E-mail a friend
MV Orlova Testimonials
Antarctica
Mary Burgess (Dec 2007 - MV Orlova)I planned the trip to celebrate my 60th birthday with my children - the help and advice I received was outstanding. Every Adventure Life representative I have experienced has been informed, extraordinarily helpful, friendly and enthusiastic.
Your local crew are outstanding. Their experience, professionalism, breadth of knowledge and willingness to share are truly memorable. The food was delicious and abundant and the caterers on board unfailingly willing to change schedule, with little notice, to accommodate our explorations.
The tour was a memorable, moving, exciting, challenging and life-changing experience. To have so much opportunity for lectures & exploration of Antarctica with guides,who had spent years actually living there, was unexpected. The comfort of the accommodation, the delicious food and wine in such abundance, the many exciting landfalls and opportunities to mingle with wildlife, walk, climb - even swim in the ocean combined with the many ways in which all crew, including ships, catering and guides, changed schedule with enthusiasm to enhance our opportunities to experience Antarctica in all its wonder, has left us delighted, humbled and extremely grateful.
Laurie Pyle (Nov 2007 - Antarctica - MV Orlova)
My husband and I have only been home a few days and our trip to Antarctica still seems so surreal! Photographs don't even come close to depicting how beautiful and unspoiled Antarctica is, or how spectacular and entertaining the wildlife is. Jenny, our Adventure Life trip coordinator was always there to answer any questions we had to provide useful advise regarding what gear we really needed for the cold weather. (Coming from Texas where we don't get snow her advise was invaluable!) She also helped us to book hotels, flights and additional tours adjacent to our expedition and made sure we had everything taken care of before we left.
The MV Orlova expedition crew was fantastic. There was a great ratio of expedition staff to passengers that made it easy to turn and ask for help identifying the many birds, seals and other wildlife of the antarctic. My husband and I both work and only had limited time for this vacation. We were initially concerned that the Classic Antarctica trip might not be enough time to experience everything given it is one of the shorter trips. in the end we found this trip to be just right. We don't feel like we missed out on anything or that the trip was too short or too long. My advice, don't put off this wonderful experience for years waiting until you have more time, you'll never know what you are missing!
Steve Benson (Dec 2006 - Antarctica: Orvola)
This tour was the best, coolest, most exciting thing I have ever done! Jonathan and Jenny were the best!
Lynn Hardin (Nov 2006 - Antarctica: Orvola)
My pre-departure support from Adventure Life was excellent, Jenny went out of her way to make sure all of my documents were over-nighted. The boat and its crew were everything and more. The food was great and the trip was very educational. This was one of the best experiences I have ever had in a preplanned excursion-especially to my final continent-Antarctica!
Jennifer Hill (Dec 2005 - M/V Orlova Antarctica Cruise)
Our cruise was excellent. We made more stops on Antarctica than we expected, which was great. This trip is great for not only couples, but also for families. There is lots to learn for the entire family.
Stephanie Lanzone (Feb 2005 - M/V Orlova Antarctica Cruise)
This was my first experience traveling on my own, and I want to thank Adventure Life! Adventure Life paid close attention to the trip details so even as a single female in a foreign country, I felt safe and comfortable at all times. I was able to just sit back and soak up the incredible experience!
Antarctica itself was simply mind-blowing! There are not enough words to describe the raw majesty of the landscape and its inhabitants!
Lynn Frieda (Feb 2005 - M/V Orlova Antarctica Cruise)
The tour was everything I expected! The two assistant expedition leaders, in particular, were EXCELLENT! The ship crew also could not have been better. The food was incredible, particularly given the rough weather.
***Click on the above link to see Lynn's website and pictures of her trip!
Arctic
Carol Ellett (Jun 2008 - Cruise on MV Orlova)We made good visits to the villages of Ivujivik and Kangisujuak. At the latter, one of the elders talked about Inuit life, women did throat singing, and then we were served food they'd prepared - bannock, Arctic cod tartar, and wonderful mussel soup. The village also had an interesting small museum. We were privileged to have excellent wildlife viewings. Bearded, ring and harp seals, two walrus sightings, (one with 5 of them swimming in a group), musk ox with 2 young on Diana Island, and to top it off two polar bear sightings. The first on the thick billed murre filled cliffs of Aptovik Island. The bear was looking for chicks or eggs that fell off the steep cliffs. Then in Ungave Bay we came upon a mother polar bear and her two 6 month old cubs on a wee iceberg. She slid into the water, swam a little towards us, then did a quick turn, dumping the cubs into the water. When they climbed back on and she headed away from the ship, one of the evidently frightened cubs climbed up too high on her neck, and she swatted it to get away from her head. It was the trip of a lifetime!!!