Drake Passage — sail, fly or both?

CLARIFICATION — Regarding the article “Awed by the Pristine Beauty of Antarctica” by Nancy Tardy, subscriber Kenneth Crosby of Laredo, Texas, wrote, “The statement in the August 2013 issue that air/sea tours of Antarctica are less expensive than all-sea ones is simply false, and the statement that air/sea tours are more enjoyable than all-sea ones is only the author’s personal opinion.”

After reviewing the information published, ITN decided that a clarification was needed.

Ms. Tardy booked a “Fly the Drake” cruise-tour and wrote, “I had chosen this trip from Quark because it offered charter flights in both directions over some of the roughest water in the world, the Drake Passage, reducing the trip length by four days and resulting in a lower trip cost.” 

This statement is, indeed, a bit confusing, as it combines information from several sources in the same comparison.

Regarding the shorter trip length, Ms. Tardy was referring to eliminating the Drake Passage sea crossing altogether, a ship taking two days in each direction. As Ms. Tardy was comparing Quark’s new-at-the-time “Fly the Drake” option with cruises of greater lengths from a number of different companies, she noted that skipping the Drake Passage eliminated four days from the journey.

However, the statement regarding cost was a result of Ms. Tardy’s comparing two Quark tours: the “Fly the Drake” option, which in the 2012-13 catalog was priced from $7,995, and the “Cruise South, Fly North” tour, priced from $9,995 in the same catalog. (At current 2014-15 prices, the “Fly the Drake” now actually costs more [$8,995] than the cruise that crosses the Drake Passage in one direction [$7,995]). 

The “lower trip cost” Ms. Tardy referred to was not meant to compare a trip completely skipping the Drake by flying in each direction with an itinerary crossing the passage in both directions by ship; Quark does offer an all-sea cruise on the Sea Adventurer starting at $5,995, which is less expensive than the trip booked by Ms. Tardy.

Mr. Crosby’s second point, that skipping the Drake Passage is not “more enjoyable” than an all-sea cruise, refers specifically to the article’s description in the table of contents, the text of which was written by ITN. This was intended to capsulize the experiences recounted by Ms. Tardy in her article on page 34, not as a suggestion that an air/sea option would be more enjoyable for anyone considering a trip to Antarctica. 

A more precise description would have been, “Skipping the rough seas of the Drake Passage offers an enjoyable alternative for seeing some of the astounding scenery of this ice-covered continent.” 

ITN thanks Mr. Crosby for the opportunity to point out that the prices of the Quark trips that were being compared have fundamentally changed. — Editor