I had wanted to go for years, so we made our minds up we were going to go and eventually booked it to celebrate both our 50th birthdays. It cost a small fortune (just short of a 5 figure sum in 2011) but was worth every penny. The silence on the snow/ice/land is, as they say, deafening.
The excursions are strictly controlled as the travel company are only allowed a maximum of 100 people on land at any one time, including those working on the boat, so its done on a rota system with strict timelines allowed on land before departing; you also must remain within specific areas on land. I ventured outside once in error, wandering too close to a nesting Brown Skua, which started diving towards me. They are also extremely rigorous in terms of cleanliness of getting on and off the boat/land to preserve the ecology.
We also swam (a bit of embellishment here) in Cuverville Island for a few seconds.
I would love to go back sometime but if I did I would ensure the trip involved visits to The Falklands and South Georgia.
After getting to Antarctica we decided we then wanted to visit all 7 continents, which we completed in 2017.