We spent a night in Chile before transferring the following morning to a private area of Santiago airport which is exclusively for Silversea guests, before boarding our four hour Antarctica Airlines flight down to Puerto Williams. With everyone excited for the next 10 nights, we boarded the beautiful Silver Endeavor and headed to our Premium Balcony Suites ready for the adventure ahead. 

The journey started with the much anticipated Drake Passage crossing. We were incredibly fortunate and according to the staff on board it was the smoothest sailing they had encountered all season and had a day and a half to enjoy all that the ship had to offer including an assortment of games, lectures on the marine life in Antarctica and a lovely library with endless books.

The dreamy Drake Passage crossing meant we were able to arrive into Antarctica earlier than planned so we had an extra landing in Yankee Harbour. This was our first encounter with wild gentoo penguins, and fur and elephant seals playing on the shore. 

The next day we arrived in Danco Island where we did a hike surrounded by penguins which gave us incredible views over the surrounding scenery, followed by an afternoon zodiac cruise to Whilemina Bay. Otherwise known as ‘Whale-mina Bay’, this was a solid favourite of the group; we were up close to the majestic humpback whales as they were feeding right in front of us.

The following day we visited Pietermann Island and Plenneau Bay (otherwise known as Iceberg Graveyard) which was another solid favourite amongst the group. Here we kayaked around icebergs, we saw ice calving from the glaciers and an abundance of marine life. Humpback whales, fur seals and leopard seals were everywhere we looked; it was truly an incredible day. 

After a busy day exploring, we were all very excited to get into the Antarctic waters for the ‘polar plunge’, an exhilarating experience that none of us would soon forget! That evening we sailed through the magical Lemair Channel whilst sipping champagne and eating canapes.

The next morning, we arrived in a gorgeous little bay called Paradise Bay where we saw minke and humpback whales along with even more stunning glaciers. The afternoon took us to our very first landing on mainland Antarctica. Neko Harbour was our first step onto the continent and arriving here certainly felt like an incredible achievement. 

After our fun filled week exploring, we had our last stop in Telefon Bay and Whalers Bay on Deception Island. This was an active volcano in the South Shetlands which gave us amazing views of volcanic slopes, steaming beaches and ash layered glaciers – and provided a much-needed walk after all the calories consumed on the cruise!  It was then time to start making our way back. The journey back took us past the incredible Elephant Island, where Shackleton’s men were rescued after four months and is rarely visited by cruises.

Overall, this was a truly wonderful experience which we are all sad to see end. The wonder of this journey is hard to truly put into words; you simply have to experience it yourself.

For more inspiration take a look at our Antarctica Cruises pages.