26 February 2023, Antarctic Cruise Day 13, Renaud Island to Danco Coast, via Lemaire Channel and Petermann Island – At breakfast we saw a humpback whale showing off his tail.  Mealtimes are going to be very mundane after this.  Our landing site for today was Petermann Island, which features an Argentine refuge hut, and a […]

25 February 2023, Antarctic Cruise Day 12, Loubet Coast to nr Renaud Island, via Crystal Sound and Turnabout Island – After last night’s excitement, we slept like logs.  The plan for today was to keep pressing north to Yalour Island for what is possibly our last zodiac cruise. The Giant Petrels were scheduled very late […]

24 February 2023, Antarctic Cruise Day 11, Marguerite Bay to Loubet Coast via Horseshoe Island – I thought nothing would top yesterday, but today came damn close.  We had a quiet morning as we sailed through calm seas and under blue skies, towards Horseshoe Island.  It was during lunch that the call came – “orcas!” […]

23 February 2023, Antarctic Cruise Day 10, Bellingshausen Sea to Marguerite Bay – After an overnight sailing, we anchored on the south side of Charcot Island.  For a long time it was thought this was part of the continent, as it was joined by an ice shelf.  It has only been very recently that the […]

22 February 2023, Antarctic Cruise Day 9, Bellingshausen Sea, Verdi Inlet – The day was not over yet.  Not content with smashing records, there was exploration to be done.  No-one on board ship had been here before, and the crew were as eager as the passengers to get out in zodiacs and discover what was […]

22 February 2023, Antarctic Cruise Day 9, Bellingshausen Sea, 72 Degrees South – A big morning!  We were woken at 7.30am with an announcement that an emperor penguin had been sighted.  The next announcement, at 9am, was an invitation to a “72 Degrees South” celebration on the Pool Deck – yes, we had achieved our […]

STOP PRESS – at 5 pm this afternoon we sailed below the 70 degree South line – a new southern record for a Hurtigruten ship. The only seagoing vessels further south than us right now, are a couple of icebreakers. More tomorrow on our southerly progress – in the meantime, go to cruisemapper.com, and look […]

20 February 2023, Antarctic Cruise Day 7, Marguerite Bay, Stonington Island – We continued our southerly progress during the night, into Marguerite Bay.  We anchored off Stonington Island in the morning, for our first landing today.  Stonington Island is a former British research station, established in 1946 and closed in 1975. It is also the […]

19 February 2023, Antarctic Cruise Day 6, Graham Coast to Marguerite Bay via Fish Islands and The Gullet – After a lazy afternoon, excitement kicked in at 5pm when we crossed the Antarctic Circle – 66.33 degrees south. Apparently to appease King Neptune, one is supposed to have a bucket of ice tipped over one’s […]

19 February 2023, Antarctic Cruise Day 6, Graham Coast to Marguerite Bay, via Fish Islands – A selection of photos from our morning zodiac cruise. We saw our first Adelie penguins, Antarctic shags, and a crab seal. The ice is a stunning translucent blue. Ian is looking more Shackletonesque by the day.