I am planning a trip to Antarctica and would like members advice on the best cruise lines/ships. Price is not an object. I have looked at Lindblad Expeditions and Travel Dynamics Corinthian II.
Hi. Don't have experience with a cruise to Antarctica yet, BUT, in searching for a cruise around Cape Horn and back, the best one we seemed able to research was on the Mare Australis, which you can book with Orvis Travel. We're sending my mother on this cruise next February, so we wanted to make sure it was good. It had a great review from the New York Times travel editor. It's also smaller than those floating mega-hotels, thus can go in and out of smaller passages. Don't know if they've one that actually goes to Antarctica itself, but perhaps Orvis could point you in the right direction. Hope this helps. - MG
Mare Australis (http://www.mareaustralis.com) doesnt go to Antartica, but it has some amazing cruises through Southern Patagonia and Cape Horn none the less.
Theres a renouned company here in Chile that provides Patagonia and Antarctic Cruises, called ANTARCTIC SHIPPING (http://www.antarctic.cl). They reconditioned a formar Chilean navy vessel, that was used for antartic exploration, into an exclusive cruise ship with only 42 cabins.
Ive also heard that Holland cruises has voyages to Antartica, in case you want to look them up too.
Check out Quark Expeditions at www.quarkexpeditions.com. In my research they are the most experienced in polar cruises and their prices are quite reasonable. Many companies actually re-sell Quark space. I'm leaving on a trip on Jan 22.
Peregrine Mariner/Akademik Ioffe. We are just back from a January 2006 cruise. It is slightly more expensive, but we took 10 zodiac trips, saw lots of penguins (including an emperor), whales, seals, icebergs, and historical sites. The food was fabulous. Everyone got to go on every expedition.
The Drake Passage was smooth (check out the stabilizers on any boat you want to use) and the naturalists and expedition leaders wonderful.
We went to Peterman Island, Point Charcot, through Lemaire Channel, Hannah's Point, Wilhemmena Bay, Paradise Bay, Enterprise Island, Damoy Point, Danco Island, and Verdansky Station----we saw about 50 humpbacks the day we had a barbeque on the stern deck. We camped out one night on the snow.
The ages ranged from 12-83 on board, with most in the 35-55 range, it seemed. The kayaking option got about 8 opportunities to kayak...including with the humpbacks.
Wow. It was worth the money and time. It is a 5 star experience of a lifetime.
We did not like Lindblad for our expedition Santiago, Easter Island and cruise to Tahiti. We did meet a scuba instructor who highly recommends Quark. We have been to Antartica and if you want to splurge look at the Braeman if they offer a cruise for Americans, Zeaghrams travel but not Lindblad. they fell far short of the mark they should have received for the money they charge. Antartica is a once in a lifetime experience. Good luck, gmalibu
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What are forum guidelines?Try http://www.antarcticacruises.com.ar - I haven't used them yet but they an excellent reputation
Try the Hanseatic or Quark. The Bremen is also a possibility.
Zeagrahms has a good reputation however they charter space or charter their own ship. the ship should not not take more than 100 passengers as you want to make sure you do 2 stops a day. the stops have a limit of people who can walk on the ice.
The Antartic is a wonderful experience.
Just want to add my thanks for all the advice on which cruise to take. I was looking at MV The Discovery .
Aioke
I would second the Akademik Ioffe. It is a rurssian ship and I believe we took that in the Artic. Excellent choice. I think the discovery takes too many people. Remember 100!!