I would like to give my mother a surprise cruise for her 65th birthday. I know that she'd most love to visit Antarctica, and I'd be happy to make this happen for her, but I'm concerned because the sea crossing is supposed to be really rough. Am I right to worry? And can you suggest an alternative destination? Rachel Wallach, Ipswich

A Sunday Times travel expert responds: Here's an easy fix: give her the snow and ice of the northern latitudes.

There are regular cruises around Alaska, with plenty of dramatic icescapes but none of the fierce currents that swirl around the southern continent.

Similarly, companies like World Expeditions (0800 0744 135, www.worldexpeditions.com) and Discover the World (01737 218800, www.discover-the-world.co.uk) do voyages towards the North Pole; these have all the glamour and mystique of penetrating lesser-charted territory while aboard a Russian icebreaker, with seals and penguins aplenty and the bonus of polar bears (not seen in the south).

But I understand your mother's hankering to experience the last continent, a journey that for many people becomes a journey of self-discovery.

Firstly, I'd recommend sailing out of Ushuaia at the tip of Argentina, as this is the shortest sea-crossing (about 35 hours), as compared to the three-day voyage if leaving from Australia or New Zealand.

You should take some comfort from the fact that people of all ages are making the trip, (one of our writers sailed with a 97-year old from Tasmania ­ and those waters can get really ugly) and it's almost certain your mother would be in the company of at least some people her age, all facing the same concerns.

Also, cruise ships are obliged to carry doctors, and anything they don't know about passenger sea-sickness ain't worth knowing. Passengers react differently; some eat like horses and cheerfully ride out the heaving seas in the bar; most find that staying horizontal with a good book eases the passage; while a few will resort to some basic drugs to help them get by.

The worst thing that can happen? The seas turn ugly for the entire crossing (a rarity) and she has a miserable day and a half in bed. On sight of her first iceberg, all will be forgotten and she'll be hoisting champagne with everyone else.

You're about to outlay a considerable sum on something she's always wanted to do. I'd say stop worrying and send her south.

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