Spirit of Antarctica Expedition

This morning, ensure any cabin luggage is fitted with cabin tags and take it down to hotel reception by 8:00am. Luggage will be collected from the hotel and transferred directly to port for clearance and delivered to your cabin ahead of embarkation. Keep any valuables or personal items with you throughout the day. Check out of the hotel by 11:00am and enjoy free time before meeting back in the hotel lobby at 2:00pm to commence a tour of Ushuaia. Alternatively, enjoy time at leisure and meet the group at the Prison Museum carpark by 3:45pm to re-join the group to be transferred to the pier for embarkation.

Ushuaia, capital of Tierra del Fuego, is located at the shores of the Beagle Channel and surrounded by the Martial Mountains, providing a unique Argentinian landscape combining mountains, sea, glaciers and forests. On the half-day introductory tour, visit “La Mision” neighborhood, the old Government House and the upper area of the city with its panoramic views. See the antique houses that belonged to the first families settled in Ushuaia. The excursion ends with a visit to the Old Prison Museum before transferring to the pier for embarkation around 4:00pm.

After embarkation, settle into your cabin before an important mandatory briefing. As the ship pulls away from port, gather on the deck to commence the adventure with spectacular views over Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego. This evening, get to know fellow guests and friendly expedition team and crew members at a welcome dinner to celebrate the start of a thrilling adventure to Antarctica.

As the ship commences the Drake Passage crossing, make the most of the time getting comfortable with the motions of the sea. The expedition team prepares everyone for the first landing with important wildlife guidelines and biosecurity procedures, and they start the lecture program to enlighten guests about Antarctica’s history, wildlife and environment. Wildlife experiences begin with watching and photographing the many seabirds, including majestic albatrosses and giant petrels following in the ship’s wake. They rise and fall skillfully, using air currents created by the ship to gain momentum.

Nearing the South Shetland Islands and the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, the excitement is palpable with everyone converging on one of the observation decks, watching for the first iceberg. The ocean takes on a whole new perspective once the ship is below the Antarctic Convergence and is surrounded by the surreal presence of floating ice sculptures. The memory of the first big iceberg sighting is unforgettable. Weather permitting, the first landing in Antarctica may be attempted by late afternoon.

It’s almost impossible to describe the feeling of arriving in Antarctica. Take a deep breath of some of the most fresh, crisp air on earth. The western side of the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands are ready to be explored, and there are many options. Being so far south, experience approximately 18-24 hours of daylight, enabling the days to be as busy as desired. The experienced expedition team, who have made countless journeys to this area, will use their expertise to design the voyage from day to day, choosing the best options based on the prevailing weather, ice conditions and wildlife opportunities.

The Weddell Sea region on the wild eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula turns up the dial a few notches. The Weddell Sea is where Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance became trapped in formidable sea ice. With a well-deserved reputation as being an iceberg alley, many large tabular bergs escape the Weddell Sea through the Antarctic Sound, often making navigation difficult. Land on remote beaches with ancient fossils. Seals such as crabeater, leopard and Weddell seals all breed and birth on sea ice. Hope to visit a large Adélie penguin colony or see Antarctic blue-eyed shags jostle for space with nest-building Wilson’s storm petrels.

Hope to make landings or Zodiac excursions twice a day, as planned. Dress warmly before joining Zodiac cruises along spectacular ice cliffs or among grounded icebergs, keeping watch for whales, seals and porpoising penguins. Zodiacs will also provide transport between the ship and landing sites that are host to penguin rookeries and historic huts. While ashore, aim to stretch the legs, wandering along pebbly beaches or perhaps up snow-covered ridgelines to vantage points with mountains towering overhead and ice-speckled oceans below.

Possibly enjoy ship cruises through some of the narrow, dramatic straits separating offshore islands from the mainland, or linger in scenic bays to watch whales travelling or feeding. This is a great time to enjoy the observation lounge or bridge for uninterrupted views of Antarctica in all its splendor. Keep an ear out for the creak and deep rumble of glaciers as they carve their way from summit to sea, and take a quiet moment to experience the wonder of this incredible white continent.

Today, the landings come to an end as the ship enters the Drake Passage for the return journey to South America. With lectures and film presentations to complete the Antarctic experience, there is still plenty of time to enjoy the magic of Southern Ocean and the life that calls it home. There is time for reflection and discussion about what has been seen and experienced, and the impact this voyage has had. Approaching the tip of South America, the captain may sail close to legendary Cape Horn, weather and time permitting.

During the early morning, cruise up the Beagle Channel before quietly slipping into dock in Ushuaia, where disembarkation occurs around 8:00am. Say farewell to the expedition team and fellow passengers as everyone continues onward journeys, hopefully with a newfound sense of the immense power of nature. A transfer to downtown Ushuaia before continuing to the airport is included in the cost of the voyage.

This morning, ensure any cabin luggage is fitted with cabin tags and take it down to hotel reception by 8:00am. Luggage will be collected from the hotel and transferred directly to port for clearance and delivered to your cabin ahead of embarkation. Keep any valuables or personal items with you throughout the day. Check out of the hotel by 11:00am and enjoy free time before meeting back in the hotel lobby at 2:00pm to commence a tour of Ushuaia. Alternatively, enjoy time at leisure and meet the group at the Prison Museum carpark by 3:45pm to re-join the group to be transferred to the pier for embarkation.

Ushuaia, capital of Tierra del Fuego, is located at the shores of the Beagle Channel and surrounded by the Martial Mountains, providing a unique Argentinian landscape combining mountains, sea, glaciers and forests. On the half-day introductory tour, visit “La Mision” neighborhood, the old Government House and the upper area of the city with its panoramic views. See the antique houses that belonged to the first families settled in Ushuaia. The excursion ends with a visit to the Old Prison Museum before transferring to the pier for embarkation around 4:00pm.

After embarkation, settle into your cabin before an important mandatory briefing. As the ship pulls away from port, gather on the deck to commence the adventure with spectacular views over Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego. This evening, get to know fellow guests and friendly expedition team and crew members at a welcome dinner to celebrate the start of a thrilling adventure to Antarctica.

As the ship commences the Drake Passage crossing, make the most of the time getting comfortable with the motions of the sea. The expedition team prepares everyone for the first landing with important wildlife guidelines and biosecurity procedures, and they start the lecture program to enlighten guests about Antarctica’s history, wildlife and environment. Wildlife experiences begin with watching and photographing the many seabirds, including majestic albatrosses and giant petrels following in the ship’s wake. They rise and fall skillfully, using air currents created by the ship to gain momentum.

Nearing the South Shetland Islands and the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, the excitement is palpable with everyone converging on one of the observation decks, watching for the first iceberg. The ocean takes on a whole new perspective once the ship is below the Antarctic Convergence and is surrounded by the surreal presence of floating ice sculptures. The memory of the first big iceberg sighting is unforgettable. Weather permitting, the first landing in Antarctica may be attempted by late afternoon.

It’s almost impossible to describe the feeling of arriving in Antarctica. Take a deep breath of some of the most fresh, crisp air on earth. The western side of the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands are ready to be explored, and there are many options. Being so far south, experience approximately 18-24 hours of daylight, enabling the days to be as busy as desired. The experienced expedition team, who have made countless journeys to this area, will use their expertise to design the voyage from day to day, choosing the best options based on the prevailing weather, ice conditions and wildlife opportunities.

Venture below the Antarctic Circle to enter a different world that is rarely seen, more isolated and colder, with great swathes of pack ice and dream-like icebergs. Thread through pack ice and narrow channels where scenes of ice-clad mountains, whales fattening up on krill, leopard seals patrolling the waters for vulnerable penguins and snow petrels soar above. Raise a glass to toast venturing below the Antarctic, joining an exclusive group of adventurers in doing so.

After exploring below the Antarctic Circle and along the western side of the peninsula, sail north towards the Weddell Sea on the eastern side of the peninsula. The Weddell Sea region on the wild eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula turns up the dial a few notches. The Weddell Sea is where Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance became trapped in formidable sea ice. With a well-deserved reputation as being an iceberg alley, many large tabular bergs escape the Weddell Sea through the Antarctic Sound, often making navigation difficult. Land on remote beaches with ancient fossils. Seals such as crabeater, leopard and Weddell seals all breed and birth on sea ice. Hope to visit a large Adélie penguin colony or see Antarctic blue-eyed shags jostle for space with nest-building Wilson’s storm petrels.

Hope to make landings or Zodiac excursions twice a day, as planned. Dress warmly before joining Zodiac cruises along spectacular ice cliffs or among grounded icebergs, keeping watch for whales, seals and porpoising penguins. Zodiacs will also provide transport between the ship and landing sites that are host to penguin rookeries and historic huts. While ashore, aim to stretch the legs, wandering along pebbly beaches or perhaps up snow-covered ridgelines to vantage points with mountains towering overhead and ice-speckled oceans below.

Possibly enjoy ship cruises through some of the narrow, dramatic straits separating offshore islands from the mainland, or linger in scenic bays to watch whales travelling or feeding. This is a great time to enjoy the observation lounge or bridge for uninterrupted views of Antarctica in all its splendor. Keep an ear out for the creak and deep rumble of glaciers as they carve their way from summit to sea, and take a quiet moment to experience the wonder of this incredible white continent.

Today, the landings come to an end as the ship enters the Drake Passage for the return journey to South America. With lectures and film presentations to complete the Antarctic experience, there is still plenty of time to enjoy the magic of Southern Ocean and the life that calls it home. There is time for reflection and discussion about what has been seen and experienced, and the impact this voyage has had. Approaching the tip of South America, the captain may sail close to legendary Cape Horn, weather and time permitting.

During the early morning, cruise up the Beagle Channel before quietly slipping into dock in Ushuaia, where disembarkation occurs around 8:00am. Say farewell to the expedition team and fellow passengers as everyone continues onward journeys, hopefully with a newfound sense of the immense power of nature. A transfer to downtown Ushuaia before continuing to the airport is included in the cost of the voyage.