Silver v. Viking v. Seabourn

[maren91]

Hi there. Looking at three trips in December 2025, I'm in my early 40s and enjoy adventure and some luxury. I'm hoping someone can chime in on these three trips. The Viking Polaris is coming up the cheapest.

 

Silver Endeavor (15 Days)

Departs Puerto Williams, Chile

Stops:

- South Georgia & Sandwich Islands

- Elephant Island

- South Shetland Islands

 

Viking Polaris (19 Days)

Departs Buenos Aires, Argentina

Stops:

- Ushuaia, Argentina

- West Point Island, Falkland Islands

- Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

- South Georgia

 

Seabourn Venture (11 Days)

Departs Buenos Aires, Argentina

Goes to Antartica only via Ushuaia

* Ship looks amazing but I would only be able to afford the shorter trip and would have to plan another trip back for South George and Falkland

 

Thanks in advance!

[Nitemare]

Doesn't look like the first two actually go to Antarctica.  How much time does the last one spend there if you are starting all the up in B.A.?

[kaisatsu]

Go for the longest trip you can afford that visits the regions you want to visit. Actual locations are at best a wishlist, and never an itinerary, since conditions change on a dime.

 

Unlike traditional cruises, western-hemisphere Antarctica trips vary more by the time of year than anything in the itinerary aside from the regional distinctions (South Georgia, Falklands, South Shetlands, Antarctic Peninsula, Weddel Sea). A trip to the exact same locations a few months apart will be significantly different experiences, given the seasonal changes in wildlife. So if there’s anything in particular nature that you want to see, be sure you are traveling in the right season for it.

 

Also, Elephant Island is purely an aspirational thing to include in an itinerary. I’ve known expedition staff who visitors 9 times before finally being able to make a landing (that lasted 20 minutes). It’s historically interesting but very difficult to visit and not especially scenic. In hindsight, I think it’s biggest selling point among return visitors is just the bragging rights of having landed.

[mlgb]

One thing to keep in mind is that getting to Buenos Aires from Los Angeles is a giant PITA!

 

If you can find something that starts in Santiago it is a lot easier (even if they then fly you by charter to Ushuaia). 

 

I believe the Viking Polaris 19-day cruise  does include Antarctic landings.

 

Hurtigruten Expeditions has two large new ships that sail  Antarctica and the Falklands (from Buenos Aires)  with landings and zodiac cruising. I went over Christmas and the ship was only half full.  Cabins are very nice, as is the ship (all cabins have at least a window). I'd say service and dinner meals are okay, but beer and wine are included. Breakfast and lunch were fine. Larger ship limits the places where they are are permitted to land but we did get a continental landing one day, and landed three times in the Falklands, including New Island.

 

I think to include S Georgia you have to go to on their less-nice ship, MS Fram.

https://www.hurtigruten.com/en-us/expeditions/cruises/in-depth-antarctica-falklands-south-georgia-expedition/

 

 

Edited March 25 by mlgb

[CDNPolar]

On 11/26/2023 at 1:59 PM, maren91 said:

Hi there. Looking at three trips in December 2025, I'm in my early 40s and enjoy adventure and some luxury. I'm hoping someone can chime in on these three trips. The Viking Polaris is coming up the cheapest.

 

Silver Endeavor (15 Days)

Departs Puerto Williams, Chile

Stops:

- South Georgia & Sandwich Islands

- Elephant Island

- South Shetland Islands

 

Viking Polaris (19 Days)

Departs Buenos Aires, Argentina

Stops:

- Ushuaia, Argentina

- West Point Island, Falkland Islands

- Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

- South Georgia

 

Seabourn Venture (11 Days)

Departs Buenos Aires, Argentina

Goes to Antartica only via Ushuaia

* Ship looks amazing but I would only be able to afford the shorter trip and would have to plan another trip back for South George and Falkland

 

Thanks in advance!

We are Viking loyal BUT I am going to speak against Viking on this one...

 

We actually went to Antarctica on Hurtigruten.

 

We looked at Viking but we also found that Viking's excursions were less demanding than those of Hurtigruten.  We would have been disappointed with Viking's excursions.  Remember that Viking is organizing for an older crowd than the average Expedition seeker.

[CDNPolar]

To expand on that, our first expedition on Hurtigruten was this hike... Viking's landings and hikes were all level ground - from what I have heard of those on Viking.  Also our snowshoeing was very demanding.

 

The climb up this first "hill" took over 45 minutes switch back or zig zagging.  My understanding is that Viking does not do this kind of expedition as it is too demanding.

 

The snowshoeing below was also very demanding and kept us - quite in shape - out of breath for most of it.

 

[DTtravelers]

On 12/9/2023 at 5:37 AM, kaisatsu said:

Go for the longest trip you can afford that visits the regions you want to visit. Actual locations are at best a wishlist, and never an itinerary, since conditions change on a dime.

 

Unlike traditional cruises, western-hemisphere Antarctica trips vary more by the time of year than anything in the itinerary aside from the regional distinctions (South Georgia, Falklands, South Shetlands, Antarctic Peninsula, Weddel Sea). A trip to the exact same locations a few months apart will be significantly different experiences, given the seasonal changes in wildlife. So if there’s anything in particular nature that you want to see, be sure you are traveling in the right season for it.

 

Totally agree.  Go for the longest time you can.  It is a LONG way to get there, so stay as long as you can.  There is no place that compares.  If you opt for a shorter adventure, you will rue the decision.

 

If you have the notion that it will be a "once in a lifetime" experience, you might be fooling yourself.  It can be so spectacular that you will start thinking about what you want to do the next time ("next time" will include South Georgia!).

 

On 12/9/2023 at 5:37 AM, kaisatsu said:

Also, Elephant Island is purely an aspirational thing to include in an itinerary. I’ve known expedition staff who visitors 9 times before finally being able to make a landing (that lasted 20 minutes). It’s historically interesting but very difficult to visit and not especially scenic. In hindsight, I think it’s biggest selling point among return visitors is just the bragging rights of having landed.

 

Sorry, but I must disagree. We were fortunate enough to stop here in 2019, and it was definitely a high point.  Although it is notorious for being a very rough location, is also a very famous and interesting historical site because of Shackleton and his crew.  Do not go to Antarctica without having read "Endurance."

 

Imagine living here for 4+ months, subsisting on penguin and seal, and hoping that you will actually get rescued:

 

 

Occasionally the weather is nice, and we were even able to kayak here, although Brandon was a bit concerned about the Leopard seal that kept following him, trying to figure out what he was...

 

If you get the chance to go here, you will appreciate it.  If is is actually nice while you are here, then you will really appreciate it.

 

I'll let you decide if it was scenic:

 

 

 

This bust is not of Shackleton, but of the captain that rescued the crew:

 

"Here on August 30th, 1916, the Chilean Navy cutter Yelcho commanded by Pilot Luis Pardo Villalón rescued the 22 men from the Shackleton Expedition who survived the wreck of the Endurance living for four and one half months in this Island".

 

 

 

Penguins live with a constant dilemma: They need to dive in to find food, but there is the constant threat of Leopard Seals.

 

 

 

 

Leopard seals are huge!

 

 

[kaisatsu]

19 hours ago, DTtravelers said:

We were fortunate enough to stop here in 2019, and it was definitely a high point

How long were you able to stay ashore? Did you feel you got to really absorb the environment?

 

My impression is probably impacted by the incredibly short time we spent ashore. I felt that I got a much better feel for the environment from cruising offshore in the zodiac for a while than from the limited time we spent on land.

[DTtravelers]

Hi Kaisatsu:

 

We were there on Seabourn Quest December, 2019 from 8:00AM until 1:00PM.  So we had a relatively long time to soak it all it.  Everyone got to do zodiac tours and kayaks were available (for $). 

 

We didn't do a landing, but I agree that the best was touring the area in the zodiac.  We had Will, one of the expedition team bird experts, for our zodiac driver and he was just as excited to be there as we were.  The leopard seals were cruising the area outside where the poor little penguins needed to enter the water, right next to us. The dynamics were very interesting.

 

We were shown the area the Shackleton's crew survived.  Two of our expedition team, Rob and Trevor had reconstructed the sailing vessel that Shackleton used for that voyage and sailed the 800 miles to South Georgia when they were younger.  They shared some amazing stories.

 

We know that we won the jackpot and had an exceptional trip, and count our blessings: 11 days of calm weather.  Elephant Island was just the icing on the cake for us (along with barely a ripple on the water on the way back to the Falklands).

 

Also, just a couple days ago, they reported finding the sunken remains of the last ship Shackleton sailed, ironically, also called Quest, in 200 feet of water off the Canadian coast.  This was the ship the Shackleton passed away on when they were near Grytviken.

 

This is making me want to go back!!

[kaisatsu]

Ah, I see! My comment was more about the actual act of landing rather than just visiting the area. To me the biggest benefit of landing over zodiac cruising was just being able to say I’d done it.

[DTtravelers]

14 hours ago, kaisatsu said:

Ah, I see! My comment was more about the actual act of landing rather than just visiting the area. To me the biggest benefit of landing over zodiac cruising was just being able to say I’d done it.

I understand completely.  Until I actually set foot on the Antarctic Continent itself, it didn't feel like it was really "official"   🙂  On our trip, I don't think anyone actually set foot on land at Elephant Island.  But we were there!

 

I agree that trying to plan your trip around Elephant Island should not be the top priority.  For entertainment (I'm retired} I follow Antarctica trips on Cruisemapper, and I cringe when I see one sail by Elephant Island without even cruising by.  Unforgivable! 

 

I've also seen cruises sail right by Deception Island without stopping...  Also unforgivable. 

[kaisatsu]

14 hours ago, DTtravelers said:

I've also seen cruises sail right by Deception Island without stopping...  Also unforgivable. 

They probably aren’t on the IAATO schedule for the Deception landing sites, or they may be en route to a site where they actually have landing permissions, which the EL would likely prioritize over cruising the outside of the Deception caldera. It’s also possible that the sea conditions make it too risky to pass through Neptune’s Bellows and a planned landing needs to be canceled.

 

I doubt any EL would skip over either destination if they have the permissions, schedule, and sea conditions to make it happen.