I agree with Ngaire that you won't be roughing it. I thought the service was certainly up to Radisson par, the rooms were comparable in size to the Paul Gauguin although not as well decorated. The common rooms were quite nice. It is a totally casual ship which was very comfortable. The guest lecturers were excellent and the evening recap and briefings very interesting. The internet worked better than many other ships I have been on. One of the things we enjoyed was the small group of only 200 passengers. The daily zodiac landings, dinners, and nightly meetings really created a lot of comradery.

On our cruise there was a 91 year old woman that went on every landing and a woman that was paralyzed from the waist down who made most landings. Our expedition leader (Geoff Green, a Canadian) went out of his way to have crew members carry her down the gangway and secure her in a zodiac for her ride to the shore. Then two crew members carried her strapped into her wheel chair to the shore. I was amazed how they could stand in water up to their knees with crashing waves and balance carrying her to shore and she was not a small woman. Now I call that service above and beyond! Her husband had a special wheel chair that had big wheeled tires so that it could roll over the rocks. She was brave to attempt this as I am not so sure how stable this all was, but she managed. I am not sure I would have the courage and strength to endure what she did. What a trooper!

We struggled for things to shop for and finally settled on sending postcards with very ornate postmarks from a Ukranian research station. It took approximately one year to the date to arrive, but everyone truly enjoyed them albeit a bit late.