Was it everything I thought it would be? Yes. Maybe more.
It was great that all of the landings were so different – different conditions getting out of the zodiacs, different topography ashore, different weather/snow conditions… We were very fortunate since available landing sites and weather are luck of the draw.
I’d worried before the trip that 5 days in Antarctica would seem too short and that I’d regret not picking a longer itinerary (not that I had the vacation time or money to do so). However, the days were so full of activity and after 5 of them, I was ready for a rest. They packed so many stops into the itinerary that I didn’t feel like anything was missing, even though we of course couldn’t see everything. So this itinerary was actually perfect.
I always felt very safe with Hurtigruten. Especially with landings, they seemed very risk averse and were always happy to help anyone with mobility challenges. Our return to Ushuaia for medical reasons also showed that they would prioritize health over vacation (they could have taken a riskier option with the passenger’s medical care to give everyone else a possibly better trip, but they didn’t).
My $0.02 on Drive-by vs. Expedition cruises: there are raging debates on travel forums, with most of the opinion that it’s expedition or bust, and you have to include South Georgia and the Falklands, too. Obviously, if you can afford to do it all, do it all. If you don’t have the vacation time or money to do it all, I think anything is better than nothing. You can have an amazing time just seeing the scenery from the ship on a drive-by, though you won’t necessarily see the same places that a smaller ship can go. research how often the larger ships get diverted from their destinations so you won’t be devastated later. Look for a cruise line/ship that focuses on education, giving lectures in the free time and having scientists and/or naturalists onboard. And bring really good binoculars.
Expedition cruising (or expedition travel) is really appealing to me now. I’m not saying I’ll stop doing traditional cruises – they have their place when you want to just relax. But this opened my eyes to the value of something different for travel where you want to learn and experience. The smaller ship with lots of educational opportunities and like-minded people was really nice. It reminded me a lot of my study abroad experience with Semester at Sea, which is what made me love cruising in the first place.