Customer Reviews

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.

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.

It was a way more of what I was expecting. The people were great and the staff incredible. The surprise was the polar plunge, that I did of course

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!

When the weather was good the landings were absolutely great. One morning we made a before sunrise landing to watch the penguins and seals and it was terrific. The expedition leader was also good by switching the journey to go to Falklands and not to waste the last 3 days waiting out bad weather in South Georgia.

I could write pages. The highlight was of course the wildlife. I have been to several places where I had seen pictures before I got to my destination and the reality greatly exceeded the pictures. There is no way you can imagine 200,000 nesting pairs of penguins or nesting albatrosses until youn have seen them in real life.

The penguins and the whales!

Having had a rocky start with our first planned ship our G experiences on the MS Expedition was way beyond our expectations. We give the total experience 10/10. The standards on the ship were exceptional from the cleaning staff, the variety and excellence of of food and their ever smiling, genuine staff, the comfort of the dining and entertainment bar. The zodiac team were exceptionally careful in all sorts of weather, the professional, expert team gave us amazing information and planned our days and the itinerary diverted around extreme weather events beautifully.The range of ages, singles and couples were all very relaxed and everyone mixed around and no pretension. All enthusiastic, avid travellers. We were exceptionally lucky with divine weather in the Falklands and South Georgia and a calm Drake. Wonderful snowing days in Antarctica with often sky blue times when on the zodiacs. Saw every wildlife, birds and some humpbacks, super close.

Trip was great; for subject matter, see paragraph above. Crossing the "Drake" was more arduous than I expected, and quite uncomfortable in both directions. My wife and I did not get sick, but we had the patch first, and then another med suggested by ship doctor, which seemed to work better. Highlight of the trip: interacting with other passengers on the ship, sharing stories of past adventures, and plans for the next. Most magical moments(2): going ashore at Cuverville Island, and walking among the penguins, which showed no signs of fear of humans, and climbing the hill above Neko Harbor, and seeing ice-covered mountains all around, and reflections on the water, which was perfectly calm.

Highlight: Cuverville Island We liked the landscape and the wildlife a lot. Due to strong winds, quite some landings had to be cancelled (including the camping), but this was well explained and managed by the crew. The staff was very good.

See above

Very good indeed, saw everything we expected to see, we were lucky to be onboard with very like-minded people. Most magical moment was waking up to the Antarctic ice flows. VERY GOOD surprise with the closeness to the animal life (though would have liked to have been closer to the many humpbacks we saw!

Lots of wildlife - penguins galore, eggs & chicks. A humpback whale breaching close to the boat, orcas poking their heads up between the ice. Guides & staff were fantastic -nothing too much trouble. Loved going out on the zodiacs & lots of landings. Visiting a research station was very interesting. Getting close to wildlife, hiking on a glacier. Food on board was excellent. Drake passage was a 'rock & rolling ' adventure!!!!! Being chased by fur seals on the beach & having enormous elephant seals getting up close & personal!!

It was amazing - beyond expectations. At times, it was quite physically challenging but always entirely safe. It is virtually impossible to describe the sense of wonder of being in a pristine landscape, quite unlike anything one has seen before. I have walked in the Himalayas, been to the Sahara, visited the Grand Canyon - but the experience of Antarctica tops them all.

Highlights: kayaking through pack ice, cruising through ice through the Neumeyer Channel, evening light in Paradise Bay/Harbour. Also, for Stephen, the visit to Port Lockroy and penguin pebble-thieving. The expedition staff were never less than good, and sometimes brilliant.

The multitude of wildlife on S Georgia, the icescapes on and around the Antarctic peninsula . The knowledge and infectious enthusiasm of the expedition leaders . The gourmet dining and wining and the luxury of the cruise ship.

Too many highlights, 500,000 penguins in your field of vision at one time, 6 humpbacks surfing right next to our boat, a minke whale popping up right next to our zodiac, having a baby elephant seal virtually climb on top of me (thinking I was it's mother). We were really lucky to have a great group of people and friends on board, even luckier to have some people in 28-35... Which isn't too normal given the high prices. Most magical... Too hard to call between the above mentioned