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If you’ve ever wondered “what are the things to do in Antarctica” or “what do you actually do on an Antarctic cruise??”, this blog is for you! We’re spilling all the tea on what it’s really like to travel to the 7th continent and answering your most frequently asked questions. The experience is super unique and once in a lifetime, so hopefully this sheds a little light on what to expect when you venture to Antarctica!
If you haven’t read them yet, you should also check out our blogs on “How to visit Antarctica” and “Cost to visit Antarctica + key money-saving tips!”.
Alright, now let’s get to the juicy stuff! Here’s everything you want to know about the things to do in Antarctica.
Things to do in Antarctica on the cruise ship
Note: this is all written from our experience on trip with Quark Expeditions on the Ocean Endeavor ship.
Antarctic cruise ships
Most of the time you take a cruise ship and sail to Antarctica. You can also fly there and then board the ship, but sailing from the tip of South America is the most prevalent option. (You can check out your options on how to visit Antarctica here).
That said, it’s hard to envision what exactly cruise ships to such a remote place would be like! Well, they’re definitely not massive Disney cruise ships with waterslides if that’s what you’re envisioning (that’s what I was thinking!!). Nope, they’re more like military-grade ships that can handle the rough waters. While they’re still nice boats, they tend to be much smaller than a Carnival cruise line (ours only held 199 guests), have more indoor space proportionally and generally are built for the Antarctic. This means they have a few less frills and are built to withstand the Drake Passage and the ice in the far south. Note: most of the Antarctic cruise ships are not ice breaker ships though (those are super intense!).
Like most cruises, your ship is your “home base” for the entirety of your excursion. So it’s where you sleep every night (you don’t just sail and stay in a hotel on Antarctica), it’s where you eat, etc.
The Ocean Endeavor
Every ship differs a bit and the details may weigh into your decision on which company/expedition to sign up for. But here is an example of what our ship, the Ocean Endeavor, was like:
- 3rd deck consisted of the zodiac boarding area and rooms for crew
- 4th deck consisted of guest rooms (this is where our room was) and the mud room
- 5th deck had guest rooms, the reception desk and some access to outer decks
- 6th deck consisted of the dining room where we had all our meals, a library room, a lounge where we all congregated for announcements, presentations, etc., the gift shop, an outdoor pool/hottub (only filled after crossing the Drake), and an outdoor deck
- 7th deck had another lounge, guest rooms and deck access
- 8th deck consisted of the sauna, gym and spa, a few guest rooms, outdoor deck space and the bridge where the captain and crew work
- 9th deck, the top deck, had a big outdoor deck and another lounge
So, as you can tell, it’s not small by any means and there are plenty of places to hang out and plenty of amenities, but we aren’t talking a giant Carnival cruise-ship on ice here.
Cabins on the ship
So many folks ask us about the cabins on board the ship! To be honest, we haven’t gone on a ton of cruises in our lifetime, but comparing to the handful we’ve been on these rooms seemed pretty standard. Similar to most ships, the rooms were pretty small, bathrooms especially, but you don’t spend much time in your cabin so it really doesn’t get claustrophobic.
Rooms also differ depending on which room you choose and which ship you’re on. For example, we got the twin porthole suite which was the cheapest option available when we booked. We had two twin beds (social-distancing before it was cool haha), a small vanity, 2 TVs, two bathrooms which was awesome, a small closet and a pull-out couch. That sounds like a lot, I know, but remember it’s a pretty tight space. However, it was ample for us to be comfortable.
Also, everything is bolted down so you don’t get a lamp flying at your head in your sleep as you’re crossing the Drake passage (which is clutch). Another great thing was that the sweet housekeeping team came everyday. Having a tidy room certainly helped us feel less claustrophobic.
The ship had a ton of other options too for different price points. There were some interior single-occupancy rooms without windows, porthole window rooms, rooms with big windows and suites with decks. So depending on your budget you can definitely find a room that works.
All that said, the cabins were pretty darn nice!
The journey to and from Antarctica
The journey there
It takes a couple days to sail to Antarctica from the tip of South America and being someone who’s always doing something, I was super curious about what you do on those days if the ship wasn’t the main attraction. However, keeping busy was absolutely not an issue!
In order to prepare everyone for the expedition, the first day is filled with administrative type stuff. You embark, meet the crew, have welcome and safety briefings, go through lifeboat drills, pick up your parka and boots, have a seasickness clinic, meet the onboard doctor, etc. We also had health screenings before we embarked and I assume this will become standard post-COVID.
Our second day consisted of more safety briefings, performing the biosecurity procedures on our gear to make sure we weren’t contaminating the continent, introductions and briefings for excursions like kayaking, etc. There were also staff presentations on the wildlife and history, ice-breaker games to get to know our ship-mates, etc. Do note, though, that by the second day you’re going through the Drake Passage. So, while there are things on the agenda, you may just be staying put inside your cabin trying to gain your “sea-legs” and not toss your cookies.
Overall, the journey down to Antarctica flies by. If you’re like us, a lot of your time is spent just adjusting to traveling by sea and walking without falling over hah. Needless to say, the journey to the continent is pretty jam-packed in preparations for the epic adventure ahead.
>>Read: Crossing the Drake Passage – how bad is it?!
The journey back
While the journey back doesn’t consist of safety briefings (it’d be a little late!), there’s plenty to keep busy with. There are quite a few administrative things to handle after on the journey back like getting briefed on the disembarkation process, returning gear, getting packed up, etc. The staff also puts on many more presentations at this point that are super fascinating. It’s also a great time to go through the 10,000 photos you’ve taken and exchange photos with friends. By the time you’re heading back you’re sure to have made some great friends, so it’s a perfect time to hang out with them too! We played a lot of card games with friends on these days.
As many of you know our journey back was pretty A-typical as it resulted in a 14-day quarantine thanks to COVID, but that’s a story for another day :).
The food on the ship
Just thinking about the food on our ship has me drooling! All meals and snacks were provided and holy cow the food was SO good. Breakfast and lunch were all-you-can-eat buffets and lunch rotated cuisines each day. Dinner was a more formal sit down (you don’t have to get dressed up or anything though) and it consisted of a 4-course meal each night with unlimited wine. Yes, I wrote that right – FOUR courses every single night. Make sure you size up in the clothes you pack hah!
Another thing I have to commend our ship on is being accommodating for dietary restrictions. They went above and beyond to cater to everyone’s dietary needs individually which was awesome to see. As a vegetarian I never had a problem getting a well-balanced meal which was great.
Bottom line – we definitely didn’t go hungry on board!
Activities on-board the ship
Each evening the staff would post a daily agenda for the next day. These would of course include times for mandatory briefings and meals, but also activities that we could choose to partake in. There was never a shortage of things for us to do while we were on-board.
Different organized activities offered on our ship were:
- Presentations by the staff (about the history, wildlife, etc.)
- Workshops (photography, wildlife identification, etc)
- Yoga & fitness classes
- Games & trivia
- Karaoke night
Besides these organized activities we could always:
- Whale and bird watch from the outer decks
- Workout at the gym
- Visit the spa
- Go to the sauna
- Hang out with friends in the lounges
- Spend time out on deck
- Shop in the on-board gift shop (trust me, it’s addicting)
- Watch the very limited TV channels in the room (Frozen Planet episodes and Frasier re-runs only haha)
Were you really disconnected the whole time??
Notice that none of the above activities include spending time on our phones or computers. That’s because YES, once you leave port you are totally disconnected. (*Cue the gasp of all my fellow millennials*) Many ships may have a wi-fi package to purchase but the internet will be very very slow. That said, being disconnected and fully immersed in the experience is 100% the way to go. We felt so free to unplug, soak in every ounce of the experience and get to know the amazing people on-board. Whether you go to Antarctica or not, I definitely recommend an unplugged getaway!
Things to do in Antarctica when you get there
By now you’re probably saying ‘okay cool Kylie, but what do you do once you actually get to Antarctica?? What’s that like??’ Well this, my friends, is a day in the life of an Antarctic Expedition.
Daily things to do in Antarctica
Morning Routine
Every morning we were woken up around 7 am by our lovely expedition leader over the loud speaker. “Goooood morning ship mates!” she’d say, “I hope you all got some good rest. We are currently at 62′ S and 59º W. It’s a beautiful 1ºC outside and the perfect morning to spend a bit of time out on deck. Breakfast will be served until 8 am in the Polaris restaurant, so make sure you fuel up for our big adventures today. Shortly after breakfast we will start our excursion to XX harbor where we will be doing both a zodiac cruise and a landing. See you soon!”
It’s funny, I think her wakeup call will be forever engrained in my head. Shortly after the wake-up call we’d get dressed in our base layers and head up to breakfast. Breakfast was always a balancing act of having enough coffee to wake-up and enough water to hydrate but not too much where you’d need to pee during the excursion. Once you board the zodiac boat for the morning excursions there are no places to use the bathroom, so you have to be strategic! First world problems, am I right?
Preparing for the Morning Excursion
After breakfast we’d finish getting ready for our excursion. This is when we would put on the rest of our base layers, pack up our dry bag, make sure all cameras had batteries and memory, etc. Then we were called by group to head to the mudroom. The whole ship was broken into 4 groups and we rotated the order of which group headed out first.
In the mudroom we each had an assigned locker where we kept our boots, parka, snow pants and life vest. Once our group was called we would head to the mudroom to put these final layers on and get the OK to leave. This process was always pretty quick because the staff didn’t want us to overheat wearing all these layers inside.
Once we had our gear checked we would head down to deck 3 where we re-cleaned our boots. This is super important because we don’t want to contaminate the land by bringing new species through our clothes. Then, finally, they would scan our ship ID cards. Each person on-board was given a ship ID card that was both your room key and your personal identifier for the duration of the expedition. They would always scan us before and after every excursion to make sure they kept track of all guests.
Morning Excursion
Anyways, once we were geared up and scanned, it was time to board the zodiac boats! Zodiac boats are the small black boats that are used to cruise throughout Antarctica and to land on Antarctica, since the cruise ship never gets that close to land and can’t access many of the coves.
For most excursions we did both a cruise and a landing. This meant that we’d have an hour or so on the water in the zodiac boat to cruise around and another hour on land. Depending on what group we were in, we’d either cruise or land first since only 100 people can be on land at one time.
Zodiac Cruising
During a zodiac cruise we would look for whales, seals, admire the landscape by boat, go through ice caves, etc. It was absolutely incredible! Whales would get SO close to the zodiac boats, we were able to watch (and hear!) ice calving from the glaciers, and we got up close and personal with the beautiful sea-ice and icebergs.
Landings
When we would land on the continent we would hang out with the penguins and seals, hike around, see cool artifacts like remnants of old research centers, etc. Of course hanging out with the penguins was our favorite! You’re told to give-way to the wild life, keep your distance and not initiate contact, however sometimes the penguins come up to you. They would smell you and try to suss you out. Sometimes they’d even jump in your lap and hang out like a lap dog! Life. Complete. After every landing we would re-clean all of our outer wear thoroughly before getting back on the ship, to again ensure we weren’t cross-contaminating even different parts of the continent.
Since the rest of the time you’re on board the ship, these excursions are the meat of the Antarctic experience! The couple hours would always go by so quickly because we were in such awe of the experience, trying to capture it both mentally and on film! The goal of the staff is to find the best opportunities to show you the continent through these excursions and ours never disappointed. It was super neat, too, because each time we went out we had a different staff member as our guide and each of them had different specialties. So getting info through the lens of a whale expert vs a professional kayaker vs a penguin expert, etc. was fascinating!
Lunch time
After we’d come in from our excursion, we would head back into the mudroom to take off our outer gear. We would get a warm of hot cocoa from everyone’s favorite staff member, Kenny, as soon as we stripped down to our under-layers. Seriously, after being out in the cold hot cocoa hits the freakin’ spot and this guy became everyone’s hero.
After this there was usually a short break before lunch where you could go to yoga class or just chill before lunch. Scott chose the yoga everyday while I chose to stalk the restaurant to be the first in line for the lunch buffet hah. Then we’d have a delicious buffet lunch to fuel ourselves for our next excursion! During this time our captain would sail to our next destination.
Afternoon Excursion
Shortly after lunch we’d go out on another excursion to explore a different area of the continent. So we’d rinse and repeat the whole mudroom getting ready process and head back out on the zodiac boats!
Dinner time
After our afternoon excursion we’d once again go through the process of removing all our layers (I’ve never had such respect for people who do that daily living in cold climates!). We’d then have a recap & briefing from our staff where they’d cover the agenda for the next day and any announcements.
After that we would chow down on our delicious 4-course dinners and inevitably become wayyy too full, but it was so worth it.
Evening
In the evenings after dinner they would usually have a casual ‘bar talk’ presentation in the lounge where we’d sometimes hang out, but otherwise we’d head to our room on the ship to get ready for an early night. The days are pretty exhausting and we always wanted to be rested to take on the next adventure!
Other things to do in Antarctica
Outside of the daily excursions there are a few things to do in Antarctica that you can sign up for! Those things include stand-up paddle boarding, kayaking, doing the Polar Plunge, etc. These are offered at certain times during the expedition and are usually a one-time thing.
You can read all about our epic adventures doing the Ultimate Polar Plunge here and everything you need to know about Kayaking in Antarctica here!
How do you decide which things to do in Antarctica??
General rule of thumb: always say YES! Since this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, we said yes to everything! This meant we went to almost every presentation, even if it was something that may not necessarily have interested us in the past. We kayaked because how could we go to Antarctica and not kayak?! We plunged into that freezing cold water as if we’d lost our minds because why the heck not! Saying HECK YES is the best way to experience Antarctica fully.
>> Psst.. Did you know? We edited all of the photos in this article with our Lightroom Presets! Check them out!
How do you decide where to go??
In terms of deciding which destinations you visit for excursions, you don’t have a say in that. Weather patterns differ every day, as do sailing itineraries, so the staff decides the night before or the day of where the next excursion will be. If you’re type A like me that sounds super variable, but honestly it doesn’t matter where you go. It’s going to be freaking INCREDIBLE and how cool is it that every expedition is different!
Overall, what’s it like to visit Antarctica??
I’m sure I’ve written this in every blog & said it on every podcast, but going to Antarctica changed our lives. It gave us a newfound appreciation for travel and for untouched places. The expedition showed us a whole new part of the world that felt like it was another planet. It felt like humans were the guests on a planet run by the most majestic wildlife, and it was truly an out-of-body experience.
I hope this shed some light into what the Antarctic Experience was like. Please comment if you have any comments or questions, and check out the rest of our blogs on the 7th continent!
Antarctica vlog
We are currently working on all of our Antarctica vlogs for our YouTube channel, and this is our first! Watch us freeze our butts off jumping into the Antarctic water!
More Antarctica blogs are here!
- How to visit Antarctica – everything you need to know!
- Cost to visit Antarctica + key money-saving tips
- Crossing the Drake Passage… how bad was it really?!
- Kayaking in Antarctica – the epic adventure
- The ULTIMATE Polar Plunge – the story of diving into the Antarctic water
All of these blogs are coming soon…
- 10 Reasons to visit Antarctica
- What to wear in Antarctica and not freeze your booty off
- Quarantined in Antarctica – what’s the story??
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Kylie & Scott
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