Antarctic cruises- worth it or nah?

[Billy Pilgrim 1960]

Looking at 50 next year and want to take a big trip. Considering doing an Antarctic cruise. Anyone done one? Enough do to for 8-10 days? How rough is the ocean down there?

[Mother mopar 3318]

Can't speak of the ocean, but I spent some time down there supporting the national science foundation during my time in the USAF...Operation Deep Freeze in 2011.

Cool place, but it's cold and windy. I wouldn't go back. We staged out of New Zealand, stunning country. Loved it there and had a blast.

[Viking 301]

We did a 2 week cruise to Antartica last year on Princess. The ocean can be rough even during the "calm" season when ships can cross the Drake Passage. We got lucky; the seas were only 20' but the cruise prior to ours saw much higher winds and waves in the 40-50' range. We had 1 great day in Antartica when the winds were calm and no fog but the other two days were fogged in. You couldn't see beyond the boat. One of our ports was cancelled as the winds forced the boat to fuel up in a commercial port. Other ports of call were Ushuaia, Montevideo, and Falkland Islands. All pretty cool. We also spent a week before and after the cruise in Santiago and Buenos Aires.

Overall it was awesome and I'm glad we did it. We also travelled with friends which made a huge difference as there were a lot of sea days and we had people to party with.

 

[Billy Pilgrim 1960]

58 minutes ago, Viking said:

We did a 2 week cruise to Antartica last year on Princess. The ocean can be rough even during the "calm" season when ships can cross the Drake Passage. We got lucky; the seas were only 20' but the cruise prior to ours saw much higher winds and waves in the 40-50' range. We had 1 great day in Antartica when the winds were calm and no fog but the other two days were fogged in. You couldn't see beyond the boat. One of our ports was cancelled as the winds forced the boat to fuel up in a commercial port. Other ports of call were Ushuaia, Montevideo, and Falkland Islands. All pretty cool. We also spent a week before and after the cruise in Santiago and Buenos Aires.

Overall it was awesome and I'm glad we did it. We also travelled with friends which made a huge difference as there were a lot of sea days and we had people to party with.

 

Were you down there in January/February? Was seasickness a problem with swells that big? 

[Viking 301]

Yup cruise departed Valparaiso on Jan 20 and ended Buenos Aires on Feb 05. The 20' seas are no problem on a ship that big. There was some movement on the boat but nothing bad. No one in our group got seasick.

[HornOnTheBayou 8917]

46 minutes ago, Viking said:

Yup cruise departed Valparaiso on Jan 20 and ended Buenos Aires on Feb 05. The 20' seas are no problem on a ship that big. There was some movement on the boat but nothing bad. No one in our group got seasick.

I would hope not with your user name and all.

[Wiler77 1566]

2 hours ago, Viking said:

We did a 2 week cruise to Antartica last year on Princess. The ocean can be rough even during the "calm" season when ships can cross the Drake Passage. We got lucky; the seas were only 20' but the cruise prior to ours saw much higher winds and waves in the 40-50' range.

 

 

[Texzilla588 769]

Can't speak of the ocean, but I spent some time down there supporting the national science foundation during my time in the USAF...Operation Deep Freeze in 2011.

Cool place, but it's cold and windy. I wouldn't go back. We staged out of New Zealand, stunning country. Loved it there and had a blast.

Had a neighbor who worked in Antarctica 6 months ago year. His wife would meet him in NZ for a month after each year. They planned to retire there. Thats where I would go.

[Mother mopar 3318]

Had a neighbor who worked in Antarctica 6 months ago year. His wife would meet him in NZ for a month after each year. They planned to retire there. Thats where I would go.

It's truly breathtaking. Besides eating lamb/mutton, that's the only issue I had. Volcanic black beaches are cool. Night life was just nuts.l, women were very nice (borat voice).

Never in my life have I seen some much booze...much less on a C-17, just pallets of Jack, Tequila, and Rum all packed around snowmobiles.

Definitely worth going back, and Christchurch is an awesome city.

[SydneyCarton 48057]

Allow me to answer in flowchart form: