Customer Reviews

The reason I have chosen NO in the previous question is because I feel very content on having seen Antarctica thoroughly and learning and seeing so much about the place. I do not think I missed anything in the trip, and so if I visit again I might just end up doing the same thing. This was one of my best trips ever in terms of being satisfied. Highlights were aplenty (in order): ~ Spending time in Ushuaia the southern most city in the world ~ Living a comfortable life in the ship with good passengers for company, and the best possible expedition team ~ Witnessing Orcas, Dolphins straight from the portside cabin window ~ Crossing the Polar Circle ~ Polar plunging (twice!) ~ Encounters with humpback whales swimming so close to the zodiac ~ Sitting ashore and absorbing the calm and vastness of the peninsula on a bright sunny day ~ Good variety of food and beverage

The wildlife we saw and history we learned was amazing, but it was the quiet moments when we could just sit and experience the otherworldly landscapes that truly stood out to us, and the Aurora Expeditions team seemed to innately understand the importance of that.

The thrilling view of the expansive collection of King Penguins on South Georgia Island - St. Andrew's Bay and Gold Harbor

My trip on the G Expedition was exceptional. Life on the ship was much more luxurious than I expected or needed, but I enjoyed it very much. Great food, attentive and kind staff service staff, extraordinary subject experts. The other guests were interesting, friendly, and diverse, and I appreciated the mix (Brits>Australians>US, with many other countries represented) and the high number of solo travelers. I was paired with a delightful and age-appropriate roommate, and indeed all the solo travelers seemed to do fine with their assigned roommates. The trip itself was extraordinary, and the excitement built through the itinerary. Falklands was great for its history and our first encounter with penguins, followed by a wonderful tea at the farmhouse of a Falklands family. South Georgia took the scenery up a notch, and the penguin colonies are unforgettable, as were the visits to the Shackleton sites. Among many magical moments, I especially loved the Zodiac cruise around Cierva Cove in Antarctica, which had it all: seals, penguins, glaciers, ice, mountains. Other favorite times were sitting on the snow watching penguins.

Blue icebergs and penguins

Four-star experience! Could not have been better. Highlight was the ship's crew, our guides, and our fellow explorers... all nice folks. Landscapes stark and challenging, photogenic and forboding. Wildlife incredibly resilient and not camera shy, especially the young penguins! Surprised how wonderful the experience was. Being on the bridge, with the Captain, navigating the Lemaire Channel, which had a HUGE iceberg towering over us!

We had amazingly good luck with weather and were able to make about 10 excursions from the ship. The encounters with the whales were just incredibly wonderful. The icebergs and bergy bits were artistic, majestic, noisy, imaginative and splendid. I think we met people from nearly 20 different countries aboard ship. The crew were all friendly, competent, attentive and knowledgeable. I learned a great deal about history, geography, birds and penguins. Drake's passage is long even in good weather.

Probably seeing a pod of an estimated 45 humpback whales feeding right along the Hondius. Even veteran crew members said it was the biggest pod of whales they'd seen, perhaps ever, and they were amazed at how close the whales came to the ship -- they just passed by and came up for air one after another for a couple of hours in the Gerlache strait. Stunning.

We were kayaking on the second day through rivers of ice and spotted a really cool iceberg in the distance. We decided to make our way towards the iceberg and stopped in a cove-like area for rest and pics. Before we decided to leave, a Leopard Seal came right up to our kayaks and seemed to be toying with or playing with us. The seal spent a good 10 mins swimming around us all, creating waves, popping up out of the water in various places - a lot of people were laughing and enjoying this organic moment.

I have only answered No above because there are still several places on my bucket list that I need to get to while I am still able to travel long distances, including the Arctic! There was no one single highlight, there were many and the whole trip was a highlight in my advancing years. The landscapes and wildlife unique and I felt privileged to be able to see it all. The people on the trip from young to older were all very friendly, and good company, with several nationalities, but we all got on and quickly gelled, all having one common purpose. What have I told my grandchildren? A lot for kids to take in but they will always have my photos! Hopefully one day they will have the ability and the desire to go too. Surprises? The colour of the snow and the icebergs and the overall impression of all shades of blue. And the delicious chocolate cake I was presented with on my birthday!

Antarctica and the experience with Plancius far exceeded my best expectations. Hard to identify a specific highlight since everything was so outstanding-scenery, kayaking amid Humpbacks, daily snow shoeing hikes and climbs, incredible fellow passengers, etc. The only surprises were positive ones-much bigger and more comfortable room and much, much better food than we expected. Can't say enough about how great this trip was! Swoop did a super job of finding a trip and a ship that fit our interests and preferences. Overall, Swoop performed as advertised. As suggested in my sister Kate's feedback, my only recommendation for improvement would be to book individuals who are not married but share a last name and a cabin ( such as my sister and I) under separate names so that we each separately get the critical information required for the trip.

The trip was overall a matter of extremes—some things were outstanding and some things really fell short of expectations. Contracting Covid on the ship after avoiding it for over 2.5 years and having 5 vaccinations was a real surprise.

Sailing through the Gunnel Channel into "The Gullet", past the Antarctic Circle and doing the toast to the words of Captian James Cook as we stamped ourselves with circles. Then kayaking in the Horseshoe Island area and stepping foot on the contenient.

The spectacular day with the whales dancing for us all. What a show! I love the glaciers, the total quietness and most of all, the feeling that we as human sapiens are simply a dot in this world when you are surrounded by the white centuries-old glaciers. The ship operator's staff was really excellent. I love how the whole trip was so well organized, and the staff of the vessel Resolute was undeniably very friendly. My most magical moment was the sunset whilst laying in the sleeping bag camping on the glaciers. An epic sight of the magnificent sunset in the South.

Seeing the giant king penguin colony in Fortuna Bay, South Georgia.

We were extremely lucky with the weather -- lots of sunny days and overall very calm seas. The food was much better than I expected. Our landings went well - only 2 had to be cancelled due to winds preventing the landings and only was was a wildlife landing at Sauders for Rockhopper penguins. The other was Deception Island which was more about the polar plunge, not much to see there in terms of wildlife.

There were many, but kayaking probably tops the list.

I really enjoyed meeting my fellow travelers, who all seemed to enjoy exploring our world and traveling as much as possible. It was nice being in a small group and getting to know everyone in the 12 days we had together. I'll be keeping in touch with quite a few of them. I really enjoyed the amount of time I spent walking around amongst the penguins, seals and birds. There were times where I would just sit on a rock (or in the snow!), close my eyes, and absorb everything. I'll never forget the feeling of the first time I stepped on land and saw the penguins, nor will I forget stepping onto a small iceberg and one of the staff taking a jumping photo of a few of us (while wondering if the iceberg would tip over once we landed - it didn't).

Main highlights: walking amid penguins and seals, watching icebergs float by, watching up to 40 blue whales feeding around the ship, following into the footsteps of Shakelton and just gazing at the glaciers. we met a lot of varied nationalities and interesting people. biggest surprise was how tame the dreaded Drake passage was!

All moments in Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica were memorable! A favourite however was our last day which was a combo hiking/kayaking/zodiac excursion on a glorious sunny day through icebergs and penguin colonies at Cuverville Island. Antarctica doesn’t get better than this!