Recently i traveled to Antarctica by Sea spirit, the cruise operated by Quark Adventures. Here is a review about the same for people planning to travel in Sea Spirit.
Capacity: max of 114 passengers, we had about 104 passengers in our trip. 14 odd experienced expedition staff, 70-80 staff on hotel and service staff + engineers and captains crew. Staying at lower level and towards the centre of the cruise reduces the impact during drake. The front end of the cruise, especially during the drake is not fun. Things start flying in the room more dramatically, if drake is choppy.
The most popular area was the club lounge (also the bar). It had a library with books which you could read there or novels can be taken to rooms. DVD library, if you wanted to watch something, then you could take the DVD box to reception and ask for the movie. Pretty useful on the first couple of days of crossing drake passage, but otherwise, most of us didn't find time or need. We watched 1 movie on 1st night, later we didn't even get a chance to browse through the collection.
An open bar (standard drinks were free and any premium drink you had to pay the differential in price...most premium drinks were having an additional $1.25 to $2.
This was also a place for bar talks and captains cocktail parties. In this level you could walk through the entire deck, thus giving 360 degree view.
Restaurant was at the main deck level and another one in an open area on sports deck (on days where sea wasn't rough).
Food was usually buffet style for breakfast and lunch, while dinner used to be a 4 course meal. For people hungry between meals, club lounge always had cookies through the day and night. There were also pretzels and nuts kept on tables during the evenings. Appetizers used to be made available just before the daily recaps.
Choice in the menu made sure that most preferences and diet pattern are catered to. The usual meal had a choice between two soups, two to three salads, and three to four mains. There was always a vegetarian option. The servers used to display the special desserts on the table before you made a choice and if you were not lured by the special of the day, there was ice creams and fruits.
Some days used to feature some special table - everything made of chocolate on one occassion and then there was a sushi night. All birthdays used to be celebrated with guitar music and songs and a specially baked cake.
If you are trying to lose the extra pounds, there is a gym that you can use or if you are just too cold, there is a warm jacuzzi. Each room also had bath robes which can just be handy in case you decide to go for jacuzzi.
The jackets or parkas, were one of the pleasant and helpful perks provided by Quark. The jackets were available in different sizes which one tries on day 1. Usually they recommend to take a size that is bigger as it allows you to layer up. These parkas were bright yellow, with a removable fleece layer inside making it warm underneath. The hood is adjustable to reduce any wind entering. Has many pockets to fit in small and essential stuff like gloves, wipes, sun screen etc/ These were gore-tex styled wind-proof, water-proof.
They also provided pairs of Arctic mucks which are sturdy knee high rubber boots that helped in "wet landing", (i.e., you stepped in water as soon as you get out of the zodiac). These also kept the feet warm in zodiac excursions or when we walked in land for hours in snow. Usually these are dipped in disinfectants pre boarding zodiacs and washed on return from the landing to remove any seeds or penguin poop or any foreign material and then treated through disinfectant. This ensures your rooms are stinking :).
Rooms were spacious, clean and very comfortable. Our room had a small couch, closet, TV, DVD player etc.
For detailed blog with pictures - http://lifetimeantarctica.blogspot.com/