Ready to Go Beyond the End of the World to Antarctica?

Have you always dreamed of going to Antarctica?

 

There are basically three ways to cruise there.

 

First, you can take a small expedition-style ship.  These range in comforts from very upscale to rugged vessels where you almost feel like you're part of the crew.  These focus very closely on Antarctica, often cruising roundtrip from Ushuaia.  They tend to be costly, but they include opportunities to take inflatables to step onto Antarctica. 

 

 

Whether you go all out for two to three weeks or take a 9-night cruise, expedition trips are pricey.  You will easily spend $10,000 to $25,000 per person or more to feel like a true explorer.  Among the companies doing this trip is Quark Expeditions, which my clients who went with them said provided an amazing trip of a lifetime.  

 

In that same general area are some more familiar names like Viking.

 

Viking Expeditions is a branch of the same company that does Viking River and Ocean Cruises, with a feel more like a typical ocean cruise on board but with fewer guests.  Appearances can be deceiving, however, because these ships have reinforced hulls for serious expedition cruising, and they make the adventures ashore quite real.

 

 

Viking has a working lab on the ship, so you can actually assist a team of scientists with studies, if that interests you.  Viking also has a submarine that guests can sign up to go on.  Recent news might make you hesitant to board a submarine, but Viking's are state-of-the-art, and you will definitely feel the spirit of adventure should you choose to make like Ringo.  To me, the Viking Concept has great appeal, if I was prepared to spend over $10,000 per guest.

 

Silversea and Seabourn are among others who do this, with even more of silver tray feel like their ocean ships, so the onboard feel is more like a luxury cruise.  Like the first batch, these tend to be pricey. 

 

The third way is how Julie and I did it, on the eve of Covid-19 raising its ugly head.  This is how most people visit to Antarctica, which is on a large ship that goes between Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Valparaiso, Chile, taking about 16 to 20 days for the voyage where you cruise into the waters of Antarctica.

 

 

To touch land, you must buy an expedition that runs about $2,500 per person.  Most of the voyage is a South America cruise, which is terrific in its own right.  Like most passengers, we didn't actually do the expedition to stand on Antarctica, because it costs almost as much as the cruise.

 

Other than air, which is long, it is not that dissimilar in pricing and onboard experience of other large cruise ships. Antarctica does add to the price over a regular South America cruise, because there are additional considerations, like having multiple captains and extra crew to be prepared for the extreme conditions of Antarctic waters with huge ice bergs.

 

We went on Princess Cruises and quite enjoyed the entire experience.  Mainstream ship hulls are not reinforced to get up close and personal with Antarctica, but we did visit penguin colonies and enjoyed the South America portion of the trip immensely.

 

Without the excursion to step foot on Antarctica, you nonetheless come home with photos from things like penguins on an iceberg floating by while you are wrapped in a warm blanket drinking hot chocolate, which was good enough for us and within our travel budget.  While many cruises go around the horn in South America, you have to choose one that specifically has a route into Antarctic waters, which are less common and pricier.

 

 

 

Let me know which of these seems most like what you want to do and how much you want to spend, and we will get a cruise planned for you in 2024 or 2025.

 

"Better service leads to better trips!"

 

Wes