Falklands, South Georgia & Antarctic Adventure Reviews

Standing above a colony of over 300,000 King Penguins at Saint Andrews Bay, South Georgia ...... although that ties with also being able to stand on Antarctica with my husband, Mark, as we celebrated our 52nd wedding anniversary.

More varied than we expected in terms of landscapes and wildlife. We were pleased to have so much time ashore - more than expected. Crew and staff were great but an awkwardness in the composition of the passengers meant less companionship than we had experienced on previous similar holidays.

Seeing the giant king penguin colony in Fortuna Bay, South Georgia.

Watching thousands of moulting King Penguins lining the meltwater streams from Nordenschild Glacier at St Andrews Bay, South Georgia. Wow!

Overall, the trip was good. Excellent guides, service on board, etc. The landings we were able to do were excellent, and we totally lucked out with beautiful weather and a calm Drake Passage on the way back.

There were so many memorable moments. Seeing a pod of Killer Whales, setting foot on the 7th continent, the Elephant Seal pups looking up with those adorable eyes, the King Penguin chicks running and flapping around trying to shake off their down coats. What a trip!

There were many memorable and each unique moments. While penguin sighting was not necessarily a highlight, seeing tens of thousands of them all gathered together for as far as your eyes can see, was very special.

Highlight was every morning another day; landscapes and weather were varied. Expedition staff were superb and inspirational. Boat crew were also superb - sorry for lots of superlatives but I could not fault the boat, its crew or the expedition staff on anything - they were all fantastic

St. Andrew’s Bay South Georgia probably stands out as the most memorable. To be able to walk among the hundreds of thousands of King Penguins, Sea Elephants, Fur Seals, Albatross and other sea birds with a backdrop of glaciers and mountains ending at the sea was beyond imagination.

The trip met all of our expectations. The weather was beautiful, and we saw everything we came to see, including an Emperor penguin! The trip was bi-lingual, with about 80% of the people German speakers from Switzerland. As such, we weren't able to engage the other people as much as we would have wanted.

Highlights: 7 species of penguins, wale watching, information given in the lectures, food on board. The people were nice and many charing also pictures and videos. The weather surprised us with lots of sunshine and one hurricane - the Drake was calm and smooth. A magical moment was a wale appearing right next to the zodiac and staying a while to be filmed.

Too many to mention really - orcas playing in the ship's wake, penguins, cruise through the Weddell sea icebergs, polar plunge from the continental shore ....

There were so many memorable moments! If I had to choose, it would be our days in Antarctica, the hike to the caldera on Penguin Island, our first landing on the continent, the hikes to the top of hills for magnificent views, the zodiac cruises to see wildlife and icebergs. Getting to see the wildlife in their natural habitat was nothing short of amazing!

South Georgia was fantastic. Seeing the sheer volume of wildlife was incredible. It's frightening to think of the effects of global warming are having there. We had excellent weather. Only 2 landings were revised. Going early in the season gave us pristine snowy landscapes. We had the unique opportunity to see a lone emperor penguin. Getting out onto the ice flat and so close to massive ice bergs was fantastic. It was a friendly group of European travellers for the most part. I've discovery that I'm not so great on the open seas.

I describe this adventure as going to the moon and back. Of course, a trip like this is very weather dependent - but our weather could not have been any more perfect! Our expedition leader, Sarah, was determined to get us off the ship as much as possible. She only wanted to share her knowledge and the beauty around us. Her enthusiasm was infectious. We had 17 landings and 2 cancelled landings, of which one was substituted for a zodiac excursion so we didn't miss the penguin colony. So you ask what was my most memorable moment - every day, every longing, every guide, every lecture was memorable. This was an other worldly experience.

So many, but seeing all the wildlife on South Georgia was the highlight. Others include the Towers in Torres, numerous Shackleton sites, whale encounters in Antarctica .....

The experience was fantastic. We saw lots of different seals, penguins, icebergs and glaciers. Highlights: 8 orcas playing "with" our ship, and 2 humpback whales jumping in and out of the water as we had to say good-bye to Antarctica. But our trip was interrupted and our itinerary changed almost completely (effectively to a trip that would have taken half the time and cost half the money). I experienced Antarctica as a "mass tourist", which was different to, e.g., standing on the Greenland ice shelf all by myself. But crew, staff and also fellow passengers were great company, experienced, and did everything they could to make the trip excellent. Most magical: sailing into cierva cove at 5 o'clock in the morning, sun blazing, icebergs glittering, no one at the back end of deck 3 ;)

Being able to sail into the Weddel Sea and seeing Elephant Island - in the tracks of Shackleton. Or perhaps at Gold Harbour, South Georgia with our close encounters with the elephant seal weaners.

I am from New Orleans, LA. and have not seen so much snow and ice. I have never been skiing so the highlight of my trip was after I fell going down a slippery slope, I decided to ski down the slope on my butt while pushing down on my trekking poles. I may have started a new tradition in Antarctica. The landscapes and wildlife were unbelievable: from the penguins, birds, seals and whales to the gorgeous icebergs of all different sizes and colors and, most importantly, visualizing all of the stories of the early explorers to Antarctica. What courageous men they were! I am telling my grandchildren to go Antarctica while they are still young not like their 80 year old granny.

An incredibly hard question - so hard to pick between that first thrill of wildlife at West Point with the albatross and rockhopper colony, the full day sitting amongst and soaking in all the wildlife at sunny Saunders Bay, or the Adelie penguin overload at Paulet island. Or maybe the excitement at seeing an orca pop up out of nowhere on New Years Eve. It really is a trip of endless memorable moments that would each be the highlight of any other holiday.