A friend has entered a contest in which the grand prize is a trip to Antarctica. Very cool*, but what would that be like? What is there to do there? Great restaurants, five star hotel, indoor and outdoor swimming pool?
At first I thought to ask if the trip is in the summer, and she said no, it’s in December. At first my reaction is “That’s crazy, it’ll be dark the whole time!” Then I did this: :smack:
So have you ever been or know anyone that did?
*Yeah, I know.
The only Antarctic vacations I’ve ever heard of are ocean cruises that sight-see off the shores of the continent. Not unlike Alaska cruises with watching glaciers and ice floes and such, but without any ports of call. If that’s the case, they’ll be living in (mostly) luxury from the safety of the Big Boat.
That makes sense. Then they would have good restaurants and entertainment. For a 2 week vacation how far would they get? Would they leave from Rio Grande?
There are tour companies that offer guided expeditions to Antartica but it is roughing it and you are responsible for your gear.
Does sleeping next to my x-wife count?
How do I enter that contest? I’d love to go to Antarctica!
All that I’ve heard of leave from Ushuaia, Argentina - which is a bit further south than Rio Grande. Lindblad/National Geographic is one such company; Compagnie du Ponant is another. There are more and more with each passing year.
You wouldn’t get far in two weeks - just to the Antarctic Peninsula.
EDIT: Also worth noting that the ships that cruise to Antarctica are not your typical monster cruise ships - usually in the 75 to 150 passenger range. There may be some bigger than that, I haven’t researched it deeply. But I’d imagine you’d only want ships that are prepared for the climate to be going that far south. And no Italian ship captains (too soon?).
Just watch out for escaped Norwegian sled-dogs.
Antarctic cruises also depart from Hobart in Tasmania and Bluff in New Zealand.
It may be fun to go, but it’s pretty low on my list of places to see. One big problem is that you can only go in the Northern Hemisphere’s winter, exactly when I DON’T want to be any colder than I already am.
I knew an older couple who did a 20-day trip on a small cruise ship (about 100 passengers, IIRC). They really enjoyed it. There were several chances to go ashore (in Zodiac boats) and see such things as penguin colonies (which apparently don’t smell very nice). Food and service were reported to be quite good.
As they should have been, given a per-person cost around $20k. (!) So I’m not planning this anytime soon.
I recently listened to a “Stuff You Should Know” podcast about tourism in Antarctica - here’s the article they based their show on. My favorite part - there’s an annual marathon there, if you have a lazy $16,000 for the entrance fee.
Yeah, but aren’t New Zealand and Tasmania already in Antarctica? 
I’ve been! 
As others stated, most Antarctica trips are via cruise ships; I cruised on a 100-passenger ship. Note, Antarctica is protected and only 100 people can land at a time. My trip was roughly $16K after all the costs were totaled, so this is an absolutely fantastic grand prize.
I believe there are additional trips that will take people to the South Pole, but they are even more expensive.
On the Antarctica Peninsula (likely destination if they leave from Ushuaia), there is no human “improvements”; all that there is to enjoy are penguins, penguins and in low-penguin populated areas, complete solitude that you can’t get in the “real” world. If you want the swimming pool option, the ship I sailed on did fill its small pool with Southern Ocean waters on the last day, so I took a Arctic plunge in below freezing water while still in safe, monitored conditions.
Would I recommend this trip? No, I would send people to the Galapagos first for the wider variety of activities and animals; but the quiet that I experienced in Antarctica was amazing and disquieting at the same time.
As for weather… When I went, it was actually warm. I wore shorts in Stanley (town in the Falkland Islands) and, on the peninsula, there were some 40+ degree F days. Yes, there were some colder, stormier days both on land and on sea, but it was not miserable by any stretch of the imagination.
Thanks for the first-hand information! I had no idea that it could get that warm there.
BTW, my nickname for my friend who’s entered the contest is Snow Bunny. I did a little double-take on that.
It’s on facebook through Abercrombie & Kent. Apparently you have to submit awesome photos to win, which is not how I understand sweepstakes to work. I don’t know anything else about it.
LOL! Maybe that’s a sign. 
I don’t know if this is kosher or not, so mods feel free to edit. I traveled via Quark Expeditions (I have no other connections to that company). If you go to their website, there is a selection of cruise options as well as photos. Yes, basically all that you will see are penguins, whales and icebergs.