The Patagonian Fjords and Cape Horn had been on the bucket list for a long time. Seeing the National Geographic TV programme about the trip pointed us in the right direction and we were not disappointed. We had some concerns that doing this straight after an amazing trip to Antarctica (see our review of Akademik Ioffe) would result in unfair comparisons and disappointments, but this did not happen. It did give some useful comparisons.

Australis is purpose built for these trips with very shallow draft that allows her into places like Pia Glacier. It does mean that she rolls more than other ships her size but this is only an issue in fairly short stretches of open water, which are normally minimised with appropriate route selection.

The ship has lots of comfortable lounge spaces for watching the amazing scenery pass by, but could improve how slide shows and movies are displayed as you need to be early for a decent screen view! The gym has been removed due to lack of use……. The cabin had plenty of space with the largest bathrooms we have had on a cruise ship, but effective storage space was sadly lacking. With only one small cupboard for hanging clothes you need to decide if this is wet or dry when gear gets wet. Read more