Customer Reviews

1. The overall quality of the experience! 2. South Georgia landscapes and wildlife viewing opportunities are the best of the best in the Southern Ocean! 3. The ship operator's staff was excellent, and the Russian crew was great! The Kayak Program's Marko and Katie were absolutely extraordinary! 4. The overpopulation of fur seals since my 2009 trip and the onshore safety issues that the staff handled so perfectly and professionally. 5. David's idea to do a sunrise visit ashore at Gold Harbor! Unbelievable!

I spent an amazing time on the Ocean Adventurer. The entire experience was amazing. The scenery in Antarctica is beautiful beyond belief. Incredible and intimate wildlife encounters. The staff and expedition team did a wonderful job making this trip an unforgettable experience. The food was excellent. I highly recommend this once in a lifetime trip.

Initially seeing the breathtaking landscape. Saw Gentoo and Chinstrap penguins (though only on the first morning) Wish we encountered additional species of penguins as the rest of the trip were only Gentoo, not that I'm complaining, just wish I could see others as well. Did not see a great variety of wildlife, whales mostly from a distance and a few seals though I almost stepped on one camouflaged in the rocky shoreline...oops! Most magical moments was being with Kelly and sharing such exquisite beauty!

Great landscapes and wildlife, weather was better than I expected

I was in a vessel with 50 other young women, which is rare and it was incredible! Lots of new friendships. The whole staff and crew of Ortelius was phenomenal! The landscape is incredible, not possible to take a bad picture, and loads of pinguins!

Every moment we spent there was magical. One of the biggest highlights was spending a night on the continent and being close to nature and wildlife, specially to the cutest ever penguins. Surprisingly, the penguins were not afraid at all but rather curios and interested in us, strange visitors. The whole ship's operator crew of m/v Ortelius was simply amazing and absolutely professional in every possible way. They made our trip unforgettable.

The presentations were very educational and useful.

Overall, this trip was a dream come true. The highlights for me were the whaling station at Grytviken and Shackleton's grave, and being able to hike the ridges above our landing sites. In regard to the wildlife, the vast quantity of wildlife, and how close you are to it, leaves you speechless. I was surprised at how easy it was to meet people on the ship. The entire experience was well planned out. As for 'magical moments', arriving in Grytviken and toasting Shackleton's grave (before the other passengers had arrived to the cemetery) was probably the most memorable.

Highlights were the icebergs! That is what drove me to Antarctica and we were not disappointed. Of course the penguins were icing no the cake. Kayaking was superb! We don't remember signing up (did Swoop comp us?) and we loved every moment of it!

Which magical moment to describe? I was so elated once we embarked on our epic journey to South Georgia and feel ever so lucky to hit the big 3 colonies - St Andrews, Gold Harbour and Salisbury Plain, as well as King Haakon Bay and Drygalski Fjord. Yes my anxiety levels peaked at the start of our expedition with a flight cancellation and an aborted landing in the Falklands but yes, I am now proud to be part of a statistic shared - only 0.04% of the population has ever visited South Georgia. After dealing with the initial feeling of being overwhelmed when greeted by 150,000 pairs of kings plus their furry offspring, I discovered so much more to penguins - I love how they use their becks not just to feed but also to push themselves up or to climb hills. Their cuteness, curiosity and cheekiness is so mesmerising, and their inflappable nature - I could watch them for hours. Whilst I joined the expedition as an independent traveller, I disembarked from the Vavilov with some new found friends, some moving stories, magical moments and many cherished memories. If it wasn't for the photographic evidence, I think it was a distant dream!

My trip on the G Expedition was exceptional. Life on the ship was much more luxurious than I expected or needed, but I enjoyed it very much. Great food, attentive and kind staff service staff, extraordinary subject experts. The other guests were interesting, friendly, and diverse, and I appreciated the mix (Brits>Australians>US, with many other countries represented) and the high number of solo travelers. I was paired with a delightful and age-appropriate roommate, and indeed all the solo travelers seemed to do fine with their assigned roommates. The trip itself was extraordinary, and the excitement built through the itinerary. Falklands was great for its history and our first encounter with penguins, followed by a wonderful tea at the farmhouse of a Falklands family. South Georgia took the scenery up a notch, and the penguin colonies are unforgettable, as were the visits to the Shackleton sites. Among many magical moments, I especially loved the Zodiac cruise around Cierva Cove in Antarctica, which had it all: seals, penguins, glaciers, ice, mountains. Other favorite times were sitting on the snow watching penguins.

The landscapes and wildlife were spectacular. After awhile you almost stop taking pictures of whales because you have so many. The other passengers were diverse, adventurous and many will hopefully be friends for life. It was a bummer the weather made us head north a day early, but no worries.

We had amazingly good luck with weather and were able to make about 10 excursions from the ship. The encounters with the whales were just incredibly wonderful. The icebergs and bergy bits were artistic, majestic, noisy, imaginative and splendid. I think we met people from nearly 20 different countries aboard ship. The crew were all friendly, competent, attentive and knowledgeable. I learned a great deal about history, geography, birds and penguins. Drake's passage is long even in good weather.

Definitely lots more wildlife other than penguins than I was expecting. The ship & other passengers were fantastic. The ship was way more comfortable than I was expecting and definitely didn’t feel too small. Was great to meet like-minded people from around the world too.

The wildlife was the highlight of Antarctica, although the landscapes and icebergs were also spectacular. The people on the ship were a delight -- very interesting and congenial. The one surprise was the afore-mentioned need to spend one less day on the Antarctic peninsula.

The landscapes were even more beautiful than I could have imagined. Getting so close to wildlife was certainly one of the highlights of the experience. All of the people on the boat were kind, open, and interesting.

Wildlife the landscape, fellow travellers were a good bunch, young and old. The ship's operator looked after us all very well. the ships crew could not do enough for anyone, and the food was excellent.

Very professional arrangement and passionate crew onboard.

The sunlight on the snow covered mountains reflected in the still sea was incredibly beautiful. We met a lot of interesting people and the talks were very good

We saw 1,000's of penguins and the landscapes and peaks were wonderful. Lots of seals and whales. The people we traveled with were friendly and from several countries. The iceburgs shapes and colors were amazing. Crossing the drake passage was not plesant with rough water.