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Laura Thieme

Bizresearch President – 10 years - 2007

Fisher College of Business Lecturer on Search Marketing

OSU Russian Studies Grad – 1993

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12th November 2007

Abercrombie & Kent: The Antarctica Cruise Ship: Minerva (formerly Explorer II)

After reading and blogging about Drake Passage, and noting the Abercrombie & Kent’s Explorer II (as of 11/23/07 the “Minerva”) name, I began to wonder about Antarctica shipwrecks, and the Abercrombie cruise ship’s reputation.  So I did a little research:

The Old Explorer - what happened to it?

Update on November 23, 2007:  This ship ran into an iceberg today, November 23, 2007.  It’s currently sinking in the Antarctica.  Thankfully no one was hurt. 

A&K has renamed their ship to Minerva.  As of today, the Explorer II is now officially the Minerva.  Is there a correlation?  I’m all for good luck, and offsetting superstitions.  So, if a ship sinks, do we want to rename second editions to no longer carry the old name?  I spent the day after Thanksgiving reading about previous explorers to Antarctica, meanwhile this ship was in distress.  How awful for the crew and cruisers aboard the Explorer (I).

Previous post before the 23rd of November: 

I’m pretty sure the old Explorer was refurbished and is now in use by two other cruiselines.  According to Google Books, the old Explorer was called the Lindblad Explorer (1969).  Explorer Shipping took over, and then Abercrombie & Kent took over the ship.  However, I’ll have to defer to A&K on accuracy here.  I’d love a comment from them on whether this is true, and any historical resources they can offer on the original Explorer.  It appears it was refurbished, according to Google Book entry linked above, in 2004, and is owned by GAP Shipping Co, and led by the infamous Captain Uli Demel.   GAP Expeditions offers cruises aboard the Explorer.  It was the first cruise ship to ever go to Antarctica making it quite famous.  I noticed that they became a member in 2006 of IAATO, International Assoc of Antarctic Tour Operators, which advocates for safe and environmentally responsible visits to the Great White Continent of Antarctica.

The Explorer II:  What’s the word on the street? 

Nice CruiseReport.com info that talks about the Abercrombie & Kent Explorer II (1996).  Talks about the cabins, what to wear, and what to expect.    For a look at the deck floor plan, you can see where I’ll be - currently I’ll be on B deck because that’s all that was left.  However, they mentioned a new room is available, with a larger picture window - it’s on the A deck but that’s another $1k.  Ugh.  I doubt it will still be available if I close two of the three large projects sitting on my desk for closure.  But if I close two of the three, I’m definitely asking for an upgrade if one still exists.

Here’s another site that talks about Explorer II to Antarctica - The Travel Goddess. 

Whew!  Cruise Critic gives Antarctica’s Explorer II Best Medium Ship Award.   Nice place for singles…. hmmmm.

Did you know what “glamping” is?  Glamping, is glamorous camping as stated by BusinessWeek’s Courtney Weaver, and the reference includes Abercrombie & Kent’s Antarctica Explorer II.

So thus far - everything is looking pretty good for Abercrombie & Kent’s Explorer II cruise to Antarctica.  I’m totally nervous about Drake Passage, but for those who know I’m always good for an exciting story, I can only hope that I have at least one good story to tell upon return.  And, if I’m lucky, I’ll be telling the story live from the ship, through the use of some good friends who make live mobile media happen all the time.

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