Living the Good Life in Antarctica

November 20th, 2025

This will in no way, be as weird as the last one. I promise.

As I’ve mentioned previously, Jan and I avoided cruise vacations, with the exception of the one trip to the South Pacific Islands. The ship we were on, the Paul Gauguin, was relatively small (300 passengers), had all the usual features one would expect on a cruise liner (multiple restaurants, swimming pool, casino, etc.) but at the time, was fairly old and dated. We thought it was nice, but had nothing to compare it to.

The three ships I’ve cruised on this past year were even smaller, and were extremely comfortable and function for expedition activities, but not worthy of a separate write up. No complaints at all (other than the cavitation issue), but just not worth describing at any length.

The ship I’m currently on, the National Geographic/Lindblad Resolution, is worth posting about. I’d seen pictures of it, and kind of glanced through the Web site, but was absolutely floored when I set foot on board. Wow would be an understatement.

At first glance, as we walked up from the catamarin we had cruised around the Ushuaia harbor, the ship looked huge compared to the 3 other ships I had sailed on. It is an ice breaker, and has to have more bulk, but you don’t really get a feel for how “bulky” until you walk up to it. The ship is relatively new, and has the smell of a new place. It’s beautiful inside – very modern, and extremely high-tech. They have an IT officer who manages all the software (hmmm …. I’d go back to work to get that job). Rather than go on endlessly like I always seem to do, I’ll just throw out a bunch of photo’s with descriptions.

The photos above are of the ships lounge, name the Ice Lounge – this is the gathering place for presentations, mandatory training, and daily summaries. It also had the main bar, and the photography workshop. Very techy, with LCD screens all over the place, and a great view toward the aft.

The lounge is also a nice place to watch the sunset with a nightcap – this was at 10:15PM. It never really gets dark this time of year

The eight level forward has another small restaurant (TheDen) and a library/observatory, the best viewing spot on the ship. There is also a huge “iPad” which has a map and current position. The view is incredible, and if you remember to bring your parka up there, the observation deck is the best place for viewing wildlife and scenery.

We were getting our first views of Antarctica after 4 days of travel. Woo Hoo! This level is also a great place to have breakfast – while watching whales spouting. Never done that before.

Right below the observation deck is the bridge – all the National Geographic/Lindblad ships have an open bridge policy. You can go in anytime of day, unless there is a crises, and as long as you do not touch anything. No steering wheel – it’s all electronic.

I was able to talk to Captain Picard for while the last time I was up there. Most of the staff are Klingon. If you touch anything, they will phaser you (on stun of course). The transporter room is right next to the bridge.

The main dining room is on deck 5 (just down the hall from my cabin) – it’s all open seating, and buffet style for dinner. The food is excellent as expected. Lunch and breakfast are also served here, as well as the smaller kitchen on deck 8. Everyone gets an invitation to a special, multi-course tasting dinner at the smaller restaurant. It was a lot like being on the CNN Michelin Star show – the head chef puts out an incredible menu, and you can also do a special wine paring with the meal (it was worth it…of course I did that).