While on ship, the trip was near perfect. The highlights occur all the time, be they ice bergs, orcas, or just the fascinating light. The travels to and from could have been better organized

Don't think any expectations can match the actual experience of meeting a world that is at the same time so beautiful, strangely inviting, chastening and downright forbidding

No

Swoop provided excellent and very personalized services throughout, prior to and post cruise. Maybe Swoop was not fully kept in the loop by the ship's operator, which caused some irritation during travels to and from the cruise.

The Epic Antarctica concept is per se excellent if you have the time, giving both the experience of crossing the Antarctic Circle and pushing as far as possible into the Weddell Sea. As it is a combination of 2 cruises it involves some double-takes regarding landings/cruises, but that's not negative. What was somewhat negative was the ship operator's decision to change expedition leader midway (at KGI when people boarded for the "Ultimate Antarctica" part). The expedition leader's personality is very important for the whole atmosphere of staff and guests, and the transition in this case was not very smooth. Moreover, us passengers remaining from "Quest from the Antarctic Circle" did not get any introduction of the new expedition leader, or any real acknowledgement at all of our presence on board. We felt somewhat like "supernumeraries". We think the ship operator could improve on this if they want to pursue this concept. Overall, however, given the excellence of ship and crew, and of the remaining operator staff, the experience was very good.

The travel to the Falklands was complicated by the rather late message from Swoop that "flight arrivals at MPN did not fit with ship departure". The truth seems to be that the flight from Punta Arenas was over-booked, unclear who was at fault. I don't know if Swoop shared in this disingenuity. The resulting RAF flight was only modestly comfortable and non-exciting, but got us there eventually. Swoop could've advised that the flight from MPN to PUQ (included in package) after the cruise was a regular LATAM flight continuing to Santiago. Such knowledge would've improved our planning. Generally, a tighter link between the ship's operator and Swoop on these aspects might be useful.

All zodiac cruises/landings, an there were plenty of those, were well chosen, and safety was always a top priority, excellently handled by the expedition staff. I wouldn't know how to improve, and we saw all the most beautiful icebergs and all the wildlife on the list. It's ver difficzult to say what was most enjoyable, possibly Wilhelmina Bay in misty morning sunlight, and all the ice in the Weddell Sea.

Take the time and do this once in your lifetime! It's more than worth the effort!