Family-Friendly Vacation & Cruise to Antarctica

Your boat travels along the Drake Passage, a 500-mile-wide waterway between Cape Horn and the Antarctic Peninsula. The dramatic lore of the stunning maritime destination derives from the natural, but unique, movement of the current. At breakfast, the aroma of fresh coffee and hot chocolate fills the dining room as the sea shimmers with bright sunlight as the days stretch longer the closer the ship moves to the Antarctic Peninsula. Your kids will listen to the stories of sailors and ships who have passed through the Drake Passage, including the first European explorer for whom the passage was named, Sir Francis Drake.

Your vessel has been strengthened for your journey through the icy seas of Antarctica, allowing it to roll across the large waves that regularly reach over 40 feet tall and change the waterscape and affect the weather. No significant landmasses exist inside the Drake Passage, making the horizon stark in its vastness mixed with the cold air that bites at your cheeks. You can stand on the upper deck with the kids and look for signs of sea life to find a sooty albatross circling the air in search of squid, fish, and cephalopods. The birds rest around the shorelines on islands of the southern Atlantic Ocean, and one of the naturalist staff on board the ship will happily provide information and stories to your family and keep everyone engaged as you sail.

The kids will wake early in the hopes of finding another sooty albatross swooping into the water in search of squid, and they can take cups of hot chocolate with them out on deck to see the sun already up in the early hours of the morning. You will find comfort in the tantalizing aroma of coffee blending with the sea air. The naturalists will be up and available to explain some of the unique biodiversity of the Drake Passage as the warmer northern waters sink beneath the colder polar waters, which accounts for the often intense waves and weather. Your family can take turns looking through binoculars in search of whales, dolphins, or seals before stepping back into the warmth of the interior for a tour of the bridge to meet the navigation crew.

Your kids will watch in wonderment as the navigator marks the path using the traditional methods of measurement to coincide with the path set by the modern Global Positioning System. The navigator uses a sextant, an antique device that measures the distance between two given points, including the stars and the horizon, to locate the ship’s position. The ship’s officer can share about the history of the instrument and the reason they continue to utilize what some consider an outdated method of navigation before showing the family the nautical chart. The view from the bridge is extraordinary as it highlights the pristine, wide-open space of the sea.

The summer days in and around Antarctica encompass 24 hours, as the sun never truly dips behind the western horizon this close to the South Pole. Your ship will begin to navigate the Weddell Sea, passing tabular icebergs and floating landmasses that glow with an iridescent blue. The frigid water glistens and ripples beneath the ship and along the shoreline of the peninsula of northern West Antarctica. The southern portion of the sea fades beneath a permanent ice shelf field. The icebergs have broken away from the Larsen, Ronne, and Filchner ice shelves over the thousands of years and continue to captivate passersby, and your whole family will be fascinated.

Snow petrels perch on the tops of the icebergs and rest at intervals between their hunt. The opulent white plumage is reminiscent of snow but contrasts with the cold blue hues of the iceberg. Their grey feet and coal-black eyes stand out from their feathers, and their wingspan can grow to over 30 inches wide as they flutter their wings in the air, as opposed to strictly gliding in flight. Your ship will pass alongside the outer shores of Paulet Island, a landmass with less than a one-mile-long diameter. Your ship will weigh anchor to allow your family to take a zodiac boat to shore.

The geothermal heat keeps portions of the island free from ice to reveal a topography shaped by the lava flow, suggesting volcanic activity within the last millennium. Snow petrels nest on the island shores and a breeding colony of 100,000 Adelie penguins is located on the island. You will marvel at the outcropping of blue ice that pours into the sea, reminiscent of a snow cone in view of the metallic gray hues of the icy rolling hills. The penguins in the colony squawk with a vibrant but quick succession of honks. The common species of penguin represents the most iconic image of the Antarctic avifauna, which features plumage redolent of tuxedos on the birds that reach nearly 30 inches tall.

Your ship will remain anchored near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. Your kids will be excited to board the zodiac boat once more to feel the cold rush of the wind nip at their cheeks. You will now have a true sense of the immensity of the icebergs as you pass along the watery base, noticing their magnificent height and girth from the stoic waters of the Weddell Sea. Travel to the shores of Hope Bay, a more than three-mile-long shoreline at the opening of the Antarctic Sound.

Your children will practice their Adelie penguin call imitation before reaching the coastline as your skipper guides the zodiac and points to a snow sheathbill gliding through the sky above the pebbled beach. The birds live in extreme conditions along the Antarctic landscape but migrate north for the winter. The pink strand of feathers around their eyes stands out from their snow-white plumage. Swedish explorer Otto Nordenskjold discovered the island in 1902, and the Argentine station known as Esperanza Base was established on the island in 1952 to remain as one of two civilization settlements on the continent.

The complex houses 55 inhabitants in winter, which includes ten families and two school teachers. Approximately 1,100 tourists visit the station each year to view the 43 buildings that span the 40,300-square-foot complex. The orange edifices burst from the snowy landscape, and cobalt water resembles flames surrounded by ice. The locals very much welcome visitors and will eagerly introduce you to life on the Antarctic continent.

The drama of the Antarctic Peninsula continues to unfold for your family with each new day. You will have begun to deeply enjoy the cozy charms of a morning coffee as the vibrant sunlight spreads across the snow-bleached landscape in the distance. You will venture today to the conspicuous headlands of Cape Well-Met on the northern side of Vega Island. Swedish expedition leader Otto Nordenskjold discovered the point during the expedition from 1901 to 1904. Your kids will carefully listen to the skipper tell the fascinating story of the adventurer’s winter expedition which separated the party for 22 months. Paleontologists have uncovered a rich history spanning the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods encompassing the time when dinosaurs became extinct.

Your family will hang on the words of your guides as they explain how excavations have unearthed fossils of hadrosaurs, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs. The shores of Snow Hill Island provide access to the most northerly colony of emperor penguins on the continent. The snow-capped island is 21 miles long and contains the ruins of the wooden hut erected by the stranded party of Nordenskjold’s expedition team. The protected birding territory to the southwest features approximately 4,000 pairs of emperor penguins, the largest penguin in the world reaching nearly 50 inches tall. The species does not have a fixed nest and therefore uses a complex set of calls to distinguish their mate or offspring when on the beach or in the crowd. The chicks use a mixture of a whistle and clank when begging for food.

Your boat will weigh anchor at Paradise Harbor, which is connected to the northwestern branch of the Antarctic Peninsula. The bay sits behind the Lemaire and Byrde islands, pushing into the Graham Land. Whalers operated in the region until the 1920s as one of the only two natural harbors available in the region. On the zodiac to the shoreline, your guide will point to the shell of a shelter erected in the 1950s. The edifice was erected as a monument to the first head of state to visit Antarctica, Chilean president Gabriel Gonzales Videla.

You will pass floating sheets of ice and huddle close to one another while rushing through the calm waters alongside the snow coastlines of Cuverville Island. The dark rocks protrude from Errera Channel reaching a height of 826 feet above sea level. The rugged beaches support the largest colony of Gentoo penguins on the continent, consisting of 6,500 couples. The Gentoo penguins are the third type of penguin species you have seen while visiting Antarctica, and the excitement has only grown. You can hear the calls of the penguins before reaching the colony.

Their guttural honk resembles the loud call of geese. The kids are the first to spot the colony and notice the way the penguins tilt their heads back when calling to one another. None of the types of penguins you have seen resemble one another and instead have distinctive characteristics that reveal their specific species. The Gentoo penguin’s orange-red bill protrudes from the black plumage around their face, and they have pink webbed feet and a long tail that sticks out behind them sweeping from side to side when they walk.

The name of Deception Island is as captivating as the actual topography. You will board the zodiac boat in the morning to find the shells of buildings, boats, and whaling equipment decorating the landscape. Norwegian and Chilean sailors used the island as a station for whaling excursions, along with scientists from Chile, Argentina, Spain, and the United Kingdom who utilized the island’s position for research. The volcanic activity on Deception Island has made settlements on the landscape a risky proposition. Your guide will have you look back at the cruise ship anchored in the bay before explaining the harbor is actually a large caldera that has helped protect ships from storms and icebergs.

In the 1960s, the volcano erupted twice in two years, demolishing research stations and burying a cemetery occupied by 45 deceased whalers. Iron boilers and tanks on the island deterred Nazis from using the landscape as a place to store fuel during the Second World War. Chinstrap penguins roam along the ice-free shoreline nesting in the world’s largest chinstrap rookeries. The faint aroma of sulfur fades beneath the crisp air holding elements of brine from the sea as steam rises from pockets of geothermal springs in view of the caldera. Your family can take the plunge into the volcanic bath and enjoy the water known to reach as warm as 70 degrees Fahrenheit, juxtaposing with the surrounding lunar landscape of gray rocks and pebbles.

The calms seas will have allowed the ship to sail at a leisurely pace around the South Shetland Islands as you venture north towards Ushuaia and arrive at Elephant Island. The ice-covered, mountainous terrain spans an area of 215 square miles with summits reaching up to nearly 2,800 feet above sea level. Argentina, Chile, and the United Kingdom have laid claim to the island, with Brazil supporting a research station. Elephant Island maintains the idyllic image of Antarctica with frozen shores, snow-bleached hills, and sporadic rocky terrain that merges from the blanket of white.

Your guide will recount the story of Ernest Shackleton and his ship Endurance during an expedition in 1916. The shifting floes sunk the ship and stranded the crew. Shackleton traveled with five other crewmen over 800 miles to reach South Georgia for help. Eventually, the Chilean tugboat Yelcho arrived from Punta Arenas to rescue the remaining men. The children focus on the marvelous story and its unforgettable happy ending before enjoying the crunch their boots make when climbing onto the island shore. In season, chinstrap penguins nest on the coastline, allowing the family another opportunity to view a fourth species of penguin during your Antarctica excursion. Their distinctive feature of a black line running along their chin resembles a strap, making the bird look as if they wear a black helmet.

Sailing across the Drake Passage will bring the same exhilaration as you move north as it did when you were venturing towards the shores of the Antarctic Peninsula. Your family will notice the subtle difference in the length of the days and the kids will continue in search of signs of sea life from the upper deck. Naturalists aboard the ship will offer talks about the wildlife found between Antarctica and South America, the seas, and the history of navigation across the passage.

The kids will become excited when they see a whale spout in the distance and take turns looking through the binoculars at a passing humpback pod. The surprisingly calm waters host a number of maritime life, including orcas, leopard seals, and hourglass dolphins. The majesty of the humpback whale will enchant your family and other passengers along the deck. The whales can grow to 52 feet long and averages a weight of 79,000 pounds, and migrate up to 16,000 miles each year with a social temperament revealed in the company they keep and the ways in which they breach from the water or slap the ocean’s surface with their tails.

At breakfast, you can indulge in a cup of fresh coffee before looking out the porthole to view the wide-open sea. The scent of hot chocolate compliments the caramel aroma of the coffee, and your days on the Drake Passage allow you to relax in the pleasures of the ship or continue the search for wildlife from the deck. The cold wind and roiling sea keep you inside during the early hours of the day as lecturers provide information on ways in which the contemporary exploration of Antarctica has changed the poles with another seminar providing more information on hunting for dinosaur fossils on Antarctica.

Your kids may opt to enjoy the comforts of the ship instead of venturing onto the deck, sipping hot chocolate, and enjoy the warm air as opposed to the frigid breeze blowing over the ship. The southern royal albatross acts as a sign you are growing closer to the tip of South America. The marvelous wingspan of the bird can reach nearly 10 feet wide, making it one of the two largest albatrosses in existence. The day has awoken to larger waves contrasting with the effortless movement of the albatross gliding through the air.

The ship will move through the Beagle Channel, passing the tip of Tierra del Fuego and the smaller islands that are connected to the archipelago. Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse rises above the rugged shoreline, edging the Beagle channel less than six miles outside of Ushuaia. The nearly 40-foot tall structure stands out with red and white stripes, a black lantern gallery, and a backdrop of snowcapped mountains. The presence of colorful rocks and trees juxtaposes with your memories from Antarctica.

Your ship will pull into port at Ushuaia, as the aroma of the briny water is familiar but lacks the biting cold of the seventh continent’s snow landscape. Your private transfer will greet your family at the harbor and enjoys a final view of South America’s most southerly city before reaching the Malvinas Argentinas International Airport for your flight home.