People who have taken an Antarctic cruise will tell you it is an experience not quite like any other vacation experience theyve ever had. And chances are, theyll keep trying to tell you, again and again, how life-changing the trip truly was, only pausing when they take a moment to book their next trip to the south.
So what is it about the Antarctic that has travelers searching for words? What keeps them coming back for more? Here are just 9 reasons why your friends wont stop bragging about their awesome trip to the Antarctic.
1. Become a part of history
The Antarctic was one of the last great exploration holdouts, becoming the focus of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration that blossomed during the early 1900s. And heres the thing its still a frontier. Heading south on an Antarctic cruise means youre going to be one of the first human beings to ever set foot on our southernmost continent in the history of humankind.
Granted, your name probably wont hit the history books like Shackletons did, but considering how he ended up, thats probably a good thing.
2. Its not just a vacation, its an adventure
Because of the Antarctics remote location, its still very much an untamed land. Antarctica does not and has never had an indigenous population and there arent hospitals, taxis, or tacky t-shirt shops around every corner. In fact, there arent really any corners in the first place. Aside from your cruise ship and a few science stations, the Antarctic is one of the hold-outs on Earth that can still put the wild in wilderness.
3. Theres camping and then theres Antarctic camping
Thats right, some cruise lines offer you the chance to sleep out under the Antarctic skies. Youll hunker down in a spot far enough away to not disturb the wildlife, and get to go to sleep under skies unhampered by any sort of light pollution.
4. Get some major photo props without having to improve your photo skills
The Antarctic offers fantastically beautiful landscapes every which way that you turn. Youve got interesting wildlife, blue waters contrasting with snowy white mountains, crystalline blue icebergs sailing past. Youd have to actually put some effort into taking a bad picture, which means youre going to go home with a memory card full of awesome pics.
And if you happen to actually want to improve your shutterbug skills some cruise lines offer lectures and workshops with professional photographers as part of their cruise line-ups.
5. Its a brand new experience
Even if you happen to live in an environment that has snow for part of the year, its just not the same as setting foot on the Antarctic continent. Maybe its the unique wildlife, perhaps its the knowledge that you are days away from anything resembling civilization whatever the cause, visiting the Antarctic is a bit like blasting off for a whole other world.
NASA agrees. Theyve used Antarcticas McMurdo Dry Valleys as a testing ground for some of their equipment because of its similarities to the environments of Mars and the moon.
6. You can learn stuff (or not, its up to you)
Some cruises offer lectures on a variety of topics, given by certified experts. So if youre in the mood you might hunker down with some hot chocolate and learn about the wildlife, geology, the science experiments being conducted on the continent, why Antarctica is so important to the worlds environment, or the history of the region.
7. No two cruises are exactly the same
All cruise lines are of course subject to the environment, but Mother Nature tends to have much more of a say in where and when Antarctic cruises can hit a spot of interest.
For some odd reason Antarctic cruise lines put a lot of effort into making sure their passengers are safe and can survive the trip and dont die horribly. That means adhering to weather patterns when it comes to selecting bays that they anchor in.
They also take great care in maintaining environmental safety for the local wildlife. So if theres even a whiff of danger that something might upset the animals cruise lines will veer off.
And of course theres the wildlife itself sometimes whales (for example) are complete show-offs and are putting on a show every way you turn. On other days they can turn shy and hide under the waves.
All of this combines to ensure that each Antarctic cruise is its own thing, and that no two cruises are cookie-cutter copies of each other.
8. Penguins!
Just look at them!
Matt Schwachofer is the Online Marketing Manager at Oceanwide Expeditions.If you would like to be a guest blogger on A Luxury Travel Blog in order to raise your profile, please contact us.
Matt Schwachofer is Online Marketing Manager for Oceanwide Expeditions. Oceanwide Expeditions organizes Polar expedition cruise programs to the Arctic and Antarctica for guests who want to actively enjoy the spectacular scenery, explore nature and wildlife of some of the worlds most stunning and pristine shorelines, above and below the oceans, at sea and on land.
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