Yachtman

The last time I went to Antartica I was the Navigation Officer on a Holland America cruise ship, and it some of the best, if not the most challenging sailing of my career to date. The cruises sailing from Rio to Valparaiso via the Falklands and Antartica and the fjords offer so much to see, from penguins and whales to magnificant glaciers. I recall the face of an iceberg shearing off as we passed, and thanking myself that I'd given it enough distance... But, I'd definately say there is an elevated level of risk involved when entering the Antartica on a ship, and whilst precautionary measures are introduced, you can never escape that risk fully.

JDiver

For lots more on Antarctica, set your Display Options (bottom of the front page of any forum) to something over 100 days - 1 year, beginning, etc.

N.B. Large cruise ships (500 or more passengers) are no longer allowed in Antarctic waters, effective August 2011, per the International Maritime Organization. That's a good thing for many reasons, IMO, but one is large cruise ships do not ever put you on the ground. Landing in wild places and research stations is part of the reason to go this far.

Choose wisely - National Geographic Expeditions/Lindblad, Quark Expeditions and Abercrombie & Kent are probably the three best, but be sure to research well. One ship (MS Explorer) went down not that long ago, the cruise ship Clelia II late last year had a pretty awful trip (link) and companies have gone bankrupt (Canadian company Marine Expeditions is one).

Be sure the company is a member (and subscribes to the policies of) the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators <link>. Waves of 35-40 feet and 80 kt winds are not uncommon, and of course lots - more than you can imagine - of ice as icebergs, bergy bits, tabular bergs, you name it.

Our 22 day voyage on the Russian Academy of Science research vessel Akademik Ioffe was the most amazing, spectacular voyage...

And please do not bother Sir Walter William "Wally" Herbert (24 October 1934 – 12 June 2007) because it will take quite some time to get a reply.

Middle_Seat

Somewhere I read that you may be able to grab a spot on a ship in Ushuaia, due to last-minute cancellations. Anyone have information on that?

JDiver

I think that's more of a myth than a fact, but if one has lots of time on their hands they could check at the Dirección Provincial de Puertos de la Provincia de Tierra del Fuego or the Oficina Antárctica at Lasserre y Prefectura Naval (at the gate of the Port of Ushuaia) for information.

Of course, you might at that point find out the ship's crew is unable to accept passages independently or find the ship is full. This is not a recommended course of action. If there are last minute cancellations, you will probably be best able to find one via one of the providers (like Quark). (In fact, Quark has some decent discounts on some trips, but they tend to be closer tothe date of departure, not so great for long range planning.