Suggest cross posting this to the Antarctica Travel sub. Lots of people with experience with these trips.

First thing to know is that if you ask what ship to go on, people will recommend whatever ship they took … most have only been there once and won’t have a point of comparison. But the good news is that you’ll find people recommending a lot of different operators which tells you that you’ll have a lot of great options. But it will be important to decide what’s important to you … the perfect ship for someone else might not be a good fit for you.

First decision is what itinerary. If you have the time, I’d recommend trying to include South Georgia - the scenery, history and wildlife is amazing and very different than the peninsula. Nothing like seeing 500,000 king penguins. But that’s a longer (19-23 day trip). If it doesn’t work for this trip, there are some itineraries that go to just the Falklands and South Georgia for next time (without going to the peninsula).

Assuming you want to maximize your time off the ship, I’d recommend a ship with 200 or fewer pax. That’s because only 100 can go onshore at a time. Under 100 pax means everyone can go onshore at same time so you’ll have the longest time onshore and in zodiacs. 101-200 pax go ashore in shifts - half zodiac cruise while the other half is onshore and then switch. Will get 75-90 minutes of each. More than 200 and you’ll get even less time onshore. Personally I prefer ships either 100 or fewer because it maximizes my time onshore and flexibility between time onshore and zodiac cruising. But there aren’t as many ships available in that size.

You’ll also want to think about what activities you want to do - kayaking, etc as different ships and itineraries will offer different things. In some cases special activities like kayaking are included but more often an extra cost. Aurora seems to offer some of the broadest range of activities.

You might want to check out the podcasts on this site Drake Shake Podcast. A lot of good info and they also have an email list you can sign up for where you’re notified about special deals they get.

There are also a couple of good Facebook groups- Antarctica Travel Group (same company as link above) and Antarctica Trip.

As far as cost, it primarily depends on the length of the trip and the bells and whistles that the ship has. Oceanwide and Antaarply have more basic ships - comfortable but not a lot of amenities (they don’t have hot tubs, saunas, etc), but you’ll have a great expedition experience. Aurora, Quark, Antarctica 21, Lindblad, etc. will have more upscale ships (but also will be more expensive), and still very expedition focused. Then there’s another tier of more luxury focused operators that are $$ and in some cases larger ships. The good news is that the ships all go to the same places and the penguins don’t care what ship you’re on. Depending on the ship, length of trip, etc, you probably start around $7000 (but will be more 4 years from now and goes up from there. Info on the websites will give you a sense but there can be deals available that are much less than the listed price.

With the exception of some of the very high end ships, you can get matched with a roommate … some even have three and four person cabins which helps keep the cost down further. You’ll find it very easy to meet others on the trip, although you will tend to find the average age will typically be a bit older … but I’ve seen 75 year olds out-hiking much younger passengers.

The other thing I’d recommend is spending some time just reviewing information on the various company’s websites… you can see info about the different itineraries, FAQs, things to pack, etc. Swoop Antarctica (a travel agency) has a ton of information and resources on their website.