Customer Reviews

Overall, this trip was a dream come true. The highlights for me were the whaling station at Grytviken and Shackleton's grave, and being able to hike the ridges above our landing sites. In regard to the wildlife, the vast quantity of wildlife, and how close you are to it, leaves you speechless. I was surprised at how easy it was to meet people on the ship. The entire experience was well planned out. As for 'magical moments', arriving in Grytviken and toasting Shackleton's grave (before the other passengers had arrived to the cemetery) was probably the most memorable.

45-50 Humpback whales surrounding us for about 2 hours! The Drake Shake with 84 knot wind gusts! Lemaire Channel with brash ice and growlers. Camping in Paradise. Sailing into Deception Island (Neptune's Bellows) at 5 am in broad daylight. Seeing 3 types of seals and 3 types of adorable penguins. Adventureous, friendly, inquisitive people-and staff.

A gentoo penguin chick pecking a seal and watching the seal react. We spent ages watching it.

. There were many but I think the first was waking early one morning and looking out our cabin at the first sighting a massive size iceberg.

Highlights were whales breaching beside us, penguins swimming in front and beside kayak, wonderful artistic ice forms- floes and icebergs, interesting history, really lovely other guests who we made great friends with, great lectures and talks from the naturalists and others. It was run very safely- much more so than when we went to the Arctic about 25 years ago, with a different company. All the people leaving and returning to the boat were signed in and out. Kayaking was a big highlight for me- being so close and it was all so well run. Safety was a high priority.

Landing on King George. The reason is that we had been delayed due to fog for two days and our trip was in jeopardy of being canceled. Two groups behind us never got to visit this incredible place due to weather. People who want to travel here have to understand that if you’re going to do the fly route the weather can be very fickle. Fog is a real issue. We came to learn that there must be at least 1000 feet of visibility clearance for the pilot to see the runway. This is a serious wild place. Landing strip has no landing lights, no tower and it’s gravel. And, wind plays a part too. Was it worth the risk of cancellation? OMG YES! The Antarctic is Overwhelming beauty and floods all 5 of your senses. Never experienced anything like this before. Sight and sounds are one of a kind. My wife and I are in our mid 60s and we didn’t find the trip physically challenging.

Awesome, Incredible, Amazing, Wonderful, Perfect, Great Response, I would do it all again! Tough to give only one example, camping, polar plunge, cruising on Zodiac's, landings, lectures, food, cabins, talent show Wildlife, great. Everyone was amazing passengers, great expedition team leader and members, and crew It was all a surprise. Whatever I thought I knew, what I thought I expected everything surprised me. Especially the icebergs, colors, wildlife, history Can't limit to one answer hitting the water in the polar plunge, watching the leopard seal catch penguins and being only feet from all of it, the whales, the penguins were so amazing.

There is no one memorable moment. The entire Polar Latitudes Cruise was phenomenal. The excursion crew was excellent as was all the service. The shore excursions were all breathtaking. Stepping onto the Antarctic continent was a moment never to be forgotten.

Crossing the Antarctic Circle!! this was unexpected, and awesome!

The trip was great. The Plancius was a clean and well run ship. Accommodations and dining on the hotel staff side were well run and comfortable. The Expedition Staff were helpful, informative and showed their passion for Antarctica. Events were flexible but well planned. Landscapes were stunning, the weather was warmer than expected, hovering around freezing and the wildlife was great to see up close. The small ship size with 105 guests was nice. You may not have had the chance to speak to everyone, but that was your own or their choice. 28 different nationalities amongst the guests and crew, so a nice mix. One surprising aspect was the age of the guests. My initial thoughts due to the "bucket list" type vacation and expense of a trip to South America and Antarctica was of an early retired mid-60's well off couple with appropriate means as the standard guest. However there were many younger guests, although the youngest few (mid 20's) were there with their parents for special birthdays etc. But also many in late 30's to 40's which may have been a product of this being a diving adventure. There definitely were the 60's-ish couples but much more age diversity. It is hard to pick one most special moment, however crossing the Antarctic Circle and cruising in Crystal Bay is something to remember for a lifetime. The same goes for the close interaction with Fur Seals on land and near the shore.

It is impossible to single out one experience. Carola was with us in every step and her help was incredible - she made this experience perfect for us. Due to a late flight, we needed rebooking of flights and communication with drivers and hotel which she handled seamlessly and without any hiccup. Carola made everything happen like it was a walk in the park for her. Swoop does an excellent job and Oceanwide ship, facilities, staff, crew made the experience incredible. If there was any one thing that might be improved it would be the shipboard TV as there was constant buffering of the programs as well as erratic behavior. Granted, the trip is best without any TV but my mate had difficulty with sea sickness and reliable TV would have helped her. I realize it is satellite based and that is difficult in Antarctica but this is just a comment. If I ever do another booking through Swoop, I will definitely ask for Carola if she is available. Hold onto her in every way as if I had a professional need for her, I would offer her a executive position in an instant.

The most exciting was being lucky enough to see all of the Orcas surrounding our ship. They were everywhere, and so beautiful. We all jumped up from dinner and ran outside without our jackets (note: worth carrying your jacket for these sudden surprise viewings!) and it was truly magical.

The Zodiac rides where (1) we were in the middle of three humpback whales for 30-45 minutes as they circled and approached our Zodiac, getting no more than 6 feet away from us, and (2) we were watching 15-20 seals playing near an iceberg that lost a portion of ice at one end and then began rotating and turning as we watched this rare and memorable sight.

Incredible with truly memorable experiences, ranging from watching icebergs roll to cuddling with a baby elephant seal.

The trip was fantastic. I highly recommend that anyone travel to Antarctica. I am so glad that we chose to fly the Drake Passage, instead of sailing it, which gave us more time in Antarctica. I also think crossing the polar circle was a huge highlight. I would also insist that anyone booking a trip participate in the kayak program... knowing what I know now and having experienced the kayak program was the best thing about the trip. Kayaking gave us a pristine and uncluttered experience of Antarctica and allowed us to visit more than other tourists on our boat. I also really enjoyed stepping on the Antarctic continent. Most of the stops were on islands along the peninsula, but one stop was on the continent itself, which is a must do. The people we met on the trip were great. I did notice that the average age range of the guests on board was 60-80 years old, but in the kayak program it was younger (30-40 years old) and more at my pace. It was great to meet all the guests on the ship, but I did notice that the tour groups tended to stay separate and did not mingle, and that was disappointing. The food was great, but there were not many chicken options and limited salad bar items. I would have liked to see more white-meat options at dinner.

The first time I saw Antarctica proper, it took my breath away.

The highlight of the trip was seeing all the penguins, seals, birds, whales, glaciers, and beautiful landscape. I never dreamed there would be so many penguins and seals and they would be so close to you. My favorite experience was seeing all the seal cubs and loved how they would run up to you about three feet and then run back. I also loved getting close to the seals that were on floating ice. The Hebridean crew were amazing and everything was so organized with lectures and landings. There was little down time. Safety came first when determining if a landing was possible. Having Sunny and Seb on board to share their experiences was another highlight. I liked how the crew ate with us and shared stories. The ship provided a e drive of pictures taken while on the ship so I will show these pictures to my grandchildren. They will not have to wait for me to go through my thousand pictures .

The vastness of the continent; seeing the wildlife up close; the incredible expedition team and the operator’s staff and crew; the learning opportunities from the lectures; the opportunity to make new friends from around the world....spending Christmas and my Birthday in an utterly indescribable place on our planet!

Seeing orcas trying to drown a humpback whale Meeting some of the most amazing people

The otherworldly scenery of Antarctic. Plus the penguins, seals, and chance to mountaineer, kayak and sleep on the continent.