Trip was fun and seeing the wildlife and various landscape up close was the main highlight. There were some hiccups with the trip that seemed to be weather depending. We did not get to make many landings in Antarctica which upset many people on board and there didn't seem to be as much empathy from the staff regarding this. The itinerary said that we would make landings or do something everyday but there were several days when we could not leave the ship. Expectations of the trip were poorly managed and several passengers left disgruntled and saying they wouldn't travel with the ship's operator again. We had a great time and tried to just go with the flow and enjoy what we could but there definitely was some negative feedback expressed by many other passengers.

Epic and amazing trip that mostly lived up to our expectations.

Maybe

Swoop was great and when our flight got canceled, it was nice that they reached out to us to make sure we were ok. The correspondence was great and very helpful though I think the polar specialists would benefit from learning more about the ship itself. We were misinformed by the polar specialists about our accommodations and the bathroom situation, which left a bit of a sour taste in our mouth. We appreciate the bottle of wine we received upon our arrival to our cabin but would have preferred having the right information. For the triple cabin, the bathroom is shared among EVERYONE on the ship and ALL the staff. We were told that the bathroom would be shared between the triple cabins only and that staff had their own bathrooms but may use ours early in the morning before we wake up. This is not true. Staff did not have their own bathrooms in their cabins and we frequently saw them in the bathrooms throughout the day. Not only that, the bathroom is on the same floor as the dining room so ALL passengers would use our bathroom whenever they wanted. Some passengers in double cabins with shared bathrooms would also use our bathroom and showers because they felt our shared shower was more spacious. For Swoop to tell us that the bathroom would just be between two cabins and staff in the morning is COMPLETELY wrong. In the future, we recommend telling people who reserve the triple cabin this information so they know exactly what to expect. We had specifically made a point to ask about the bathrooms before we booked and we were very disappointed that the information we were given was wrong. If we had known this beforehand, we would likely have tried to book two double cabins with a shared bathroom which would have made Swoop potentially more money, but instead, we are slightly disgruntled customers.

Being in Antarctica and South Georgia was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us and we loved our trip. We are very glad we chose the trip to go to both destinations.

We arranged all our own travel but the suggestions Swoop gave for accommodations in Puntas Arenas was very helpful.

Overall, excursions and landings were wonderful and we loved all the exursions and landings. We wish there were more, especially in Antarctica. We felt the staff was more interested in getting to South Georgia than helping us get more landings in Antarctica and there were 2 full days in Antarctica where we did not land at all. We understand the staff is keeping our safety in mind, but it would have been great to see more effort on their part to help us find a different location where we could have landed or even taken a zodiac cruise. Even one of the staff admitted to us that we got 'skunked' in Antarctica. If the itinerary had made a greater emphasis on excursions being extremely weather dependent, passenger expectations may have been managed better, but the itinerary specifically said we would make landings everyday.

Travel with an open mind knowing that travel is very weather dependent in this area. Most of the passengers are retired and older. The dining room and lounge is arranged in a way that encourages socializing so you will get to meet and befriend other passengers. If possible, spend as much time in the lounge or on the bridge to maximize your chances of seeing wildlife. Food is plentiful on the ship and there is no need to bring any extra snacks.

Thank you for your help with everything! Overall, we had an unforgettable and wonderful experience and will look back with fond memories.