I haven’t been on that trip, but a couple of us were on a NZ-USH expedition that completely went south (pun intended).
A lot of passengers were disappointed that we had to miss almost half the planned operations. Every Antarctica trip requires a good level of flexibility and accepting/enjoying the trip you get. On the longer trams-oceanic expeditions, I think this applies tenfold.
For our trip, there was a massive weather system that had us racing to stay ahead of it, and we missed a handful of operations because of it (including seeing the Ross ice shelf, which was one of my top highlights). We then lost a few more days due to uncharted sea ice, which put us so far behind schedule that all further landings and operations were canceled, and we were racing tough sea conditions to reach port on time. Crazy rough sailing.
It was not the trip we had planned, and for some of us it was a huge investment. But it was the trip and the adventure we got. I don’t know how to put a price tag on experience, and the money is gone, so there’s really no way to define whether it was “worth it,” so why bother?
All that to say:
If you are okay with the cost of the trip and are willing to accept if things don’t go as planned, go for it. You’ll have a new experience no matter what! And if things go to plan, you’ll get to visit some hard-to-reach places that you’d like to visit (assuming you do have an interest in the south Atlantic).
If rough seas and long stretches of sea days put you off, it’s probably not a good choice. And if you are t keen to visit Tristan da Cunha, etc. you might as well stick to another traditional FI-SGI-A trip.
If you do choose to go, please come back and tell us about it! I’d love to visit Tristan da Cunha and I love hearing from the few who make it to Inaccessible Island!
Edited: 24 July 2024, 10:39