Click to view photos Antarctica Cruise - Weddell Sea & Peninsula Ship: Polar Pioneer Days: 12 Passengers: 56 Dates: 1/24/2011, 2/6/2012, 2/17/2012 Highlights: This voyage is for the person who wants to visit a more remote, but stunning area. Expect tabular icebergs, lots of seals and penguins, and no other ships! Summary: One of the most dynamic and fast-changing regions of Antarctica, the Weddell Sea, demands the most from those who attempt to explore it. Expeditions led by Sweden’s Otto Nordenskjold and Sir Ernest Shackleton became renowned survival epics. You will thread your way through the tabular bergs that stream through Antarctic Sound, where a new underwater volcano is making its way to the surface, and attempt to land on wildlife-rich islands in the northern Weddell Sea.

Prices from: $6,400 to $10,910 Fuel surcharge may apply (subject to change). View:   Rates | Deckplan | Cabin Photos

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Itinerary - In Brief

Day 1: Ushuaia, Argentina Day 2: At sea Day 3: At sea/South Shetland Islands Day 4: Antarctic Sound

Days 5-7: Weddell Sea Days 8-9: Antarctic Peninsula Days 10-11: Drake Passage Day 12: Ushuaia, Argentina

Itinerary - Detailed

Day 1: Ushuaia, Argentina
After boarding Polar Pioneer mid-afternoon, you set sail along the Beagle Channel before turning south towards Antarctica.

Day 2: At sea
As you cross the Drake Passage, the temperature begins to fall. You will be busy with lectures and safety briefings in preparation for your first landing.

Day 3: At sea/South Shetland Islands
By mid-afternoon you should be in iceberg waters. If all goes well, you may have your first penguin encounter on one of the South Shetland Islands.

Day 4: Antarctic Sound
In the early hours of the morning, you hope to be among the towering corridors of icebergs in Antarctic Sound. A narrow passage, alive with penguins, guards the entrance to the Weddell Sea.

Days 5-7: Weddell Sea
Three days of exploring in the whale- and seal-rich Weddell Sea, where your activities will be controlled by the movement of ice. Huge glaciers pour down between the mountains from the polar plateau, and the surface of the ocean is covered with plates of ice the size of city blocks. One of your aims is to visit the fossil-rich shores of Seymour Island.

Days 8-9: Antarctic Peninsula
You plan to visit the beautiful western flanks of the Antarctic Peninsula, exploring the Gerlache Strait, Neumayer Channel and Paradise Harbour area.

Days 10-11: Drake Passage
You will cross the Drake Passage with magnificent albatrosses in our wake. The last shipboard lectures give you time to polish your Antarctic education before you make a ceremonial rounding of Cape Horn.

Day 12: Ushuaia, Argentina
You cruise up the Beagle Channel in the early morning before docking in Ushuaia. After transferring to a city hotel, there is time to explore the central town area or perhaps visit the nearby Tierra del Fuego mountains.

Notes:

Included:
Cabin accommodations on the ship; all meals onboard; all shore excursions; lectures and guide services; medical service of the resident medical officer onboard; port taxes and service charges.

Not Included:
Airfare; accommodation or transfers before or after the cruise; visa, passport and vaccination charges and airport departure taxes; hotels and meals not included in ship cruise itinerary; items of a personal nature; gratuities to the ship crew is left to the discretion of the passenger; fuel surcharge may apply.