January Reviews

My most memorable moments were experiencing wildlife that has absolutely no fear of humans. Penguins will walk right up to you! For their protection, you have to stay 5 meters away from all wildlife on land, including nests. However, if you're standing where a penguin wants to go, it has no qualms about waddling right past you! Seals will sleep on ice flows right next to zodiacs, whales will approach kayakers, and skuas and albatrosses will fly so close to you that you could almost touch them.

Zodiac trip through icebergs. Amazing shapes and colors, and penguins swimming and leaping among the bergs.

As a bird watcher and photographer, the penguins were the stand out act followed by the landscapes and ice. I had wondered about the point of visiting the Falklands but after visiting the Black browed Albatross colony I quickly became enchanted. South Georgia is amazing for both its wildlife and the sheer wonderment of its land mass and form. You get a much better sense of and focus on the beginnings and break up of the continents similar to the relationship between the Galapagos Island and Charles Darwin's theory of evolution where you can see it happening. Having visited most prime bird watching areas around the world, its takes something very special to get me going and penguins aside, I would rate Galapagos as a better experience from a bird watching perspective. I hope that somehow in this seemingly out of control period of time across the globe, that Antarctica can continue to be preserved for generations to come and that my children and grandchildren and so on can experience it. I would be very disappointed but not at all surprised to see this happen from from hotel bases on Antarctica in the future. Mankind in general and business in particular cannot help itself in this regard. I was surprised at the mix of people on board the ship and quickly concluded that generally, it is the only generation that can afford the trip. I was surprised at the kindness of the weather which may have been a double edged sword from a bird watching perspective with relatively calm seas reducing numbers of seabirds sighted. I do suspect there were other areas that could have been visited that would have produced different numbers and species but I guess time, accessbility and other ships all play a part in that situation. I understand there were 14 ships in the area at the time. My grown up children have already experienced much overseas travel to remote and interesting places and no doubt my young grandchildren will follow on some day with Antarctica being on their lists. My photographic records are in part, kept for them and in time, my Antarctica bird photos will be uploaded to grahamefinniganbirdphotogrpahy.com where my birding highlights are stored.

Too many highlights too pick out one in particular, but South Georgia is a must do. Landscapes were simply awesome. The wildlife was much more plentiful than I imagined, also unafraid and curious. We were literally amongst them and not simply viewing from a distance. The passengers on board our expedition (don't like the word 'cruise'!) were about 70% English which did surprise us. Maybe 20% American and the remainder were European/Chinese/Brazilian. Average age was early sixties but all pretty fit, game, and in it for the adventure, so pretty like minded. My grandchildren will hear of the apparent isolation (other cruise ships were out of sight!) teeming wildlife and magnificent scenery. Our biggest surprise was the amazing weather, we did not use our thermals at all. The only big blow we had was behind us and helped us on the way to the Falklands. We had rain on our last day in the Antarctic peninsula which was also the day of the polar plunge! I was also pleasantly surprised by the standard of the catering, I was not expecting it to be so good. Only complaint is that there was too much of it.

The whole experience was fantastic, from beginning to end (apart from BA flight home which you did not book!). Mixture of elements to meet both our interests: wildlife (Jane), photography (Mike), landscape (both) and history (both). Highlights included walking amongst the animals (particularly on South Georgia), doing the Shackleton Walk (SG), kayaking amongst icebergs and the privilege of being there - all this was helped by weather which Hayley had never experienced in 15 years of working in the area. Expedition staff were outstanding in enthusiasm/ knowledge/ mixing with clients and we will nominate leader Hayley for the Wanderlust Guide Award 2017. Good mix of people with similar interests meant conversations over many meals were always interesting. The ship was very well run with great crew and high quality catering (too good for our waistlines).

Seeing our first iceberg, before seeing land, was quite memorable, as was seeing the amount and size of the glaciers. Also, seeing the number and diversity of wildlife, in such a harsh climate, was not only memorable but encouraging as to the adaptability of nature.

The highlight for us was the day we went through the Lemaire Channel, visited Pleneau Bay and Port Charcot, did the polar plunge, and had a deck BBQ dinner. It was an amazing day. The landscape and wildlife were incredible. Conceptualizing the sheer quantity of ice surrounding you is breath taking. And the penguins were always funny to watch. The guides were incredible and beyond knowledgable. Their passion is contagious and it was clear they love their job. Fellow passengers and other ship crew were also extremely friendly and interesting. One unfortunate surprise was the final payment process. The payment processor was through a different company and country than any of the previous payments, so getting approval from one's card issuer was unnecessarily challenging for many passengers. This could've been prevented by communicating the information prior to departing Punta Arenas. Our most magical moment was at the Port Charcot hike where scenery was truly amazing and looked like a painting.

On our second day in Antarctica, we celebrated crossing the Antarctic circle. All guests and expedition guides gathered on deck 8 as we joined in an Antarctic circle ritual: stamping a circle on our foreheads! Afterwards, we enjoyed the most fantastic views of The Gullet - a narrow passageway surrounded by towering mountains covered in thick layers of ice. It was the most beautiful place I have ever seen!

Too many to specify one single moment as all blended into a remarkable voyage. Highlights, however, were crossing again (as we did in 2012, the Drakes Passage and riding through Beauford 11 conditions (our first ever....pass the dramamine, first ever also)/ being close and personal to so many critters, esp. the Gentoo's/ unexpected food and beverage quality far and above/ same for cabins - our placement #428 happened to be perfect for avoiding worse ride by being lower, close to reception, lounge, dining and zodiac boarding...a great fluke/ the extremely friendly & helpful specialists and crew + fantastic passenger group with similar focus and interests which created stimulating conversations and sharing/ fun with Danny-an entertainment MC all by himself who created verve and fun-and was totally unexpected

The reason I have chosen NO in the previous question is because I feel very content on having seen Antarctica thoroughly and learning and seeing so much about the place. I do not think I missed anything in the trip, and so if I visit again I might just end up doing the same thing. This was one of my best trips ever in terms of being satisfied. Highlights were aplenty (in order): ~ Spending time in Ushuaia the southern most city in the world ~ Living a comfortable life in the ship with good passengers for company, and the best possible expedition team ~ Witnessing Orcas, Dolphins straight from the portside cabin window ~ Crossing the Polar Circle ~ Polar plunging (twice!) ~ Encounters with humpback whales swimming so close to the zodiac ~ Sitting ashore and absorbing the calm and vastness of the peninsula on a bright sunny day ~ Good variety of food and beverage

The spectacular day with the whales dancing for us all. What a show! I love the glaciers, the total quietness and most of all, the feeling that we as human sapiens are simply a dot in this world when you are surrounded by the white centuries-old glaciers. The ship operator's staff was really excellent. I love how the whole trip was so well organized, and the staff of the vessel Resolute was undeniably very friendly. My most magical moment was the sunset whilst laying in the sleeping bag camping on the glaciers. An epic sight of the magnificent sunset in the South.

There were many, but kayaking probably tops the list.

Main highlights: walking amid penguins and seals, watching icebergs float by, watching up to 40 blue whales feeding around the ship, following into the footsteps of Shakelton and just gazing at the glaciers. we met a lot of varied nationalities and interesting people. biggest surprise was how tame the dreaded Drake passage was!

The trip was great. The highlight for both my husband and I was the iceberg "garden" at Pleneau Island. The icebergs were so amazing and it was fun to see seals hanging out on some of them. That day was windy and cold. We're both very glad we didn't skip the harbor tour. We saw even more penguins than we expected and were surprised by how close we were to them in some areas, mostly as they were walking to and from the ocean. Being able to experience nature in it's natural state was a once in a lifetime experience. Seeing a Macaroni Penguin at Half Moon Island was my "runner up" highlight of the trip! We enjoyed seeing a lot of Humpback Whales too. We met many interesting people on the trip too. The expedition staff were very nice and knowledgeable, and all of the crew on the ship were wonderful. There were 2 things that were a little disappointing. The first was that there was a large group of Dutch people on our ship and they mostly kept to themselves. The other was that we didn't get to see the Beagle Channel well. On the way out we followed another ship that left late. By the time we were coming through it was dusk and then dark so we couldn't really see it. On the way back, we picked up the pilot at 2 am and were at the dock by 4 or 5 am. I thought I would have a chance to see it.

Standing on the continent with penguins and fur seals galore!

There is no one memorable moment. The entire Polar Latitudes Cruise was phenomenal. The excursion crew was excellent as was all the service. The shore excursions were all breathtaking. Stepping onto the Antarctic continent was a moment never to be forgotten.

The most exciting was being lucky enough to see all of the Orcas surrounding our ship. They were everywhere, and so beautiful. We all jumped up from dinner and ran outside without our jackets (note: worth carrying your jacket for these sudden surprise viewings!) and it was truly magical.

Loved the trip. Weather was good the first four days after arrival. We personally loved Iceberg Alley. Wildlife was great. A big surprise was that 65% of the travelers were a French group. Although they were often separated from the English speaking group with their own interpreters in the sessions where both languages had to be presented it became a problem because the French passengers continually talked through the English speaking portion and we needed to listen to the French. I was under the impression that if the trip was advertised as English speaking that is all it would be. It did not take long before we realized that the French group did not feel they had to obey staff instructions - particularly staying behind certain boundaries while waiting for zodiacs on shore, waiting in lines for eating,stairs,and boarding zodiacs from ship, etc. Some of the guides had difficulties with the group getting too close to penguins and not staying within the red poles while walking. Even boarding the buses to the airport presented problems with the drivers because of how the French guides wanted them to board, etc. and had to spend their time trying to sort things out. It was a distraction that did not have to happen. The ship operator's Staff and guides were top notch. Very calm, capable and knowledgeable.

The last night where we dropped anchor in a sun lit bay and had the BBQ outdoors on deck, we were able to reflect on an amazing expedition, with the friends we'd made and then some humpbacks turned up and showed us their tails reflecting the setting sun - magic

Waking up the first morning on the ship to see icebergs out to w window and the sound of whales over the ship’s loudspeaker. It was clear that we had arrived in another world.