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.

It met my expectations and went beyond in several areas.

Maybe

Swoop had the most comprehensive web site that made comparing all the options easy. The information on the ship was not accurate -- they sent me the detailed brochures for another ship (but I realized that and went directly to the ship operator's site for my questions). I don't think I was aware of the polar plunge so I did not bring my swim suit -- not a huge disappointment but it was the one thing I felt was not communicated.

The cabin was very tight on space -- there really was not enough storage. This was mainly due to the poor layout in the cabin. They could have quite easily increased the storage with a few modifications to the room (add storage in the bathroom -- it was quite large but no storage or hooks). In the main cabin, they should add more hooks and ideally build an area for boots that provides "cubby holes" to store them at the bottom, with a shelf and hooks above this at the entry to the cabin. Instead we had to dump boots all together and didn't have enough hooks for all the coats and layer. The desk really was useless and would have been a better use of space to have drawers. The shower had very good water pressure with lots of hot water. Our cabin got too hot several times and we had to complain (they did attend to it quite quickly each time). The food was excellent, with the exception of the coffee (it really was terrible!) Lots of international selection.

I did all my arrangements. They recommended to not depart Ushuaia before noon at the end of the trip but we were off the ship by 8:30 am so an earlier flight was quite possible (I understand, however, that you need to err on the side of caution due to possible delays crossing the Drake).

These were all very good -- I never felt rushed to return to the ship. The guides did vary quite a bit -- Kurtis and Sandra were very good and patient with us. Bill seemed quite rushed and more interested in what his interests were rather than the passengers at times. Other times he was great getting us the prime spots for whale viewing. (one comment -- Bill really needs some coaching on not being so sexist. He made many inappropriate comments throughout the trip. We were told complaints would not be taken seriously because the management loves him. I was mildly offended but some women were very offended). We had a group of Chinese that did not respect the wildlife or listen to the guides and I felt the guides did a very good job handling the situations and trying to keep the animals safe and comfortable.

Your questionnaire won't let me edit -- I really liked that the ship celebrated Christmas. So many trips are trying to be politically correct and it was fun to get a Christmas stocking filled with chocolates! The boots are very warm but be sure to have either full length stockings or long underwear to prevent rubbing of your calves. I never needed multiple pairs of socks, they were very warm. You should not need to bring your own boots unless you have foot issues. Bring multiple pairs of light gloves for taking pictures since they do get wet. I never used my heavy gloves.

I've already been to Patagonia (that is why I answered no). The ship provide us with 100MB of free internet -- only works on some days (seemed to be better later in the trip). It was enough for me -- i wanted to "get away" from work!