Poseidon ExpeditionsReviews of poseidonexpeditions.com

My trip was a mismatch- my mistake. Best appreciated by enthusiastic photographers and nature devotees. I came interested in Arctic exploration/history, in depth examination of climate change, and evolving politics of Russian- EU Arctic cooperation. Expedition guides are enthusiastic outdoorsy types, but not reflective engaging instructors capable of sparking meaningful conversation and framing climate issues. Secondly, it’s a value based trip, not luxury- as advertised but not fully understood by me. Think Toyota, not Porsche. Economy class, not business. This is not comparable to Lindblad or Ponand, nor is its cost basis. Surprise, you get what you pay.

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.

We just returned from a 9 day cruise on the Poseidon Sea Spirit around Svalbard. The ship was pleasant and the crew was friendly, but the trip was very disappointing. The captain and expedition leader were extremely cautious. They did not take us near the ice. They did nothing to make the trip interesting and exciting. One landing was generally the same as all of the others. When they had the chance to stretch go a little further and take a chance to see different wildlife or views, they opted not to do so. We had hoped for a once in lifetime experience but the trip was the equivalent of what I envision as a Caribbean cruise in the cold. When we returned to Longyearbyen, we spoke to people who had been on other boats at the same time in virtually the same waters we had sailed through. They told us that their captain had gone further and that they described amazing experiences. We have been all over the world to many out-of-the way places, including Antarctica. Our Antarctic adverture with Polar Latitiude was wonderful--and our captain and expedition leader were much more willing push themselves and the boat to provide us with a fantastic adventure. This was lacking in our Poseidon Arctic cruise.

The ultimate experience to the North Pole. However the ice breaker crashing out the ice slab is totally worth all the experience. Feel the ice crashing , hear the crashing and smell the coolness. Got to be there to be on it. I believe the ice breaker crew and expedition crew did their best in view of the climatic situation and geographical limits. This review is with reference to the Ice Breaker 50 years Victory. However below are outline of my review: 1) A bigger asiatic food variety will be good, in view of the ratio of Asian on board. Cooking style with more asiatic flavour. May be, allow the passenger to make personal request. Simple noodle and Tim Sum for breakfast will be good. 2) On board entertainment , ie movies at selected time schedule, possible to sectionise a portion of the library for regulated movies. 3) signage within the library to the aft saloon is not well identified - not enough detail signage. 3) May be the Russian crew , can put up a "simple smile" when walking pass the guest passenger. The on "board doctor "is so stern , "not even response to a morning breakfast greetings ", on the opposite side of the table.!! Is it language barrier? Minimum put up a smile! Luckily I don't have to request any on board medical treatments. Regards Gohkt

We expected to see polar bears and walrus and other sea life. None, zero BUT we saw glaciers and icebergs and learned about them. Did you ever see an iceberg explode?? We did.