Our trip to South America and Antarctica on the Zaandam was an excellent, educational voyage and in this review I’ll attempt to give you a feel of what to expect and some useful general information rather than a blow-by-blow account of every detail.
The highlight was Antarctica, of course, but before we get there I’d like to talk just a bit about our stop to see the penguins at the Falkland Islands, which was added to the itinerary just a couple of weeks before embarkation. Bluff Cove was an amazing rookery on a beach where Gentoo and King Penguins could be seen and interacted with at close quarters. It was not too far from town, so we had plenty of time to walk around Stanley when we returned from the rookery. As others have pointed out, the 4x4 rides to the penguin rookeries at the Falklands can be a little rough and the weather was alternately cool, cold, rainy, sleety, and snowy, so be prepared for anything!
After Stanley, we headed down to Antarctica. This may have been the roughest part of the voyage, where the ship rocked and rolled quite a bit as we steamed away from the Falklands.