December Reviews

If I had to pick a highlight, it would be kayaking on a heavily overcast day in an ice-filled bay enclosed on three sides by terminal glaciers and snow-filled mountains, watching a humpback whale roll nearby as I listened to the sizzling of the bergy bits around me. But, in truth, there were lots of magical moments. Every day was full of anticipation and delight. The only true surprise, however, was when a rogue wave in Drake's Passage took out a window in the lounge of Deck 3!

Coming across dozens and dozens of feeding humpback whales one morning. Some of them came right up to the ship!

Kayaking around the icebergs!

Kayaking in antarctic bays; observing the penguins; going through the ice with the ship; standing in the bow of the ship in incredible light at 1 am

Hard to say, there were so many.....stepping onto the continent for the first time was really a special moment, I loved camping on the continent...the kayaking was amazing, I could go on forever. What a fantastic trip!

We came upon a pod of Orcas in the middle of the Gerlasch straight. The expedition team quickly decided to cancel all activities, drop ALL zodiaks and get everyone on the water to chase them. We caught up with them and found ourselves in the middle of 25 Orcas...with 3 humpback whales in their midst (not being hunted). it was amazing!

Seeing whales really close while zodiac cruising

I was kayaking and we turned the corner to find three humpback whales on the top of the water. We stopped to watch them, and they all turned towards us and began to dive under us. It was a truly magical experience.

My son winning the wildlife photo contest. He's 16 and wants to be a professional photographer - this was an amazing confidence boost and he will never forget it.

The Cruise was notable for having Greg run the trip. He seemed to know the weather and pointed us in the right direction each day. Most often the landings were great experiences, The staff and food as well as the accomodations were excellent as well. I loved every other aspect of the trip and would have liked a longer trip(in my dreams). If there was one hiccup, it was going to Stanley(staying in town was a waste of time unless you knew or were told to go to a bay to see penguins, etc, but it all was so disorganized at that time, we were not told about that option), I personally would have enjoyed a trip to an albatross colony. Perhaps most important to me was rooming with my grandson and spending the time with him and my daughter who live in Australia. I loved kayaking, the sights we saw, even kayaking in brash ice were real treats, and the support team were all engaged and fun to be with on this journey!

The vastness of Antarctica - the landscapes of mountains, icebergs were mind blowing. And then add in amazing wildlife - just wow! There truly aren't adequate words.

The pure and spacious of Antarctic, the abundant of wildlife, the greatness of the nature, the efforts and enthusiasm every expedition staff are also very impressive. I still missing all of these when I back home.

I can not name just ONE! I'm still, just two weeks out fromthe trip, processing the ADVENTURE.

South Georgia and Falkland island was good but Antarctica it was just covered for the sake of showing us and it was totally different than the itinerary which was promised. You can look at the logs of ships to see where they took us in Antarctica. They just wasted 3 days and not showed us anything in Antarctica. Please look at the ship logs and I have sent email to Malva(Swoop resource) what ocean wide provided after trip and what ocean wide shared before trip. They did the same ship route back and forth and wasted 2 days to cover that in Antarctica that is something any person will say its blunder.

Walking amongst the wildlife and meeting everyone aboard the ship!

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

Camping on the peninsula, Polar plunge, Kayaking, Lemaire Channel

A simply stellar experience all around. The ship was beautiful, the crew and the expedition team were the kindest people on the planet. The travel companions were excited and fun. The scenery was a beauty not expected to be seen on our planet. The food was amazing. And the wildlife provided an unexpected level of joy and awe.

* Whole Trip was a highligt. * Funfact for me: It was the ship Metallica was on for its Antarctic concert. * Landscape and Wildlife were also amazing, so the staff and the other travellers.

There were a number of memorable moments. First seeing the icebergs go by my suite window, or watching whales playing. Every day while in Antartica, there was something special.