Looking up holiday cruises to Antarctica on the internet, the best
value for money seems to be Aurora Expeditions
(http://www.auroraexpeditions.com.au/), with cruises from about
USD$4000.  This still seems pricey.  Is there a cheaper way of
travelling there?  I'm not interested in flights over the South Pole -
I'd like to set foot on and if possible camp/hike a tiny bit.  I'm not
a scientist, so I can't join a research expedition.  What is the best
value for money trip to Antartica?

Hi rkmudge!!


I found something interesting to you, note that the Aurora
Expeditions' prices do not include airfares, accommodation or
transfers before or after the cruise.

"Quark Expedition - Antarctica, unexplored territory":
Season:  Available from November to February
Duration:  12 days / 11 nights
Price: from US$ 3395
http://www.gochile.cl/eng/Cruise/QuarkExpedition/Chile-QuarkExpedition-Antartica.asp

See also the Quark Expedition's page and contact them:
Look under the "ANTARCTICA:EXPLORE ANTARCTICA 2004/05" section, there
are starting prices of US$2,595!!
http://www.quarkexpeditions.com/cgi-bin/voyage_view_index.pl?U=Y

Quark Expeditions' voyages can be booked by contacting us at:
Quark Expeditions Inc.
1019 Post Road
Darien
CT 06820
USA
Tel: +1 (203) 656 0499
Fax: +1 (203) 655 6623
Toll Free: 800 356 5699
E-mail: enquiry@quarkexpeditions.com

-----------------------------------------------------------

"ANTARPPLY - Crucero Antartida":
Season: Available from November to March
Duration:  12 days / 11 nights and 11 days / 10 nights
Price: from u$s 2,900
E-mail: info@antarpply.com
http://www.antarpply.com/

See the following pages (in Spanish):
"Rates":
http://www.antarpply.com/public1_html/rates.html

"Reservations":
http://www.antarpply.com/public1_html/reservations.html

-----------------------------------------------------------

You can also contact Rumbo Sur (Travel Agency) that works with several
companies that offers tour and cruisers to the Antactica:
RUMBO SUR S.R.L  
San Martín 350 - CP (V9410BFQ) 
Tel. (02901) 422275 - 422441 - 421139 
Fax. (02901) 430699 - 434788 
Amadeus: USHG 12503 
E-mail: informes@rumbosur.com.ar 
Ushuaia - Tierra del Fuego - Patagonia - Argentina 
http://www.rumbosur.com.ar/ingles/rantartida.htm

At the following page go after the different companies' links to see
rates and schedules:
http://www.rumbosur.com.ar/ingles/antartida/programacion.htm 

--------------------------------------------------------------

Remember that the prices are normally expressed in a Double Room basis
and the cost per single occupancy is about 1.5 times the Double Room
prices.

Search strategy:
turismo antartica cruceros
turismo antartida cruceros

I hope that this helps you. Please, request for any clarification
needed before rate this answer, I will gladly respond to your requests
for further assistance.

Best regards.
livioflores-ga

I was happy with the answer given because it was a) quick, b) gave me
an excellent starting point for further research in areas I hadn't
considered, and c) reminded me that prices were per person, not per
room as normally expressed in Australia (very important)