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The Antarctica Explorer

• Partially Guided
• Ocean Cruise

Places You’ll See

• Introduction
• Day 1 ARRIVAL USHUAIA, EMBARKATION
• Days 2 - 3 AT SEA - CROSSING THE DRAKE PASSAGE SOUTHBOUND
• Days 4 - 10 THE ANTARCTIC PENINSULA - ADVENTURE AWAITS
• Days 11 - 12 AT SEA - CROSSING THE DRAKE PASSAGE NORTHBOUND
• Day 13 RETURN TO USHUAIA AND DISEMBARKATION

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Reviews About This Operator

• Tour Operator Albatros Expeditions 4.7
• Eduard · 26th January 2024 Everything was absolutely great and well organised!! Every aspect (personal, crew, food, expeditions, ship) of the... Show more
• Jose · 29th December 2023 I had the best time Antarctica of all my travels. It’s a different world down there
• Xiao · 18th December 2022 The crew, the food, the service is wonderful ~~~

Dates & Availability

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• Upcoming departures
• February 2025
• Wednesday 19 Feb, 2025 Monday 3 Mar, 2025 English Multiple Room Types €11,154 0% Interest Instalments Confirm Dates

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• Currency $ Argentine Peso Argentina

As a traveller from USA, Canada, England, South Africa you will need an adaptor for types C, E, F, I. As a traveller from Australia, New Zealand you will need an adaptor for types C, E, F.

• These are only indications, so please visit your doctor before you travel to be 100% sure.
• Typhoid - Recommended for Argentina. Ideally 2 weeks before travel.
• Hepatitis A - Recommended for Argentina. Ideally 2 weeks before travel.
• Hepatitis B - Recommended for Argentina. Ideally 2 months before travel.
• Rabies - Recommended for Argentina. Ideally 1 month before travel.
• Yellow fever - Recommended for Argentina. Ideally 10 days before travel.
• Unfortunately we cannot offer you a visa application service. Whether you need a visa or not depends on your nationality and where you wish to travel. Assuming your home country does not have a visa agreement with the country you're planning to visit, you will need to apply for a visa in advance of your scheduled departure.
• Here is an indication for which countries you might need a visa. Please contact the local embassy for help applying for visas to these places.
• For any tour departing before 21st August 2024 a full payment is necessary. For tours departing after 21st August 2024, a minimum payment of 25% is required to confirm your booking with Albatros Expeditions. The final payment will be automatically charged to your credit card on the designated due date. The final payment of the remaining balance is required at least 123 days prior to the departure date of your tour. TourRadar never charges you a booking fee and will charge you in the stated currency.
• Some departure dates and prices may vary and Albatros Expeditions will contact you with any discrepancies before your booking is confirmed.
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• TourRadar is an authorised Agent of Albatros Expeditions. Please familiarise yourself with the Albatros Expeditions payment, cancellation and refund conditions .
• Insurance Unless otherwise mentioned, TourRadar does not provide travel insurance. We do however recommend purchasing it through our tried and trusted partner, World Travel Nomads .
• Accessibility Some tours are not suitable for mobility-restricted traveller, however, some operators may be able to accommodate special requests. For any enquiries, you can contact our customer support team , who are ready and waiting to help you.
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Trip Report - Ocean Albatros Nov 2023 (long post) - Antarctic Adventures Forum

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I've dreamed about visiting Antarctica for years. The prestine environment, iceberg-filled waters, and abundance of wildlife drew my interest. And so I began to research how to visit the continent. I learned that travel to Antarctica is done by expedition or research ships or alternatively (and more expensively) by flying; visits are seasonal and take place during the Austral summer months from October to March; and that trips vary in length depending on whether you want to do a peninsula tour, cross the Antarctic Circle, or visit the Falkland Islands and South Georgia.

It was South Georgia that captured my attention. Based on the photos I saw, it looked like a wildlife paradise and everyone who had been recommended visiting. But prices for a voyage that includes South Georgia typically start at $15,000 for 1 person, not including the additonal single supplement for solo travellers if I did not share a cabin.

However, one way to get a cheaper price is by booking a last-minute deal. Travellers would go to Ushuaia, a small Argentinian town at the southern end of the country, and visit travel agencies to see if there were any discounted rooms available on ships leaving within the next few days.

Instead of actually going to Ushuaia, though, I reached out to local agencies online and I signed up for their newsletters. I started doing this a few years ago to get an idea of prices and how low they can go. The cheapest I saw for a 19-21 day trip that included South Georgia was $4,999 USD - advertised last year, before the start of the season in 2022.

I paid $6,995 USD for a triple share porthole cabin on a 19-day trip with Albatros Expeditions on their newest ship, the Ocean Albatros. I booked this trip with Wayfinders Adventure in Ushuaia and was able to secure a free upgrade to a single porthole cabin. I originally asked for the triple share since it was the cheapest cabin and other reviewers commented that 'you won't spend much time in your room anyway'. But I spent enough time in there to realize that it was actually important for me to have my own space.

Luckily for me, Wayfinders provided waterproof pants and gloves on loan, a free hat and neck buff and the expedition company itself provided a free waterproof parka to keep and boots on loan.

I chose to go in November because I wanted to see more snow and ice and also because it's the shoulder season, so prices tend to be a bit cheaper than the more popular options of December to February.

Lastly, this trip was as Asian charter, organized by Dynasty Travel in Singapore. All guests were Asian, except for me, dining options included Asian dishes, and all lectures and briefings were offered in English and Mandarin. Dynasty Travel also limited passenger numbers to under 100 people, which meant that we could spend more time on land! There were only 89 guests on a ship that can hold 189 passengers. I believe this fact also helped me to get a cabin upgrade since there were more available rooms.

Day 1 - Embarkation Day

A month before departure, I received my cruise ticket and information about the day of embarkation.

Luggage drop off was between 9 am - 12 pm. I was there a few minutes after 9 am, so it was still quiet. After dropping of my bags, I was given a time to board the bus that would take guests to the ship.

At 2:30 pm, I arrived at the meeting spot and boarded the bus. At 2:50 pm, we departed and drove less than 5 minutes to the ship. After some photos, we boarded the ship, were directed to the lecture hall on deck 5, given welcome drinks, handed in our passports, and given our room keys.

At 6 pm, we met in the lecture hall for a safety briefing, followed by a practice drill, hospitality staff introductions, and a buffet dinner.

Day 2 - At Sea

The day was filled with 2 lectures, one on birds in the Falkland Islands and one on photography. We also had to clean our outdoor gear and get sized for muck boots. The day ended with a briefing for the next day's activities, expedition team introduction, and the captain's welcome speech and cocktails.

Day 3 - Falkland Islands (West Island and Saunders Island)

We had 2 landings, West Island in the morning and Saunders Island in the afternoon.

We spent around 3 hours on West Island in the morning, hiking for 20 minutes to a spot with a group of Albatross and Rockhopper penguins. There was also a cabin near the shore where we were welcomed by the hosts to tea, coffee, and cakes.

We spent 2 hours on Saunders Island in the afternoon, though I wished it was longer. Here we saw 4 species of penguins, including Gentoos, Rockhopper, Magellanic, and King penguins. I loved that we had free time to roam around the island at our own leisure, which allowed me to escape the crowds and find more quiet corners of the beach.

The day ended with a recap of what we did, a briefing for the next day's activities, and a short presentation on dolphins.

I ended the night with a visit to the ship's second onboard restaurant, having made a reservation on the day of embarkation. This restaurant is not open on days spent at sea, so today was the first service available. The restaurant features a set menu where guests can cook their main course on a 'hot rock'.

Day 4 - Falkland Islands (Stanley)

We spent the morning exploring the town of Stanley. Some guests signed up for a $40 USD tour to Gypsey Cove, while others had time to roam freely in the sleepy town.

In the afternoon there was a briefing for guests interested in kayaking in Antarctica. Few guests were in attendance, and even fewer signed up to participate.

Days 5/6 - At sea

Spent the next two days at sea as we made our way to South Georgia.

The days feel long and a bit boring. There are lectures and activities taking place, but very few and some not very interesting - except for a dumpling making session and a fun game of bingo!

Day 7 - South Georgia (Grytviken + Hercules Bay)

I was excited! Today was our first day in South Georgia - a place I had been looking forward to visiting for years to see its massive amount of wildlife.

The morning landing was in Grytviken, an old whaling station that now has a museum, church and a post office. It was also the resting site of Ernest Shackleton, a famed Antarctic explorer. We had 3 hours to roam and there were quite a few Antarctic fur seals, elephant seals and some King penguins. I really enjoyed the visit since it was our first time seeing seals on this trip. I was having so much fun just watching them and taking pictures, I didn't want to leave.

In the afternoon, we did a zodiac cruise to Hercules Bay, where we spent 1 hour. We saw Macaroni penguins for the first time on this trip! There were also a few fur seals lying around, some icebergs further out at sea and a lot of kelp. Some people in our zodiac wanted to return to the ship earlier, but luckily our expedition guide allowed those of us that wanted to stay longer to go for a second tour around the bay.

After returning to ship, I spent some time in the jacuzzi on Deck 7, which is open from 10 am - 10 pm. The views were spectacular as we sailed by icebergs and it was a great way to unwind before the evening briefing and dinner. The gym, spa and sauna on Deck 7 are also open from 8 am - 8 pm.

Day 8 - South Georgia (Salisbury Plain + Fortuna Bay)

We did a 2-hour zodiac cruise at Salisbury Plain in the morning. It was magnificent! Thousands of penguins and so many elephant and fur seals along the beach and swimming in the water. We also saw leopard seals for the first time. One popped up a few times right next to our zodiac. The group I was with wanted to return early to the ship. We dropped them off (most of them except me and one other person) picked up a couple of new passengers, and continued cruising. And this is when we ran in to the leopard seals, so I'm thankful we kept going.

The afternoon was a 2-hour landing at Fortuna Bay. Aside from Grytviken, this was the only time we went on land in South Georgia. This was also my favourite spot over the 4 days spent on the island. We had a short walk to a huge King penguin colony, and walked along side quite a few as well. It was spectacular and exactly how I pictured South Georgia to be. So thankful we were able to do this landing given the closure of so many sites due to the bird flu.

The evening ended up with a briefing, where we were warned about coming bad weather the next day and a plan to start much earlier in the morning in order to avoid it.

Day 9 - South Georgia (Cooper Bay)

In the early morning, starting at 6 am, we did a zodiac cruise at Cooper Bay. Here, we saw 3 types of penguins: Macaroni, King, and Chinstrap. We also ran in to a super playful leopard seal soon after entering our zodiac and later on during the 2-hour cruise .

There were some snacks available in the early morning before we went out, followed by a brunch and an earlier tea time.

The afternoon outing was cancelled due to weather. Instead, there were lectures on birds in South Georgia and seals in Antarctica and a craft activity making a penguin bookmark. Dinner was an indoor 'BBQ'.

Day 10 - South Georgia (Gold Harbour + Drygalski Fjord)

In the morning, we did a 2.5 hour zodiac ride in Gold Harbour. We saw lots of King penguins, a few Gentoo penguins, and a small colony of Macaroni penguins. We also saw fur seals and elephant seals. It was especially sad to see a lot of dead seals both along the shore and a couple in the water.

There was no outing in the afternoon. Instead, we did a ship cruise within Drygalski Fjord. At the end of the fjord, we took a group photo in the front of the glacier.

In the nightly briefing, we learned that the weather on the way to Antarctica wasn't looking too good and that it would be very windy. The decision was made to have passengers stay on board on what was supposed to be our first day in the Antarctic peninsula since it would not be possible to visit Elephant Island in those conditions.

Day 11/12/13 - At sea

The next 3 days were spent at sea. An extra day was spent on the boat due to bad weather on the day we were supposed to do a landing on Elephant Island. There were lectures offered throughout the days but I only attended two: one on whales and one on smartphone photography.

I also finished the book 'Endurance' by Alfred Lansing, on Ernest Shackleton's third voyage to Antarctica, and took lots of naps.

Day 14 - Useful Island & Danco Island

Today was the perfect day. We were greeted with blue skies, mountains blanketed in snow, and water as smooth as glass and like a mirror reflecting the sky and surrounding landscapes. It was beautiful! Before breakfast, there was even a sighting of Emperor penguins and the captain turned the ship around so that we could get close. We spent over an hour with them since such a sighting was rare.

Our first landing was at Useful Island. Our time there was short, just over an hour, since we spent so much time with the Emperor penguins. We had a short walk to a colony of Gentoo penguins. Again, stunning scenery all around.

The afternoon landing was at Danco Island. I had signed up for kayaking and my group kayaked here. We met in the mud room earlier than other passengers, got dressed in dry suits and a life jacket, then had a short zodiac ride to our starting point. The activity lasted 2.5 hours, and we kayaked past icebergs, a Weddel seal, a Crabeater seal, and swimming Gentoo penguins. We paid $310 for this one-time outing. Personally, I feel the cost is too high but I thoroughly enjoyed my time kayaking.

The day ended with the most magnificent sunset and a sighting of orcas!

Day 15 - Orne Harbour + polar plunge & Portal Point

Another beautiful day in Antarctica, albeit more cloudy. There was a sighting of humpback whales after breakfast, which we lingered to watch.

The morning landing was at Orne Harbour, our first continental landing in Antarctica! There, we had a steep hike towards a colony of Chinstrap penguins, followed by a short zodiac ride to some Gentoo penguins cliffside. We spent 2.5 hours at this site.

After lunch, there were more sightings of whales so we spent more time watching and taking photos. Then we had our polar plunge! Freezing, yet exhilarating!

After dinner, we had our second Antarctic continental landing at Portal Point. We spent a little over an hour at this site. Here, for the first time on this trip, we were able to sit, kneel, crawl and lie down since there were no wildlife nearby. We had snowball fights, made snow angels and snowmen, and took all the silly photos we wanted. It was a fun way to end the day!

Day 16/17/18 - At sea

We woke up at sea. There was an announcement made before breakfast that we had left Antarctica overnight and would have a briefing soon on what happened.

As it turned out, more bad weather was forecasted so the captain decided to leave Antarctica a day early to make our way towards Ushuaia and avoid the coming storm. Days were filled with lectures and various activities, such as cooking and dance classes, and games such as trivia and scavenger hunt.

The last day on the ship ended with the Captain's farewell, which included toasts and speeches by different department directors and a slideshow of photos and videos taken by the ship photographer. Dinner was more festive than usual, as people celebrated the journey we shared together.

Day 19 - Disembarkation

Our luggage needed to be outside our cabin doors by 6 am.

Breakfast was served from 6 - 7:30 am.

Passengers were shuttled from the ship to either the airport or town (with free luggage storage provided) between 7:30 - 8:30 am.

Final Thoughts

The 19 days and 18 nights we spent on board flew by fast and felt short. I left wanting more.

The ship was beautiful and felt luxurious, hotel staff were 10/10, and I ate to my heart's content. It was also fun getting to know some of the expedition guides.

In terms of low points:

[ ] Many of the Asian dishes were hit or miss

[ ] Being the only non-Asian guest, and having to navigate cultural and language differences, made the experience incredibly lonely at first until I made new friends

[ ] I wish there was more interaction between expedition staff and guests at meal times. I had read other reviewers commenting that this was a highlight for them. It felt like it didn't happen as often on our ship, especially at the beginning. This could also be because of the language barrier on our charter.

[ ] Having to do more zodiac cruises instead of landings in South Georgia due to the bird flu was not as fun. It is also hard taking photos from a zodiac.

Highlights:

[ ] Seeing huge colonies of King penguins in South Georgia

[ ] Having a curious and playful leopard seal come super close to our zodiac

[ ] Setting foot in Antarctica!

[ ] Fun activites on board the ship, including dance classes, dumpling making, bingo nights, and a treasure hunt!

[ ] Attending lectures by the expedition staff - I learned so much!

The roughest seas we experienced were on the approach to Antarctica from South Georgia. I personally did not get sea sick throughout this voyage and preemptively took Meclizine pills that were provided for free by reception ahead of any predicted bad weather. I should also note that I don't normally experience seasickness.

As well, having done this trip, I'm not sure if I would recommend including South Georgia and the Falkland Islands in your Antarctica itinerary - not until landing sites in South Georgia have fully re-opened. It was still an amazing experience, as I've mentioned above, but not quite what I was expecting with the constant zodiac cruises replacing actual landings. If I had booked this trip more 'last-minute' and after the announcement of site closures, I probably would have opted to just do Antarctica at this time. But I also know it's a once in a lifetime trip for many (me included), and if this is the only time you can make it work, then go for it - albeit with adjustments to your expectations.

12 replies to this topic

I'm not sure how soon you booked before departure but we paid a little more than you for a double/twin porthole cabin (but got 2 nights in Ushuaia included for us both B&B, some onboard credit and airport transfer pick up). Our trip wasn't a charter though but it sounds like you got a great deal. We were also offered a triple porthole share for £4995pp with the credit and 2 nights in Ushuaia (so around the same price as you but we didn't want to share). We booked just less than 2 weeks before departure.

Yes, I read your report - which is what inspired me to write mine! I had heard about what happened to the Ocean Victory while we were sailing. I'm so sorry for all that happened with your expedition.

I booked 1.5 months in advance. So not too last minute. I wanted to have more of a set plan and it was hard to plan my travels before and after the expedition without having my Antarctica dates figured out. You definitely got the better deal!

Thanks for such a detailed trip report. I'm glad you got to achieve some great landings and zodiac cruising and kayaking. Sad to hear of the visible dead seals :( I think that is sadly going to increase.

Weird to hear of people wanting to return to the ship so quickly during landings and zodiacing. In my 4 lengthy trips I've only encountered one person who did that! (The entire voyage bored her).

Is it possible to get your boarding and disembarking dates and I will add it to the trip reports digest.

It really was weird! But it was nice in a way, because the zodiac or landing sites would have less people - so it was quieter and we'd have more space to move around or take photos.

The dates for this trip are Nov 8-26, 2023.

Thanks for the trip report, I enjoyed reading it. We were on a similar trip last year and I still like to lurk around this forum. Sounds like it was overall a great trip at a good price. Very sad about your seeing dead seals but your report will help others to know what to expect if they have a FI, SG trip coming up.

Thanks for this excellent report - helpful for our upcoming trip. Did the expedition consider a stop at Prion Island? It is usually closed 20 Nov-7 Jan for fur seal breeding. Since you were in SGI prior to 20 Nov, and Prion island doesn't seem to be on the current list of landing sites closed due to avian flu, I wondered if that was considered as a potential landing site for your trip.

Yes, it was an amazing trip! One of the best I've done in all my travels and one that I won't soon forget.

As for Prion Island, I'm not sure tbh. But looking at where it is on a map, I see that it's a distance from all the other sites we were at near the southeastern end of South Georgia. Not sure if that had anything to do with it or if weather was a factor.

Ok. Thanks. Prion island is close to Salisbury Plain which you visited on day 8. That's why I was wondering.

Prion Island is closed to landings, but not related to bird flu. The wooden walkway that allowed people to walk up to the albatros nest is damaged in some areas and since people are not allowed to walk outside of the walkway, you cannot land at Prion Island for the moment. I don't have a feeling that there is a big hurry to repair the walkway, especially during this season. So no landings at Prion Island in the foreseeable future.

Thanks for the clarification. Helps us manage expectations.

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Antarctica Cruises: Last Minute Deals

Please inquire with us directly for these deals, as prices and availabilities may change quickly.

Due to the dynamic nature of these last-minute bookings, prices and availabilities can change rapidly. Therefore, we highly recommend reaching out to us directly to inquire about the latest options and secure the best deal.

When it comes to last-minute cruises to Antarctica, we understand the thrill of finding incredible deals and opportunities. Our platform makes it easy to search for specific dates in the near future and discover any available last-minute spaces on Antarctic cruises. However, due to the dynamic nature of these last-minute bookings, prices and availabilities can change rapidly. Therefore, we highly recommend reaching out to us directly to inquire about the latest options and secure the best deal.

While last-minute Antarctic cruises can be enticing, it's important to consider the advantages of planning in advance. By booking early, you have a higher chance of securing your preferred Antarctic cruise that matches your unique preferences. Last-minute availability may be limited, and the specific experiences or activities you desire, such as skiing, snowboarding, snorkeling, or kayaking, may have limited spaces or sell out quickly.

To ensure the best experience, we encourage you to make a non-binding inquiry, allowing us to check availability with the ship's captain or owner before confirming your booking. While we can usually reserve spaces without a down payment for up to about a week, please note that bookings within 65 days prior to departure are considered last-minute and may require full payment upon booking.

While there are occasional awesome last-minute deals, particularly on larger ships with more than 90 guests, it's worth noting that significant early-bird discounts are often available when booking seven or eight months in advance. By securing your spot well ahead of time, you can enjoy attractive savings and have a wider selection of Antarctic expeditions to choose from.

When considering a last-minute Antarctic expedition, it's essential to factor in the climatic conditions and whether they align with your desired travel experience. Our expert travel consultants are here to assist you in exploring availability and options for your last-minute polar adventure. Contact one of our travel experts today via phone or email to secure the best possible deal and design your unforgettable Antarctic expedition of a lifetime.

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Last Minute Antarctica Cruises – Everything You Need To Know

An all-encompassing guide with everything you need to know about travelling to Antarctica and how to book a last minute Antarctica Cruise from Ushuaia.  This is the cheapest way to get to Antarctica and we’ll cover how much it costs, what to expect when you travel to Antarctica, and why you should visit this remote destination!

Travelling to Antarctica is a dream for many and you will soon learn that it is a place of superlatives. It is the highest, driest, and coldest place on Earth. It is also the world’s most expansive wilderness area and is home to some of the largest creatures on the planet. It is a mysterious, inhospitable, perilous, and endlessly remote environment that has inspired both incredible exploratory expeditions but also ill-fated attempts that ended in disaster.

Table of Contents

• 1 Why Travel to Antarctica?
• 2 How to Visit Antarctica
• 3.1 Sub-Antarctic Cruises
• 3.2 Antarctica Experience
• 3.3 Classic Antarctica
• 3.4 Ultimate Antarctica
• 3.5 Chinese Charter
• 4.1 Expedition Life
• 4.2 Flexibility Required
• 4.3 Penguins!
• 4.4 Extra Adventure Activities
• 5.1 Last Minute Cruises: The Cheapest Way to Visit Antarctica
• 5.2 Our Experience
• 5.3 Paying for a Last Minute Cruise – A Cautionary Tale
• 6 How Bad is the Drake Passage?
• 7 What is the Weather in Antarctica Like?
• 8 When to Book a Cruise to Antarctica
• 9.1 Follow the GD Rules MOFOs
• 9.2 Offset and Reduce Your Carbon Use
• 9.3 Reduce Plastic Use 
• 9.4 Buy a HookPod
• 10 Getting to Ushuaia

Why Travel to Antarctica?

At the same time of our visit to the White Continent, two insane brave adventurers, one from the USA and one from Great Britain, are attempting to cross Antarctica to the South Pole while completely unsupported. They face horrendous weather, immeasurable solitude, and a  treacherous, ever-shifting landscape where one wrong step into a crevasse could end their journey or even their lives. Fortunately for most travellers, a trip to Antarctica will be more pleasure than pain and will leave you with memories to last a lifetime.

When you tell people that you’re going to Antarctica, often the first question out of their mouths will be “why?” (The second will be “how?” and don’t worry, we’ll answer that too). Even to the unenthused, the White Continent hardly needs an introduction. Most people understand it to be a frozen, icy, inhospitable place and for the most part, they are not wrong. Nevertheless, Antarctica draws over 20,000 visitors every year and those numbers are only going to increase .

Existing operators are adding to their fleets and new ones are entering the market year over year. Many industry insiders insist that Antarctica will be most explosive tourism market of the 21 st Century.  All of this means that prices overall for Antarctic tours are coming down, and what used to be a voyage reserved for the very rich, is now one that can be achieved by many middle-class travellers, as well as budget-minded backpackers who plan ahead for this entirely worth it splurge. Shoestring budget travellers will probably find this wildly out of their price range, but it can never hurt to dream for the future.

Antarctica is home to some of the most extreme landscapes in the world, with soaring granite peaks rising from the deep blue waters of the Antarctic sea, an impossible diversity of the shapes of icebergs, and vast, undulating glaciers that are the most expansive in the world. In addition to otherworldly landscapes, the White Continent is home to world-class charmers of the animal kingdom such as cute-as-a-button penguins, gregarious humpback whales, and blubbery round-faced seals. Visitors to Antarctica will be treated to views of one of the most unique environments on the planet and will earn bragging rights for being brave enough to travel to the land of snow and ice at the bottom of the Earth.

In our research we found that many blog posts on the subject seemed  woefully out of date due to the rapidly evolving landscape of Antarctic tourism so this is our best effort to provide some recent information. We travelled to Antarctica in November 2018 and while it torpedoed our RTW budget , it was well worth it. Read on!

How to Visit Antarctica

There are two ways to get to Antarctica, one is by flight and the other is by cruise. Flights leave from Australia , South Africa , and Punta Arenas , and can range from $1,000usd to over $10,000. Many simply do a flyover of the continent and return the same day, others offer the chance to hop on a cruise and skip crossing the notoriously rough Drake Passage in a boat.

This trip allows you to fly from Punta Arenas and camp on the South Pole which sounds amazing but it’s definitely not your typical excursion to Antarctica.

As inhospitable as the environment on the seventh continent is, it is also immensely fragile and great care is needed to protect it from potential bio-security threats introduced by tourists. Permits are required by both tourism operators and private visitors alike before anyone may step foot on the continent or it’s surrounding islands.

Insurance is also required. Travelling without both of these can result in a hefty fine. Your tour operator will look after the permits, and for insurance, we used World Nomads .

Since no one country governs Antarctica; rather, signatories of the Antarctic Treaty do, you may need to check with your own country for the requirements to get a permit for Antarctica or see the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators’ ( IAATO ) page.

Different Types of Antarctic Cruises

The second and by far the most popular way to reach Antarctica is by a cruise with the majority of ships leaving from Ushuaia, Argentina to make the trip across the famously rough seas of the Drake Passage. Fewer cruises also leave from Buenos Aries and Puerto Madryn, Argentina, as well as Punta Arenas, Chile, and Australia and New Zealand. Cruises leaving from South America are the most affordable options.

Sub-Antarctic Cruises

A word of caution if your goal is to step onto the actual continent: some cruise operators like this one market their cruises to the sub-Antarctic islands such as South Georgia and the Falklands as “Antarctica Cruises”, so make sure that you check the itinerary closely ahead of time. Others sail to islands that make up the continent, such as the South Shetlands and Sandwich Islands, but again don’t stop at points along the continental mainland. If visiting the mainland is a goal of yours be sure to book with an operator that offers that route.

There are however advantages to visiting the sub-Antarctic islands including seeing a greater variety of wildlife and slightly less extreme weather. Among others, elephant seals, king penguins, and Antarctic fur seals are found on South Georgia Island which is known to offer the best wildlife viewing of animals most associated with Antarctica, despite not actually being in Antarctica. We saw one 17 day cruise like this advertised in Ushuaia at a last-minute price for about $6,300usd for a bed in a triple cabin and we will probably come back for this one.

Antarctica Experience

Cruise ships sailing to Antarctica range in size from 25 to over 1000 people. Keep in mind that cruises in ships that hold over 500 passengers are often marketed as an “Antarctica Experience” and can only offer a cruise-by of the continent with no landings because of IAATO tourism rules.

So again, if your goal is to step foot on the continent itself, this is not the way to go. IAATO rules also stipulate that no more than 100 people may land on the continent at any given time, so ships that hold fewer people are better for being able to get out and do excursions.

Classic Antarctica

We did the 10-day “Classic Antarctica” cruise which departs from Ushuaia, Argentina then crosses the Drake Passage to make planned stops at various points along the Antarctic Peninsula, including on the continent. Now, expedition staff will tell you that as soon as you make your first landing, be it on an Antarctic island or the mainland, you have visited the continent of Antarctica since it’s all the same rock and ice, but some visitors remained unconvinced until landing on the continent itself.  Nowhere else in the world is an island not considered part of the continent but this is Antarctica and the stakes are high.

Ultimate Antarctica

Other cruises will depart from Ushuaia and make stops at the Malvinas (Falkland Islands) and South Georgia before landing on the Antarctic Peninsula. They typically take between 17 and 23 days and are usually marketed as “Ultimate Antarctica” or “Antarctica Explorer” or something to that effect.

Chinese Charter

Some Antarctica cruises are run specifically as Chinese Charters as over 80% of the Antarctica tourism market’s growth is said to be driven by the Chinese.  Antarctica has become a hugely popular tourist destination for the Chinese since the Great Wall Research station opened in 1985. The station is a great source of pride and often Antarctic trips are marketed to the Chinese as having a planned stop at the Great Wall Station.

Our last minute Antarctica cruise was a Chinese charter so the majority of the passengers were from China with only about 10 English speaking International passengers.  Being on a Chinese charter as an international guest was a unique experience but very fun! We grouped up pretty quickly with other internationals who were lots of fun to hang out with.

Despite the language barrier we still shared a lot of smiles and laughs with the travellers from China, especially after doing the polar plunge, and while collectively embarrassing ourselves during the evening entertainment sessions.

On the last night of the cruise, the crew put on a dumpling making party and we will never forget trying to make Chinese dumplings for the first time.  They were a bunch of seasoned veterans who very patiently encouraged us to make better dumplings, but alas it was a feat we could not accomplish.

What is an Antarctic Cruise Like?

We sailed with Albatros Expeditions on the Ocean Atlantic ship and it was an amazing experience.  Technically classified as a 1b Icebreaker and a former Russian navy support vessel, the Ocean Atlantic is one of the toughest ships going to Antarctica right now and its stabilizers proved very valuable when crossing the Drake Passage in 5m swells and 40-50 knot winds.

Expedition Life

Cruising in Antarctica is more of an expedition than a floating city like other cruises. That said, there is still a luxury feel to it with buffet meals served in a stylish dining room and hundreds of support staff to keep drinks flowing and morale high.

In our case, there was an entire expedition team of 22 people on our ship who aimed to get us out on excursions twice per day and entertained us with informative historical and scientific lectures while we sailed between destinations.

The ship holds 198 passengers so the best-laid plans were to have 100 people do landings on the islands and continent while the remaining passengers cruised around in zodiacs to get up close looks at icebergs and spotting whales if lucky.  After about an hour, the groups would switch so that everyone would have the chance to do both a landing and a cruise.

Flexibility Required

Unfortunately, there were times where we weren’t able to make the landings as planned because the seas were too rough or sea ice risked trapping us on land after making the landing.

Specifically, on every day of our 4 days of expeditions, some aspect of our planned excursions had to be either cancelled or modified due to inclement weather. For example, on our cruise, no landings or zodiac cruises could be offered at Petermann Island which was pretty disappointing since it’s supposed to be very beautiful and a good place to see Adelie penguins.

Other landings became just cruises or the seas were so rough that only an extra long landing could be offered. Of course, this can be disappointing for passengers who have paid a lot of money and survived a pretty miserable crossing of the Drake Passage to get there but the staff did a good job of making up for it and providing an itinerary that allowed you to see the continent and kept us safe.  They did a fantastic job of guiding our excursions and managing the risk associated with visiting such an inhospitable place.

Sailing later in the season (ie: December-February) may reduce the chances of this happening since the winter ice should be broken up by then and the weather is more stable, but it’s an ever-changing, harsh environment so expedition staff must plan for everything.  For instance, one of the staffers described a fellow guide friend of his getting stuck on a landing with a group of tourists for over 24 hours!

We actually had a close call like this after a morning of beautiful kayaking amongst icebergs, glaciers, and penguins in Paradise Bay.  Desperate to step foot on the actual continent, we ended our kayaking excursion a bit early to meet up with the rest of the people enjoying their landing at the Brown Station.

Changing winds blew sea ice in toward our landing spot and expedition staff had to make a quick decision to get us back to the ship post haste. It was a short step onto the Frozen Continent, but a thrilling one and we appreciated the staff’s flexibility and commitment to keeping us safe.  Had we stayed any longer on land the sea ice likely would have blown in and locked us in on land.  Conditions change quickly in Antarctica!

Another change to our itinerary that frustrated the Chinese passengers was that the landing at the Great Wall station had been cancelled. Some took it out on the expedition staff somewhat unfairly, because in this case, it wasn’t a judgement call on safety by the staff and rather that the Chinese government had cancelled all of the permits.  Many said they wouldn’t have booked the trip if they had known this would happen!  Despite this, the tour agent in China had sold them the cruise with erroneous (or maybe even dishonest) information.

Having no attachment to the Great Wall Station we weren’t too upset, and personally, I would rather have visited the Ukranian Vernadsky Research station since there’s a bar inside where the researchers brew their own vodka. Allegedly if you bring them some wine (or if you’re a woman, your underwear…real mature guys) they will share their Antarctic homebrew with you!

At any rate, it is best to sail to Antarctica with an open mind, since it’s likely that weather, wind, and ice will dictate both if and where you can land rather than personal preference. We were provided with a list of possible landing destinations prior to departing but the actual plans for landings were only provided the day of.  Even if you had the absolute worst luck and only got to step off the ship and see penguins up close once, it would still be an undeniably memorable experience.

On that note, Antarctica is one of the few places in the world where tour operators can confidently promise wildlife sightings. Unless something utterly apocalyptic happens to their colonies, you will see penguins in Antarctica. Seals and whales may prove more elusive, but penguins are the steadfast companions of Antarctic ice.

Extra Adventure Activities

Most operators also offer activities such as snowshoeing, kayaking, camping, or even skiing for an extra charge. It’s Antarctica so they will be extremely expensive, but probably worth it. As we explained in the above, you’ll be on land with about 100 other people during the landings so it can feel crowded in a place you would least expect it to feel so.

Far fewer people will go on these smaller, extra cost excursions so you’ll get to enjoy the White Continent as it should be experienced. We opted for kayaking at a painful $230usd a piece, but moving quietly through the dark, frigid waters dotted with icebergs both big and small, and cruising alongside the most expansive glaciers we’ve ever seen was an experience we won’t soon forget.

How Much Does it Cost to Visit Antarctica?

The question on everyone’s minds, of course, is how much does it cost to do a cruise to Antarctica? It, of course, varies based on the type of cruise you’re doing, your itinerary, and your cabin, but we’ll go over a few price points to give you an idea.

If you book your Antarctic cruise online or from an agency in your home city, you will likely pay a premium with a cruise costing you around $8,500-$10,000usd for a Classic Antarctica and well over $11,000usd for a journey that includes South Georgia as well. That may or may not include airfare and a hotel room in Ushuaia before you depart. If money is no object and you are looking for a luxury experience we saw tickets advertised for up to $50,000usd a person!

Many bloggers will tell you that “you get what you pay for” as far as Antarctica cruises are concerned, and unless you consider fixed dates, being given or lent an ugly parka, sleeping in a twin cabin with a window rather than a porthole worth a couple extra thousand dollars, then we didn’t really find that to be the case.

To each their own, but just keep in mind that there is probably a better price for the same cruise from a local agency in Ushuaia to be found than the one online. We were actually pretty much told exactly this after we reached out to one of the operators directly.

Bear in mind that you will also be asked to tip staff during your cruise. The suggested tip for ours was $13.50USD per person per day and they will go ahead and charge your credit card unless you walk down to the reception desk and tell them not to.

Last Minute Cruises: The Cheapest Way to Visit Antarctica

Things have changed since the first people wrote their blogs about scoring an amazing deal on a last minute Antarctica cruise. The advice used to be that the only way to get a great last minute deal was to show up in Ushuaia and walk around until you find a spot on a ship that sounds good to you and save 50-70% off a cruise. Those lucky folks claimed to have scored cruises for around $3,000usd. But I think those days are over and people seeking those prices may end up spending weeks in Ushuaia, which is not the cheapest place in the world.

If you want to score a “last minute” deal, the best thing to do is to begin contacting some of the agencies in Ushuaia well ahead of your intended time of travel and tell them your date range. They will place you on an email list or send you WhatsApp messages with the latest, greatest deals.

Lonely Planet should have a list of agencies, as will your good friend Google, but keep in mind that these agencies appear and disappear constantly.

In our case, we hadn’t signed up for the email offers so we got lucky.  Ideally, we would have signed up for last minute notifications before leaving for the O Trek in Patagonia so we could have been seeing offers while making our way overland to Ushuaia.

The best deal and the one that we booked was with Pinguinos Expidiciones .  Send them an email or WhatsApp (+54 9 2901 40-5940, Ashlyn) to see if they’re still offering the Classic Antarctica cruise and what the going rate is.

Our Experience

We found our last minute Antarctica cruise at a cost of 3,900usd per person for a 10-day “Classic Antarctica” cruise.  We were on a Chinese charter where we stayed in a twin cabin with a porthole window.  There were others on the ship that got a different last-minute deal from a different agency for $5,500usd for either the same style room or one with a full-sized window in a twin cabin.  The last minute price for the same cruise on an international (non-Chinese) charter would have cost closer to $6,000usd.  So all things considered, we did pretty well!

Those who booked ahead of time for our cruise paid on average $8,000-$10,000 for the same cruise, but in some cases that included flights from China as well as a night in a 5-star hotel, a day tour in Ushuaia, and a parka.  An upgraded cabin would have been over $15,000usd.  Same food,  same staff, same ship, and same excursions, just a different cabin.

The $3,900usd last minute cruises weren’t advertised very explicitly so if you’re in Ushuaia, you’ll have to look closely.  We found the deal just by walking into Penguino’s office but I saw the trip advertised on the little shacks on the waterfront near the End of the World sign as well.

If you’re heading to Antarctica it’s probably best to expect to pay about $5,000usd for a last minute cruise.  If you get one for a bit less it will be a pleasant surprise!

As for other last minute deals, we saw a 17 day Malvinas and South Georgia cruise $6300usd for a bed in a triple cabin and one of the most tempting deals we saw was for a 23 day “Ultimate Antarctica” cruise that went to the Malvinas, South Georgia, and the Peninsula for $8,990usd.

That trip usually goes for at least $15,000usd and rarely gets discounted but we wanted to still have money for the rest of our trip after this so we reluctantly declined this one.

It’s also important to consider that if you’re a couple, booking last minute may leave you in separate cabins for the trip. The cheapest prices on many cruises are often for a bed in a triple cabin which is separated by gender. So if you see a price listed as “Female berth” or “Male cabin” this is what it’s referring to.

Lastly but most importantly, make sure that your cruise is part of the IAATO and adheres the Antarctic Ambassador program. Antarctica is a unique and special place and needs to be kept that way, especially as tourism there increases.

Paying for a Last Minute Cruise – A Cautionary Tale

Anyone who has travelled to Argentina knows how obnoxious dealing with money is there. ATMs charge exorbitant fees for small withdrawals (think a $9usd fee for a $150usd withdrawal!) Most places are getting better about accepting credit cards, but in our case, Pinguinos only accepted wire transfers to their Chinese bank.

After several days of transferring our money between our banks and spending wasted hours on hold with our bank in Canada, we were finally told that it was impossible to send an international wire transfer without physically going to the branch in Calgary. Obviously, with us being on the other side of the world in Ushuaia, we could not accomplish this feat. Cool, and way to be in 21st Century ScotiaBank.

Running out of options to pay for our cruise, we had to ask Phil’s parents to go to the bank in Canada and send it for us! We, of course, paid them back and added a “go buy yourself a bottle of wine on us” tax. It was nonetheless, stressful.

We may have been able to convince Pinguinos to let us pay with a credit card if we paid the extra fees on their end, but otherwise, we would have had to make an impossible 57 ATM withdrawals to pay cash with an extra $400 in fees. So with that in mind, be sure to check ahead of time to see how you can pay for the cruise and be advised that you may end up needing to fly Argentina with a huge pile of cash on you.

How Bad is the Drake Passage?

It’s not that bad, really! On the way down to Antarctica, there were 3.5m swells and 30-35 knot winds which made the ship rock in a noticeable way. At times, dishes will slide off tables and holding onto the handrails that exist all over the ship will be necessary.  That said, while it was dramatic looking out the window, it’s a much more gentle rocking than you would expect because the ships are larger than a typical tourist excursion boat.

On the way back, there were 5m swells and winds gusting to 50 knots and although it should have been worse than it was on the way down, the captain extended the stabilizers so it felt fairly similar. We both took Dramamine before bed and never had any stomach troubles,  although other people were not so fortunate. Managing to sleep when the ship is moving that much is another issue altogether. Plan for some restless nights.

Otherwise, the journey is very exciting with suspense building as you cross the Antarctic Convergence and try to guess when you’ll see your first iceberg. There is also the chance to see whales, dolphins, and sea birds along the way. For example, we saw fin whales, petrels, and 3 different kinds of albatrosses while sailing there and back.

What is the Weather in Antarctica Like?

It’s not that cold, really! We went at the end of November which is considered shoulder season so temperatures in the true Antarctic summer should be nicer than it was for us. Nevertheless, Antarctica is a place where it can go from beautifully calm and sunny to blowing snow in your face in a matter of minutes.

Temperatures while sailing were between 5-10 degrees Celsius, with a noticeable drop once we crossed the Antarctic convergence. Temperatures during the landings were between 0 to 5 degrees Celsius. At times, there was blowing snow but it never lasted long and quite frankly, Canadian winters have made me feel far worse. For example, while chasing the aurora bo realis in Yellowknife in spring it was a bitter -20 degrees Celsius.

What to Pack for Antarctica

You’ll want to dress warmly for Antarctica and if you have no idea what that looks like, think of how you would dress to go skiing ie: warm, puffy jacket, snow pants, gloves, scarf or buff for your face, toque (aka beanie for non-Canadians) for your head. Many operators will provide some or all of these items so be sure to ask ahead of time, but if you have the stuff already you may want to bring your own.

Our agency promised a parka, but then miscommunicated with the operator so there were no parkas for us once we boarded. Thankfully, the Albatros Expeditions staff lent us some big, puffy jackets that made us look like black marshmallows but kept us very warm. The only downside was that we kept getting mistaken for staff by some of the Chinese passengers.

If you’re on the backpacking circuit like us, you probably won’t have snow pants, ski gloves, and a snow parka with you but you can rent those items in Ushuaia. We rented snow pants and gloves from Ushuaia Extremo which fit the bill just fine for $80usd for 10 days. They even gave us a coupon for a delightful free hot chocolate at the Laguna Negra café.

I also recommend taking some binoculars for wildlife spotting from the boat and during the landings. You won’t need them for the penguins but they will help you get a better look at whales and sea birds. I like these Antarctica-proof ones .

Ships will provide rubber boots for you and will require you to scrub them between getting on and off the vessel as per IAATO rules to prevent bio-contamination.

When to Book a Cruise to Antarctica

There is only one season for Antarctica which is between late October and late March, with December through February considered to be high season.  You can book anywhere from months in advance to days before in Ushuaia. We even heard of people booking their cruise in Ushuaia and departing the same day.

In November the winter sea ice is still breaking up so some landings may not be possible which is what we encountered at times during our cruise. It’s still a great month to go as the penguins will be courting each other, building their nests, and mating with wild abandon, while the whales will only just be moving south.

We saw at least one humpback whale every day that we were in the Peninsula, but the expedition that had just returned only saw one whale during their sailing.

In December and January, the temperatures are the “warmest”,  penguin chicks start to hatch, and the seals and sea birds are all at their most active. This is considered “high season” so it’s best to try to book in advance, and last minute rates won’t be as competitive, but you can still use the sign up for the email list trick described below.

February and March are the best months for seeing humpback and sperm whales, as well as orcas. Of course, wildlife sightings are never guaranteed, except for penguins.

How to Travel Responsibly in Antarctica

Follow the gd rules mofos.

Antarctica more than anywhere else on Earth requires that visitors travel responsibly. The IAATO has guidelines for visitors that include suggested distances for watching wildlife, methods for preventing bio-contamination and habitat destruction. If you’re looking to let loose and say screw the man on your vacation, Antarctica is not the place to do it.

Your tour operators will not hesitate to send you back to the ship if they think that you’re behaving irresponsibly on land or around the animals. This didn’t stop some people from burying their trinkets on the beach during one of the landings (if that catastrophic penguin colony collapse I mentioned earlier happens, we’ll know why…), or shouting at animals to try to get a better picture, but you can do better than those assholes people. Also, fill in your postholes before you leave since they can easily trap a penguin inside leading to their death.

Offset and Reduce Your Carbon Use

Curiously despite being at the end of the world, Antarctica is a place that truly illustrates how connected everything is. Warming waters due to climate change have affected krill populations which is a keystone species for everything from penguins to the biggest animal on earth, the Blue whale.

Of course, cruise ships are contributing to the problem by requiring an insane amount of fuel to make their voyages so consider purchasing some offsets to minimize your impact. Our cruise ship alone used 207 tons of fuel to sail us all to Antarctica and back!

My personal favourite is The Gold Standard as a good place to buy offsets from because you can choose the project that you would like to support and there is a focus on international development. So for example, our cruise used 207 tons of fuel, divided by 198 passengers.  That means each person used approximately 1 ton for the voyage or even less if you add the crew.

An offset for one ton can cost as little as $10usd at the Gold Standard. There is also a delightfully appropriately named organization called the South Pole Group which you can purchase offsets from.

If you really hate the idea of buying offsets, you can also make a donation to a favourite conservation charity. Good news, if you followed this guide then you likely saved money on your cruise so you can afford it!

This article provides even more ideas to reduce your carbon footprint at home. In the words of a great organization back home called Green Calgary , #everyactioncounts

Reduce Plastic Use 

Other ways to help the wildlife of Antarctica include adjusting some of your habits at home, such as reducing plastic waste wherever you can to limit the amount of plastic that ends up in the ocean and ultimately, into you through the food chain.

The whale expert onboard the Ocean Atlantic recommended purchasing an item called the GuppyFriend which is a fancy, high-tech bag that you place your laundry in to catch the microfibres that would otherwise be shed into waterways until ultimately reaching the ocean to be taken up in the food chain.

The bag claims to catch over 99% of the fibres but if it’s not available where you live or are put off by the price, you can always use a low-tech solution of putting your fibre-shedding synthetics like fleece into a pillowcase and tying it up before washing them. You will still be able to catch a lot of the fibres that way and you can scoop them out of the pillowcase with your hand and throw them in the garbage after washing. It’s an easy way to keep some plastic out of the ocean as well as your food with something you already have in your home.

Contribute to Citizen Science

Here’s hoping that you took some amazing pictures of a whale surfacing in Antarctica and you are so excited about that, how about sharing them with scientists who track them? HappyWhale.com gladly accepts pictures of whales that meet their identification criteria (no they’re not critiquing your photography skills, they just need to be able to see certain things clearly in order to make a scientific determination).

Your contributions help provide data about their movements and the health of their populations. If they can, they will provide you with the name of the whale as well as whatever history they may have on it. Be prepared to find out that the whale you saw in Antarctica is even more of a world traveller than you are!

Buy a HookPod

You know we love birds  and that extends to albatrosses which are amazing creatures. The way they surf so effortlessly on the sea winds is truly a wonder to behold and again, they just may travel farther every year than many people will in their entire lives. Sadly, devastatingly really, hundreds die every day in longline fisheries (which are supposed to be the “good ones” aaaaaah) by getting caught on the hooks as they dive for bait.

These powerful, graceful creatures then meet the most gruesome deaths underwater where they don’t belong. Obviously this is terrible for them, but it is bad for the fishermen too as they are intending to catch fish and not birds. Hookpods make it so the hook is not released until the hook sinks to over 20m which is below the diving depths of most birds.

It’s a little more expensive than conventional equipment so sponsoring a Hookpod is a great way to help the birds and fishers alike. Albatros Expeditions sponsors an entire Brazilian fishing ship and may host a fundraiser during your cruise with them. Passengers were feeling particularly generous and raised over $10,000 for Hookpods on our sailing alone! Even sponsoring one Hookpod makes a difference for albatrosses so get yours here .

Getting to Ushuaia

OK, so you’re convinced and ready to go on a last minute Antarctica Cruise?  Perfect, now you have to get to Ushuaia as it is by far the best place to pick up an Antarctic cruise from. If you are not in South America already, you will likely need to fly there through Buenos Aries.

We took the bus from Puerto Natales in Chile to Ushuaia. Well actually it was a bus to the side of the road where we were unceremoniously dumped to wait for another bus, then a ferry boat where we saw Commerson dolphins jumping in the wake, back on the bus, to Rio Grande where we waited half an hour for a van to take us the rest of the way to Ushuaia. If you book the bus on certain days you can skip the waiting on the side of the road bit and go straight to Rio Grande to wait for the van to Ushuaia.

We stayed at the Laguna Esmeralda BnB and it is a wonderful place with a clean kitchen, laundry facilities, good sized rooms, hot showers, and breakfast included for about $32usd a night for a double.

So there you have it, Antarctica is both within your reach and worthy of a visit. Get yourself down to Ushuaia, the self-proclaimed end of the world where you can set sail for the true end of the world and make memories that will stay with you until your end. Also penguins. There will be lots of penguins.

20 Replies to “Last Minute Antarctica Cruises – Everything You Need To Know”

I’ve never considered it but what an incredible place to visit and experience!

If you’re in to adventures it’s certainly one to check out! Thanks!

I had no idea there was so much in Antarctica. I’ve always pictured it as nothing but ice and bitter cold. I’d love to see it in person one day.

The crazy thing is that our 10 day cruise really only scraped the surface, there’s so much more to Antarctica than we even got to see!

We’d love to visit Antarctica as a family one day and the cruise would be a good option for us x Amazing photos and what an experience!

What an amazing trip. I would love to do this and see those amazing icebergs and the view. I am in awe of our world!

Such a fun and a great experience you had. I never thought that there are so many things that we could see in Antartica. I feel like I wanna go there now.

What a fabulously comprehensive post this is about heading to Antartica! I love how you have taken time explaining each sections carefully with photos. I would totally love doing the cruise lake as I have always wanted to try that.

Wow what an amazing experience! I had no idea cruises to Antarctica even existed! I don’t know if I could brave the cold conditions but if I was a bit tougher I would love to do this!

Wow! What an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience. I always dreamed of a trip like this but thought it was too far out of reach. Maybe it isn’t!

Nice photos, i never knew Antarctica would be this beautiful. Lovely ,amazing place. I would love to go here someday.

Antarctica is actually on my bucket list. I recently went to Alaska and just couldn’t get over the beauty of the nature and the wildlife. That environment is definitely my favorite. Thank you for sharing such beautiful pictures.

Wow! So much useful information about Anartica, hte icebergs are spectacular

Antarctica looks absolutley amazing for an adventure for sure!!!! Who wants to elope here? I will tag along to take your pictures anytime!

Going to Antarctica sounds like a trip of a lifetime. What an adventure 😊 I definitely like the idea of doing a cruise.

This looks like an adventure! I would love to take my kids on some trips like this when they are older.

Antarctica is actually on my bucket list! There is a cruise that goes there that I keep eyeing!!!

I’m going to Antarctica in 2020 and this post got me really hyped! Looks amazing 🙂

-Summer travelingsummer.com

That’s great Summer! I’m sure it will be an amazing time!

I think I saw a link for this one on the Calgary Amateur Photographer Facebook group. My sister in law is working for Quark Expeditions right now so whenever I see an article or link about Antarctica I have to read it.

After (or maybe during) her second season with them, she gets a friends and family deal cheaper than any deals listed here. We’re hoping to take advantage of that deal.

Antarctica was always a place I had dreamed about but it was out of reach before now.

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Opinion Nicholas Kristof

What Happened to the Joe Biden I Knew?

Credit... Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

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By Nicholas Kristof

Opinion Columnist

• April 19, 2024

During the Darfur genocide and humanitarian crisis two decades ago, then-Senator Joe Biden passionately denounced then-President George W. Bush for failing to act decisively to ease suffering. Biden expressed outrage at China for selling weapons used to kill and maim civilians, and he urged me to write columns demanding the White House end needless wretchedness.

Darfur and Gaza are very different, of course, but I recall the senator’s compassion and urgency — and I wonder, where has that Joe Biden gone?

Gaza has become the albatross around Biden’s neck. It is his war, not just Benjamin Netanyahu’s. It will be part of his legacy, an element of his obituary, a blot on his campaign — and it could get worse if Gaza cascades into a full-blown famine or violent anarchy, or if a wider war breaks out involving Iran or Lebanon. An Israeli strike on a military base in central Iran early Friday underscored the danger of a bigger and more damaging conflict that could draw in the United States.

Consider just one example of America’s fingerprints on this war under Biden’s leadership. In January, the Israeli military dropped a bomb on a compound in Gaza used by the International Rescue Committee, a much-respected American aid organization that is supported in part by American tax dollars. The International Rescue Committee says that the near-fatal strike was caused by a 1,000-pound American-made bomb, dropped from an American-made F-16 fighter jet. And when an American-made aircraft drops an American-made bomb on an American aid group in an American-supported war, how can that not come back to Biden?

“Biden owns that,” said Jeremy Konyndyk , a former Biden and Obama administration official who now runs Refugees International, another aid group. “They’ve provided the matériel that sustains the war. They provided political support that sustains the war. They provided the diplomatic cover at the U.N. that sustains the war.”

This is not Biden’s war in the way that Vietnam was Lyndon Johnson’s war or that Iraq was Bush’s war. Biden has not sent American troops, and he has not directed this war. He is clearly uncomfortable with the civilian toll of this war and wishes Israel was conducting it with more restraint — yet he continues to underwrite it. His rhetoric has become more critical, but his actions so far have not changed significantly.

“Is this the war Biden would want?” Konyndyk asked. “No. But is this the war Biden is materially supporting? Yes. And so in that sense, it’s his war.”

It was Ukraine that Biden wanted as his war. Not that he wanted any war at all, but Ukraine was his opportunity to stand up and uphold the “rules-based international order” against an enemy that violated international law, bombed infrastructure and sought to make all Ukrainians pay. But it is the war in Gaza that Biden has saddled himself with, with its “indiscriminate” bombing — as he himself described it in December — leaving him and America looking to much of the world like hypocrites.

Yet Biden will not easily extricate himself from this mess.

“Six months in, the Biden administration is in a strategic cul-de-sac with no easy way out — weakened both morally and politically, dependent on two combatants who see no urgency in ending the war and facing the real possibility of a serious escalation between Israel and Iran,” Aaron David Miller, a veteran American diplomat and Middle East peace negotiator, told me.

One of Biden’s reasons for standing close by the Israeli prime minister and keeping up the flow of weapons has been to ensure that Israel is prepared, should war break out with Iran or with Hezbollah in Lebanon. That’s a legitimate concern. But unconditionally arming Israel also enables Netanyahu to take provocative steps that increase the risk of expanded war — and everyone knows that peace may not be in Netanyahu’s personal interest, for it would bring new elections that he is expected to lose. That’s worth remembering as one considers Israel’s deadly bombing of an Iranian consulate in Syria early this month, the move that prompted Iran’s retaliatory strike on Israel.

“It was clearly an escalatory move,” Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat and foreign policy expert, said of the Israeli strike. He noted of Netanyahu: “Widening the war is something that could keep him in office longer.”

For decades I’ve known and admired Biden. He’s wise and decent, a committed public servant who tries to do the right thing. He’s the most experienced foreign policy hand in the Oval Office in decades, surrounded by excellent advisers and known for his warmth and empathy. He would be a hard man to dislike.

Yet I believe Biden’s ongoing support for the Israeli military campaign reflects miscalculations that grew out of his outrage at the savagery of the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7, coupled with his conviction — quite right — that Israel not only had a right to strike back at Hamas but also had a duty to do so, to re-establish deterrence. Biden’s initial unwavering support for the military campaign also reflects his generation, growing up in the shadow of the Holocaust, and his deeply felt admiration for Israel. He has regularly said that “if Israel didn’t exist, we would have to invent it.”

Daniel Kurtzer, a former American ambassador to Israel, put it this way: “President Biden is preternaturally supportive of Israel. It’s in his DNA.”

Martin Indyk, who was twice ambassador to Israel, agrees. “You know the line about him being an old-style Zionist?” Indyk asked. “That’s the heart of it.”

Biden had many crucial decisions to make in the weeks after the Oct. 7 attack, but perhaps none were more consequential than this: how to manage his relationship with Netanyahu as the war in Gaza got underway. How much should he defer to Netanyahu, how much should he embrace him, how much should he impose consequences when Netanyahu ignored his suggestions of restraint? Biden had choices, and as Indyk correctly observed, Biden thought that the best way to move Netanyahu was with an arm on his shoulder.

That was, I believe, the first of Biden’s miscalculations. Netanyahu has always been a renegade out only for himself. After Netanyahu lectured President Bill Clinton in 1996, Clinton reportedly said , adding a couple of expletives: Who does he think he is? Who’s the superpower here?

Perhaps Biden overestimates his ability to win over Netanyahu, as he sometimes seems to put too much faith in his ability to charm Republican members of Congress. Biden deeply believes in the power of personal relationships, and this faith is both endearing and partly justified. But I’ve also seen his overconfidence in these relationships run aground on the hard reality that foreign leaders have different worldviews and inhabit different political worlds. Netanyahu reportedly keeps on his desk a photo of Biden on which Biden long ago scrawled : “Bibi, I love you, but I don’t agree with a damn thing you have to say.”

Diplomacy is a mix of carrots and sticks, but until recently Biden seemed to offer Netanyahu nothing but armloads of carrots. And Netanyahu kept on taking the gifts while ignoring Biden’s warnings. “Netanyahu seemed to take enormous pleasure in sticking his finger in Biden’s eye at every opportunity,” noted Menachem Rosensaft, a Cornell law professor and general counsel emeritus of the World Jewish Congress.

Biden’s efforts to persuade Netanyahu to allow more aid trucks into Gaza were, at least until recently, so ineffectual that the White House had to drop food from planes. In 1948, the United States organized the Berlin Airlift to overcome Soviet obstructionism; that meant confronting our adversary and constituted a show of strength. In 2024, the United States was reduced to organizing the Gaza airlift to get around the intransigence of our longtime aid recipient; that reflected Biden’s failure to confront our ally and amounted to a show of weakness.

Instead of organizing an airdrop (which has killed some people when aid fell on them), Biden had an opportunity to do something much more substantial to avert starvation. In December the United Nations Security Council tried to set up a U.N. system to inspect trucks entering Gaza rather than letting them get stuck in the Israeli inspection bottleneck. Reports were already coming in of catastrophic starvation in Gaza, yet the Biden administration effectively blocked this alternative by watering it down to nothing, according to people close to the negotiations. The upshot: Children starved to death.

The administration also tolerated a ferocious crackdown and land grab by Israeli West Bank settlers who operate with the backing of Netanyahu’s extremist cabinet. The United Nations reports that almost 5,000 Palestinians in the West Bank have been injured since Oct. 7 in confrontations with Israeli troops and settlers, who periodically steal Palestinians’ sheep or drive them from their homes. By the U.N.’s count, 451 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank in this period, including 112 children (nine Israelis were killed in the West Bank during this time). Then last month, Israel announced the largest seizure of West Bank land since the Oslo peace accords in 1993. It was a slap in the face of Biden, who has mostly turned the other cheek.

Biden also didn’t seem to anticipate how brutal the bombing of Gaza would be, how Israel would throttle aid flows and in effect starve Gazans, and how long the war would last. The administration signaled that it expected the war to conclude by the end of 2023.

These miscalculations are hard to understand, for Israel was so traumatized by the horror of the Oct. 7 attack that the harshness of what was to come was quite predictable. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said early on that Israel was fighting “human animals” and he promised “a complete siege,” adding, “There will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel.” By one count , there were 18,000 Hebrew-language references to Gaza being “erased,” “destroyed” and “flattened” on X, formerly known as Twitter, in about the first six weeks after Oct. 7.

For me, watching as I reported from Israel and the West Bank, it felt ineffably sad, like a rerun of the invasion of Iraq: the delusions about a quick victory, the disregard for civilian lives, the lack of a local partner to establish order, the excessive optimism about outcomes. Another parallel with Iraq was the support for this war from Biden, who had similarly supported the Iraq war . “ I do not believe this is a rush to war,” he had said in 2002, underscoring how history rhymes. “I believe it is a march to peace and security.”

As time went on and Israel leveled entire neighborhoods and killed large numbers of women, children and aid workers, Biden became more critical of Israel. But while his rhetoric changed, his policies didn’t — and he repeatedly allowed his calls for restraint to be ignored. Indeed, in the first months of the war, Biden’s first serious move to impose accountability wasn’t aimed at Netanyahu but at UNRWA, the United Nations agency working desperately to prevent famine in Gaza.

After allegations in January that a dozen (later 14 ) of the agency’s 30,000 employees may have joined the Hamas terrorist attack and that many others were Hamas members, Biden suspended funding for UNRWA without waiting for confirmation. Investigations are now underway, and a small number of UNRWA staff members may have been involved in the Hamas attack, but there are growing doubts about the larger Israeli allegation of fundamental UNRWA complicity.

“They’ve been saying UNRWA is an arm of Hamas,” Senator Van Hollen told me. “There’s nothing — nothing! — in the intelligence to support that claim. That’s a flat-out lie.”

It now appears that while Biden was too slow to confront Netanyahu for killing Gazan children, he acted too hastily against the U.N. agency trying to save Gazan children. “We contributed,” Van Hollen noted, “to punishing over two million civilians who relied on UNRWA.”

American public opinion has moved rapidly on the war, with a majority of people now opposing Israel’s actions in Gaza. If the bloodshed and starvation continue, one can imagine a further shift — carrying increased political risks for Biden. While few of those disenchanted by Biden’s policies in Gaza seem likely to vote for Donald Trump, they could simply stay home on Election Day in crucial swing states like Michigan.

The anger among young progressives is particularly strong. I see it on college campuses. I’ve spoken to several Democratic members of Congress who say they can’t do public events for fear they will be shouted down. (I disapprove of disrupting events; I tell young people that if you want to change minds, shouting is less effective than asking pointed questions.) It’s worth remembering that Trump and a Republican Congress would almost certainly be less likely to restrain Israeli actions toward Palestinians, yet that’s not an effective argument for Democratic incumbents to make when they’re on the defensive.

Some of this anger, both in America and abroad, stems from what critics of the war perceive as a lack of urgency and even empathy on Biden’s part for Palestinian suffering. When he speaks of the victims of the Oct. 7 attack, I can feel his horror and disgust at the inhumanity of Hamas, but I don’t hear the same emotion about the deaths of Palestinian children in Gaza.

“There has just been a profound and visible empathy gap in how Biden talks about the two sets of victims in this conflict,” Konyndyk said. Shibley Telhami, a Middle East expert at the University of Maryland who has known Biden for many years, made the same point and argued that what seemed to finally move Biden (and much of the world) was the killing of World Central Kitchen’s foreign aid workers — even after about 190 Palestinian aid workers had already died.

We all have empathy gaps based on our backgrounds and loyalties, and supporters of Israel sometimes argue that critics of the Gaza war don’t seem to show the same compassion for starving Sudanese or Ethiopians that they do for Gazans. In Biden’s case, this isn’t the first time the issue has been discussed.

In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon and caused so many civilian casualties that everyone from President Ronald Reagan to Democratic senators expressed outrage. One exception: the young senator from Delaware.

Then-Senator Biden clashed with Israel’s hard-line prime minister, Menachem Begin, over West Bank settlements, and he deserves credit for being prescient in his opposition to land grabs for settlements. But Biden reportedly also told Begin that he favored an even harsher attack on Lebanon, even if this meant killing women and children, according to Israeli press reports .

In fairness, Biden has offered a strong moral voice in other humanitarian crises, including when he spoke up strongly for Muslims in Bosnia in 1995 and in Darfur in the 2000s. In both cases, he was impatient with talk and demanded action to ease suffering.

“We are still making threats instead of taking action,” Biden complained about Darfur in 2007, when George W. Bush was president.

Those of Biden’s generation sometimes complain that younger critics of Israel lack historical perspective and don’t appreciate the threats that Jews have faced, the unremitting determination of Israel’s enemies to destroy it and the difficulty of prosecuting a war where Hamas hides among civilians. Fair enough. All true.

But parallel arguments of naïveté were lodged against young critics of the Iraq and Vietnam wars. Supporters of the Vietnam War were shaped by memories of appeasement in the run-up to World War II and argued that it was imperative to stand up to the global tide of Communism. They were frustrated — correctly in many cases — that young leftists were soft on Communism and especially Maoism and didn’t understand the brutishness of the enemy. The war’s backers in the White House and the Pentagon acknowledged the suffering in Vietnam but argued that it was important to be tough-minded and keep perspective: With a little more effort it would be possible to uproot the enemy and score a decisive victory that would lay the groundwork for a better future. Listening to doves and showing restraint, they argued, would merely signal weakness and allow national dominoes to fall, resulting in a huge setback for freedom and democracy.

In retrospect, the backers of the Vietnam War didn’t understand the power of nationalism and vastly exaggerated the ability of even a powerful army to eradicate a homegrown enemy with nationalist credentials, while they were myopic about the human cost of their strategy and didn’t ask essential questions about its morality. Today it is the critics of the Vietnam and Iraq wars who have been largely validated. They may have known less history, but they possessed keener empathy.

Another parallel with the Vietnam War that worries some Democrats: The 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago was the site of chaotic antiwar protests that were mishandled and damaged the entire party at a time it needed to signal unity. That fall the presidential election went, by less than one percentage point, to the Republican Richard Nixon.

Oh, and where will the Democratic convention be held this year? Chicago, again.

The Biden administration called for moral clarity after the atrocities of Oct. 7, and that was appropriate. But moral clarity cannot be like a pair of glasses we put on and take off. Our shared humanity means recognizing that all children’s lives have equal value. If your heart breaks for victims on only one side of the Israel-Gaza border, then your failure is not of geopolitics but of humanity. If you care about the human rights of only Israelis or only Palestinians, then you don’t actually care about human rights.

Another way of putting it: The more than 1,000 children in Gaza who are now amputees, their suffering is partly on us.

Aside from the human toll, the war has also undermined America’s broader interests.

“Biden himself, but also America, now appears weak, thus less credible as a security partner, because Netanyahu has been completely and publicly unresponsive to tepid American requests, without there being any consequences,” Nabil Fahmy, a former Egyptian foreign minister, told me.

Jan Egeland, a former senior U.N. official who is now secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told me that American moral authority has been greatly eroded by its nonstop transfer of weapons to prosecute the war in Gaza.

“When I now travel anywhere in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia or Latin America to urge humanitarian access or protection of civilians, I get a half-hour lecture on U.S.-led Western hypocrisy,” he said. He added that the question he always gets is: “If Russian occupation and attacks on civilians and infrastructure is so bad in Ukraine, how come you accept exactly the same when done against the Palestinians by Israel?”

Ukraine and Gaza represent very different kinds of conflicts, certainly. Russia invaded Ukraine, while Israel was the victim of a particularly barbaric attack by Hamas targeting civilians. Yet it’s also true that as many foreigners see it, America hails the “rules-based international order” in Ukraine while in the Middle East it arms a combatant that is ignoring a U.N. Security Council call for a cease-fire and that the International Court of Justice has said is plausibly committing genocide.

Chris Patten, the former European commissioner for external relations who is now formally Lord Patten of Barnes, is an admirer of Biden. But he told me that he believes on Gaza, “he’s been making a terrible, terrible error.”

“The knock-on effects are awful,” he said, benefiting Chinese and Russian narratives that the West employs double standards and doesn’t really care about principles.

Ukraine had seemed something of a triumph for Biden, who rallied Europe and led the international effort that stalled Russia’s invasion. But Biden’s war in Gaza undermines his war in Ukraine.

“There is ammunition that is badly needed in Ukraine but is being delivered to Israel,” Ben Hodges, a retired lieutenant general and commander of Army forces in Europe, told me.

The big winner of the Hamas attack and its aftermath, Hodges said, is the Kremlin.

This month, Biden belatedly showed a willingness to press Netanyahu and leverage the aid America provides. In a tense 30-minute call, he threatened to condition American weapons transfers on Israel’s actions to address humanitarian concerns in Gaza.

Tentative results were immediate. Israel said it would open the Erez crossing to northern Gaza to provide aid, and more aid has been allowed to enter Gaza.

Previously, Israel insisted that it was not blocking trucks, but as soon as Biden did get serious with Netanyahu, the number of trucks entering Gaza increased. I can’t help wondering: Why didn’t Biden demand this months earlier?

As Van Hollen told me: “When he did exercise some leverage, he got more results in one hour than he’s gotten in six months.”

Still, it remains unclear how much has changed. Israel seems more cooperative about getting aid across the border into Gaza, but the United Nations emphasizes that what matters is aid being delivered over those last few miles to people who are starving. Disputes about aid are likely to continue, in part because more than two-thirds of Jewish Israelis oppose allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza, according to an opinion poll in February.

In the past, Biden repeatedly resisted meaningful limits on arms transfers. Under pressure from Democratic senators, he issued National Security Memorandum 20 , which restated American law that puts humanitarian conditions on military transfers — but then the administration announced that Israel was meeting the requirements, which many outsiders doubted.

The administration must issue another report by May 8 about whether Israel is meeting its humanitarian obligations, but many critics of the war expect a whitewash.

Many Biden supporters are exasperated. “The current approach is not working,” Senator Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, said in a statement calling on Biden to withhold bombs from Israel. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was among 40 House members who sent a similar letter to Biden.

“There’s a growing group of House and Senate members who are frustrated with the failure of the Biden administration to apply leverage,” noted Senator Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat who was among the first senators to call for a cease-fire.

Biden’s hope for months has been a temporary halt in fighting that the administration could then use to frantically negotiate a landmark Saudi-Israeli-American deal that would normalize relations and lay the groundwork for a two-state solution. This would be the diplomatic equivalent of pulling an elephant out of a hat.

But it hasn’t happened and it’s not clear what Biden’s backup plan is. “The message I and others have carried is you can’t count on such a deal being worked out,” Merkley said. “And meanwhile the humanitarian disaster is getting worse every single day.”

The most dire scenario ahead may be a multifront war involving Gaza and Hezbollah or Iran. One of my scarier discussions with an Israeli official recently was his advocacy of a first strike on Hezbollah, and a poll found that 53 percent of Israeli Jews favor such an all-out attack on Hezbollah. That would, I believe, be a catastrophe for the region.

There’s also the possibility of an Israeli invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza without any serious effort to move civilians out of the way. We may see a full-blown famine in Gaza, or, with no authority in place, Gaza might linger (even if Hamas is a spent force) as a shattered, anarchic territory dominated by militant extremists and criminal gangs. Netanyahu seems to have no long-term plan for Gaza (or the West Bank) that would be acceptable to the outside world.

So far the war in Gaza has, according to authorities there, killed roughly 34,000 people , including about 13,800 children. The toll includes some 484 health workers, 100 journalists and 200 aid workers. The war has also damaged or destroyed up to 57 percent of the territory’s buildings. There is no end in sight, and I don’t see a path for Biden out of the mire in which he has placed himself that does not entail pursuing a fundamentally tougher and more independent path.

That means insisting that Netanyahu show far more restraint in warfare and both allow more aid into Gaza and ensure it is actually delivered to starving people. And if there are no immediate results, Biden must stop the flows of offensive weapons, for that is the step that will finally get the attention of the Israel Defense Forces and of all the country’s leaders.

This is a sad column to have to write. Biden has generally been an impressive foreign policy president, I believe, particularly astute in building connections in Asia to meet the challenge of China. I think he’s personally a good man with a compassionate heart.

That makes his complicity in the cataclysm of Gaza all the more tragic. As a young man, Biden watched Lyndon Johnson’s dream of being remembered for his “Great Society” collapse in the face of youthful opposition to an unpopular and cruel foreign war, with Johnson’s failures leading to the election of a corrupt president from the other party. I hope Biden takes action to avoid a repeat.

Biden might listen in particular to one close adviser who is apparently in anguish over Gaza — for she is right.

“Stop it,” Jill Biden reportedly told her husband. “Stop it now, Joe.”

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Nicholas Kristof became a columnist for The Times Opinion desk in 2001 and has won two Pulitzer Prizes. His new memoir is “ Chasing Hope: A Reporter's Life .” @ NickKristof

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