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.

Antarctica is a most amazing place of untouched beauty that photos can never fully capture no matter how good your camera.

Yes

Going with a polar specialist is certainly the best way to travel and the smaller size of the boat we knew would provide greater flexibility for seeing nature and taking advantages of opportunities that came along. Having knowledgeable staff on board is also a good benefit. On a personal level the Swoop pre-departure service was excellent. We would have liked to know about the presence of the Chinese school party before deciding to go on this particular voyage.

The experience was very much as expected and greatly enjoyed. I felt that we were given expert information before going ashore each time, as well as informative lectures throughout the trip. We had plenty of time at each landing which allowed us to walk around/across areas as well as allowing time to take photographs or just to look and reflect. As I had also signed up for kayaking it was sometimes a tough decision whether to kayak or spend longer ashore. I was hoping to get one or two opportunities to kayak but the weather and circumstances allowed kayaking most days on our trip. I would certainly recommend this experience to others.

Let people know earlier in the information process about the express bus service option that exists to travel from the main international Buenos Airport to the Jorge Newbery airport.

Very pleased indeed with the Swoop pre-voyage service and support from your team in Bristol.