ANTARCTIC CRUISES

For the best Antarctic experience make sure the ship you choose has zodiacs or tenders for shore exploration. Excursion groups should be small to avoid disruption of penguins and nesting seabirds. A typical shore excursion would be to photograph a colony of a thousand or more penguins, view elephant seals or hike up a hillside for a view. On board, passengers enjoy viewing seabirds such as petrels and albatross that follow the ship's wake, as well as various species of whales. Most trips to the Antarctic Peninsula go in a two-day voyage from Ushuaia, Argentina. Some trips also visit  Falkland Islands and South Georgia where visitors see king penguins, albatross, elephant seals. Ships that go from New Zealand and Australia usually visit the Ross Sea and McMurdo Sound area of Antarctica, where there are relics of past explorations as well as current research stations.  Remember that Antarctica summer is the Northern Hemisphere winter, and the cruise season is from late November to early March. If you go early in this season it is the courting season for penguins and seabirds and you see spectacular courtship rituals. Spring wildflowers are blooming in the Falklands and South Georgia. The second half of December and January are usually warmest and days are longer. Antarctic chicks are hatching, and you can see seal pups on South Georgia and the Falklands. In February and March whale sightings are at their best, and receding pack ice allows ships to explore further south. For more details on ships, click on the name of the cruise company. Some cruise companies charter vessels from others for Antarctic trips so you may sometimes find a ship listed by different companies.

ANTARCTIC SHIPPING ANTARCTIC DREAM Passenger Capacity:  84 AURORA EXPEDITIONS POLAR PIONEER Passenger Capacity: 56 Antarctic, Falkland Islands, South Georgia, Arctic, Scottish Isles, Norway, Spitsbergen, Greenland, Iceland MARINA SVETAEVA Passenger Capacity: 100 Ross Sea and Commonwealth Bay areas of Antarctica, departing from Australia & New Zealand, stopping at the sub-Antarctic islands of Macquarie, Campbell, Auckland and Snares ELEGANT CRUISES & TOURS ANDREA Passenger Capacity: 106 GLOBAL QUEST KAPITAN KHLEBNIKOV Passenger Capacity: 108 HAPAG LLOYD BREMEN, HANSEATIC Passenger Capacity:164, 184 Language is German; most passengers are German.   HERITAGE EXPEDITIONS SPIRIT OF ENDERBY  Passenger Capacity: 48 LINDBLAD EXPEDITIONS NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ENDEAVOUR Passenger Capacity: 110 NORWEGIAN COASTAL VOYAGE   (HURTIGRUTEN) FRAM, NORDNORGE, NORDKAPP Passenger Capacity: 318, 464, 490   OCEAN EXPEDITIONS Antarctica, South Georgia, Patagonia AUSTRALIS Passenger Capacity: 9 OCEANWIDE EXPEDITIONS PROFESSOR MOLCHANOV, GRIGORIY MIKHEEV Passenger Capacity: 54, 46 ORION EXPEDITION CRUISES ORION Passenger Capacity: 100-106 PELAGIC EXPEDITIONS PELAGIC, PELAGIC AUSTRALIS Passenger Capacity: 6, 10 Sailboat with voyages of 35 days minimum POLAR STAR EXPEDITIONS POLAR STAR Passenger Capacity: 105 POLARQUEST ORIGO Passenger Capacity: 24 QUARK EXPEDITIONS PROFESSOR MULTANOVSKIY,  LYUBOV ORLOVA OCEAN NOVA (SARPIK ITTUK) Passenger Capacity: 49, 82, 108 CLIPPER ADVENTURER    Passenger Capacity: 122   TRAVEL DYNAMICS CORINTHIAN II Passenger Capacity: 114   VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY DISCOVERY Passenger Capacity: 650