Antarctica 2022

It took 3 flights, one brief hotel stay in Buenos Aires, and more than 36 hours to get to Ushuaia, at the very southern tip of Argentina, where we would embark on the cruise. The cruise included two nights at a great hotel in Ushuaia, and we were so glad to get off the road and relax!

We had a chance to explore Ushuaia, and enjoyed walking around the town and doing some last minute shopping before relaxing in our hotel's spectacular heated outdoor pool, attending a cruise passenger briefing, and having a sumptuous seafood dinner at one of the best restaurants in town.

It was finally embarkation day, but first we kept up a little travel tradition and my husband used his pilot's license to get us a "flying lesson"/sightseeing flight over the Beagle Channel! After that adventurous start to the morning we boarded the ship  in the afternoon, ready to set sail for Antarctica!

After waiting at the mouth of the Beagle Channel for a storm to pass we headed into the Drake Passage - easily the roughest seas most cruise passengers will ever encounter. We were tossed around, but the ship and crew handled it brilliantly, keeping us entertained with fascinating presentations, and plenty of fine dining.

This morning we entered the South Shetland Islands, and were able to enjoy calmer waters and walk around on deck. The highlight of the afternoon was a visit to Whaler's Bay on Deception Island, where we disembarked via Zodiac Boat onto the beach in an extinct volcano!  

Now that we had reached the Antarctic Peninsula our itinerary got busy! We started the morning with a landing at Cuverville Island, and in the afternoon visited Jugla Point and the tiny British outpost of Port Lockroy, which had a great gift store supporting their scientific mission! Back onboard we were treated to a BBQ on the pool deck for dinner!

Today we transited the dramatic Lamaire Channel, took zodiac cruises at Pleneau Island and had a landing at Peterman Island. The afternoon's highlight, taking advantage of the bright sunshine and "warm" weather, was the Polar Plunge! Dozens of passengers participated, including my husband! Late that evening the captain stopped the ship's engines so we could view a large pod of orcas that were playing around the ship!

Our last day on the Antarctic Peninsula dawned very bright and clear. We started the morning with a landing at Palaver Point, where we saw a big penguin colony. In the afternoon we cruised in Zodiac Boats around Liege Island, and were lucky enough to see multiple humpback whales up close! I am the second person from the right in the photo - that whale was right next out little boat!

Sailing back across the Drake Passage, our crew kept us entertained with movies, a special all-chocolate afternoon tea, photo contests, a talent show and a memorabilia auction. I was so happy to win the bidding for the ship's flag!  Our return crossing was quite calm, and we had fun winding down the trip with the friends we had made onboard.

We said goodbye to our fellow passengers and the wonderful crew of our ship in Ushuaia and started for home, filled with memories of this spectacular trip!