Is a balcony cabin worth it on an Antarctica cruise?
For most people, no. Balconies are closed during Drake crossings for safety, so they’re unavailable exactly when you might imagine using them. They sit higher on the ship, where you feel more motion. And during the Antarctic days themselves you’ll be ashore, in a Zodiac, or up on the open deck where
How do you prevent seasickness crossing the Drake Passage?
Medicate early and preemptively. That one decision matters more than everything else combined. Once the weather has turned and you already feel unwell, you’ve missed the window and you’re managing rather than preventing. Take whatever you’re using before you leave the Beagle Channel, not when the sh
Does seasickness continue once you arrive in Antarctica?
No. Once you’re through the Drake you’re in sheltered water for the rest of the trip, and ships tuck into protected coves and channels. Seasickness is a visual and vestibular thing, much like car sickness, so it stops when the motion does. Most people are fine by day two of the crossing anyway.
If I get seasick on ferries will I be sick in the Drake Passage?
Probably, if you don’t medicate, and that’s a solvable problem rather than a reason to abandon the trip. Plenty of people who are miserable on ferries do the Drake comfortably because they take it seriously: medication before departure rather than after symptoms, a low mid-ship cabin, and a ship’s d
How close can you get to penguins in Antarctica?
You stay at least 5 metres away and you never touch them. What makes it better than it sounds is that the rule binds you, not the wildlife. If you sit still and a curious gentoo walks up to inspect your boot, that’s the penguin’s choice and you haven’t broken anything. You just don’t move toward it.
Is expedition cruise tourism damaging Antarctica?
It’s a fair question and it deserves a real answer rather than reassurance. Visitor numbers have more than tripled, from around 37,000 a year in 2007 to roughly 137,000 to 140,000 for the 2025 to 2026 season. That’s genuine growth. What limits it is physical: berths and ships are finite, new vessels
What is the 100 passenger rule for landing in Antarctica?
No more than 100 people may be ashore at any one site at any one time. It’s an IAATO rule and it applies across the industry, to protect the environment and keep numbers down around wildlife. The critical thing to understand is that it limits how many people stand on land at once, not how large the
What are the rules for behaving around wildlife in Antarctica?
You’re there to watch the animals’ experience rather than make it about yours, and everything follows from that. Minimum distances apply, including the 5 metre guideline for penguins and more for nesting birds and jousting elephant seals. You never approach, even if an animal has approached you. If
Can you camp overnight in Antarctica?
On the Antarctic Peninsula yes, at sites clear of wildlife, and it’s one of the better things you can do down there. In South Georgia, no. Camping isn’t permitted there at all. The Peninsula restriction to wildlife-free sites came in with the bird flu guidance and that guidance is still evolving, so
What are the biosecurity rules on an Antarctica cruise?
Everything going ashore gets vacuumed and inspected before your first landing, usually during the Drake crossing, and boots are washed on the way off and back onto the ship at every site after that. You’re looking for seeds, soil and organic matter caught in velcro, pockets, boot treads and camera b