We are planning a trip to Antarctica for December '08 or January '09. We value great sights, but also wouldn't mind having good food and above average accommodations. Can anyone recommend the perfect ship?

HAL's Prinsendam does Antarctica next winter and she is a great ship to do it on. They can get in a little closer because she is a smaller ship than some of the others and the ship itself is my favourite.

Everyone has their own preference and it would depend on whether you wished a small expedition type ship carrying around 100 passengers or a larger ship. I went on the Clipper Adventurer and was very pleased with the trip.

If you really want to visit Antarctica and spend several days there, Corinthian II is the best. It ranks top in luxury and has stabilizers!! If a basic drive-by then there are regular cruise ships but I have not been on those in that region.

If you are interested in a luxury experience, Silversea will begin sailing the Prince Albert II beginning in June. It will be doing Antarctica in your time frame. It sounds like quite a ship. (The ship was the World Discoverer II and is presently undergoing a multimillion $ refurbishment.)

As Louise has said, much depends on the size of the ship you are looking for. Why is this relevant? Because only 100 passengers are permitted to disembark in Antarctica at a time, if you choose a larger ship, each shore landing will be split between the groups, giving each group a lot less time ashore. It can also mean less variety of landings as for the larger ships, they may need to stop a day to allow everyone a chance to go ashore, where smaller ships can have everyone ashore together for an entire morning or afternoon and then move on.

So, make that decision first, it really depends on what kind of Antarctic experience is important to you - views from the ship or being able to get ashore, see the animals and scenery up close etc.

I did my first trip on the Akademik Ioffe and will be returning soon on her sister ship, the Sergey Vavilov. Both are "expedition style" vessels and the rooms are basic in design and decor. The lowest standard of rooms don't have private bathrooms either, but shared facilities. Decor is kind of travel lodge rather than posh cruise ship. There are no "shows", no casino or anything like that. There's a lecture room for educational talks. The dining room is kind of like a barracks dining room, good food but it's not a gourmet dining experience.

I remember when I did my trip, a fellow Fodorite wanted to do a trip with higher comfort levels, dressing for dinner, shows, casino, captains table and so on. She loved her experiences aboard the Marco Polo.