During your cruise you’ll be well taken care of, including with daily briefings about upcoming ports conducted by your Cruise Director and the services of a highly credentialed Expedition Team. These knowledgeable adventurers will not only guide your shore excursions and Zodiac landings and tour but offer insights into relevant topics with onboard lectures. Your Cruise Director will serve as the point person for coordinating social and cultural activities on the ship, and the person who will ensure that your experience is the best it can be.
CRUISE DIRECTORS MAKE YOUR TRIP "SMOOTH SAILING"
Your Vantage trip will be led by a seasoned Cruise Director who will ensure your comfort and satisfaction. Think of him or her as your onboard “host” — the person to turn to with questions about your itinerary, updates on the day’s activities, reservations for optional tours, and so much more. On Antarctic expeditions, they’ll also accompany you on optional pre- or post-trip extensions.
Patricio Thijjsen
Patricio credits his travel bug to working as a flight attendant for three years. But he’s not just a tour guide — he’s a private pilot, too, and speaks five languages. After all, you need to have some special skills when you’re spending weeks at a time exploring Antarctica! Before age 30, Patricio had visited all seven continents, but his favorite part of the world remains South Georgia and Antarctica: “Some reasons for that include the imposing albatrosses flying by in the Falkland Islands… South Georgia’s infinite king penguin and fur seal colonies… and Antarctica’s dynamic landscape that almost seems to belong to a different planet!”
MEET SOME OF OUR EXPEDITION LEADERS AND MEMBERS
Your 17-member Expedition Team is the backbone of your expedition! These experienced and knowledgeable adventurers are well-versed in Antarctic explorations and will lead your daily expeditions and Zodiac landings in Antarctica. They’ll also be the ones to point out wildlife and other phenomena; lead you on hikes, treks, and other activities; and oversee all facets of your outings in Antarctica. On the ship, they’ll enhance your experience by providing lectures on geology, oceanography, history, and other topics specific to your journey.
Ida Olsson
Expedition Leader
Ida hails from northern Sweden, where she always embraced the robust winters regardless of the ice and snow they brought. She began her career in travel as a tour guide and has worked in this industry for 15 years. About leading travelers through rugged terrain, she says, “These conditions are both challenging and unique. It’s the thrill of an adventure that keeps me on my toes, and if I can take guests with me, even better!”
Ryan Hope-Inglis
Expedition Leader
Ryan has always been an outdoorsy person and confesses that even while studying to become an aerospace engineer, he always found himself biking or in the mountains. He urges travelers to expect the unexpected: “Come prepared for good weather and challenging weather, both with their rewards! Embrace waking up in the middle of the night for once-in-a-lifetime wildlife sightings! Let yourself be carried along with the expedition.”
Andrea Herbert
Specialty: Anthropology, Antarctic studies
Andrea, who was born in Germany, has studied people and culture since her undergraduate days. Her studies have taken her to Peru’s Amazon Basin, where she wrote her master’s thesis on female shamans and spiritual tourism; Winnipeg, where she learned to appreciate the dry cold; and even Ushuaia — the world’s southernmost city — where she spent a year drinking maté tea and interviewing locals and tourists about Antarctica. As part of Vantage’s Expedition Team, she works as a guide in the polar regions and enjoys discussing polar governance, gender, and circumpolar cultures.
Marta Duch Corominas
Specialty: Kayak Master, Equipment Manager
Born in Barcelona, Spain, Marta started sailing at the early age of 8. This prompted her to engage in competitive sailing, and she eventually became part of the Spanish pre-Olympic team. With a degree in tourism management and another one in humanities, she geared her passions toward various jobs at sea. Over the years she’s worked as a skipper on sailboats, shore-crew member for ’round the world sailing races, and kayak guide. Marta considers the polar regions the most pleasant for traveling because of its remoteness, and she’s delighted to share her knowledge and enthusiasm with Vantage travelers onshore, aboard a Zodiac, or on a kayak tour!
Susan Currie
Specialty: Geology
Susan was born and brought up in North East England. After completing a Ph.D. in geology, she worked in the U.K. oil industry as a geologist for 27 years. During her vacation time, she worked part-time as a lecturer on expedition cruises for 10 years before deciding to become a full-time Expedition Team member in 2012. Susan’s geological interests are wide-ranging — she has a particular fascination with plate tectonics and continental drift, and also enjoys sharing her knowledge of glaciology, oceanography, climate-change, and the geology of natural resources with travelers.
NEW! CONCIERGE SERVICE GOES ABOVE AND BEYOND
Before your expedition, our worldwide Concierge is here to assist. If you have a special request or personal interest you’d like to pursue during your journey, let our worldwide Concierge work for you — and best of all, it’s complimentary for all travelers. If your expedition is still months away but you’d like to plan a party, track down a bit of your family’s heritage in one of your destinations, secure restaurant reservations, and beyond, we’ll get to planning early.
To request Concierge service prior to your journey, simply log in to MyPortfolio, submit a pre-trip request to Concierge@vantagetravel.com, or call 1-888-982-6824 and you'll have your answer from our Concierge within two business days.
REGIONAL EXPERTS IN EACH PORT
No one knows a destination better than an insider, so in addition to your Cruise Director, you’ll enjoy the services of experienced, English-speaking regional experts in select locations during your included excursions. Their deep command of regional history will certainly enrich your viewing of important attractions. But our “insiders” go a step beyond, sharing insights on behind-the-scenes aspects of local culture that ordinary tours usually overlook. How do families in this area get by? What are some of the local legends? What do the decorations on a particular house mean? Your regional expert is eager to bring it all alive for you.
