Connie Parkinson
New Zealand
Customer
Rating
9
Customer Rating On return from their adventure we ask customers: “On a scale of 0-10, with 10 being the highest, how likely is it that you would recommend Swoop to a friend or colleague?”
Connie Parkinson's Trip:
Antarctic Basecamp AdventureConnie Parkinson's Trip Date:
26th Dec - 11th Jan 2019
Connie Parkinson's Ship:
OrteliusOverall, how was your trip?
Kayaking with humpback-whales, breaching, spouting - and only a few meters away was probably the highlight Meeting lots and lots of penguins - and seeing them come pretty close to you, when you sat down quietly - was also fantastic The ship's crew - both staff and guides - were amazing and there were some great fellow travelers too
In one sentence, what did you think of Antarctica? Did it live up to your expectations?
It was mind-blowingly awesome - not a real word, I know, but a pretty good description!
Would you visit again?
Maybe
How was the service that Swoop provided?
SWOOP' services have been great, couldn't fault you guys in any way
How likely is it that you would recommend Swoop to a friend?
9 out of 10
You chose a/an Antarctic Basecamp Adventure experience. How was that experience?
Very glad we managed to get off the boat all days bar one (and, of course, excluding the Drake Passage days) Yes, if was definitely the right choice for us!
If Swoop arranged some of your travel before/after your voyage. How did we do?
N/A
How were your experiences on the zodiac excursions and shore landings?
The Zodiac operations worked well, you always felt safe and looked after. The only issue I have is with allocation of teams to (1) MOUNTAINEERING and (2) KAYAKING. Re (1); the allocations seemed to be quite hit-and-miss and unfortunately we ended up on a snowshoe walk with the two slowest people held everyone back .... It was very boring! Re (2) If we hadn't seen the humpback whales, it would have been rather boring too. Again, lowest common denominator dictated the pace!! I know safety is paramount etc. etc. but still......
Do you have any tips or advice for other people planning a trip to Antarctica?
The only frustrating part of the pre-planning was related to mountaineering boots, finding "the right" ones, spending lots of money hiring these and crampons, only to have them rejected by the on-board guides .... and then doing a boring snow-shoe-walk; see previous notes. Unless you can be guaranteed a proper climb, don't bother with the expense of "proper" boots!!
