Antarctica Cruise - The Peninsula 12 day Cruise - Prices from $3400 Departures: 11/10/2007, 11/20/2007, 11/30/2007, 2/20/2008, 3/1/2008

See entire List of Trips Ship: Orlova Trip Highlights: A quality expedition cruise that is good value. Expect good guides, great food, and a "simple" but comfortable ship. All cabins have a private bathroom.   Want more info about this trip or other Antarctic travel?

Days 1-2: Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina
Arrive in Ushuaia and transfer independently to your conveniently located hotel; explore at your leisure in this frontier port overlooked by the rugged Martial Mounts. Next morning, enjoy a guided tour of Tierra del Fuego National Park, home to Caracaras, Black-faced Ibis, Magellanic Woodpeckers and the Fuegian red fox, among other species. Walk seaside paths through guindo forest and by mountain lakes on the Chilean frontier. Then learn more about local culture and history over a traditional Argentine asado barbecue. In late afternoon, your Expedition Team welcomes you aboard your ice-strengthened ship as you sail into the scenic Beagle Channel to begin your Antarctic adventure.

Days 3-5: Drake Passage & South Shetland Islands
Wandering albatross, storm petrels and other seabirds accompany the ship as you sail south across this famous passage named after Sir Francis Drake, the 16th-century English navigator. A program of lectures by the shipboard team of experienced naturalists and Antarctica specialists will help prepare you for the many adventures that lie ahead. In 1819, the British explorer William Smith described the South Shetland Islands as “barren and covered with snow, with seals in abundance.” Yet, mosses and lichens thrive during the short summer on the low-lying peninsulas of these rugged maritime islands, which are located directly adjacent to the Antarctic Peninsula. Places such as King George Island or Livingston Island support huge numbers of nesting penguins, while seabirds nest on the cliffs and elephant seals wallow along the shores. Deception Island is still considered to be an active volcano, and sailing through the narrow passage into its huge, flooded caldera is a thrilling experience. Depending on weather and ice conditions, we hope to be able to approach the South Shetland Islands during the afternoon of day four.

Days 6-9: Antarctic Peninsula
The Antarctic Peninsula is the most readily accessible part of the White Continent and has some of the best wildlife and scenery. You have plenty of time to experience the special magic of this awe-inspiring wilderness of snow, ice, waterways and mountains and can expect to see a wide variety of Antarctic wildlife. Enormous rookeries of Gentoo, Chinstrap and Adélie Penguins, Blue-eyed Shags, Kelp Gulls, Cape Petrels, Snowy Sheathbills and Antarctic Terns are just some of the many birds found here in abundance. We are also likely to see Weddell, crabeater and leopard seals, while orcas, humpback whales and Minke whales are often encountered at close range.

The Peninsula also has a remarkable history and, during the voyage,you will learn about some of the most important and dramatic expeditions to this remote corner of the world. Keeping a lookout from the Bridge or the deck of the ship, as we thread our way along the continent, you will certainly feel the same sense of excitement as many of those early explorers.

Sailing around the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula we hope to navigate the Antarctic Sound, or 'iceberg alley' as it is often called, where huge tabular icebergs drift north from the Antarctic continent. If you are lucky, and weather and ice conditions permit, you will try to land on Paulet Island to see its vast Adélie Penguin rookery. It is also planned to visit aptly-named Paradise Harbor, or nearby Neko Harbor, where glaciers fill the calm waters with a mind-boggling vista of icebergs; this is where we hope to set foot on the Antarctic Continent itself.

At Port Lockroy, as well as enjoying the thriving penguin colonies, you will visit a former British scientific station that has recently been renovated to serve as one of the most isolated and intriguing museums in the world. The station also acts as a post office and you will have a unique opportunity to send postcards home.

During the voyage you hope to navigate some of the most beautiful waterways in the world (if they are not choked with pack ice and icebergs); two in particular, the Neumayer and Lemaire Channels, are narrow passages between towering rock faces and spectacular glaciers that are so impressive they are a highlight of the trip for many people. On some voyages you get to sail south of the Lemaire Channel to Petermann Island where Adélie and Gentoo Penguins, skuas and Blue-eyed Shags nest close to the landing site.

Days 10-11: Drake Passage
Today we leave Antarctica and head north across the Drake Passage. In between bird watching and whale watching, and enjoying some final lectures by our expedition staff, this is a chance to relax and review our adventures before returning to Ushuaia.

Day 12: Ushuaia
You disembark after breakfast and transfer by bus to the Antarctic Unit office located at the entrance of the pier. Passengers departing the same day on the morning flight will continue by bus to the airport.

Notes:

Mandatory Travel Insurance: Passengers traveling on this expedition are required to be covered by a travel insurance policy that includes emergency evacuation coverage. As this voyage travels to remote regions of the world, we recommend that the policy’s emergency evacuation benefit be higher than minimum.

Included:
Cabin accommodations; all meals aboard the vessel; one night pre-cruise hotel accommodation with breakfast; all shore excursions; program of lectures by noted naturalists and leadership by experienced expedition staff; CD chronicle of the voyage in narrative, photography and video; Polar Arts Program with onboard artist presentations and workshops (on select voyages); A pair of rubber expedition boots on loan for shore landings; comprehensive pre-departure information package; All transfers between hotel, ship and departure airport; All miscellaneous service taxes and port charges.

Not Included:
Airfare; fuel surcharge (3/2007: 7% of trip cost); fuel surcharge may apply to 11/10/2007 - 3/1/2008; passport and visa expenses; government arrival and departure taxes; meals ashore; trip insurance; items of a personal nature and gratuity to the ship's crew is at your discretion.

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