Antarctica: Our journey to the 7th continent!

The coldest and most remote continent on planet Earth. Chances are that if you're reading this post, you haven't been to Antarctica. To give a bit of perspective, according to the website of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) there were 23,527 visitors 2021-2022. The Eiffel Tower in Paris attracts 7 million visitors a year.

Before going to Antarctica ourselves, we didn't know anyone from our families or from our friends who have visited this continent. This was going to be the absolute highlight trip of our sabbatical because it's been a childhood dream for Oleg to visit Antarctica and Qiao-An loves seeing penguins in the wild! It was the first time on a cruise ship which added to the excitement as there were going to be a lot of first time experiences for us.

We will share our experience in Antarctica on board the Hurtigruten expedition cruise ship, the MS Roald Amundsen. We hope to inspire you to put Antarctica on your bucketlist!

Just a small disclaimer, we paid for our trip in full. This isn't endorsed by anyone or an advertisement for Hurtigruten.

9 important things to know before booking your cruise:

• Antarctica cruises run from October - March, our cruise was March 1 - March 12.

• We booked the 12 day highlights of Antarctica cruise.

• We booked it 1.5 years in advance because prices tend to be lower.

• Hurtigruten is one of the few operators that offer the local flight from Buenos Aires to Ushaia within the price of the cruise and after some research we found that they're still cheaper than other operators who don't offer the local flight.

• Hurtigruten offers a 5 star hotel stay the night before you fly to Ushuaia included in their price.

• We booked a cabin without balcony because it is quite cold and windy in Antarctica, so we asked ourselves how often we were going to use it. The MS Roald Amundsen has a big front deck, pool deck and top deck which are better for wildlife spotting.

• If you sign up to the Hurtigruten newsletter, you can get complimentary onboard credit (offer may expire in the future) and keep an eye on early bird discounts.

• Daily landings (weather permitting) are included in the price. Landings will be your main excursion during the days in Antarctica and are a true highlight!

• A medical declaration from your physician is required a few months before the expedition. This proved tricky for us to get in The Netherlands, so if you're from The Netherlands and need some tips before your trip feel free to slide into our DMs or leave a comment below.

The short version:

This is quite an in depth review of our trip and we absolutely understand that that's not for everyone, so we've tried our best to sum up our highlights :)

Wildlife spotted:

• Gentoo penguins

• Chinstrap penguins

• Cape petrels

• Giant petrels

• Minke whales

• Humpback whales

• Hourglass dolphins

• Leopard seal

• Crabeater seals

• Weddell seal

• Fur seals

  
  

Some of these don't appear in the detailed day by day breakdown because we saw them out in the open water, for instance when we were cruising in the Drake Passage.

Favourite landings:

• Danco Island (check out Day 5)

• Neko Harbour (check out Day 7)

For the foodies:

We had the option of two restaurants included in our full board package. The Fredheim restaurant was more comfort food based, you could order as much as you want from the menu. Their specialities were burgers, hot dogs, lobster rolls and milkshakes.

The Aune restaurant served breakfast and lunch buffets and a 3 course menu in the evening. During lunch and dinner, alcoholic beverages such as wine and beer were also included. The wine selection on board was fantastic, especially the red wines from Argentina. Something we really enjoyed during breakfast was being able to order poached eggs instead of just your standard omelette station.

Conclusion: was it worth it?

Yes! For the long answer on this and pricing info, skip down to the bottom.

For those ready to read our detailed review, we suggest reading it with a cup of coffee/tea/hot cacao or a glass of wine!

Day 1: Buenos Aires

We checked in at 15:00 at the Emperador hotel in Buenos Aires. After a month of travelling on a 50 euro per day accommodation budget (for two people), this was a welcome slice of luxury. We shouldn't complain as 50 euros a day is generally enough not to stay in dorms (except if you go to LA or Sydney).

It is a huge hotel, located in Recoleta, with clean and spacious rooms. A swimming pool, garden, restaurant bar and pretty much everything you would expect from a 5 star hotel. When we looked at their conference room schedule, we could see it's one of the preferred hotel for multiple cruise companies.

The Hurtigruten hospitality desk was available 10:00-19:00. They gave us some information on which bus we had to take in the morning and luggage labels we had to attach to our bags and leave outside our door by 20:00. From this moment onwards, Hurtigruten was fully in charge of our trip and this would be a first for us both.

Day 2: Ushuaia & Embarkation

Our alarm clocks were set for 3:00 as we had to have breakfast at 3:30 and be ready just before 4:00 to board our bus. We received our boarding passes on the bus and were driven straight to terminal C at Ezeiza Airport. Since the whole flight was booked for our cruise, we didn't have to worry about weight limits of checked in luggage. The luggage that we had left the night before outside our hotel door would be checked in for us at the airport and on our plane.

When we arrived to Ushaia, we had to grab our luggage from the baggage belts and leave them with the Hurtigruten team that was waiting in the arrivals area.

A bus was waiting to bring us to Ushuaia city centre where we had a couple of hours to explore the city. We decided to make a quick stop at the post office to send some postcards to our loved ones from the southern most city in the world (fin del mundo). What is good to know is that in Ushuaia they close shops 13:30-16:00 for lunch/siesta. We arrived around 12:00 so made sure anything we needed before that was done before 13:30.

It was possible to book an excursion to Tierre del Fuego National Park with Hurtigruten, they had a few buses that did drop off and pick up but it would mean you would miss out on exploring Ushuaia.

Top sites to visit:

• Post office at the end of the world

• End of the world sign

• Tourist information centre to get an unofficial passport stamp and free wifi

• Tierra del Fuego National Park

For the foodies:

We were recommended a few local favourites on our 10 minute bus ride to Ushuaia. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to try these out:

• Local lamb roasted over an open fire pit

• King Crab

• Local beer

  
  

Lunch/snacks

• Ana & Juana - 9 de Julio (you absolutely have to try the coffee and cake here!)

At around 14:30, we got back on the bus and were brought to our ship. At check-in we received our cards which we would carry on us during the whole cruise. The card gave us access to our cabin, was scanned at the restaurant, could be used to buy drinks from the bar, items from the onboard shop and was scanned whenever you left the ship and entered the ship.

Everyone had to download the Hurtigruten app, which had a lot of information for the passengers. It showed the daily program, the menu, allowed you to sign up for activities, and was used to make a reservation at the restaurant for your preferred dinner timeslot.

On the first day you get some useful items you get to keep after the cruise, a windbreaker jacket from Helly Hansen and a water bottle to collect water from the dispensing stations.

The ship left the port around 19:00 and we were on our way to Antarctica!

MS Roald Amundsen ship facts:

• First hybrid powered ship in the Hurtigruten fleet

• First voyage was in 2019

• 140 metres in length

• Has a capacity of 530 passengers (carried 364 passengers during our voyage)

• Contains a science centre

• Three restaurants

• Infinity pool, two jacuzzis, and a sauna

• Outdoor and indoor gym

• Explorer lounge & bar

Good to know when you're on board:

• During check in, you will receive velcro patches which will show the group you are in. The landings will happen by group as they need to manage the flow of people going to the landing sites.

• Signing up to the Hurtigruten Ambassador program gives you 5% off optional excursions and 10% off the Helly Hansen store onboard.

• If you forgot to bring a few items, they have an onboard store that sells anything from toiletries to clothes.

• They provide bathrobes, slippers, a windbreaker jacket, a water bottle and boots (for landings).

• Check the Hurtigruten app daily, as sometimes there are interesting things you can sign up to which are not always announced in the information sessions.

• The optional excursions that were available for our trip were: kayaking, photography boat, overnight camping and science boat.

• Kayaking, photography boat and overnight camping were selected by lucky draw and have additional costs associated. Science boat is a free excursion and selected in order of sign up (first come, first served).

• Overnight camping happens only once during the whole cruise, for the other 3 excursions they tried to plan two timeslots a day.

• You may miss a landing if you choose to do an excursion but they will allow you to join an earlier or later landing. We did not miss any landings.

Day 3&4: The Drake Passage

The Drake Passage is the shortest route to Antarctica and connects the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. It extends from Cape Horn at South America’s southernmost tip to Antarctica’s South Shetland Islands. The waterway is nearly 1000km wide and its average depth is 3.4km. It is famously known to be choppy and rough as the currents at that latitude meet no resistance from any landmass. The weather conditions can be unpredictable and waves can reach heights of 12 metres!

We could go on to say how this will be an amazing adventure, igniting the inner explorer in you but we're going to stay real with you. The first day on the Drake Passage started out really smooth and we were able to make use of the outdoor gym. The morning after, Qiao-An was as pale as a ghost. The Drake Lake had turned into a proper Drake Shake as the waves were hitting about 3 metres in height. Everyone was walking around the ship with a bit of a swagger or basically looking like they rolled out of a bar. We have some handy tips for you based on our experience and some advice from the crew!

Our top tip to combat seasickness:

Travel sickness pills - we used cinnarizine and it worked pretty much instantly. The only side effect for us was light drowsiness.

We also saw many people onboard with patches behind their ears, which also seemed to help.

During these two days, the expedition team held really interesting lectures about the history and wildlife of Antarctica, workshops, handed out the equipment for our landings and information on the optional activities. A welcome toast was also organised so we could meet the captain and his crew!

In the afternoon of the last day, we got to see land again since we left Ushuaia! It was the 7th continent welcoming us!

Day 5: Danco Island

Every evening, we received information about the landing site for the next day. We would attempt to land at Orne Harbour to see colonies of gentoo and chinstrap penguins. However, when we arrived at Orne Harbour there was too much ice in the water and plan B was to go to Danco Island. Once the ship arrived at the island, the weather conditions were good and the landings could start. The expedition team sets off on the first set of zodiacs to get the landing site ready for the passengers. They made a route for us to follow and provided us with hiking poles upon arrival. To manage the flow, they call us group by group (remember we were all assigned a group on the first day) to proceed to the tender pit. For the landings we had anywhere between 70 and 90 minutes to walk around the area.

We remember very well the first time we got geared up and stepped into the zodiac. It was very exciting to feel the cold air rushing against your face and seeing the icebergs floating on the water. Once you reached the landing spot you could not only see but also hear the gentoo penguins. They are very communicative and make this loud honking sound, it's hard to miss. Once you get closer to the penguin colonies, you know you're in the right place when it starts smelling like a fish market and not in the good way. The one where the fish have been lying a bit too long out in the sun. They sure do look cuter than they smell!

Gentoo penguins look funny and a bit clumsy on land when they waddle from one place to the other, often through little paths they've created called penguin highways. They often go from their nests to the sea as that's where they get their food from. Once these penguins get into the water, they are eloquent swimmers but more on that later. They are 70cm-90cm in height and it is estimated that their total population is about 774,000.

We also got to see one fur seal on this landing site. We were warned that they act a bit like dogs and can get excited if they see you running away from them. They are closely related to the sea lions as they have visible ears.

Wildlife spotted:

• Gentoo penguins

• Fur seals

What to wear during your landings:

This is essentially your minimum packing list for Antarctica. Keep in mind that you will need to get out of the zodiac boat into a layer of water depending on how close the zodiac can get to the landing site.

• Base layers

• Down jacket or fleece

• Windbreaker/waterproof jacket

• Lifejacket (provided by Hurtigruten and mandatory to wear)

• Waterproof pants

• Boots (provided by Hurtigruten and mandatory to wear)

• Hat, buff and gloves

• Sunglasses

Day 5 continued: Damoy Point

This is the spot where the passengers who got selected by lucky draw were going to camp for the night. We didn't opt for this as you've got to love camping to do this and for those who know us quite well. Oleg has never camped a day in his life and we've both never done any wild camping. It was also going to cost 438 EUR per person to pitch your own tent, sleep in the cold, do number 1 in a special "toilet" and absolutely no number 2's allowed. But you will have lifetime bragging rights because how many people can say they've camped in Antarctica? We watched the brave campers from the comfort of the on board hot tub!

Day 6: Flandres Bay

The day started out with a beautiful cruise en route to Petermann Island. The only island where we'd be able to see gentoo, chinstrap and adélie penguin colonies. This was one of the most scenic days, we were surrounded by beautiful snowy basalt mountains and ice dancing in the water. We passed by the infamous Una's peaks which are known by the colloquial name of Una's Tits (see photo, you'll see why). The crucial point we had to cross was the Lemaire Channel. When we arrived the channel had a lot of ice, so the crew decided to wait until they could pass through. They were working hard to make this plan work but as soon as there was a passage, the wind picked up at 50 knots (92.6km/h).

The expedition team announced plan B, we were going to Flandres Bay on a zodiac boat ride instead. This is where we got to see some Crabeater seals relaxing on an iceberg. Guess what makes up part of their diet? Spoiler alert: it's not crab! They eat krill, like a lot of animals in Antarctica as we were going to learn on the science boat a few days later. The most remarkable part of this seal is its lobed teeth which resemble chainsaws. They act as a sieve, allowing them to strain out the krill from the seawater.

Wildlife spotted:

• Crabeater seals

Day 7: Neko Harbour & kayaking past a giant leopard seal

This was the first day we would have a continental landing. The landings before this day were all on islands around the Antarctic peninsula. This bay is surrounded by glaciers that regularly calve which made for spectacular background sounds and beautiful backdrops for, you guessed it gentoo penguins! When we got to the landing site there was a route up a snowy slope. We were one of the first ones to reach the top penguin colony and shortly after, they decided to close the top route as two people needed medical attention due to slipping. This was the only spot where we actually got a decent picture taken of the two of us, so we were glad we made it up before they closed it.

The night before they announced that we were among the lucky draw for kayaking in Antarctica, woohoo! We received part of the gear we were going to have to wear, so after the landing we quickly got geared up in our dry suit. Once we got to the tenderpit, they fitted the foot rests of the kayaks to us and helped us with the final touches on the outfits. As said by one of our guides hoisting the dry suit over our heads: "it will feel like you're giving birth to yourself".

Once we got out on the water, it was such a magical experience. You're sitting much lower into the water so you see things from a completely different perspective. Ice blocks were floating all around us and we kept hearing the blowhole sounds of humpback whales in the bay. We saw a cute weddell seal rubbing its belly and to top of the experience, we saw a yawning leopard seal on an iceberg. Just to give a bit of perspective, they can be up to 3.5 metres in length and weigh up to 600kg. Along with the orca (killer whale), they are an apex predator in Antarctica and it was both exciting and a little terrifying at the same time to be able to observe it so closely.

Later that afternoon, we started cruising to our next destination and were surrounded by humpback whales. We saw two of them dive perfectly synchronised, a baby whale, and lots of beautiful flukes. Gentoo penguins were also putting on a show, and that was the first time we heard of the verb porpoising. When swimming they propel themselves forward and appear to be jumping out of the water and back in. This is for breathing, observing the surroundings or fleeing from predators. There were many oo's, ahh's and clicking of camera's on the viewing decks (see day 8 for a porpoising penguin).

We also passed by Gabriel González Videla inactive research station bearing the Chilean flag, full of penguins. This was a funny site to see as the penguin population was high and the human population was nowhere to be found.

Wildlife spotted:

• Gentoo penguins

• Humpback whales

• Leopard seal

• Weddell seal

Day 8: Cuverville Island & science boat

Cuverville Island is situated in the Errera channel and this is where we were going to see more gentoo penguins! Every gentoo penguin colony we'd seen on the trip so far, we've seen penguin chicks. At this particular landing site, we saw penguin chicks being fed by their mum. As they don't hunt for food themselves yet, they always look a little bit in need of a bath.

We saw some fur seals but also some brown skuas hanging around penguin colonies. We had seen a fair bit of these birds but they stood out more at this landing site as we started observing their behaviour. Penguins and brown skuas are not friends. Skuas are known for stealing penguin eggs and catching penguin chicks. We were observing the skuas closing in, penguin chicks scurrying away and the penguins loudly trying to scare the skuas off.

After the landing site, we headed for our science boat excursion. During this excursion, Hurtigruten picks up water samples in Antarctica for the Fjord Phyto project. We learned that phytoplankton makes up over 50% over the Earth's oxygen, so every time you take a deep breath, thank the phytoplankton for your oxygen. They also make up the foundation of the food system for whales, seals and penguins. Remember, they eat krill and krill eats phytoplankton.

We did try very hard to pay attention to the phytoplankton lecture but a humpback whale was very curious and swam right under our boat. It must've been 5-10 metres away from us when it went down for a dive. It often happened in Antarctica that just when you think THAT was the best experience ever. Something new happens that leaves you just in awe of the place.

Wildlife spotted:

• Gentoo penguins

• Brown skuas

• Humpback whales

Day 9: Deception Island & taking the antarctic ice bath

Our last landing was Deception Island, Hurtigruten saving the best for last. It is an active volcano with a large flooded caldera opening up to the sea through a narrow channel, which is called Neptunes Bellows. It is one of the only places in the world where ships can sail straight into the centre of an active volcano. The crater forms a natural sheltered inlet. When entering the channel, Whaler's Bay is the first natural harbour on the right.

The beach has large rusted oil tanks and buildings, remnants from the period 1906 to 1931. This area was used for the whaling industry, the sheltered and shallow beach made it a good place to land whales and process them. After the whaling and sealing industry was stopped, the island was abandoned for nearly a decade. The British and Chileans set up scientific stations but these were ultimately abandoned due to volcanic eruptions in 1967, 1969 and 1970.

Despite its troubled past, the abandoned buildings and rusty oil tanks make for a really interesting change of scenery in Antarctica. The day we visited, the weather was spectacular. A normal site in Antarctica is grey moody skies, so this seemed like the perfect send off as it was going to be our last day. It seemed like a popular hang out spot for fur seals and we had to stay in groups to explore the island. We could walk from the abandoned buildings all the way to Neptunes window where you get a beautiful view over the island and water. We also finally saw our first chinstrap penguins which have been eluding us during the trip. There are no penguin colonies on Deception Island but they sometimes turn up on the beach.

One of the other most memorable moments of the trip was organised on Deception Island. We had the opportunity to take a polar plunge! We were told it only counted if the water reached our shoulders and only then would we receive a certificate that we did the polar plunge. As we are always up for a challenge, we decided to take the plunge. For videos, go to our Antarctica highlights under our Instagram profile: 2onearth. We were reassured that the water here was a bit warmer than normal due to the geothermal activity in the area. A generous 1 degrees C, in case you were wondering!

Wildlife spotted:

• Chinstrap penguins

• Gentoo penguins

• Fur seals

Day 10&11: Drake Passage

Our time in the Antarctic had come to an end and it was time to head back. The ship crew saw that there was some bad weather coming in and we left the day before right after our polar plunge to stay ahead of the bad weather.

The next two days were used to return the equipment that was borrowed to us for the landings, lectures, and visits to the engine control room and the bridge (captain's view!).

Day 12: Ushuaia to Buenos Aires

Being back on land after waking up every day in the middle of the ocean surrounded by glaciers, mountains and icebergs was actually quite a sad moment. The trip of a lifetime had come to an end and we spent quite some time looking back at all the photos and videos we took with a huge smile on our faces. We were brought back to Ushuaia airport by bus and flew back to Buenos Aires where we would be greeted with very sweaty temperatures of 35C+.

Was it worth it?

We booked the 12 day highlights of Antarctica 1.5 years prior to our departure date. At this time together with an early bird discount, we managed to book it for approx. 5800 EUR per person. Prices between November 2024 and March 2025 now start from 6890 EUR per person.

Our experience is that it is 100% worth it. Considering it includes the domestic flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, full board (3 meals a day, 2 restaurants are included in this rate), landings every day you're in Antarctica (weather permitting) and a wide range of activities such as photography and art workshops, wildlife viewing, folk dancing, quiz night, scavenger hunt and much more. We managed to keep ourselves entertained with the facilities on board and one of our favourite things to do was chill in the jacuzzi after an early dinner and spot humpback whales from the sauna. Why around dinner time? We had the whole place to ourselves, even though there were 364 passengers on board!

Let's face it, where else are you going to see untouched nature at its finest? It's the hard truth but in places where humans haven't settled permanently. It truly shows, the animals are completely unfazed by us and when they come closer it's out of genuine curiosity. A lot of places we've visited where human and wildlife interaction are common, animals come over because they know they'll get food. It was one of the most unique experiences we've ever had and really think everyone who has this on their bucket list should make it happen, you won't regret it!

Any questions? Drop them below or check out our Instagram Q&A saved under the Antarctica highlights of 2onearth.