March Reviews

Meeting Swoop’s Michael Battley! Michael was such a lifesaver when it came to getting me and my sister to even come on this trip after struggles with the Chilean mobility pass. He stayed with us on the phone every step of the way and I could not be more grateful. Beyond traveling mishaps, Michael turned out to be a great friend as well! He was one of the best parts of this trip.

Seeing the Emperor Penguin on my Birthday and finding out I would not have otherwise seen one. In my naïveté of the Antarctica. I assumed they would be more accessible!

Orca encounter.

Chris and I got engaged the first day we saw land!! Then just the icebergs. The most uniquely beautiful things I have ever seen.

We came across umpteen Humpack whales in a bay one afternoon. At one point we counted 16 within 100 metres of our Zodiac - amazing!

The ship was the perfect size and the number of people, just right. We were impressed with how knowledgeable the guides were. Most magical moment: Antartica silence on top of the snowy hill, and the hike to the top of the hill in cierva cove, where it was windy and typical Antartica weather.

It was interesting

I marked maybe because we like to experience new ventures so as the saying goes "been there, done that:. The highlight was the zodiac cruises to see the icebergs and sea life. The people were a mix of 16 nationalities, all very friendly and interesting. The biggest and most appreciated surprise was the cabin upgrade. The most magical moment was seeing the full moon rise over the mountain top.

The excursions were better than expected Getting to speak with all the scientist onboard was great The landscape and experiencing the wildlife upclose was incredible The crew was friendly and helpful

The trip was fantastic.

Everything was great

Every day brought a new highlight, the ice, the mountains, the quiet, the isolation, the penguins, seals, whales and birds were all extraordinary. We were so fortunate to be able to go on this trip, I can't say enough good things about it. The ship was perfect, crew were great, our room cozy and calm, the ship operator's staff were professional, knowledgeable and fun. Every moment was special.

A great place to visit. Brown station glacier was the best place I visited in Antarctica.

Awesome, Incredible, Amazing, Wonderful, Perfect, Great Response, I would do it all again! Tough to give only one example, camping, polar plunge, cruising on Zodiac's, landings, lectures, food, cabins, talent show Wildlife, great. Everyone was amazing passengers, great expedition team leader and members, and crew It was all a surprise. Whatever I thought I knew, what I thought I expected everything surprised me. Especially the icebergs, colors, wildlife, history Can't limit to one answer hitting the water in the polar plunge, watching the leopard seal catch penguins and being only feet from all of it, the whales, the penguins were so amazing.

The highlights were the abundant wildlife and spectacular landscape of icebergs, glaciers and snow covered mountains and ice shelves. I was surprised by the abundance of wildlife including Humpback whales and the many close encounters we had with whales, seals and penguins who were often curious about the humans visiting their world. The ship operator's team and the Russia. Crew of the Vavilov were fantastic. The Expefition leader and guides were knowledgeable, skilled, friendly, helpful and passionate about Antarctica and its environment and wildlife. It was also great to have scientists on board who were conducting research on whales and provided lectures on board the ship. We met many like minded passengers - who we will stay in contact with. I think the most magical moment was in Charlotte Bay on the Zodiacs seeing and experiencing so many Humpback whales, a few Minke whales and having a few close encounters with some curious Humpbacks.

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.