Customer Reviews

The experience was fantastic. We saw lots of different seals, penguins, icebergs and glaciers. Highlights: 8 orcas playing "with" our ship, and 2 humpback whales jumping in and out of the water as we had to say good-bye to Antarctica. But our trip was interrupted and our itinerary changed almost completely (effectively to a trip that would have taken half the time and cost half the money). I experienced Antarctica as a "mass tourist", which was different to, e.g., standing on the Greenland ice shelf all by myself. But crew, staff and also fellow passengers were great company, experienced, and did everything they could to make the trip excellent. Most magical: sailing into cierva cove at 5 o'clock in the morning, sun blazing, icebergs glittering, no one at the back end of deck 3 ;)

We reached both Stromness, Grytviken and Elephant Island and even landed at Cape Wild. Truly in the footsteps of Shackleton. Amazing wildlife everywhere. Glaciers and icebergs on the peninsula are just majestic and something to see.

It is hard to pick out a highlight, the penguins especially seeing a Macaroni penguin on the first landing (I could watch penguins for hours), making a dash against the conditions to reach the Antarctic Circle and some of the scenery around Neko Harbour. Unfortunately we didn't camp due to the wind conditions, but this didn't have much of an impact on the enjoyment of the trip. Such a wide range of people from all over the world.

See above

Highlight: Cuverville Island We liked the landscape and the wildlife a lot. Due to strong winds, quite some landings had to be cancelled (including the camping), but this was well explained and managed by the crew. The staff was very good.

The landscapes and wildlife were spectacular. After awhile you almost stop taking pictures of whales because you have so many. The other passengers were diverse, adventurous and many will hopefully be friends for life. It was a bummer the weather made us head north a day early, but no worries.

Definitely lots more wildlife other than penguins than I was expecting. The ship & other passengers were fantastic. The ship was way more comfortable than I was expecting and definitely didn’t feel too small. Was great to meet like-minded people from around the world too.

We saw 1,000's of penguins and the landscapes and peaks were wonderful. Lots of seals and whales. The people we traveled with were friendly and from several countries. The iceburgs shapes and colors were amazing. Crossing the drake passage was not plesant with rough water.

The scenery and wildlife were terrific and it was a pleasure to meet with many of the passengers on the boat. The two big negative surprises were the Chinese school children party on the ship that seemed to constitute nearly 20% of the total passenger group. Not sure of we would have taken this particular voyage if we had known about this. Nothing is mentioned in any of the literature about school parties being on the voyages. The other negative was that we paid for the most expensive standard of cabin but the heating was not working in the cabin. It took a great deal of work to repair the heating unit and on the first evening the men called a halt to the work at 10:30pm as my wife was falling asleep while they worked in the cabin. The repairs were completed the next day. Major pipe and electrical work was needed. I would have thought checking that heating units worked before heading to Antarctica would have been standard practice.

The highlight was without a doubt was South Georgia due to its magnificent scenery and wildlife. There was a mixture of people , most were very nice.

The extraordinary landscapes and phenomenal wildlife were highlights of the trip. I fell in love with penguins, and can't get enough of them. Most of the people were educated and interesting; however, there were some Asian travelers who were challenging due to their rudeness. I only hope Antarctica is still there for my grandchildren to see with their own eyes!

The reason for NO in the question above is solely due to financial cost, not for any other reasons. The highlights may include, grand glacier and gigantic iceberg, and countless various lovely animals. It is a truly lifetime experience. I expected to see thousands of penguin and grand glacier, but the gigantic iceberg was a big surprise!

More varied than we expected in terms of landscapes and wildlife. We were pleased to have so much time ashore - more than expected. Crew and staff were great but an awkwardness in the composition of the passengers meant less companionship than we had experienced on previous similar holidays.

South Georgia was fantastic. Seeing the sheer volume of wildlife was incredible. It's frightening to think of the effects of global warming are having there. We had excellent weather. Only 2 landings were revised. Going early in the season gave us pristine snowy landscapes. We had the unique opportunity to see a lone emperor penguin. Getting out onto the ice flat and so close to massive ice bergs was fantastic. It was a friendly group of European travellers for the most part. I've discovery that I'm not so great on the open seas.

The highlight was being able to experience wildlife up close (i.e. a humpback whale under our zodiac), as well as the amazing staff on the ship. There was a fair mix of younger and older people on my expedition, from 18-90! I was surprised by the massive scale of the continent.

The highlight was kayaking amongst whales and through brash ice. Landscapes and wildlife were spectacular. The ship operator's team were passionate and well informed. They were keen to give us the best experience possible. Most of the passengers were equally enthusiastic. Grandchildren - appreciate how important it is to protect our beautiful world. Kayaking was more challenging than we expected and gave us some thrilling experiences.

Alex. I have given you detailed feedback over the phone. I assume that the emails asking for feedback are automatically generated so do not see the need to repeat all I said to you. In short, Swoop provided a very good service with plenty of discussion and information before departure. The ship's hotel staff and crew were excellent. The ship's layout was poor, with nowhere other than the cabin (or the deck when weather permitted) to escape from the lounge when the presentations did not appeal or when we wanted to escape from the endless musak. The fixed 'fore and aft' lounge seating did not afford sensible conditions for lectures. The quality of the lectures was generally very poor with most expedition staff lacking basic public speaking skills and putting far too much emphasis on endless statistics. The expedition staff generally were lacking in general knowledge and sometimes even in courtesy. Any request for information about the bird life was usually met with 'ask Bruce' and of course Bruce was not always around to be asked. They ensured a safe environment but we often felt that they were reluctant to engage in conversation. Andrew and Michelle, the leader and his deputy, were both off-hand and dismissive. another member of the team, Bill, behaved totally inappropriately on occasion - largely to play to the gallery - even turning up in drag in the middle of a beautiful cruise through the ice. Our fellow passengers were mostly Swiss and German and were generally a good crowd although it was often difficult to find enough places at a table at mealtimes for a group of English speakers to sit down together. Hope that helps Peter

Highlights: the ship; the colours of the ice; the tameness of the wildlife; the rust, romance and rottenness of the whaling stations; the clearness of the air; the icebergs.... Surprised by the diversity of people on the boat: age/nationality/backgrounds. Enjoyed the library and having time to do some background reading on the history/wildlife etc. Loved the food.

Just viewing the Antarctic Peninsular

Zodiac landings among the penguins