Sam Bradley
G Expedition Antarctica and Arctic Cruises
Classic
We booked this holiday to celebrate my 40th Birthday even though we booked well over a year in advance we only just got in as all the best ships sell out incredibly quickly. embarking / disembarking was a doddle so quick and organised your cases were waiting at your room or on the dock when you left a quick photo on the way in and you're accounted for with your ID for the trip. This truly was a holiday of a life time Alex and his staff / experts on board were amazing incredible backgrounds including having a professional photographers on board to help and take photos of the 10 days. The experts are so approachable and they loved sharing such a special place with us. Making sure we spotted all wildlife, birds etc and they were experts on the history of Antarctica they remind you of all the bad things people have done out there to make sure they don't happen again! The captain was brilliant even taking us to a place no tourist ship had visited before a place called Adey cove - named after the lady on board who organised everything to do with the ship and it's adventures. Every day just got better and better. The food was amazing great choice EVERYONE was catered for Veggies, Vegans, gluten free at every sitting. Being a veggie I worried about what I would eat and there was better choice than most restaurants at home! It felt like they were constantly feeding you! The cabin was way bigger than expected we had a twin on the 3rd level. The zodiac cruises / land drop offs were all military precision everything was so well organised they maximised the time spent off the ship getting 2 stops a day apart from the last day when they dropped anchor to go ashore but the ship carried on due to high winds! You are only allowed 100 people onshore at any time this was NEVER an issue with G adventures as you would have time on land then have a zodiac cruise so you got both at each location so everyone was happy! They offered a hike up a mountain, a glacier hike amongst other items. There was kayaking available but we were too late in the year for camping. We had the Drake Lake going out made fantastic time the captain keeping the sailing as gentle as possible but experienced a bit of the Drake shake on the way back never feeling unsafe on our ship. The doctor on board made sure everyone travelled comfortably. We barely had any time in our cabin or any time to use the gym or library, there were constantly lectures about wildlife, history, photography, environmental concerns very interesting and well led with big screens all around the room. We made the most of the experience and attended all of them - you can sleep when you get home..... They had great drinks with fair prices $6 for beer $8 for cocktails other than happy hour and around $20 for wind but not bad really. There was as much tea / coffee / hot chocolate etc as you could drink available 24 hours. The captain was brilliant even taking us to a place no tourist ship had visited before a place called Adey cove - named after the lady on board who organised everything to do with the ship and it's adventures. The wildlife was out of this world constant call outs when there was something to be seen although in the time you weren't in lectures it paid to stay out on deck. We saw fin, minke and Humpback whales, (13 together at one point) crab eater, weddell and leopard seals. 3 types of penguins I could watch them for hours and really didn't want to come home! If you want to get close and personal with the penguins go in March as they are very curious and come up to you if you sit quietly. We saw leopard seals feeding (sad but you had to watch in a horrible way) We saw Albatrosses all the time and huge petrels What I loved about the ship was how eco they were no plastic on board. outdoor clothing was hoovered before you started expeditions to avoid contamination. They are working on projects to prevent albatross deaths and sending research data to scientists who work to help protect the oceans. They work with Nasa to help them see what the climate is like. They encourage everyone to send whale and seal photos to people who are monitoring them there to see if they recognise them to plot patterns and protect them. They even collected a journalist from a Greenpeace ship who needed to go home quickly and he gave his presentation to us on the krill fishing and how bad it is for Antarctica. They made you aware of how bad plastic, fish farms etc are for the environment they do so much to help improve things for the wildlife out there. It was a fantastic experience getting involved in these knowing you were making a difference. They had documentaries on in the evening and live music in the bar. The scenery was unreal fantastic sunsets, blizzards, bright sunshine every condition everything so photographic! We saw the milky way one night the skies were so clear at times you never realised there were so many stars! They had a fancy dress night and an auction night to raise money for the charity. G-Adventures are a not for profit organisation so you are supporting Antarctica in a big way booking with them. We will be going to the Arctic in the future and will make sure it is with this ship everything was perfect! Thank you so much for an adventure of a lifetime! (Copied from Cruisecritic)