Original Fly & Cruise Luxury Adventure Reviews

The highlight for me was being a part of our 9 person kayaking group plus two guides. We were able to paddle into small coves and the most magical of all was being near three feeding humpback whales and hearing their breathing as they rose up every few minutes.

Landing on King George. The reason is that we had been delayed due to fog for two days and our trip was in jeopardy of being canceled. Two groups behind us never got to visit this incredible place due to weather. People who want to travel here have to understand that if you’re going to do the fly route the weather can be very fickle. Fog is a real issue. We came to learn that there must be at least 1000 feet of visibility clearance for the pilot to see the runway. This is a serious wild place. Landing strip has no landing lights, no tower and it’s gravel. And, wind plays a part too. Was it worth the risk of cancellation? OMG YES! The Antarctic is Overwhelming beauty and floods all 5 of your senses. Never experienced anything like this before. Sight and sounds are one of a kind. My wife and I are in our mid 60s and we didn’t find the trip physically challenging.

The penguins were so fun to just watch as they carried on their regular activities- building nests or heading down to the water. The landscapes and wildlife were magnificent. We saw 3 species of penguins and several types of seals and also whales. The people on our ship came from various countries and we enjoyed getting to know them. We had an opportunity to stop and get off on a piece of floating ice - that was fun!

Our excursion in Fournier Bay to see the humpback whales. The abundance of whale activity was an amazing experience.

This is difficult as my adventure was filled with many memorable moments...but the first day after flying in will remain indelibly in my memories. We had cruised for 21 hours south in rough seas (at least for sea sick me it was rough!) That day I set foot on the continent of Antarctica, it was windy, snowy and blustery, everything I anticipated Antarctica should be! The gusting wind forced us to take a knee to avoid being blown over as we climbed up a small hill to our first penguin colony. That experience was quickly followed by our first whale citing during our zodiac back to the ship. But it was not one whale, oh no, it was 5 whales with a tremendous flock of birds hovering above tracking the leftover krill. You would think it would be difficult to beat this day but each day was as special in its own way as Antarctica shared its wonders with us!

We had 9 excursions in 5 days, 7 landings and 2 zodiacs. One of those zodiacs was supposed to be a landing but the tide wouldn’t allow us go ashore, so we did zodiacs instead at Heroina Island. I had lowered my expectations a bit since it was a plan B, but it was probably my favorite excursion of the trip! There were thousands of penguins all over the rocky island, some chilling, and many diving into the water in what seemed like swarms. We kept circling all of the action with dramatic waves crashing against the rocks as the penguins jumped with us safely and calmly very close by in the zodiac boat. Then a leopard seal came up right next to the boat and stuck his head up just to see what was going on, a little before we saw two whales surfacing side by side slightly in the distance. It was everything I could have hoped for and more.

Standing on the Antarctic continent with all the penguins & the majestic mountains & glaciers all around.

The first morning, waking up and seeing the awesome landscape of blue icebergs, black terrain covered with pure white snow while on zodiak cruise, seeing a group of humpback whales engage in bubble net feeding

The highlight was Charlotte's Bay as described above. It was a totally perfect experience on a perfectly calm and sunny day. The landscapes were absolutely breathtaking with the Seven Sister who were complete visible due to the awesome weather. I traveled alone, so I didn't have a group as others did; however, I met very nice people from the US, Hong Kong, UK, Australia and New Zealand. I was surprised at how skilled the crew was to adapting to new contingency plans due to changing weather. Charlotte's Bay was a magical, mystical and spiritual experience that will be forever embedded in my mind.

You can't put words to the feeling you get in Antarctica. Just being there is a life changing experience that one needs to have for themselves to appreciate the Arctic. My most memorable moment was seeing all the wildlife in their natural environment and how they live. Walking so close and feeling as a part of the environment was something we just don't experience in the "real world".

Being on the water among feeding humpback whales.

Kayaking and having whales and seals swim right next to us.

The boat and zodiac excursions were highlights. Scenery spectacular but not much variety. Unspoilt. We have seen many beautiful landscapes as we are frequent travellers. Penguins cute but smelly---seeing babies was special. Would have liked to see more seals and whales. Company congenial.

Our trip was so wonderful! The ship, people, service, excursions, food and the entire experience were just top notch.

Very hard to pick one but maybe the hike on Petermann island, surrounded by so many penguins

Watching a pod of orcas swim under the boat and being in a zodiac, surrounded by humpback whales.

It's hard to pick just one. The entire trip was magical. If I had to pick, I'd say it was setting foot on the actual continent and posing with Antarctica21's "7 Continents" flag. A close second would be when two pods of orcas decided to swim alongside our ship.

We were fortunate to have Loli (Lolly) as our Naturalist and Zodiac driver for an incredible encounter with Humbacks. She was super informative, and was as excited as we were to see them. She was helping out on the boat for a couple of weeks but also was a Swoop employee as well. She made sure that we (Craig and Candice) were also sorted out on our flights when we had a delay. Everyone on the boat wanted to have her as their driver because she was so fun and pleasant to be with.

So many-- the polar plunge, stepping on the actual continent at Orne Harbour

- crossing the river on a horse - seeing feeding orcas