One of our clients recently returned from a 20-day, 6-star luxury Antarctica cruise! The inaugural sailing aboard the Scenic° Eclipse, the world’s first Discovery Yacht, began in Buenos Aires, Argentina and went on to the great white wonder of Antarctica. We’ll let her tell the story in her own words and with her own photographs in a 5-part travel blog series. Continue reading below and dream along with us as she describes this once-in-a-lifetime experience!
6-Chapter Luxury Antarctica Cruise Client Journal
Chapter 1 – Departure to Antarctica
I departed the States on December 26 and arrived in Buenos Aires on the morning of the 27, Friday. The trip was smooth and uneventful. Just the way I like it. We did, however, have one little glitch. We had the biggest car in Buenos Aires and couldn’t fit ourselves and our luggage into the car. Kathy, the girl I am traveling with threatened to tie me to the roof. We really needed a bus for our meager wardrobes … Read more about her departure to Antarctica here.
Chapter 2 – The Falklands
After a missed night’s sleep, we met our other 196 fellow travelers on this luxury Antarctica cruise tour in the lobby of the hotel at 3 AM on Sunday morning, December 29. There was not much meeting and greeting at that time. The ride to the airport was only 15 minutes but after that it was a little chaotic finding our bags, getting checked in and boarding. The flight got us to Ushuaia about 11 AM so we got to tour all four blocks of the town until 12:30. Then we boarded the Scenic Eclipse cruise ship. It is a beautiful new luxury cruise ship equipped with all sorts of expedition gear including 2 helicopters and a submarine. We will go on those later … Read more about her Falklands travel experiences here.
Chapter 3 – The Falklands and “At Sea”
Everyone was a little slow this New Years Morning. I wonder why? We took the enclosed tenders into Stanley, the capital of the Falklands. This was a dock landing so no need to worry about getting wet. I chose the bus tour. It was a small city bus so the ability to get off and on and to see everything was excellent. We had many stops. While we were stopped in front of the governor’s house, out he came by himself to raise the flag up the pole. The driver tooted and he waved. However, he didn’t look very happy. Maybe he also partied hardy like we did … Read more about her Falklands and at sea on the Scenic Eclipse cruise ship here.
Chapter 4 – South Georgia Islands
These last four days in the South Pole have been amazing. We have seen over a million penguins and large numbers of sea lions, elephant seals, and fur seals. I have also been threatened by a few. We were told to put your hiking sticks in front of you and stand your ground. It has worked so far but it is still scary. I make an effort to stay very close to an expedition staff member. Safety in numbers is my motto.
Chapter 5 – Antarctica
The next two days were spent at sea on the way to Antarctica. There was a lot of downtime but plenty to do if you wanted to stay busy. I chose the downtime option. At night there was always entertainment. One night we had a wonderful performance of Cabaret music by our guest entertainer, Michael. There’s always dancing when he performs and this night was no exception.
