the ship had to remain a drift for an evening and almost 2 full days, untill a plane had confirmed taking off. Resulting in a four day itinerary for the Arctic region being reduced to one day, with most highlighted destinations such as Portal point and Wilhelmina bay being unreachable in the time left.
The only option to reach the peninsula was 'Cierva cove' where they chose to do a ten minute photostop on a rocky beach. Doing so, the 'official step on 7th continent' was made before having to head north again. Technically we have not set foot on snow or ice.. on the arctic continent..
Out of shear luck a group off humpbacks crossed paths and a quick zodiac cruise saved the day. Apart from that, wildlife sightings in that regions were minimal.

In my opinion this still is a luxury cruise, not an expedition. With the targeted audience being those at retirement age or with money to spend, and such an audience comes with a higher risk level for injuries to occur. Having no contingencies in place to offload a passenger at the Shetlands is a higher risk Poseidon takes, risking a journey to come full stop. An IAATO shared 'waiting station' at King George Island would solve this issue.

Before boarding you have to sign off on being fully vaccinated and in good healthy conditions.
The person that was evacuated had physical conditions where she broke bones easily.
She had been helped down the stairs from day one and bragged about recent injuries at the dinner table.
She was also the first covid case on board and in a weakened state, placing her under doctors supervision.
In a recent comment Poseidon waves responsibility for the health form to ultimately be up to the passenger, but this in my opinion contradicts their own guidelines.
Whether this person forfeited her medical form or not, the doctor failed to screen her and declare her unfit for certain activities.

Quote:
The Customer is obliged to have themselves examined before the journey, if necessary with the involvement of expert medical advice, whether participation in the journey with its specific contents and its route through extreme climatic conditions is actually compatible with the Customer’s respective physical condition, constitution and current state of health. In these cases, the traveller agrees to be examined by a doctor/ship’s doctor who will check the traveller’s fitness to travel and, if necessary, determine that the traveller is unable to travel, which shall be binding for both parties.

This is where Poseidon failed in my opinion, they have taken the health declaration form too likely and risked a cruise with a 100+ people having to wait adrift for one person that did not meet the medical and physical requirements to participate in activities.
The obvious response to any further complaint about being stranded there will be 'due to bad weather', however there were calm seas near the original destinations further south. They rushed in a few extra landings so the minimum required was met and the continental landing (roughly ten minutes) has also been ticked off the list.
That simply doesn't feel right and justifyable to those that spent a lifetime saving for a once in a lifetime destination.
Still, most other guests wil rate this as excellent for the luxurious dining and services rather than the actual destination. Most don't even know what they have missed, such as Portal point and Wilhelmina bay for ex, or what wildlife it harbours. For me this luxury cruise missed its most highlighted final destination.

Sea Spirit staff and crew provided a fantastic trip 20 day tour of the Falklands, South Georgia, and the Antarctic Peninsula January 21-27. Every staff from the ship crew, hotel, restaurant and especially the expedition staff did their utmost to give us the best experience possible. Some days we even had three landings or zodiac cruises. Small ship great crew highly recommend. One addition thought Aaron the expedition leader besides leading the trip did his very best to be transparent about why decisions were made and how they were made. I appreciated this extra effort on his part.

I was on the January 7-27, 2023 trip to Falklands, South Georgia, and Antarctica.

Not worth the money. There are just too many "iffy" things about Antarctica expedition trips to spend this kind of money, whether for this company or another. Nothing is guaranteed and the passengers will take the full hit of anything that goes wrong (COVID, injuries, weather, antarctica site bookings).

Our Falklands excursion went fine enough (but this is the least scenic of the places you'll visit), then we got what I would estimate as about 80% of South Georgia and 40% of Antarctica that was planned on the original itinerary. We had to leave South Georgia a day early because of approaching rough weather, then the 2 sea days in our official itinerary to get to Antarctica turned into 4 because of slow travel across the southern ocean, causing us to lose time in antarctica.

But the most horrendous part of the trip was when a passenger fell and injured her shoulder, forcing us to sit in a harbor waiting for a medical evacuation. Poseidon proposed some excursions nearby, but this is a very windy area and all of those disembarkment opportunities were called off. Had we not been forced to sit and wait, we could've penetrated deeper and further down the Antarctic peninsula, where the waters are more sheltered. I was very disappointed that we didn't get more than 10 minutes on the continent itself. Why there isn't a better system for dealing with evacuations is beyond me, especially when injuries seem very possible -- even probable -- given the rough nature of the ship travel and the activities and landings. All passengers are required to have evacuation insurance, and yet every single passenger on the ship is severely and negatively impacted if even one individual needs to be transferred off the cruise.

Poseidon offered lectures on board during the sea days, most of which were quite interesting and well-presented. The expedition staff consisted of about a dozen members with various expertise, but I note that many of them have large gaps in knowledge outside of their own area of expertise. I had some zodiac outings with expedition leaders highly enthusiastic and knowledgeable, but I also had some outings with expedition leaders who did nothing more than drive the zodiac around and who offered little if any information about what we were seeing.

Please be aware: Passengers were offered a discount on their next voyage, if they leave a review here. Our boat was stuck for multiple days near S. Shetlands airport and missed Antarctica bookings. 105,000 people cruise to Antarctica but no true contingency plan for someone needing to be evacuated other than holding the entire ship for days around the airport. As a result, we missed our Antarctica bookings and cut out main Antarctica landings and venturing around sea ice. Horrible contingency planning. Poseidon blamed IAATO. Poseidon receives million and the only plan is to wait around. Posiedon takes your money. Poseidon should have a plan besides losing bookings and cutting out parts of Antarctica. In addition, lack of coordination with buses on Stanly, Falkland Islands resulted in passengers being left behind for 40 minutes while most of the expedition team were a half mile away sitting at a bar.

Update: Still no word from Poseidon, even though expedition crew gathered at 10 a.m. on Friday to recap and report out to headquarters. I've since run into several passengers in Ushuaia who have been in multiple communications with their booking companies. This was a botched trip that lost our Antarctica bookings along with other issues.

Reply: The survey results are not surprising, since we were informed to provide positive feedback several times with incentives offered.

What you aren't explaining is that Poseidon skirted its responsibility to ensure passengers were fit enough to take an expedition trip. You had passengers sign a paper before boarding to release liability but did little else. The person who required evacuation brought covid onboard. That passenger was our #1 covid case. There was no covid test in order to board, no temperature check, no nothing. Covid then spread. Sometimes announced and sometimes not. This weakened person who had other pre-existing conditions went on a landing only to not surprisingly fall. This is part of what is meant by botched the trip along with missing Antarctica bookings. The leader had to beg other ships to let us land in Antartica and none agreed. Our Antartica bookings were lost. We found a tiny patch of mainland Antartica soil to land on in order to hold a sign that said we landed. We were given 15 minutes on the small patch of land. I guess that was counted in all the activities done. When the weakened person with a pre-existing condition fell, we were told she did not need medivac but just a regular plane. In fact the passenger was walking all about the ship inside and out in rough seas and participating in all onboard activities unapologetically. While we were missing our Antarctica bookings, this is what the other 100+ messengers had to watch. I and others believe all of this could have been avoided with a more responsible expedition company.

Something else also not mentioned was the special meeting that had to be called to try to address all the disgruntled passengers. Lots of different issues were raised from handling of Covid to fitness for expedition landings to no plan other than waiting days near an airstrip and losing Antarctica bookings. One even stated she no longer knew what to tell others about selecting an expedition ship, implying how disappointing this one was.

Personally, I believe Poseidon is hiding behind legal documents, tainted surveys, incentivized reviews, and attempts to not take responsibility for foreseable issues.

Update: Looks like Poseidon decided to edit its reply today by removing the tainted statistics. Poseidon has been receiving emails from passengers on the expedition disputing how pleased everyone was and all the activities we did. We lost all our Antarctica reservations and couldn't move to calmer seas where about 40 other ships were around Antarctica.

I and others believe Poseidon did not follow through with the terms of the contract. The passenger that brought Covid onboard and then fell on landing let everyone know onboard that she broke her wrist 6 months prior, had other medical issues, and was taking medication. This is not someone fit for an expedition with zodiac landings to this region. Poseidon had the obligation to other passengers to deny entry. This is what was mishandled along with no contingency plan other than waiting around a relatively unsheltered area for multiple days.

100+ people lost a once in a lifetime experience in Antarctica on this Poseidon Expedition.

Die Organisation der Reise, inklusive der Führung mit Verschiebungen durch die Zeit von Corona, war kundennah lösungsorientiert. Das Konzept der Reise in die Antarktis ging voll auf. Das zeigte auch die Harmonie der internationalen Passagiere untereinander. Das Expeditionsteam war super, gut geschult und bei den Vorträgen fachwissend.

My wife and I were at Poseidon Expeditions trip to Antarctic Peninsula from Dec 30, 2022 to Jan 08, 2023. That was amazing. The ship (M/V Sea Spirit), the crew, the expedition team - everything was perfect.

Our trip was a dream trip.

Outstanding expedition / cruise. The M/v Sea Spirit is a wonderful boat, small enough to access landing points, at approx. 100 passengers perfect for expeditions and the crew provide great service. The Expedition Staff are outstanding making this trip a lifetime experience.

If there was a sixth star, Poseidon would get that too!

From the skills, experience and dedication of the entire crew to making my 23-day Antarctica trip, on board the Sea Spirit, so enjoyable, safe and totally memorable, they are now my 'go to' operator when seeking out further cruises!

Forgot about looking anywhere else and just give them a go - you won't be disappointed!

The crew and the staff were great..Food were really great also and lot to choose!
The rooms need renovation (I think)

Antarctica. It evokes an image, for me at any rate, of a wild, desolate, challenging, dangerous place to go. And, having been there, that image is reality - it is all of those things. It is also exciting, rewarding, thrilling, awesome, breath-taking......I've run out of adjectives. All I can really say is - if you have a desire to go and the opportunity - GO, GO GO!! And go with Poseidon! I cannot rate highly enough the enthusiasm, motivation, commitment to both passenger and environment, service, quality and support of the Poseidon team. All the staff, from the deck crew to the 'hotel' staff, to the kitchen and waitstaff and, I guess, especially, the expedition team were only concerned with delivering the ultimate trip for all the passengers - and, most importantly perhaps, without compromising anyone's safety.
Would I go again?
In an instant.
The weather, the scenery, the wildlife, the seas, the wind, the ice, the snow, the zodiac rides, the KAYAKING!! Just unbelievable. The howling gales and storm driven seas for days on end, followed by the tranquil calm and shelter as we moved slowly through an ice field. The falling snow and bitter cold, watching albatrosses soar behind the ship, the looming peaks of the continent in the background, the glaciers hanging over the ocean - these are images I will never forget.
And that's not forgetting the wildlife. Elephant Seals - tons of blubber being moved around at an alarming pace to settle again and appear to fall asleep, the Fur Seal beach masters uttering their challenges, echoing around the cliffs. The juvenile seals sliding through the water, big dark eyes goggling at the invaders. The penguins porpoising through the waves to emerge and stagger drunkenly up sheer slopes, hopping over and falling on obstacles, to join their rookeries, slipping and sliding around but determinedly pushing on. The Albatrosses, Giant Petrels and Cape Petrels hanging behind the ship, sliding through the winds to hover over the deck, curiously checking us out before sliding back down into the slipstream and moving effortlessly past the ship.
And, of course, the kayaking. getting dressed up in thermals, dry suits, life jackets, beanies, muffs, gloves, booties. Getting into the kayaks from the zodiac knowing if you slipped the water was below freezing - and you'd make a fool of yourself! Paddling through pancake ice, then lumps of ice from hand to small table size, past icebergs shimmering green and blue, the water crystal clear, snow falling - the kayaks already covered in white - realising you were quite warm, even when your hands were wet, the kayak balanced and running smoothly, stable and safe. Getting back into the zodiacs and grinning stupidly at the rest of the team, knowing you'd shared something really special.
Memories I will take to my grave.
Go!!

Bereits das vierte Mal zog es mich auf dieses kleine maritim gestaltete Schiff. Viele Crew- und Expeditionsteammitglieder der vorherigen Reisen waren wieder an Bord, nach den entbehrungsreichen letzten zwei Jahren ein Gefühl des "nach Hause Kommens". Interessante Tagesprogramme voller Aktivitäten für jedes Sportlerlevel, vielfältige Tierbeobachtungen, spannende Vorträge und das leckere Essen, durch den neuen Chefkoch teilweise auch asiatisch geprägt, machten diese Reise um Spitzbergen wieder zu einem echten Highlight. Eisbären, neugierige Walrösser, einige Wale, eine bunte Vogelwelt und kleinste Pflanzen galt es zu entdecken. Mit dem Kajak-Team erschlossen sich uns die Naturgewalten der kalbenden Gletscher noch intensiver. Aus dem Expeditionsteam besonders hervorzuheben waren Sandra, die Kunsthistorikerin, mit der wir gemeinsam das erste Mal Danskoya (Basislager der Andree-Expedition, mit der sich Sandra wissenschaftlich auseinander gesetzt hat) betreten durften, Page unser Bordfotograf, dem wir wundervolle Fotos verdanken und natürlich Anja, die Seele des Expeditionsteams, die es schaffte uns alle immer wieder in die Kälte raus zu lotsen. Auch die coronabedingt isolierten letzten drei Tage vergingen wie im Fluge, wir wurden in unserer geräumigen Balkonkabine (Deluxe Suite) gut verpflegt und ließen bei einem Blick in die vielfältige Bordliteratur spektakuläre Landschaften an uns vorüber ziehen. Danke der ganzen Schiffsbesatzung für einen unvergesslichen Urlaub.

This was our third trip on Poseidon. What we like best is the small ship (i.e., fewer passengers that you then get to know better) and the fantastic crew. We also prioritize Poseidon because of the great excursions, usually two per day, out on the zodiacs or on land. Their subject-matter experts are great, covering both natural and human history.

I’ll start by saying that the crew, food, facilities on board, we are all excellent.
However, We were most disappointed with the lack of any significant wildlife, no polar bears, no whales, I feel the cruise was oversold on this very particular aspect so it was most disappointing to not to see either.

We had a wonderful experience on an Arctic expedition with Poseidon. The Sea Spirit is a great boat to be on for a longer trip. The room was spacious, comfortable and nicely decorated. The common rooms were also very comfortable. The dining room offered a good variety of food for all meals and was tasty. Probably the thing we liked best was the service - from ALL the staff on the ship. The service was faultless, from the person who cleaned our room, the servers in the dining area, the reception staff, and those in more background roles, such as the ones who helped us in and out of the zodiacs. The expedition team was very knowledgeable, and also very service-oriented. The only suggestion we have for improvement is better clarification in brochure materials of what you can expect as part of the expedition. We had expected to see more wildlife than we did, and even went back to the brochure to see if we had misread it (we had not). Our cruise was more a “scenery” cruise, which was beautiful, but we would have liked to have the correct expectations going in. That said, we highly recommend Poseidon, so much so that we have booked another trip with them for next year.

Wir waren Mitte August unterwegs im Nordost-Grönland-Nationalpark.
Es war unsere erste Reise mit der SEA SPIRIT. Wir haben dieses Schiff sofort in unser Herz geschlossen. Klein, aber fein...luxuriös, aber doch leger...und so herrlich nostalgisch in der Einrichtung. Dieses Schiff hat einfach Charme!!
Es war eine fantastische Zeit an Bord.
Mit nur 56 Passagieren entdeckten wir die grandiose Landschaft Spitzbergens und Nordostgrönlands. Ausgangs- und Endpunkt dieser Reise war Spitzbergen. Somit war der genaue Reiseverlauf offen. Aufgrund einer Schlechtwetterfront wurde entgegen des ursprünglichen Programmverlaufs zuerst Grönland angesteuert und am Ende der Reise erst Spitzbergen. Genau die richtige Entscheidung!! Ein ganz großes Lob an den Kapitän und das Expeditionsteam! Wir hatten auf der ganzen Reise gutes Wetter.
Das gesamte Expeditionsteam ist jung, dynamisch, sehr engagiert und hat die Gabe, den Gast in jeglicher Form zu begeistern. Alle Teammitglieder sind jederzeit ansprechbar und geben auch außerhalb der Vorträge gerne Informationen. Besonders beeindruckt hat uns, daß alle Mitglieder des Expeditionsteams Zodiac fahren, und daß die meisten mit dem Gewehr umgehen können. Mit so vielen "Bärenwächtern" können die Landgänge sehr vielfältig gestaltet werden. Der Gast kann somit wählen zwischen anspruchsvollen oder leichten Wanderungen, oder ob er nur das großflächig abgesteckte Terrain nahe der Anlandungsstelle erkunden möchte. Man hat viel Zeit an Land!
Ebenso hervorzuheben sind die gute Küche und das überaus freundliche Personal im Restaurant. Alle Crew-Mitglieder der Sea Spirit haben großes Lob verdient!
Unsere nächste Reise mit der SEA SPIRIT ist bereits gebucht und steht in Kürze an....wir freuen uns schon sehr darauf!!
Evi Beilharz

Eigentlich eine phantastische Reise von Island nach Ostgrönland und Zurück. Eine tolle Mannschaft inkl. Küche, Servicepersonal, Roomservice, Tourguides die mit Einsatz und Herzblut auf die immer wechselnden Verhältnisse reagiert und immer versucht für den Gast das Optimale herauszuholen.
Leider entspricht die Kabine, speziell die sanitären Einrichtungen, in keiner Art und Weise den Ansprüchen die an eine solche, doch etwas ambitionierte Preisgestaltung gestellt werden dürfen.
Der Sea Spirit (Bj. 1991) ist ihr Alter im Kabinenbereich deutlich anzumerken.

Vom 22. Juli bis 5. August 2022 haben wir mit der 'Sea Spirit' eine sehr beeindruckende Rundreise um Spitzbergen gemacht. Das Schiff und ein Großteil des Expeditionsteams und der Besatzung war uns von früheren Reisen vertraut; wir wurden wieder freudig begrüßt. Es hat sich einmal mehr gezeigt, dass die Mitglieder des Expeditionsteams über eine hervorragende Kompetenz verfügen, was sich gegenüber anderen Expeditionsschiffen deutlich abhebt. Die Herzlichkeit, mit der man sich die ganze Zeit begegnete, hat uns sehr gut getan. Vielfältige Naturbeobachtungen und Begegnungen mit Tieren in der Luft, an Land und im Wasser haben uns an Erfahrungen reich gemacht. Besonders beeindruckend fand ich die Eisbären und die Walrösser. Letztere haben uns vor allem durch ihr freundliches Wesen imponiert. Im Kajak war uns das Eismeer besonders nah. Das Wispern der Eisberge vor den Gletschern konnten wir so ganz deutlich hören. - Die Verpflegung an Bord und der Service waren wieder vorzüglich; den Kampf gegen die Pfunde haben wir trotzdem noch relativ gut gemeistert. Am Ende der Reise wurde ich von Covid-19 erwischt, was uns beide zum Verbleib in der Kabine zwang. Wir wurden trotzdem liebevoll umsorgt und verpflegt, und der freundliche Schiffsarzt Dr. Benavides aus Peru traf die notwendigen Maßnahmen. Alles in Allem - es war eine wunderbare Zeit, Anja Erdmanns Reiseleitung perfekt, und es war bestimmt nicht die letzte Reise, die wir mit der 'Sea Spirit' unternommen haben.

I have been on several cruises with the more typical companies that go to Europe, Caribbean, etc. Since this was listed as an expedition, I did not anticipated similar quality in the food, service, etc. I was pleasantly surprised at the wonderful attention paid to me starting with the scheduling agents to crew on the ship.

The variety and quality of the food in the dining room was very good and I loved afternoon tea. The only thing that prevented me from gaining weight was the amount of exercise from the two excursions each day.

The trips to land in the various areas were interesting and catered to all activity levels. Even though which animals you see is left to nature, we still managed to see a good variety. The team leading the expeditions were not only knowledgable but also very friendly.

This was supposed to be a one time trip but I was so enchanted that I may have to take one of Poseidon's other cruises

I went to the British isles in may 2020.For me it was an unexpected experience because we visited isles where only nesting birds were living. It was so quite and peacefull.We also discovered marvellous gardens with a huge amount of different plants of all the world.
The landings in zodiac were amazing..The staf of the Sea Spirit was very kind.I enjoyed every moment!

Everything is perfect! Spacious rooms, tasty foods and drinks, warm waiters and waitresses, wise and passionate expedition members, various daily activities and breathtaking scenery and animals. It's an amazing and special summer with Poseidon.