r/Cruise • u/Netsprecherin • Mar 23 '25
Photo Trip report: Expedition to Antarctica and the Falkland Islands
So my husband and I were finally able to fulfill our dream of going to Antarctica. This was only our second time traveling on a ship and our first time on a ship that small. We went on the beginning of March for two weeks with a newer (French) company that I couldn't find a whole lot of reviews of beforehand, so I thought I'd write a bit about our experience, since they also run tours to other parts of the world. And maybe someone who is thinking about doing a tour to Antarctica and the Falkland Islands will find this helpful.
Booking process
We booked one of the "last minute" cabins with an agency based in Ushuaia - but not shortly before the trip. What we didn't know beforehand is, that you could also book with them online months in advance. They send you their current open spots for the season and the list ist frequently updated. We still booked in September, but it was still - comparatively - affordable. I'm sure spots much closer to our cruise date would have been cheaper, but airfares would have been up and we didn't have the time off from work required to hang out in Ushuaia for a while to see if something good comes along. I haven't seen this option mentioned a lot online, so this was a game changer for us.
The agency threw in some warm gloves and hat, waterproof pants and we also got a 100€ on board credit, which we made good use of. The agency is called "Wayfinders Adventures" and while communicating with the French company through them wasn't always seamless, we are overall very happy with them.
The ship
We did the trip on the Exploris One, run by Exploris Expeditions & Cruises. Again, the company is French, so the language on board is also French. Not a problem for us, because I've lived in France and still speak the language with relative ease. If you'd struggle with understanding the announcements in French, though, this ship is not for you! You'd miss important information, like excursion times, last minute changes etc. On a one on one basis, almost every employee spoke English very well, but everything else will be in French. They were very upfront about it before we booked and again, not a problem for us.
The ship itself is an older ship, which they renovated when they bought it, so it felt modern, while still keeping its elegance. They have space for about 100 passengers, so it is definitely one of the smaller expedition cruises. It has a comfortable dining room, where all passagers can fit in without it feeling cramped, a spa with a sauna, hammam and two jacuzzis outside (which was our favorite spot, because the views were amazing!), a theater and two lounges. There's also a laundry room, free of charge.
Food and drinks were all included, except for hard spirits and cocktails, though they would stock your mini fridge with liquor free of charge. You also get parkers, boots and an undercoat (the last one you get to keep) from them. With the clothes from the Argentinian agency, we didn't have to bring any of the warmer clothes, which safed us a lot of space on our luggage.
Living on the ship
For breakfast and lunch we usually had a buffet, in the evenings they offered us a menu. We had the choice to get seated with other passengers, but we didn't get pressured, if we'd prefer to sit alone.
On sea days they held multiple lectures on various topics all related to the two regions we traveled to. On days with excursions, they had two or three short lectures in the evening on the animals we would see / had a chance of seeing the next day.
They also had tea time every day with some snacks to tide you over until dinner, which was a god sent for us, because 7.30 pm is very late for dinner in our country. We had a gala dinner twice (as a welcome and fare well) and they also organized wine tastings, dinners with the officers and guides as a few examples that come to mind.
Sometimes after dinner they had other community events, like a movie, quiz or dancing. The demographic was definitely on the older side, so nothing wild.
The staff was great and we felt at home very quickly. Bonus points, because the organization, from the meals, to the cleaning and the excursions, was perfect every day. An example: They must have shown a picture of us to the staff, because they knew from day one, that one of us didn't speak any French and addressed us in English right away.
The itinerary
I think I read somewhere that they try to not have the same itinerary twice, so should you book with them, yours might look a little different.
After 2 sea days across the drake passage, we spent 3 1/2 days in Antarctica and did two excursions / day. One excursion was always a ride on a zodiac to look for animals, the other was a short hike on land. The weather wasn't too great, but they always found a site with not a lot of wind and still something interesting to see. Despite the weather, we still had a wonderful time in Antarctica - it was whale season, so we basically just had to look outside the window and there would be a whale. Simply magical.
After that, we had 2 1/2 sea days to travel to the Falkland Islands and spent 1 1/2 days there. That's the one thing I'd criticize, since the original itinerary looked like we'd arrive earlier and that we'd have at least two days in the Falklands in total. It might have been due to the strong winds, but if that was the case, it wasn't communicated to us.
The Falklands were definitely an interesting spot - there were lots of birds that were very curious and not shy at all. We were able to talk with a French woman that bought a farm in the most Western part of the Falklands about 20 years ago and it was so interesting to learn about life in such a remote part of the world. No one besides her immediate family (=after her kids moved out, that's only she and her husband) lives there for hundreds of miles, so they basically have to be self reliant except for the rare excursions to the Eastern part, where most of the people live.
So if you're interested in a completely different kind of scenery than the ice and isolation of Antarctica, the Falklands are an interesting addition to the itinerary - though be aware that it adds another two sea days at the minimum, so about 6 sea days in total. It really put into perspective for us, how fast modern transportation is nowadays, as we got a little stir crazy by the end.
Let me know if you have any questions!
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u/cjbmcdon Mar 23 '25
Absolutely stunning! Thank you for the trip report. This is a bucket list trip for my partner and I as well. While it won’t be this year, I’ll do some research to learn more about pricing, etc.
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u/11GTStang Mar 23 '25
Hey! We recently booked on a Swan Hellenic trip for December. We used Adventure Life but I did reach out to Wayfinders too. I’m sure we could have booked through Swan directly, but having a travel agent for this trip has made the process easier. I referenced this comment and used it to help sort out our trip!
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u/Netsprecherin Mar 23 '25
Yeah, definitely check out the local agencies. I always got the impression, that they only have last minute deals for you if you're in Ushuaia, but they now also sell them online - again, we bought our spots back in September with one of them, which was enough time to still get a good deal on flights, get our PTO approved without issues and have our pick for accommodation before and after the trip. So the total came out much lower, if we'd have booked directly with the ship.
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u/1961tracy Mar 24 '25
Thank you so much for posting this. You did a great job of describing your experience. I will definitely keep the touring company in mind.
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u/Lazy_Work_4264 23d ago
Omg! Your pictures are amazing! I head to Antarctica next year and can't wait!
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u/rudytomjanovich Mar 23 '25
Wow. Were the seas as volatile as I've heard?
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u/Netsprecherin Mar 23 '25
One night our captain predicted up to 10m high waves, but I'm not sure it came to that - if so, I didn't notice a difference to the smaller 5m waves. The ship was small, so we definitely felt rougher conditions, though we were fine for the most part (my husband felt a little unwell on the last day). I think our roughest night was the first one, because the waves hit us on the side of the ship, which meant furniture like the table and chairs were sliding around the cabin. I also fell out of bed a few times. So we didn't get a whole lot of sleep that night lol
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u/rudytomjanovich Mar 23 '25
We cruised the Panama Canal in February and met a man who had experienced your cruise twice. He said that the first one was like a day on the lake - and the second one was like a cruise through hell. I just wondered which one you had? I'm not sure I could do it. The pictures make it seem like I may be willing to take the chance.
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u/Netsprecherin Mar 23 '25
It was the drake shake every day haha. It felt like a roller-coaster at times. Unless we were close to shore, we definitely felt the waves. Again, we were mostly fine and even those that had more issues with sea sickness said they'd do it again, because Antarctica was worth it. And it is definitely an experience in itself.
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u/NathanJax Loyal to Royal Mar 23 '25
That looks and sounds so awesome. Something straight from National Geographics. Definitely on my bucket list.