There were several highlights. The day that we cruised the Lemaire Channel and visited Port Charcot (the "iceberg graveyard"). When three humpback whales swam up next to the cruise ship. Camping on the snow overnight.

It was amazing!

Yes

John was fantastic. I really appreciate all he did during 2017 to prepare for my trip, especially convincing the ship's operator to give me my own single room at the triple room rate when I was bumped off my original cruise.

The cruise experience mostly lived up to my expectations. Unfortunately, I was extremely sea-sick in the Drake Passage, so I wasn't able to participate in anything during those 3ish days, but the staff took good care of me, especially Keith, the restaurant assistant manager. The expedition staff on the boat were absolutely amazing people with fascinating qualifications and knowledge, and they made this trip incredible for all of us.

N/A

As mentioned previously, the expedition staff were amazing. They really left an impression on me. It is obvious that they respected and appreciated the ship's operator and the experiences that they've had as employees. They knew us personally and really reached out to us to make us feel included. The landings were perfectly chosen, and the zodiac cruises were fantastic and scenic. Laurie (expedition director) was very experienced and really worked hard to make the whole trip an incredible experience.

The boots run large, so there was no need to choose a size 1-2 sizes larger than usual. (I wear size 8 1/2 shoes normally, and the boots provided by the ship's operator were size 8 and the perfect fit with my extra layers of socks.) Regarding packing: I really only needed half of what I brought. I took the advice of the travel documents and brought many extra socks, gloves, and layers. In reality, I was able to reuse a lot of my clothing and could have saved extra room in my bags if I'd foreseen this.