Venture is a great choice for Antartica

If you are looking to take and expedition cruise to Antartica, don't hesitate to choose the Venture. To begin with, this is an expedition cruise, which means activity - landings, zodiac tours, lectures & presentations almost non-stop. Also, plan to be flexible - the planned stop or activity will change depending on the unpredictable weather. Don't fret about getting across the Drake, for the most part we had some roll, less going, more coming back across - but nothing horrible. Lastly plan to see wildlife, penguins, whales, and a variety of seals + many different birds. Getting to the end of the world: We flew overnight to Buenos Aires, Seabourn reps were there waiting on us after luggage pick up. Transportation via bus to the hotel where we had early check in. Seabourn then informed us about the next day's flight to Ushuaia (there are two flights, and early and a later). Spent the afternoon / evening visiting the neighborhood around the hotel. Next morning flight to Ushuaia on SmartJet, the most uncomfortable part of the trip, no recline and not very comfortable seating for a 3.5 hour flight. Landed, took a quick tour and then to the boat where we were able to board. Embarkation was verry efficient. Cabin: Regular Verandah suite - plenty of space, good layout. With the shower were a little larger, but overall we were satisfied. Let the adventure begin: This is the trip of a lifetime, pictures nor videos will do it justice. Normally we had a landing and a zodiac tour each day. One in the AM, one in the afternoon. We did have one day where we only had one activity because we were on the move due to weather. Every stop or tour was great. The Expedition team on this cruise were exceptional, all of them! They were a wealth of knowledge and provided insight beyond anything I would have imagined. Every day you wake up in awe of the surroundings and views, from gigantic ice bergs to the mountains of the continent itself. Did I mention wildlife? We saw 4 species of penguins (we were fortunate to see two juvenile emperor penguins), and more humpback than we could count, plus a couple of pods of Orcas (we were told this is rare). One note - when you see a penguin colony, be prepared for the smell - it will stay with you. Food: The colony is the typical buffet with a daily changing menu based on themes of countries. We had breakfast and lunch here most days and the food was good, no real complaints. Dinner, we did the restaurant each night and the menu was varied and very good overall. Seabourn square was great to grab coffee and a quick bite. Keep in mind this is boat has to provision for almost two weeks with no stop reprovision anywhere. With that said, the food may have been a little below that of a normal Seabourn cruise, but it was still very good. The crew: Loved these folks, they were eager to serve always had a smile. No complaints or issues here. With a small boat it is not long before they recognize you and know what you want. Across the board, wait staff, bar tenders, room team were all excellent. Another shout out to the expedition team, they were the absolute best! Overall: This is not an inexpensive adventure, but it was worth every dime. We are looking to join the Venture in the Artic in the future.

Antarctica at its Best!

We have taken close to 20 cruises, and this cruise easily ranks in our top five. The ship is beautiful, and our panorama penthouse suite was divine. Who can complain about sailing past icebergs you are seeing from inside your suite bathroom? The expedition leader was on top of everything, so all of our Zodiac excursions were memorable. We added one kayaking excursion and one submersible excursion. We would definitely recommend the kayaking excursion - it's a reasonable price and the quietness of Antarctica with no motors running is spell bounding. We would not recommend the submersible excursion, at least not in Antarctica. There was very little to see, and it is quite expensive. In preparation for the trip, we had purchased hiking poles. However, the Seabourn literature stated that hiking poles would be provided, so we didn't pack ours. That was a mistake. Their hiking poles were simply bamboo sticks that did little to grip the frozen surface. We recommend taking your own hiking poles with tips made for snow and ice. The photo opportunities for wildlife were amazing. The only cruise that rivaled that was an Amazon cruise we took with Aqua Expeditions and, of course, that was a totally different kind of wildlife. The ship handled Drake's passage very well. We noticed no significant motion going south, and the captain changed his planned route on the return trip through Drake's passage to avoid the worst of the waves. Yes, with 15-foot waves the ship rocked some on the final day through the passage, but neither of us were bothered by the motion. At night we were rocked to sleep! Our meals were top notch, and we enjoyed the variety. Our cabin attendants kept our suite stocked and sparkling. As I said in the beginning, it was one of our best cruise experiences.

Dream of a lifetime

Went on Seabourn Venture to Antarctica Nov 2024. It's an endurance contest to get down there and back, but what an adventure. The ship is relatively new, (approximately 2 year old) polar class, and a very intimate atmosphere. I don't think they could have improved on anything. The ship is beautiful and thoughtfully laid out. The cabins are primo and up to Seabourn standards in every way. Room attendants provided every single thing one could ask for. Dinner tables for solo travelers were hosted by various crew including the captain. I really enjoyed meeting them all and having time for a one-on-one conversations with them. All of them were so very gracious and interesting. The expedition crew really were very good at their specialties. Any and all questions are answered on the spot because their experiences were so vast. I cannot over-emphasize what their knowledge was worth. They make this cruise spectacular. Unfortunately I had reason to visit the medical facility. The staff and Dr there were top notch. The physician was a young man with a wealth of ER knowledge and operated the very best medical facility I've ever seen at sea. I loved the concierge area. There was a coffee bar, gelato bar, large seating area with multiple tables, chairs, coffee table, future cruise desk, and outdoor area for viewing from around the deck. Dining for every meal was unusually good. If something wasn't on the menu, feel free to ask for it. I would like to extend a special thank you to the captain and all his crew. He's a young man from Netherlands and one of their designated "polar captains." It takes a special skill set to take a very expensive polar class ship into the hazardous waters of either pole. I never had a moments concern for safety. The captain and crew knew exactly what they were doing. I remember one morning we had to pull into a nearby inlet to get out of the weather in the Drake. It was near blizzard conditions and the bow of the ship filled quickly with snow. Many passengers were just dressed in our snow clothes and siting in the lounge area adjacent to the bow of the ship. Someone yelled "let's make snowmen." Was that hilarious. Two snowmen were made and outfitted with neck gators, glasses, hats. Then there was an Antarctic flag raising! It was one of the most fun things on the trip and completely unplanned. I'm sure the captain was up on the bridge laughing and wondering if his ship had just been scuttled by a bunch of wanna be 15 year olds! The hot mulled wine was being delivered by bar staff so I don't think anyone ended the blizzard we were in. It's a memory I will forever cherish. This trip is expensive but in my opinion, worth every nickel.