Day 1 | February 21 2023 | Ushuaia

Once our charter flight landed in Ushuaia, we went to the baggage claim (there was only one area) & then we dropped our bags off in the lobby with the Atlas reps - they coordinated having them delivered to our room. We then boarded charter buses to drive about 10 minutes to the port. We stopped at the Ushuaia sign & had a photo op! Once our bus arrived in the port, we boarded the ship, & put our carryon bags through a X-ray machine, then went to the lounge to wait to be checked in. The staff greeted us with champagne & light bites while we waited. We filled out our embarkation forms & then handed them into the staff walking around collecting them. Then, other staff were walking around with iphones, scanning our passports & using the same device to take our photos. Once that was completed, we were assisted to our rooms & given a tour of where everything is located. Almost right after, we attended the safety drill at our muster stations where we learned how to put on our life jackets. The safety briefing was done over the intercom by the Captain.

By this point, we were pretty tired but still hadn’t eaten anything for awhile. Dinner was served as a buffet vs a coursed dinner because it was so late. It was a great assortment with lots of variety & flavor. The wines were also delicious.

Day 2 | February 22 2023 | Drake Passage

The days through the Drake were pretty low key. We started sailing out in the morning (Mike and I were able to catch a beautiful full rainbow over Ushuaia! The rest of the day was spent attending safety mandatory lectures (IAATO briefing & Zodiac safety). If you were interested in (or signed up for the optional shore excursions like paddling, stand up paddle boarding, kayaking or camping) there was a lecture going over each of the activities & then if you wanted to participate, you had to pass a mandatory fitness test.

Later in the afternoon, we had a parka & boot fitting in the mud room. Before the cruise we filled out a form with our preferred sizing for each - this was to make sure everything fit correctly & was comfortable. Right after we did our Compulsory Bio security check any outerwear that wasn’t brand new, they checked for animal hair, dirt etc & vacuumed it. Which was to ensure that we would not bring any new bacteria into Antarctica.