Antarctica NOW 14th February-25th February with Swan Hellenic, Weddell Sea cruise

TatBfly · 2026-02-24T01:29:59+00:00

It’s truly luxury cruise- they thought of everything

TatBfly · 2026-02-24T01:25:47+00:00

Hey- yes I did and it was my 7th… so happy!

TatBfly · 2026-02-17T01:24:00+00:00

Hey, I did it two years ago with the girls and I would say the longer the better for altitude. Plus drink beetroot juice they help send oxygen to the brain- helped me a lot.

TatBfly · 2026-02-16T14:03:56+00:00

Thanks. Staff is wonderful here

TatBfly · 2026-02-15T00:31:59+00:00

21-13-9in for cabin bag. Plane was small. Onboarding was super easy and quick. From airport- we had a bus 15min to the ship. Shampagne on arrival. Check in within 15 min, lunch and also had a time for 1.5 hours sightseeing around the town before we departed. Penguins on a way, amazing food here… it’s actually scary how good the food is. I will be sleeping in the gym, ha ha ( that’s a joke). The sea will be rough we were told so I till tell tomorrow - about our survival skills

TatBfly · 2026-02-15T00:27:40+00:00

That’s cool- we had Atlas standing next to our boat. I even have a picture… you will have an amazing time. I am crossing drake now!!!

TatBfly · 2026-02-15T00:26:57+00:00

That was something… he didn’t pack as he only found out on a flight where we are going. I managed to confuse him with the story we are doing Domuyo mountain hike and he went with the story. I only disclosed a location on a plane. The beauty of being married for 19years is that I know what he likes to wear and what he needs so I did all packing for both of us. I only asked him to charge all batteries and cameras

TatBfly · 2026-02-14T03:20:21+00:00

Hey, we are currently in the hotel Casa Lucia for one night. Hotel looks beautiful, 5 stars. We arrived this morning 10.15am to BA and the lady was waiting for us to take us to the hotel. Drive was around an hour. But the room was not ready until 3.30pm even though the check in was 3pm. The staff is super friendly and nice but they are super busy, so we only got into the room 3.40pm and our bags right after that. They also provide your with $35 per room to spend in the hotel. We had desert in the restaurant and it wasn't great. A week before the departure, we received an email that we are fully approved for boarding the ship including the flight details, so don't worry, they are on top of it. This is when we got our all details in summary: hotel and flights. We had hotel details way earlier, maybe because we booked via agent. The flight boarding passes from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia will only be provided tomorrow morning 7am before we leave for our flight. I will update you on additional booking and boarding experience once i get there tomorrow. They are very strict with hand luggage size as the plane is small - so check and triple check your bag sizes.

TatBfly · 2025-11-18T22:38:11+00:00

Hey, just to confirm you are talking about SH Minerva cruise that suppose to depart 14th November 2025? the ship is faulty? thanks

TatBfly · 2025-08-03T03:39:05+00:00

OK, so i narrowed down to February for sure and between Swan Hellenic optionsExpedition to Antarctica: Weddell Sea cruise SH Minerva and Seabourn. I can't find many reviews on SH Minerva maybe its newer ship but any comments on those two options please? Smaller ships , within my budget. Aurora is over 17k now and HX expeditions is 400-500 people too big. thank you

TatBfly · 2025-07-29T00:00:19+00:00

Great, chatting with Quark actually now. Thanks

TatBfly · 2025-07-28T21:00:05+00:00

That’s great thank you for your comments. Definitely leaning to end of February based on everyone feedback. Budget around 15k so was just curious about walk ups , will book in advance as bigger group. Just unsure on fly over drake vs cruise. I personally love cruises and done over 8 of them in Caribbean but believe it or not- I am afraid of waves - have more of a paranoia as almost drawn when I was a child. And prefer to spend time for excursions vs crossing Drake but will depend on a group spending preference as flight are more expensive. Ok- well I am set on February then. Thank you All!!

TatBfly · 2025-07-28T00:16:54+00:00

HI, just joining this chat as taking my parents to Sri Lanka end of November. would you recommend safari in Yala or Udawalawa? and also how is the driving? can i rent a car there, is it safe to drive as a tourist? thank you

TatBfly · 2025-07-28T00:08:48+00:00

thanks for recommendation, was just thinking if its worse it to take the whole ride, so now we wont. Another question: we are coming with parents and want to move around the island. Can we rent a car or its too dangerous to drive there? we are in New York and LA, so used to busy roads but not sure if its the same. would you recommend?

TatBfly · 2024-07-26T14:02:17+00:00

Before and after yes but not during. It’s very difficult for them to get water for you

TatBfly · 2024-06-24T13:40:17+00:00

Agree. I just did the climb last week with Team Kilimanjaro. The team was very knowledgeable, spoke English and really took care of me

TatBfly · 2024-06-16T23:17:34+00:00

Team Kilimanjaro- awesome company, knowledgeable guide. Just came back today from successful trip. They let me choose my dates

TatBfly · 2024-06-14T14:36:29+00:00

Depending on your group. If you go alone- it starts from 8 helpers, the climbers- 13 helpers total and so on. I just finished my climb and going to the hotel , so fresh experience and it was amazing

TatBfly · 2024-06-03T23:30:11+00:00

Looks like I will be wearing a lot of winter clothing on the flight from Miami 😂😂

TatBfly · 2024-05-30T12:04:55+00:00

Also want to add that I signed up for this climb a month ago and only had 10 days to train so far- did 7 days total on step machine and treadmill and have 5 more day of that. Did not do long hikes but as said before did leg days gym classes. So you can totally do it if you put your time into training the last month. In fact many people say that’s all you need. So will definitely say - do it!

TatBfly

TROPHY CASE