Reviews
4.85
Overall rating based on 1,283 votes
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The crew was amazing and did all their best to give us the time of our lives! And they did. We have seen some epic wildlife and amazing scenery. Rooms are topnoch, just as the food. I will come back!
Absolutely superb organisation of activities, landings, lectures and workshops
We had an absolutely fantastic time on Ortelius on a trip to the Antarctic Peninsula. I was blown away by the landscape and the wildlife we saw and some of the days from the trip will live with me forever: in particular seeing humpback whales up close from our zodiacs and the mountaineering trip. I would thoroughly recommend Oceanwide as a expedition provider. Everything was well organised and well thought through. We were really made to feel part of the expedition. We had a fantastic group of expedition leaders and their enthusiasm and passion shone through. We were very well looked after: the rooms were cosy, food was excellent and the bar was great to hang out in. I also really appreciated being allowed to go up to the bridge to look for wildlife and talk to staff.
The trip really surpassed my already-high-expectations. The boat was lovely (who needs a 5* cruise ship??), all of the staff and guides were exceptional, and the food was delicious. I didn’t expect to have such good meals in such a remote place. All of the activities went ahead and there were lots of lectures/presentations to keep everyone entertained in the evenings. The boat was quite hot and stuffy on the first and last day into Ushuaia but a comfortable temperature the rest of the trip
Awesome experience! Got graced with good weather for the entire trip, so I got to do all the activities I wanted to do (mountaineering, kayaking, camping, and polar plunge - all the ones offered). Super friendly and knowledgeable guides and crew, fantastic and attentive staff. Delicious meals, never felt hungry, loved it!
Everything about this ship and the company as about saving money. From rotating limited staff to substandard food. The ship operates for the benefit of the company and certainly not the passengers. Everything is outdated from their equipment to their operating procedures. No polar plunge but a poorly organised polar wade. Limited indoor recreational space for pax. Poor scenic visibility from lounges. Limited drying space after shore excursions and sloppy attention to security details. Boarding zodiacs from a long loosely secured set of stairs made embarking and disembarking zodiacs unnecessarily dangerous. Cabin staff and waitstaff excellent but unsupported. Costumer contact staff inconsistent in their oft times resentful responses.
Two unique special occasions. On separate zodiac trips in bays of the Peninsula on windless still ice-covered waters. The outboard engines were switched off. Everyone was asked to keep quiet and listen to the silence. These precious moments I will never forget. For the most part, people are not used to silence. After a few moments, people need to fidget. We are strangely perturbed by a lack of noise, perhaps made nervous by the extraordinary power silence has, being that it is perfectly comfortable in its own company. Humans, on the other hand, are such noisy creatures - velcro, zippers, sniffles, arranging gloves or beanies, cameras clicking. Then, when the silence is deemed to have been sufficient, we return to the world we make more noisy, zooming away to the chug of outboard engines and the human chatter that seeks to dominate.
Can't help the weather & bird flu closures - unfortunately couldn't land @ Syromness of Gritviken but EL dosed everything possible to make the best of the situations presented.
This trip was a dream for my whole life and, when the opportunity came to go, I wondered if it could possibly add more to my understanding of these areas and the wildlife than I've absorbed from years of reading books and watching documentaries.
The answer is a resounding yes. Each day brought experiences, sights, wildlife observations, intelligent presentations and clear information briefings that together made a life changing and life lasting affect, for me.
Every member of the expedition team were experienced, well informed, engaging and efficient in their duties at all time. This professional approach was balanced with fun, when the occasion offered.
The ship and every member of its excellent crew ensured we were very comfortable and well cared for at all times. The food was excellent, varied and was adapted to special diets without fuss.
To others wanting to really engage with the wonders of Antarctica, consider this expedition.
Empfehlenswert, ausgezeichnete Betreuung und herrliche Landschaften mit vielfältiger Tierwelt
From beginning to end, this expedition was full of excitement and wonder. You truly need to experience the wildlife yourself to believe it is real. Whilst we had many alterations to our itinerary due to weather and bird flu, I believe we got to experience the best that was available to us. The bird flu has wreaked havoc with the wildlife, and I'm sure once this is under control, the experiences will again run mostly to plan. An expedition is the way to go, this was no ordinary cruise. Go in with an open mind, and you will be rewarded. I definitely wish to return again one day!
It was an amazing tour. For the wildlife we experienced, the stunning nature we saw, we were so lucky with the weather. And definitely, also the crew and guides of Oceanside Experience had such a strong contribution to this amazing experience. So passionate, so attentive, so nice. And it was so good that we chose the basecamp concept. The mountaineering, the kayaking, it allowed us to explore this stunning end of the world even more. And without a doubt, we would have loved to have even more of the activities...
We had the most amazing trip we had to Antarctica!
All of the staff onboard ensures you have the most splendid trip.
The conditions onboard are indeed excellent - great food and service all the way.
The guides are very knowledgeable and friendly - and great at socializing during the trip.
We were very fortunate with the weather - which is great on this trip as they have so many activities planned for you! Great combination of landings, zodiac trips as well as more adventure type of activities: kayaking, mountaineering, camping and so forth. You feel very safe during all activities.
We can highly recommend travelling with Oceanwide - once in a lifetime experience made perfect!
THIS TRIP WAS AMAZING! The Oceanwide team blew my expectations out of the water. I knew I would be going to Antarctica, but I didn't know I would be met with an expedition team that was knowledgeable, hospitable, kind, and curious. My trip was made one million times better all thanks to the Oceanwide team.
We travelled to Antarctica aboard the MV Ortelius in December 2023 on the Basecamp Expedition. We cannot speak highly enough of the entire voyage and both the vessel crew under Captain Per and the Expedition crew under Team Leader Chris.
Chris told us we weren’t on a cruise but an expedition and this was exactly the experience that we wanted and had. Chris did an incredible job given that this was his first time in the expedition leader role, we all enjoyed his early morning wake up call of “Good morning Ortelius, Good morning”.
We travelled with our 12 and 14 year old children and all the crew were incredibly helpful in looking after them. A special mention to Maria for watching out for her “babies”, Damian for bringing the hot chocolate, Mary for always smiling and Captain Per for his funny and interesting talks.
The Expedition team were all very friendly and worked extremely hard to adapt to changing weather conditions to make sure that we all got to experience all the the Basecamp tour had to offer. The kayaking, mountaineering, camping out, zodiac and snowshoeing were all activities that we will never forget in a truly amazing environment in Antarctica.
