Magellan Explorer Ship Reviews

We were fortunate to have Loli (Lolly) as our Naturalist and Zodiac driver for an incredible encounter with Humbacks. She was super informative, and was as excited as we were to see them. She was helping out on the boat for a couple of weeks but also was a Swoop employee as well. She made sure that we (Craig and Candice) were also sorted out on our flights when we had a delay. Everyone on the boat wanted to have her as their driver because she was so fun and pleasant to be with.

When I saw the first Iceberg and the penguins

It's hard to pick just one. The entire trip was magical. If I had to pick, I'd say it was setting foot on the actual continent and posing with Antarctica21's "7 Continents" flag. A close second would be when two pods of orcas decided to swim alongside our ship.

Seeing all of the penguins, seals, and other wildlife in its natural habitat

Standing on the Antarctic continent with all the penguins & the majestic mountains & glaciers all around.

Seeing icebergs and jumping in the southern ocean.

Standing on a ridge on the Antarctic peninsula with the sun shining down. Standing next to a penguin colony with no civilization close. The water smooth with ice floating.

Too many to choose from!

Kayaking in the brash ice in Neko Harbor. The stillness created by the ice was broken only by the occasional glacier calving. We paddled past a sleeping crab eater seal and watched feeding penguins swim past.

Getting close to the humpback whales on our kayak and also kayaking in Neko Harbour

When we saw how Chinstrap penguins are able to survive and thrive in Orne Harbor area, we were stunned. Of course, the entire trip was splendid! Everyday experience becomes more and more speechless. At the end, we didn't say anything but purely enjoyed the beauty of such pristine nature.

The first morning, waking up and seeing the awesome landscape of blue icebergs, black terrain covered with pure white snow while on zodiak cruise, seeing a group of humpback whales engage in bubble net feeding

This is difficult as my adventure was filled with many memorable moments...but the first day after flying in will remain indelibly in my memories. We had cruised for 21 hours south in rough seas (at least for sea sick me it was rough!) That day I set foot on the continent of Antarctica, it was windy, snowy and blustery, everything I anticipated Antarctica should be! The gusting wind forced us to take a knee to avoid being blown over as we climbed up a small hill to our first penguin colony. That experience was quickly followed by our first whale citing during our zodiac back to the ship. But it was not one whale, oh no, it was 5 whales with a tremendous flock of birds hovering above tracking the leftover krill. You would think it would be difficult to beat this day but each day was as special in its own way as Antarctica shared its wonders with us!

We had 9 excursions in 5 days, 7 landings and 2 zodiacs. One of those zodiacs was supposed to be a landing but the tide wouldn’t allow us go ashore, so we did zodiacs instead at Heroina Island. I had lowered my expectations a bit since it was a plan B, but it was probably my favorite excursion of the trip! There were thousands of penguins all over the rocky island, some chilling, and many diving into the water in what seemed like swarms. We kept circling all of the action with dramatic waves crashing against the rocks as the penguins jumped with us safely and calmly very close by in the zodiac boat. Then a leopard seal came up right next to the boat and stuck his head up just to see what was going on, a little before we saw two whales surfacing side by side slightly in the distance. It was everything I could have hoped for and more.

Finally reaching Antarctica after two unsuccessful tries, disembarking our zodiac in rough seas with snow blowing sideways and planting ourselves on the rocky shore of the White Continent.

You can't put words to the feeling you get in Antarctica. Just being there is a life changing experience that one needs to have for themselves to appreciate the Arctic. My most memorable moment was seeing all the wildlife in their natural environment and how they live. Walking so close and feeling as a part of the environment was something we just don't experience in the "real world".

Hard to choose a single one. There were many!

Being able to step onto land!!! It felt surreal to see the world from this point of view. We felt so grateful for all the time and effort that the crew put in to ensure we respected the wildlife and experienced Antarctica

The whole trip! Learning about everything about Antarctica and Drake passage. I also enjoy the landscape once we’re on land

Seeing the icebergs in the Iceberg Graveyard from the zodiac.