Antarctica Cruise

For as long as I can remember, Antarctica has been on my "To-Do" list.  The opportunity to photograph the isolation and wildlife has been a dream of mine for many years. This trip exceeded my expectations. The ship staff, from the captain to our room attendant, were all stellar. The ship's open bridge policy was a special treat that I have not experienced on other ships.

The bridge staff was great about explaining where we were heading, the charts, etc., when they had the time. The lectures on the area’s history and climate change/global warming were excellent and very, very informative. The information sessions we had every afternoon at "cocktail time" were full of information. Hiking through the snow and seeing penguins and seals up close capped off any expectations we would have had. Seeing all of the penguins on their nests was such a treat.

The ship was amazing and accommodations were very comfortable. The dining room staff was exceptional and the food was gourmet. On top of all that, the pristine beauty of Antarctica was breathtaking. The naturalists, photographers, and staff were just icing on the cake.

My goal is to visit all 7 continents.  Antarctica was my 6th. The entire experience was surreal, like being on the moon. It was Alaska X 100.  I loved it all.       

Shelley and Emily are tops and responsive to all my calls with questions and comments. They always return a call or email, which is rare now a days. Shelley suggested all the right clothing that I needed; I was warm and cozy.

The ship’s staff, guides and crew were above and beyond expectations and always very caring, concerned, polite and friendly. The naturalists had a wealth of knowledge and willingly shared with us. It is a pleasure to see so many young people that are goal oriented. The older and more experienced staff, guides, naturalists and crew were spectacular. I enjoyed the way the staff would periodically sit with the guests. Also, the "invitation" for a special dinner with staff members was a real highlight.  I dined with the NG photographers. This was a very nice touch and everyone eventually got invited so each had a turn to chat in a small, intimate group.  The lecturers were all wonderful - although a couple got extremely technical.  I enjoyed the lectures and several times dining with Peter Hillary was a real treat.

Care for the environment and our safety was phenomenal.  A pre-landing group always made a path that we were to follow. This packed down the snow and made it safer for us and also kept us a respectful distance from the wildlife, although the wildlife did come to US. I must say the food was excellent and the hotel staff very pleasant. The housekeeping staff was great and almost invisible, coming while we were out to make beds and tidy up the room.  

I loved the scenery, penguins, whales and seals, plus the kayaking and hikes. Taking a dip (up to my armpits) in the 31 degree cold water of Deception Island was a momentous experience.  Being 70 doesn't mean you can't do wild and crazy things - and have pictures to prove it.

The trip exceeded ALL my expectations and I would do it again in a wink!

The expedition leader and excursion staff were the most outstanding I have ever experienced in my life!!! They were like a well-oiled machine and never failed to impress. They were outstanding, customer-focused, well organized, friendly and efficient. I was impressed with all the naturalists and explorer’s presentations and I recommend you continue having the variety of presenters. The captain and his crew went above and beyond the call of duty to make our trip memorable. The fact that we could go to the bridge and have conversation with them was fantastic. Everyone, including the lady that cleaned my cabin, was excellent!  I have traveled the world and this trip beats the best I’ve ever had. I will never forget this experience.

It had been a lifelong dream to go to Antarctica and a friend who had gone 5 times recommended it, so I needed no more convincing to go!  Most memorable part was the breathtaking beauty of the Peninsula and the well-organized excursions to the islands, penguins and icebergs. The excursion staff were the most outstanding I have ever experienced in my life!!!

The trip both met and exceeded my expectations. We enjoyed the staff, guides and crew! The dining room crew made a point of taking excellent care of the younger passengers with two special dinners in the Observation Lounge and a special large table in the hallway for them to eat together. The dining room staff in general was wonderful and took great care to learn our preferences and provide them to us before we even had to ask. The captain was a funny and charming person and made every question feel valuable and worthy of an answer. We enjoyed the naturalist staff -- they all enhanced our experience. We spent a lot of time with the National Geographic photographer and thought he was an interesting person. 

I have always aspired to travel to Antarctica and decided to take this trip for my 50th birthday.  The most memorable part of the trip was experiencing the multitude of penguins and birds on Paulet Island and the Lemaire Channel passage.

The logistics of the entire trip were slick and the staff was always two steps ahead to maximize the experience. This was evident on so many occasions. One simple example was the planning that enabled us to reach an overnight at the scenic Lindblad Cove on Christmas Eve. With such expectation of the trip I have wanted to do for so many years, there was every opportunity to disappoint given the tremendous anticipation. The trip met and exceeded my expectations – quite the most memorable trip I have ever done and I have been fortunate to have traveled to most parts of the world.

The ship staff was great and we had a wonderful level of service from them. One of the guides is just wonderful. His level of enthusiasm and teaching is the best! We would go anywhere on a trip with him.

After a very short period (second communication), I realized that I was dealing with an individual and a company that cared about what they do, and therefore, about finding me the perfect trip for my interests. Email communication (generally easier for me since I live in Bogota, Colombia) was never anonymous, it was personable and friendly. Again, this level of personal involvement and concern is not common in our world today, and was much appreciated. Although I never met the people that I was dealing with, or even talked to them personally on the telephone, I would describe the relationship as warm. That is a very nice thing to be able to say about an arm's-length business transaction.

One of the very nice things about this trip was that it did not just meet my expectations (which is desirable in a trip this expensive) but greatly exceeded them. The dedication of the staff to show us as much as was possible and a crew that allowed that to happen is to be commended. It is easy to say “unfortunately we cannot go here because.....” What we heard was “we don't know if we can but we're sure going to try” and try and succeed they did. Honestly, at this time, there is nothing that stands out as an area of improvement.

I had wanted to travel to the Antarctic for some time, due to the remoteness of the location and especially after reading accounts such as Shackleton's. Our interaction with Emperor penguins on a spectacular day with sun and glistening fast ice in a location that we did not imagine we would get to see (we did not expect the Emperors either) had to be my most memorable part of this trip.

The staff of the ship provided a level of service that is not all that common in the world today. They were cheerful and attentive, with attention to details that made the ship a wonderful place to relax after a couple of outings a day. The fresh coffee and well maintained refreshment center in the well-stocked library was a real treat. I have stayed in 5-star hotels that did not have such a consistency of service. Kudos to the galley staff for the inventive and tasty food that kept us well energized for the next adventure. Meals, both in preparation and serving were a treat and added to the pleasure of the vacation.

The ship's crew were dedicated to keeping a vessel that was in pristine condition in conditions that were not necessarily easy, and the ability of the ship to get us into areas (at the hands of an obviously very experienced captain and crew) was very much appreciated.

The personnel involved in the actual guiding, lecturing and advising were a delight, each with their own area(s) of expertise and experience, adding to the whole of a very knowledgeable staff. The daily lectures (well prepared and well delivered, without exception) were interesting and informative, and responses and questions were welcomed. The daily recap gave us all a bonding experience as well as the chance to relive the day's adventures. Combined with the daily schedules for (possible) upcoming events and landings, updates on weather and ice conditions (and the dulcet voice of our expedition leader), the general feel was much more of a 'real expedition'. The National Geographic connection only added (immensely for me) to my overall experience.

The most memorable part of the trip was when the National Geographic Endeavour "parked" itself on the fast ice well south of the Antarctic Circle and we were able to walk off of the boat and on to the ice on a most incredible day!  Everybody I encountered that day was in awe of the spectacular scenery and had smiles of delight that whole day, and most every day. This trip went well beyond my wildest expectations.  It was beyond description!  The earth's last true, vast, pristine wilderness is incredible.

The staff was wonderful, and when I was seasick Thelma, our room attendant, continued to check on me during the day to bring me ginger-ale and crackers. I thought that was above the call of duty.

The trip to Antarctica was something I have always wanted to do. I love adventures and had a friend who wanted to do the trip also. The trip was better than fabulous, other than my seasickness which I had no control over, and Dr. Linda was great. I really can't think of anything to improve, other than having a list of everyone's emails so we could correspond.

The fact that the trip was affiliated with National Geographic appealed to me as I knew they knew what they were doing and talking about.  Since I was young, I have always wanted to go to Antarctica, and after surviving breast cancer in 1999, I have started doing things and going places I always wanted to go. The most memorable part was setting foot on the continent for the first time at Brown's Bluff.

Next travel... I will definitely contact you before next. I love expedition travel!

The ship's course was altered from time to time to provide the best viewing of ice, landfalls, whales, seals and more. The service crew was courteous, pleasant, efficient and unobtrusive. A nice extra was that one of the naturalists was also a professional photographer who shared some helpful tips on photographing natural scenes. We were inspired by readings on Shackelton's and Scott's explorations, and the trip surpassed our expectations.

The captain and crew are astonishingly brilliant, naturalists are extremely knowledgeable and Antarctica brings it all together for an unforgettable experience. If I decide to go into the freezer again, I will strongly consider a repeat visit on the National Geographic Endeavor. I'd love a trip to the pole, maybe even an extension to the Ross Sea, but I have not one complaint and only praises for the entire trip.

I wanted to visit Antarctica before it becomes too touristy with a line of cruise-ships. I chose this trip for the National Geographic name...the fact that they would be extremely knowledgeable, that it was an expedition cruise and no set itinerary, that there was an underwater camera, free kayaks, and a National Geographic photographer on board... I also chose this as opposed to others because of the amount of time actually exploring Antarctica... I was not disappointed.

Ian Bullock is amazing. He has such a broad scope of knowledge that is quite detailed. He can take you on a historical journey, point out every species of bird, explain biology...geology, sing. Excellent trip...I wish though that the lectures that we had could be provided in PowerPoint slides to us after the expedition.

The only thing kind of lame about the entire trip was the Santiago tour. It was more a tour of sitting in traffic. It leaves at a poor hour for the city and really is not that interesting or provides much information or insight for the city.

Everyday we were treated to lectures, movies, photos, dinner with the staff, access to all the Naturalists, the food was delicious (especially the bread, and they made so much vanilla ice cream for us everyday--how they kept the food and fruits so fresh is amazing. It was as if we were on a private yacht!

We were inspired to visit Antarctica by our friends who had gone to Antarctica. I wanted to travel with the best, so we chose Expeditiontrips and the National Geographic Endeavor. It was the trip of our lifetime. As Wayne said, "on a scale of 10, this trip was a 15!!!"

Paul Nikken was on board, an added surprise. He had just had his article and photos published in the November National Geographic. What a treat! We saw a leopard seal kill a penguin and some of us got really great shots of such a rare occasion. Sorry for the penguin, he gave his life to the pictures, but Paul was jealous and proud of our photos. The icebergs, the incredible blues of the water and ice, the contrast of the black and white of the penguins, and mountains were all amazing! Then there were our red jackets to brighten up. Our captain, Leif, parked the boat up on the ice so we could get off and walk to an iceberg. What a treat that was! And, then they served hot chocolate with brandy to warm us up before we got back on the boat. The library on the Endeavor was a haven for many of us, lots of reading and snoozing as well as coffee, tea, and hot chocolate were available. And everyone loved the tins of Swedish cookies (don't know how many tins they went through; the favorite cookie seemed to be the little ones shaped like a pretzel)!

People onboard the Endeavour were impressed that we had bought our trip over the Internet from an agent in Seattle. But gosh, it was like Joy was our neighbor. We got to be friends!!!

Onboard the ship, the staff, guides and crew were all so professional at what they did. Everything worked so smoothly. Terrific logistics! Terrific knowledge! We saw everything we expected and they went out of their way to show us. Our expectations were HUGE and so was the experience!!!

We are very much impressed by the quality and of course the whole experience is difficult to put into words. The ship was "a real ship," steady and comfortable. The captain, Karl Lampe, is very experienced and a very nice person, who spread his leadership to everyone onboard. He led the ship to all the exciting things for us.

This trip exceeded our expectations and nothing could have been improved. The ship�s staff and crew were wonderful and so knowledgeable. We loved all the lectures and we learned so much from everyone. Dr Ingrid Vissir was our favorite. Her enthusiasm about orca whales was contagious. We also loved Dennis Cornejo's commentary while we were watching the splash-cam.

Your knowledge and experience in Antarctica makes the sale! David and I both thank you for getting us on this program. We were so impressed with their superb service that we will definitely seek out trips with them in the future.

The ship/crew/service/food met and exceeded expectations. The room was adequate (I wouldn't have wanted anything more), but what was so surprising was the first class service all across the board: from dining room wait staff, to the women how meticulously cleaned our room and bath, to the instantly on call repair fellow (minor plumbing issue) to the guides and nature experts.

I was expecting to see more of the underwater video stuff. David made 8 dives (as I remember) and we saw a teaser of 5-8 minutes one day and a lovely video of 30 min or so on one of our last days. I also would have liked more kayaking: I know it depends on safe local and seas... I had heard that some tours offer the option of being awakened during the 'night' if the crew sighted anything extraordinary. That would've been a nice option.

The nature staff was just great: informative, charming and fun. I was reminded again of how education is wasted on the young! Until this trip I never thought geology was an interesting subject!

Advice: tell your clients that they SHOULD take medication for seasickness as soon as they get on the boat!!! Scopolamine needs to be in everyone's must have travel list.

I was especially surprised and pleased that you provided me the excellent DVD made of my trip. I certainly will use ExpeditionTrips when I am considering some kind of a small ship trip. You are clearly specialists in this area of travel. I usually select tour companies that are most experienced in the kind of travel I want and/or the places I want to visit.

The Antarctic has always been an intriguing place to me and the recent IMAX movie and the Shackleton stories enhanced that. The trip also has permitted me to say that I have visited all 7 continents! A memorable part of my trip was the very long day, starting with crossing the Antarctic circle early in the morning and sailing in calm seas, glorious sunshine and a near cloudless sky through the magnificent scenery, then docking the ship in Lallemand Fjord next to an ice sheet and walking out on the ice, and, finally, seeing two Emperor penguins at nearly midnight the same day. Really a day to remember!

This trip met and, considering it was the Antarctic with all of its uncertainties, probably exceeded those expectations. The trip leader and all naturalists were experienced experts and had wonderful communication skills. The Antarctic is truly an incredible, once in a lifetime experience and I think this trip presented the best of it. The local sightseeing in Santiago and Ushuaia were pretty minimal because of time limitations, but those were not a very important part of the trip to me, probably because I had been in Santiago and Ushuaia for a longer period just a year ago. The welcome reception and dinner in Santiago were outstanding.

This was my first trip on the Endeavour and it was an absolutely first class operation. The ship's leadership and crew were efficient, friendly, and went out of their way to help passengers in any way they could. The Endeavour is well maintained mechanically, as far as I could tell (there were no mishaps), and in appearance. The ship met all my expectations.

Being able to cross the Antarctic Circle was awesome. I loved how the bridge crew counted down tenths of nautical miles to go, much like the ball dropping on New Year's Eve- then the sound of the ship's horn, and a toast with smiles all around. Amazing being part of such a small segment of humanity to have done that. And, empire penguins, chinstraps and the rest - humpbacks, leopard seals, and albatross. What amazing birds!

Both the ship and the staff were excellent. The naturalist staff was extremely knowledgeable and more than willing to share their knowledge and love of Antarctica. This made the trip a great learning experience as well as enjoyable.

The wait staff could not have been more pleasant. They quickly learned our names and our likes and dislikes. The service was excellent.

The sight from the kayaks of immense icebergs dwarfing our ship was the most memorable part of the trip for me. For my 20 year-old son, it was probably the snowball fight at midnight, or perhaps the song fest with our naturalist playing the piano (also at midnight), or maybe the Penguin races where he played the role of the 'odds man'.

We loved being in Antarctica for New Year's Eve with the incredible sunlight at almost midnight reflecting off the surface of the glaciers and the icebergs. What a way to start a year...on the seventh continent, the last pristine place on earth.

The trip exceeded my expectations from the quality of naturalists to the service and courtesy of the crew to the atmosphere of the boat to the fine dining experience. My only concern was with the 'local' part of the program- the local tour representatives seem confused at times and the quality of the local tours was not the best. But everything associated with the expedition was top-notch.

As you know, words and pictures cannot truly describe the sights and wonders we were fortunate enough to experience.

We made 16 landings - 3 on the continent itself and on 'Graham Land' no less! There was even another 'Graham' couple onboard - so we had a lot of laughs on that one! We even ventured and made a landing below the Antarctic Circle -- something that is rarely accomplished! We literally saw over a million penguins, having visited 2 major penguin rookeries with 1/2 million penguins at each (Deception and Paulet Islands). Yes, we swam at Deception Island, too. Whales, mountains, icebergs - lots of 'Nice Ice'!

The Endeavour�s crew and naturalist staff were top-notch and not enough good things can be said about our expedition leader, Tom Ritchie! There were 4 other kids on the ship and our youngest, Tanya, made a new best friend. The kids had a blast and learned so much. Heidi (my 13 year old) wrote the Lindblad web page one day with naturalist Art Cooley (it is the #2 Web page hit this season). We had great weather that made the Drake�s crossing fast and easy which allowed us the additional landings and other sightseeing. Our cabins were perfect, too. And, picking up our parkas on board was also a smart idea. We got perfect fits and were saved lugging them around -- they are great coats.

Thanks also for the welcome aboard note and Christmas card (which I just got today -- mail is slow here). Take Care, good luck, & thanks again for everything!