Customer Reviews

Highlight was Wilhelmina Bay where we saw whales up close and personal. Landscapes was surreal, and pretty amazing. Wildlife, only saw two types of penguins which was the gentoo and adelie, hoped to see more. People were great. Surprises - the ship decided to delay sail to the next day because we had to wait for 2 passengers who were late due to airport strike - honestly the two passengers should not fly in at the last minute to board such an important cruise and the ship of 100+ people should not have to wait for 2 people... - and also partially due to a 'storm' - but next day we sail we caught another storm anyway.

Everything was excellent... !!! what a lot to remind ...luckely we took a lot of photos !! we were just a little disappointed as we didn't rich the Polar Circle !(weather problem in King George Island, we were delayed for a little more than 1 day) May be they could have organise the program on a different way as it was the aim of our choice...Never mind we were lucky as the weather was beautiful all the way..blue sky nearly all the time!! Wonderful sight seeing, we saw a lot of wales very closed to the ship and of course all sorts of animals ..Very sheerful staff, very friendly and competent.We were welcomed at any time to the Bridge as the captain was always ready to talk to us. Very nice meals, very equilibrated..As we were the only french people we had to practice our english !!

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!

Putting together the places that Shackleton's expedition went to

Crossing the Antarctic Circle. Getting the farthest south in the Weddell Sea than any other passenger vessel. Helicopters to the continent there. And Emperor Penguins

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

Whale, pinguins, seals … their sounds, watching them. The views, every nice

Seeing pristine Antarctic mountains in the sun with untouched snow.

The highlights were the abundant wildlife and spectacular landscape of icebergs, glaciers and snow covered mountains and ice shelves. I was surprised by the abundance of wildlife including Humpback whales and the many close encounters we had with whales, seals and penguins who were often curious about the humans visiting their world. The ship operator's team and the Russia. Crew of the Vavilov were fantastic. The Expefition leader and guides were knowledgeable, skilled, friendly, helpful and passionate about Antarctica and its environment and wildlife. It was also great to have scientists on board who were conducting research on whales and provided lectures on board the ship. We met many like minded passengers - who we will stay in contact with. I think the most magical moment was in Charlotte Bay on the Zodiacs seeing and experiencing so many Humpback whales, a few Minke whales and having a few close encounters with some curious Humpbacks.

Kayaking around the icebergs!

The hump back whales all around us in the Lemaire Channel.

I really enjoyed the opportunity to see the various penguins in their natural habitat- I loved watching them waddle around, swim or just lay on the snow

All the landing activities and zodiac cruising are amazing and memorable. There were many moments I felt touched and moved by the great nature of Antarctica. Penguins, whales, seals are having good life there, I hope Antarctica can keep the way it is so that the wild life animals are protected. Also the expedition crew members are amazing, we won't have a great Antarctica adventure without their dedications.

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

When hundreds of humpback whales fed on krill around the boat and to the horizon — everywhere we looked, there were whales.

Kayaking made it for me, doubled crewed with a lovely man (lent by his wife for kayaking)My biggest surprise was beaching on an ice berg and a snowball fight! The people were friendly to a lone traveller,and I was very lucky with my cabin share partner. Scenery and wildlife up close and personal magic.

Extremely hard to choose one memorable moment when the entire trip was awesome. Moment to moment was an adventure. Huge thanks to each and every person involved in making our Antarctica voyage a true treasure.

Sitting in a rock on top of Danco island and watching thousands of gentoo penguins in their daily life all around me. The view below was incredible floating ice bergs, glaciers, mountains, seals and even a whale. The most breathtaking view- and seeing our ship in the bay gave proportion to the grandness of Antarctica. Difficult to describe the beauty and feeling I had in this beautiful continent!

Being on the water among feeding humpback whales.

It's hard to come up with just one! Loved seeing the penguins, watching two whales play alongside the ship during dinner, seeing all the beautiful icebergs.