Just one? One was when we first pulled into I think Fortuna Bay in South Georgia where we got to see a huge colony of King Penguins and Fur Seals. Especially when our Expedition Guide had to scare off a fur seal mom who was coming at us from behind. That'll teach us to be the last ones in the group. The really big one was near Tay Head Point in the Active Sound, I think. The sun was out, but there were clouds that looked like the ice sheets that were surrounding us. The water was reflecting the icebergs, the ice sheets, mountains, and the clouds. It was very surreal and we still keep talking about how stunning it was. We could have spent all day there and still not get sick of it.

Life changing

Yes

Repeat what I stated above. The expedition staff were so passionate about their specialties and about Antartica and S. Georgia, I loved how they would sit with different people at meals to interact more with the passengers. The bar talks after dinner gave us a chance to get to know some of them on a more personal level. In the mudroom when I needed help with swapping out my parka and boots, one of the staff (Alex) was quick to help solve my situation, and without judgment. He didn't make me feel bad about needing a larger size. The expedition leader had been with the company for over 3 decades and commented that they treated their people very well and that means a lot. When the weather was bad the team worked multiple plans to come up with better alternatives for us so we wouldn't miss out on our excursions. What they came up with, which at one point was Plan D, always ended up being even better than Plan A, B, or C. We couldn't have been happier. To be specific. We enjoyed all the expedition team members. Some of the faves were Shane, Alex, Kai, Emma, David, Toby, Keith, Federico, Vlad, Sasha, Gillian. There were others that were great but were more behind the scenes. All the lectures were very informative and interesting, sometimes even funny. Kai made us more interested in birds even though we're not very interested in sea birds. We enjoyed the lecture as the ice lakes and the research projects, and Emma's marine mammals. The history lectures about Shackleton and other explorers. They were approachable.

Beautiful ship with multiple lounge areas, which was both a plus and minus. Minus because sometimes we got confused as to which one to go to. Plus because if it was too crowded in one lounge we could go to the other. It was nice to go to the coffee/tea station at any time, but also the bar for a good latte or beer. When in the upstairs observation lounge it could get crowded and everybody would rush for one set of doors to go outside to view a whale or something, but at the same time the energy and enthusiasm of it all was quite fun. The food was quite good. Loved the bread options and the ability to order breakfast from the menu. There was always the live cooking station and the carving station along with the buffet, which was nice. Sometimes the appetizers would have been better if they were hot. We liked the mix of the menu as sometimes we didn't care much for what was on the changing menu so we could order from the standard menu and mix and match based on what we wanted. Sometimes the offerings were a bit too fancy. I might like a pasta dish, but not with truffles or a shellfish, but I could order just a salmon dish. The buffet area could be a little tight as people were trying to access both the main dish side of the buffet and the appetizer/salad side of the buffet at the same time so there could be traffic jams. Note: There were no female restaurant staff that we could see. It was nice though that most, if not all, the restaurant staff were from the same town. The restaurant manager always came by the tables to check that everything was good. The afternoon teas were nice. Usually had something more than just pastries, as it's nice to have a little tea sandwich or a cookie to mix things up. We especially liked the pastel de nata. Our room, which was a veranda suite, was very nice. The bed and pillows were hard so our steward, Ayoush, did what he could with a couple of comforters under the bottom sheet to soften the bed for us. If we could we might try an Infinity Suite or Owners Suite next time for just a little bit more room in the sitting area. But we liked being mid-ship, except for the gas fumes we experienced whenever we were stopped in one location. Overall we loved the ship and the crew. The whole experience left us wanting to return to this ship or one just like it.

Only one or two Zodiac excursions were a tad too long, like close to two hours. Also, it would be nice to have fewer people on each Zodiac, like 8 instead of 10. Just to make it easier to maneuver when taking pictures. The driver always did their best to be sure we all got a good view and there was a good protocol in place, but it wasn't always easy to comply with the protocol nor to get a good picture without somebody's jacket or camera lens or pointing hand in the way. Those are nitpicks comments, because we absolutely enjoyed our Zodiac excursions. The drivers were always conscientious of our safety and our desire for a good view, information, and some laughs. Our favorite cruise was at Tay Head Point in the Active Sound, I think. The water reflected all the ice, mountains, and the sky so perfectly, it was surreal.

Paddling was great. I had a little difficulty getting back into the Zodiac from the kayak. Probably due to both being in a restrictive drysuit and being a bit bottom heavy so my bottom didn't want to heave ho up from the kayak and onto the Zodiac. But the driver helped me and while it wasn't graceful, he got me up and into the boat. So I would highly recommend the paddling, but would caution anyone with mobility issues as that one part was a little challenging. The kayaks were very stable and it was a peaceful paddle. We were lucky to have a beautiful sunny day. Maybe we would have preferred a different location for our paddling day, but overall it was great. Federico (Fedey) was very nice and helpful. We were glad we didn't do the kayaking which would have been everyday, rather than the one day, as it would have been a bit too much. Especially with donning the drysuit, as I am claustrophobic and found it challenging, especially when we had a landing immediately after our paddle, but I got used to it and it was ok.

We stayed at the Hotel Albatross before our cruise. The hotel was very nice and the Quark team was very helpful and organized in prepping us and getting us to the ship. Something I would caution other travelers about would be the ever changing flights to and from Ushuaia. We booked with Aerolineas Argentina, which I've heard is better than the other local airlines. We had our flight from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires canceled and changed several times, including them changing the arrival airport. Since we booked the Buenos Aires/Ushuaia flights separate from our international flights it caused us conflicts with connecting flight times and because our flight was a domestic flight the luggage weight restrictions were completely unreasonable. So I think booking the charter flight from Buenos Aires or Santiago would be better next time. Or flying from Santiago or Montevideo to USH may be better since it would be international. Also booking it all on one reservation so any changes would be more coordinated. We originally had 3 nights in Buenos Aires on the first leg of our trip, which got unused due to flight delays/cancelations in the US and we added a night on the return to allow for any further flight changes from USH. So in the future, we might add a few days on both ends of the trip to allow for changes and reduce the stress of flight changes.

Do it! Do it, while you still can physically. We only had one excursion where our mobility limitations were an issue due to ice and climbing on rocks without the ability to stabilize one's self. However the expedition team were very helpful with lending a hand. The team worked really hard to ensure our safety on the landing excursions and the zodiac excursions, even when the swells were a bit high. Pack light but be prepared with the right clothing and gear. Be flexible and have fun.

I'm not particularly fond of cold weather. But we did the polar plunge and we participated in all the excursions, rain, snow, or shine. We learned a lot about Antartica and the Sub-Antartic Region and we'd go back to see more. We'd also go to the Arctic and other cold places.

I've mentioned them before. I can't put my finger on it but there was something missing. I think it was the feeling that the cruise plans were separate from the rest of the trip. The team did put the information about our flights and such into the Adventure Planner for us, but I think it might have been a better experience if the whole trip was handled for us, like a personal travel agent, rather than just a cruise broker. So there was a bit of a disconnected feeling, but overall we were happy with the experience with Swoop.

We did a lot of research about photography in white snowy environments. Including sitting with camera brand experts who had been to Antartica. The articles and videos provided by Swoop and Quark were ok, but we needed a deeper dive into how to photograph snow without it turning grey, shutter speeds to use with wildlife to get sharp details and lessen noise, and which lenses to bring versus which to leave at home. So I think we were fairly well prepared. Very excited beforehand, but even more excited afterwards because it was such an amazing experience.

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

I don`t know