Christmas in..ANTARCTICA!🐧 🐋🚢 🌊🧊 🦭

It was always a far-fetched joke that we would make it to Antarctica on our trip. We’d seen one couple on TikTok last year who managed to book a cruise for 60% off two days before it left, which gave us a tiny sliver of hope we could finagle our way onto one at a discount!

After more research, we realized “last-minute deals” are a standard thing for Antarctica cruises if you search hard enough (And please hit me up if you want more info / how to optimize the deals!!!). We managed to score a 12-day LUXURY cruise for over 75% off 3 weeks before. We had already booked our flight to South America so it lined up perfectly.

We flew down from Buenos Aries to Ushuaia (on a charted flight included in the deal!) and boarded the cruise that afternoon. The word LUXURY lived up to the hype. We were treated like royalty and at times, the attention made us even feel uncomfortable as scraggly backpackers 😉 (don’t worry, we got over that REAL quick and leaned into the fancy service). 

After boarding the boat and meeting the cruise director, Simon, from North Leicestershire, he gave us a funny reaction when Sam mentioned he was from Sheffield. He responded something along the lines of “Crikey, and you have a backpack? How did you get here? Are you in the right place?”. Turns out, were were just where we belonged, along with a handful of other young solo traveling backpackers from Germany, Switzerland, England, Israel, and the US who also scored last-minute deals!

Our cruise was through Atlas Ocean Voyages on the World Traveler boat with 130 guests. Most guests were American, Chinese, and Argentinian ranging from 40-70 years old, who were newly retired or adventurous travelers.  

After Champagne and canapés on arrival, we were excited to unpack our backpacks and sleep in the same bed for 12 days, the longest we’ve slept anywhere during our trip so far! 

We explored the ship to get our bearings, which didn’t take long because the boat was pretty small( a max of 175 guests). There are 7 floors, which include one restaurant, a cafe (which served the most epic sausage rolls and detox juices), a lounge area, a small gym, a sauna, and an observation deck called ‘The Dome’ where afternoon high tea and cocktails were consumed regularly (it also acted as the late night dance floor for the party crowd). All food, premium cocktails, etc. were included (as well as gratuity for the staff)!

The Drake Passage 🛳️ 🌊 

After setting sail, it took us 2 days to cross one of the most dangerous and rough seas in the world, The Drake Passage, before reaching Antarctica. We were extremely lucky to experience the “Drake Lake” where waves were no higher than 5 meters in height. Don’t get me wrong, the boat is still rocking and you’re constantly bumping into walls and feeling drunk because you can't walk straight. But it was so much better than we prepared for after hearing HORROR stories of the Drake Passage and people sliding down the decks and puking constantly. 

The sea days were filled going to the gym (v.briefly lol), ordering the “healthy breakfast” room service option (fruit, chia pudding, detox smoothies, and a ginger shot hahaha!), hitting the sauna, and joining a few lectures about Antarctica lead by our Expedition team. In the afternoons, we attended daily afternoon high tea, consumed the cocktail of the day (Choco-tinis were our group’s FAVE), and listened to Piano Paul (resident DJ LOL) in The Dome before dinner. Our British cruise director, Simon, would then host a themed night of some kind, trivia nights being the order of the day while on the Drake Passage. His themed nights would become more ridiculous and extravagant - including his own personal Elvis and Broadway performance nights. They were… interesting, to say the least. 

Once we made it to Antarctica, the day would consist of 1-2 hour-long excursions per day via Zodiac boats (small boats), or landings where we could walk around to observe the wildlife up close. Each morning, Sam and I would open our curtains and our window to take in the beauty of our morning landing. Some days, it would be a giant mountain (sometimes covered in ice, but not always!), HUGE icebergs and icecaps, or a mixture of both. We would see penguins swimming and jumping in groups right outside our window! It was one of my favorite parts every morning to run to the window to see what was there. 

Fun Fact: Antarctica is an Archipelago (group of tiny islands), but there is a giant ice cap connecting some smaller islands to the largest part of the land which makes up “continental” Antarctica.

I can't emphasize how LUCKY our boat was with incredible weather (to be honest, I still don’t think we fully understand). We had blue skies, calm waters, and saw SO MUCH wildlife. There was a huge storm that was chasing after us, but we never ran into it and our captain & expedition team made everything happen for us to see the most diverse landings across Antarctica. Our voyage was also special because it crossed the Antarctic Circle, which basically means the official South Pole (most Antarctica cruises don’t go this far south!). When we were in the Circle, it was complete daylight 24 hours which was a mind f*ck (and encouraged us to stay up drinking all ‘night’). 

The scenery of Antarctica was also way more diverse than I ever expected. Since it is summer in Antarctica at the moment, some of the snow has melted exposing lots of of rocks and mountains. I was pretty surprised to see that there was so much geological diversity at each landing. It was also so mountainous. We would pass through huge mountain ranges and the crew said there is one range with peaks taller than Kilimanjaro. The vastness of it was mind-blowing. The icebergs were my favorite. Cruising around and seeing different shapes, colors, and sizes never got old. They looked like modern art! 

Penguins 🐧 

For the first few expeditions, our time was spent observing thousands of penguins during ‘nesting season’. It meant that the female penguins were warming their eggs while laying on a nest made of pebbles. Each pebble is specially picked out by its mating partner and is ceremonially brought back to the female each day. It was adorable seeing the male penguins look for little pebbles and if lucky, find the ‘right one’ to bring back home. Penguins also create a “penguin highway” where they all use the same path to walk in the snow. There are various carved-out lanes across the snow where you see penguins following one another down the hill, which was adorable. 

Fun Fact: Penguins are monogamous for 3 years! When it’s not mating season, the males and females do not stay together. Meaning, that every year they return to the same mating location and remember each other. 

The penguins were one of my favorite parts because they are so dopey and cute waddling around with their arms out to their sides and hopping from rock to rock (as well as sliding on their bellies). It became ‘normal’ to see groups of penguins swim and jump out of the water directly in front of our boats on various excursions and swim alongside the boat playing with us. They are curious creatures, always looking at us and trying to figure out what we were!

Seals 🦭 

As we went further south, we were able to see 2 different types of seals: elephant seals and crab-eater seals. The elephant seals put the seals I was used to seeing back at SF Pier 39 to shame. The female weighed a minimum of 1 ton with the males up to 6 tons!! Genuinely they were SO huge and are super curious. You would constantly lock eyes with an elephant seal or realize that they were looking back at the group (but not in an intimidating way!). At one particular landing, we observed hundreds of elephant seals, mostly sleeping, but also play fighting with one another in the water. They are pretty human-like, and scratch their bellies and roll over just like any lazy person would (Sam input: I know where Laura gets her morning belly scratch and stretch from now hahaha).

Whales 🐋 🐳 

Now, the whales were another INCREDIBLE and probably the group's most exciting animal to spot. During the entire voyage, one person would shout “WHALE!” at any point during the day or night and the entire boat would scurry out to the back decks with cameras in hand (and rarely the proper outerwear- cough cough tank tops and slippers) to try to spot them. My favorite time was when, during dinner, the Captain came over the loudspeaker saying something special was outside. The whole cruise piled out and waited until a group of humpback whales launched out of the water while feeding on krills right in front of us. We would see their giant mouths, tails flapping, and hear them breathe SO loudly close to the boat. This lasted for about 15 minutes and everyone was BUZZING! There would be collective “WOOOOW” and “AW” every time a whale tale shot up and a group of Argentinian photographers also serenaded them with multiple “ole ole ole oleeee” chants as this was also on the 1 year anniversary of Argentina winning the World Cup. This became the anthem of the boat pretty much anytime anything good happened moving forward 😃 

Now the best moment for us was actually on our last excursion ever, which was a zodiac ride with our favorite expedition leader, Kim. She heard from another guide that they spotted a whale in a different area from where we driving around and decided to risk it and try to find the whale for our zodiac. When we spotted it, the whale surrounded our boat so closely, and would continuously come up for air, show its tail, dive deep down, and repeat this after a ~45-second dive. You could guess where it was planning to pop up again by a circle of small bubbles appearing on the surface of the water, but sometimes, it would shoot up unexpectedly literally a meter or two from the boat, releasing a loud breath, which would both startle and awe us at the same time. We ended up staying out on that zodiac ride for nearly 2 hours (was supposed to be 45 mins) because of how amazing it was. At that moment on the zodiac, I looked out at the giant icebergs, snowcaps, and the whale, having a moment of gratitude when it began to snow big flurries that were so magical. It took my breath away and made me tear up about how lucky and grateful we were to have witnessed Antarctica in its beauty. 

The Polar Plunge 🏊️ 🧊 🥶 

Most cruises on Antarctica will offer a polar plunge, meaning you voluntarily jump into 27-degree (-1 degree C) water to feel the rush of what Antarctic water REALLY feels like. The night before, we ended up staying awake till 5 drinking (where Sam was found asleep in the lounge and brought back to our room by the boat staff.. where I was found asleep in the hallway… OOPS!) Gossip travels fast on the boat, so by the next morning and for the rest of the cruise we were dutifully reminded of this escapade by the staff and older guests :). Needless to say, we were HUNGOVER in the morning. Simon’s morning intercom message announcing the polar plunge interrupted our sleep and forced us out of bed, into our swimsuits, and into the water. To be honest, it was amazing for our hangovers. We jumped in and immediately felt better (and were forced to take a shot of tequila by the staff). When you initially jump into the water, you feel shock and slight panic. But in the minutes after, your body vibrates in waves which is a crazy euphoric feeling. We loved it so much that we convinced the staff to let us go again! The second time, Sam and I both dove in head first and slowly swam back to soak in the shock. We hit the sauna after and spent 20 minutes in there without sweating the tiniest bit. Very strange!!

The People + Cruise Culture  🛳️ 

Where do I begin with the amazing people we’ve met? Our main group ended up being around 12 backpackers who took over the “Captain’s Table” at dinner each night, and normalized ordering 4 starters, 2 mains, and 2 desserts “just to taste!” (I now feel like a bowling ball after 12 days, but some faves are pictured below). We definitely were the ‘rowdy’ bunch and were nicknamed “The Kids” by the other older adults. We met other amazing couples, Kim and Dan, who traveled the world for 7 years and Kim reminded me SO much of my aunt, Tia Liz. Tommy and Carolyn are born and bred New Yorkers, and have both recently retired from the NYFD and NYPD respectively. Tommy’s firehouse was on Lafayette b/w Prince and Spring and Carolyn lived on Hester Street which was CRAZY they were so close to me living in Nolita (literally around the corner for those who don’t know NYC!) We loved hearing stories about NYC back in the day and all their upcoming travels now that they have the free time to travel more. They became our adopted parents for the cruise 😀 

Cruise culture was hilarious. We quickly all developed inside jokes with one another, naming one couple “the influencers” because they brought their own matching 'Barbie and Ken' inspired snow suit parkas (hot pink and white) and were constantly having photoshoots on each expedition. At one point, the girl tried taking off her parka and lifejacket to expose her bra for a picture and got in trouble because it was a safety hazard. Then another man, who the boat nicknamed, Barefoot Gary, got in trouble for taking his shoes off on Antarctica (there’s lots of penguin poop and diseases on the rocks!). Gary and his wife Jodi were LOVELY though- and yes, he was constantly barefoot around the boat, going to dinner, etc. But for a good reason! He cured his back pain that almost caused him to be paralyzed by relearning to walk the natural way (barefoot). The large group of Argentinian photographers was so fun to practice my Spanish with (although their accents were v hard to understand LOL). 

The crew was also incredible: Jorge our waiter was a legend, Lakesha who worked at the front desk and was ALWAYS smiling, Agung cleaned our room TWICE a day and was so sweet, Kim, Kate, Fiona, Johanne, Malcolm, and Katya on the expedition team were such a pleasure and you could really feel their passion for wildlife and Antarctica (they also gave amazing tips for other adventurous travels!!!). And the Captain, he was AMAZING. Typically you never interact with the captain on a boat, but he allowed anyone at ANY TIME to join him in the Bridge and see what he and his team were doing. I even got to turn the boat on and navigate it through icebergs!! The crew even expressed how rare it is to have a captain so open and friendly on a ship. 

Christmas Eve + Christmas Day  🎅 🎄 🌊 

Our days at sea returning to the mainland happened to be on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. But we once again got lucky with the “Drake Lake” on our way back (minus a few stints of larger waves). The crew made the holidays so special, they dressed up as Santa, elves, and Rudolph on a Zodiac boat which was the cutest little surprise. They also had a door decorating competition, photos with Santa, a gorgeous fancy Christmas dinner, and a dance party on Christmas Eve that we coined “Disco on the Drake”. At that point, the Drake waves were getting worse, but the boat sways made for sillier dancing and we made the best of it. We also sang Christmas carols as an entire boat, where each nationality sang their own version of Silent Night. It was chaotic (and a bit corny), but also felt sentimental. 

Christmas Day, we did what we always do- relaxed watching Christmas movies in bed (hungover) and feasting on chocolates and more food. We managed to call our families for a brief phone call because we only had limited wifi for the whole voyage (1 GB free!). They did another special Christmas day dinner for us, where we reminisced on the past 12 days and soaked in the last moments together on the boat. 

Antarctica lived up to the hype. Exiting the boat gave me a rush of emotions and a feeling that it was all a dream. I hope to return at some point but realize that may not be a reality anytime soon. Our group is now keen to find a last-minute deal to the Arctic over the summer to spot polar bears in Norway (if anyone is interested! LMK!!!). Please don’t hesitate to ask questions about the last-minute deals and how they work. I want everyone to realize visiting Antarctica isn’t as far-fetched of a dream as you’d think!!! 

We expected this to be a “chill” and relaxing 12 days, but it ended up being so exhausting, with late-night parties, loads of drinking (the cocktails were free!! How could we not!!!), and hilarious jokes along the way. Our next stop is Torres del Paine in Chilean Patagonia for a 5 day trek + camping… more on that in the next one! 🥾 ⛰️ ⛺️