No Sunken Ship Will Sink This Dream Trip
Our Dream Trip winner's Antarctic cruise, coming up in January, will now be on the 110-passenger Ioffe (pictured above) rather than the Explorer (God rest its soul).
Photo: Polar Cruises
by Wendy Perrin
Okay, you know that ship that sank in Antarctica over Thanksgiving weekend? That's the ship that Gene Pembroke, the winner of Conde Nast Traveler's Dream Trip Contest, was supposed to board in January for his Dream Trip.
Everybody in the office found the irony hilarious . . . except me. That's because I'm the one who had to scramble to get Gene and his girlfriend Arlene booked onto a new ship leaving from the same port (Ushaia, Argentina) circa the same date, even though most of this winter's Antarctic cruises sold out months ago and everybody else who was booked on the Explorer is looking for a replacement ship.
I guess you gotta laugh about the fact that Brook, our resident environmentalist, chose the Explorer -- which was operated by G.A.P. Adventures -- based on G.A.P.'s great environmental record and standing on Conde Nast Traveler's Green List. Then the ship sank and left an oil stain five kilometers wide by eight kilometers long. Brook, I think we need a Responsible Traveler column on the environmental impact of the fuel seepage. Will it disperse in time for Gene's cruise in January?
The Ioffe, a research vessel geared toward
adventure lovers like Gene, offers the
opportunity to camp overnight on the ice.
Thank God for Lynn Cross over at Polar Cruises,
a travel agency that specializes in Antarctic voyages. She helped me
get Gene and Arlene booked on a ship that sails out of Ushaia only two
days earlier than the Explorer was scheduled to. Crisis averted.
Gene's entire six-week, $20,000 Dream Trip will take him from Antarctica up the length of South America, from Chile to Argentina to Brazil to Venezuela. You can read about his itinerary in detail in Conde Nast Traveler's January 2008 issue. Even better, Gene will be guest-blogging here from his various southern-hemisphere locales, starting next month. Stay tuned.
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