November Reviews

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!

We loved sea kayaking on our trip! The overall scenery was just astounding as well. The crew on Quark (expedition and service) were all fantastic.

The Zodiac cruise among the icebergs, sheet ice, and pack ice around Pleneau Island, accompanied by an intelligent, well-informed guide who took a few "ice-breaking" risks and kept us all well-informed as to exactly what he was doing.

Sailing through the Lemaier Channel with a huge iceberg in the middle. Several other ships had to turn around but we successfully navigated the channel and were rewarded with a breathtaking experience in flow ice and bergs

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.

We had a really rough voyage—including sailing through a hurricane plus two or three whiteout days. We arrived late and left very early. So, we got only 4 days down there. Highlights were kayaking onto an iceberg, seeing an iceberg roll, ice climbing. People were fascinating, especially over meals. One of my roommates was hilarious—both intentionally and unintentionally. I was surprised by how short the excursions were. I would have gladly given up a meal or two to experience in-depth excursions.

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.

Overall, the trip was great - the staff, the other passengers, the activities I participated in, the food, the overall quality of every detail. I loved kayaking, but the camping was cancelled due to bad weather. Also this voyage we visited Port Lockroy and could see the history of humans on Antarctica. The surprise was passing through the Drake in a hurricane.

There were so many, it's impossible to pick one. The accommodations and equipment was top flight. The expedition leaders were exceptional -- SO knowledgeable in their fields, competent, inclusive --- their lectures were a high point when we were on the boat. Camaraderie among the passengers was also memorable --- such a diverse and eclectic group of travelers!!! The experience was unparalleled in every respect !

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.

The highlight was mountain climbing in a snowstorm. Meeting a lot of interesting and accomplished people was the surprising part of the trip. I was shocked at how bad the seasickness was. I normally do well on boats, but I did get sick. I received adequate warning to prepare, but it was still shocking.

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.

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.

The highlight was the wildlife. We saw penguins, seals and three types of Whales. The landscape is absolutely stunning. The talks on board were very high quality and the food and wine was first class. I got a free upgrade to a double room with window. People choosing this trip were all very bright and interesting and a good mix of young and old

Sitting in (attempted) silence on a zodiac boat and hearing glaciers collapse, whales exhaling, and penguins squawking.

The landings on Antarctica, coupled with the zodiac cruises in the area, were quite memorable. We had numerous whale sightings while cruising and the icebergs were incredible.

Opening the door to the outside deck and getting my first look at South Georgia Island - I literally gasped!

Alex. I have given you detailed feedback over the phone. I assume that the emails asking for feedback are automatically generated so do not see the need to repeat all I said to you. In short, Swoop provided a very good service with plenty of discussion and information before departure. The ship's hotel staff and crew were excellent. The ship's layout was poor, with nowhere other than the cabin (or the deck when weather permitted) to escape from the lounge when the presentations did not appeal or when we wanted to escape from the endless musak. The fixed 'fore and aft' lounge seating did not afford sensible conditions for lectures. The quality of the lectures was generally very poor with most expedition staff lacking basic public speaking skills and putting far too much emphasis on endless statistics. The expedition staff generally were lacking in general knowledge and sometimes even in courtesy. Any request for information about the bird life was usually met with 'ask Bruce' and of course Bruce was not always around to be asked. They ensured a safe environment but we often felt that they were reluctant to engage in conversation. Andrew and Michelle, the leader and his deputy, were both off-hand and dismissive. another member of the team, Bill, behaved totally inappropriately on occasion - largely to play to the gallery - even turning up in drag in the middle of a beautiful cruise through the ice. Our fellow passengers were mostly Swiss and German and were generally a good crowd although it was often difficult to find enough places at a table at mealtimes for a group of English speakers to sit down together. Hope that helps Peter

Overall there were lots of disappointing moments got to do only 1 of the things i wanted to do...(polar plunge) Saw tons of gentoo penguins very little if any of much else people were nice...much younger crowd than i expected boat was ok, food was good, staff good.

The silence while sailing on the most south part of our voyage