Antarctica is a vast region, the area that most people from the US go to is the Antarctic Penninsula. It is outside the Artic circle, reached by ship from the southern tip of South America. I went last Christmas with Marine Expeditions and was very pleased. The weather was very moderate, and the guides knew just where to go to see the wildlife. I wasn't crazy about going, but liked it so much that I would go back. It takes 2 days by ship to get to the penninsula, 3 days touring, and 2 days back. If I had it to do over, I would choose a tour that was longer, and see the Emperor Penguins. I think the penguin poop smell gets worse with the season-at Christmas there was only one colony where it was objectionable. My usual computer is being updated, or I would include some websites of interest. I don't remember all the legal issues of Marine Expeditions, but last year, the sister company, World Expeditions went belly up and stranded 2 ships full of passengers on an around the world cruise. I know that technically, my money paid in May was paid to a corporation that went bankrupt, and the new corporation honored my payment in the interest of goodwill. All went well with the cruise, and I have since done internet searches to try and see if there were any problems with Antarctica trips, and found no bad reports. Their tour staff on the ship was great-extremely capable and willing to please. The phone staff in Canada could use some organization