What a fantastic trip . I highly recommend the cruise from Dunedin ( NZ ) to Antartica visiting subantarctic island ( Auckland , Macquarie and snares etc ) . This was a luxury cruise expedition and there were many opportunities to go on zodiacs to the shore to look at wildlife and nature . There was plenty of everything . We saw many birds , loads of penguins , got up close with seals, and whales & orcas and even came close to the ship as well as historic huts ( Shackleton and Scotts). The Naturalists were very knowledgable and happily shared their specialities with us while on the boat in the form of lectures or from the observation decks and also when we went on shore . There were 19 naturalists who were experts in history of the exploration and respiration of the Huts and explorers while others had expertise in seaweed and oceans , geology, ice , penguins , seals, albatross and s many other things. The cruise itself was great ; small numbers ( 180 passengers and 180 staff) luxurious accomodation , mostly good food and some entertainment. the only whinge I have would be that the chairs in the lounges were uncomfortable and at times the food was boring . The bread was consistently awful. I appreciate that catering to group when you cannot replenish supplies is challenging I felt that this could be done better. We got to 77 degrees south !











