Travellers' ChecksSilversea’s Ultimate Antarctic Experience a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ trip
If the White Continent is on your bucket list, check out Silversea’s 10- to 23-day package
SOUTHERN COMFORT Although tourists have been able to visit the Antarctic on commercially organised cruises for almost 50 years, doing so is still seen as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Most cruises leave from Ushuaia – the southernmost city in the world – on the southern tip of Argentina and sail about 1,000km across Drake Passage to the Antarctic Peninsula, the northernmost part of the White Continent.
Getting to Ushuaia from Hong Kong involves several flights, at least two of them long-haul, and more than 30 hours in the air. The window of opportunity is also quite small, as the Antarctic cruise season only runs from December to February, and prices are usually significantly higher than for cruises in other parts of the world. But, of course, it’s a journey well worth making and if you’re still reading this, the luxury cruise company Silversea is offering all-inclusive Ultimate Antarctic Experience packages that run from 10 to 23 days and include pre-cruise hotel stays and charter flights between Ushuaia and Buenos Aires or Santiago.
The cruises of 18 days or more visit a few of the Falkland Islands, as well as South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands, the South Orkneys and Elephant Island. Two ships will be operating the upcoming season’s 13 Silversea cruises (December 1 to February 15) – the 130-passenger Silver Explorer (above) and, for the first time, the company’s oldest ship, Silver Cloud. She will be going in for a major ice-class refurbishment and hull-strengthening work in Malta from August to October, and will carry only 200 passengers while in Antarctic waters, instead of her maximum 260.