Reviews

Difficult in a short space to explain a trip like that, specially if English is not your first language.. For me, that was what I have expected, the weather was correct, that permits helicopter tours, but too short; the zodiac landing were nice. Nothing special about the atmosphere during the long days of navigation, many boring days, on the bridge, the crew was for a minimum welcome, no more, they felt happy when we were leaving, sometimes with a suspicious look... I didn't appreciate that, I was very interested in navigation, but every time on the bridge, I felt like a disturbing people. The lectures: Could have been more interesting, good English required. The restaurant ok, but I was on Plancius last year, and Plancius was superior! Cabins on level 3, you have to renew, 5&4 have been rehabilitate, but not 3. I will recommend only to people well informed. Marc Cossart

Words are not adequate. Astounding scenery - surprising colourful Falklands, historic South Georgia with so many penguins, majestic islands, fascinating and colourful icebergs, sea ice and bergy bits - how many shades of blue are there?. So fortunate with the weather calm seas, wonderful sunsets. Wildlife fascinating. For wellbeing everyone should meet a penguin a day! Saw so much - king penguins, magalllenic, rockhopper, Gentoo, chinstrap and adelie. Fur seals with pups, elephant seals - massive bulls and friendly pups. Albatross - close up to black browed on their nests, wandering, sooty backed, light mantled sooty headed - all majestic. Soaring petrels. Close up encounters whilst in the zodiacs with feeding humpback whales. Ship's captain and crew, hotel staff and guides all professional and friendly. Learned so much and will never forget the experience. Buenos Aires and Uschuaia good experiences too.

Wetterglück "Zimmerkolleginnen" gut Essen und Hotelservice gut Mitpassagiere gut gesehen: div Pinguine inkl Kaiserpinguin (1) Seals div Vögel Wale

It was absolutly fantastic, and it fullfilled all my dreams about the tour. The guide´s and the crew really worke´d hard to give us the best experience.

We had a fantastic trip with the Ortelius to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, the South Orkney Islands, the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands. The crew and staff on board were very enthousiastic and positive, even when an activity could not take place, due to the weather. They always looked for an alternative. The lectures were informative and interesting. The auction for the rat eradication programme on South Georgia was very funny, especially when Adam, the Swedish staffmember, tried to repeat a Chinese bid in Chinese.Our cabin was larger and more luxurious than we had expected. The choice at breakfast, lunch and dinner was great. The weather was great too, although we had a lot of wind. We saw a lot of wildlife, like penguins, whales, dolphins, seals and seabirds.

Mit der ganzen Reise und dem Wetter, sehr zufrieden! Was hätten wir bei ständig schlechtem Wetter gemacht?...

Organisation: am Flughafen in Reykjavik war so was von katastrophal oder chaotisch wie es nicht schlimmer sein könnte, ein Wunder dass alle Teilnehmer in die Stadt gekommen sind! Am Morgen 2 Std vor dem Hotel warten auf einen Bus das ist Organisation gleich Null ! Keine Orientierung was oder wie es weiter geht, Reiseleiter musste sich selber vor Ort abmühen, ein absolutes No Go! Führer auf dem Schiff unvorbereitet und bei den Wanderungen zT etwas orientierungslos. Philppino Zodiac-Führer Top, Gratuliere. Essen OK, Schiffsreise OK. Kabine 509 extrem lärmig (Technik, Motor usw.)

Amazing trip to one of the most beautiful places in the world. The M/V Ortelius is a great vessel and it is perfect for this type of trips. The entire time aboard I felt safe and not once I lost confidence on the ship's strenght or the crew. My cabin was spacious, comfortable and it was kept very clean. The crew was knowledgeable and very professional and ran the trip smooth and on time. There were a few hiccups during the trip but they were caused by the weather, to be expected in that part of the world, and not by the crew. The food was much better than what I was expecting and the desserts kept me asking for seconds every day. Landings in Antartica made me feel like a true world explorer and the photo ops were simply out of this world. This trip is a most for any photographer whether you are an amateur, a pro or you are starting at the hobby. Just make sure you bring the best gear you possibly can and that you store your gear in water proof bags. I definitely recommend Oceanwide Expeditions and based on the comments I heard from locals in Ushuaia, Argentina, the company is regarded as the best and safest in the trade.

THE EXPEDITION STAFF WERE MUCH, MUCH BETTER THAN I EXPECTED. ALL OF THEM HAD INCREDIBLE KNOWLEDGE OF THE FLORA, THE FAUNA, THE GEOLOGY AND THE HISTORY OF THE AREA. THEY WERE VERY COMMITTED TO SAFETY. ALL STAFF WERE GOOD. THE FOOD WAS OF A MUCH HIGHER QUALITY THAN I WAS EXPECTING, AND I COMPLIMENT YOU ON THAT. THE CABINS WERE MUCH LARGER THAN I WAS EXPECTING AND VERY COMFORTABLE. THE SHIP WAS WELL MAINTAINED AND FUNCTIONED BEAUTIFULLY

The Round-Svalbard Expedition was excellent. As the on board information puts it, Ortelius is basic but very comfortable and very well equipped. Her crew were extremely friendly and accommodating, and the food was plentiful and tasty without being extravagant. Having open access to the bridge at most times was a great privilege and was very much appreciated. We are very glad we chose Ortelius. The ship is just the right size - large enough to be comfortable but small enough for the experience to be personal. The expedition itself achieved all objectives regarding experiencing the environment and seeing wildlife. Polar bears, walrus, arctic fox, reindeer, seals, whales, and birds of most species were located, and we were given the best possible viewing opportunities. The guides were clearly very experienced, and were always looking to provide the best experiences onboard and ashore, whilst very conscious of the safety of the guests. For a great experience of the Arctic we recommend this trip very highly.

Das Erlebte und Gesehene hat sich so summiert, dass ich einige Wochen brauche, um die Spitzbergenumrundung zu verarbeiten. Spitzbergen ist Natur pur. Eisbären aus 15 Meter Entfernung zu bestaunen - da kommt eine grosse Freude auf. Walrosse zu beobachten macht ganz einfach Spass. Den violetten Steinbrech, den weissen und gelben Svalbardmohn, intensiv hellgrüne Moose und orangene Flechten - welche Farbenpracht in der kargen Tundra. Und der Ruf von 100’000 Lummen beim Vogelfelsen - unüberhörbar. Der Vorstoss mit der Ortelius ins Packeis - ein grosses Erlebnis. Wer Freude am Nordskandinavien hat, soll sich noch nördlicher nach Spitzbergen aufmachen. Er oder sie wird es nie bereuen.

WOW. Es war eine fantastische, atemberaubende und zugleich unbeschreiblich faszinierende Expeditionsreise. Die mächtigen Massen von Schnee, die die Gletscher bilden, klares kaltes Wasser, das ich unbedingt beim zweiminütigen Baden ausprobieren musste, die kleine und vielfältige Flora, die um das Leben während ein paar Monaten kämpfen muss, in denen die Sonne scheint und kein Schnee ihre schönen blühenden Blüten bedeckt, die bezaubernde Landschaft, die von der Vogelperspektive von den fliegenden Kreaturen beobachtet werden kann und zuletzt auch die Fauna mit den Polarbären, Rentieren, Fuchsen, Walrossen und anderen Lebenswesen. Es ist unbeschreiblich schön, wenn man ganz nah vor einem riesigen Polarbär steht, sei es nur auf dem Deck von dem tollen Expeditionsschiff Ortelius. Resultat? Sie werden sich vielleicht wundern, ich habe mich in die Gletscher verliebt, ich bewundere und achte sie zugleich und auch die einzigartige arktische Landschaft mit ihrer Tierwelt. Ich habe mich entschieden, Kenntnisse über Gletscher zu gewinnen und wer weiß, mag sein man trifft sich nochmal. Begeisterte Iveta

Tolle Reise mit einigen Höhepunkten. Eisbären im Packeis, Wanderungen in der kargen Tundra, Walrosse, Gletscher und jede Menge Vogelarten. Ein super Expeditions-Team war für Fragen jederzeit offen. Gerne wieder eine Reise mit Oceanwide-Expeditions.

Having led several tours with Oceanwide around Svalbard and this time as LT&C-Study-Tour with 16 LT&C members on board, I can congratulate Oceanwide again for a wonderful and high professional trip. All our members have expressed major satisfaction and will certainly recommend similar tours to others. It was also obvious that all passengers were very engaged in the shore-cleaning activities. I have not heard any complains about the shore cleaning activities. Much the opposite: people expect that this will be happing again next year. "We left the place in a better stage than we found" was one saying and got much applaud from others. So, we as LT&C hope this can be performed also in coming years, and we again can announce it as special LT&C Study-Tour. Great, that LT&C-Co-Founder Oceanwide provided several slots for LT&C-presentations, put also our flag in the top of the vessel and showed its engagement in and support to the LT&C-mission. Maybe you can use also our logo in your print material on board and more prominent on your website. Looking forward to further increased cooperation.

Exzellent trip: Very good team round Christian Engelke: a top man, with a great expirience and he does a very good job for his passengers. The whole team very friendly and active. The ship was great- the 4- persons-cabins are rather small and airless in the morning... Meals: ok stuff: excellent Organisation: top! Please no towels on the public toilets- please use paper towels