The Ventus (means Southern Wind) is brand new, just coming online in early January, 2018, and holds 210 guests. I think we had about 140 on this sailing at the end of January with 60 crew members. We chose the 4 night itinerary from Punta Arenas, Chile to Ushuaia, Argentina. You could also do the 3 night reverse itinerary or combine them. If you want to visit this spectacular landscape of glaciers, mountains and churning sea, this is really your only option.
6pm was the magic hour to finally board the ship. The boarding area had a number of craft booths so you could grab that last souvenir from Chile. You had to wait for a bus to drive you out to the ship, which took about 4 buses to load. Upon boarding, we were shown immediately to our lovely cabin.
After ensuring our luggage was there, we all went to the 5th floor deck Darwin Lounge for a safety briefing. You didn’t need to wear your life jackets. English speakers were in this lounge and Spanish speakers met on the 4th floor lounge. Welcome Pisco Sours, or whatever you wanted, were handed out. By the time we got there, all the tables were taken and we saw that there were appetizer plates on each. When asked about how to get one from the bartender, he was shrugged off and said they were only on the tables. We only wanted something to nibble on, chips or nuts, and saw they next night that they did have these.
A very comfortable and appealing cabin which featured a huge floor-to-ceiling picture window, king bed with nautical style reading lamps and one leather chair, ottoman and wood desk with large round wood & brass mirror. The decor was nautical with blue carpeting and neutrals, leather, brass and wood. If you picked a room on the lowest deck, the window was a bit smaller. The bathroom was adequate with a corner shower, single sink and toilet. Toiletries including body lotion was provided.