The most important coat is one that is windproof. It wasn't so much the cold when we were there (mid January) but the wind is extremely strong. Eddie Bauer has some great jackets that are windproof and have zip in liners as well. Get one with a hood and have a scarf to wrap around. By the way I hope you have a day or two in Ushuaia - we loved that place!!!

Thanks! We'll spend a day there before heading out on the boat.

I highly recommend the train to Tierra del Fuego (the end of the world). Here is a good website

http://cruises.about.com/od/southamericacruises/ig/Tierra-del-Fuego/

When we were there in mid January the weather was lovely - just needed a light jacket. Enjoy your cruise!!!

I'd love to take a train! My trip includes flights from BA to Ushuaia so maybe next time.

The train I am referring to is a tour out of Ushuaia. I think the whole tour is 2 - 3 hours. You go to Tierra del Fuego on the narrow guage little train (you can read about it on the website I posted) and return to the city by bus. It is really worth taking the time to do it if you can.

Agree with traveller69 about windproof. Any good quality outdoor gear should work. I ended up very happy with my old goretex rain shell, with different layerings of fleece, wool, etc. underneath depending on temperature. Synthetic long underwear was great. Good wool socks are really great.

When I was there (Feburary), temps were typically around freezing, sometimes a bit below, with lots of wind. Also, you'll likely want to be on deck a lot on the ship (watching for whales, birds, icebergs, etc.) and it can be very very windy and cold.

My hands would get numb pretty quickly in the cold sometimes. I had gloves/mits where the part covering the fingers could open up, which was very handy for working my camera, but even when wearing them, my fingertips would sometimes go numb. I resorted to wearing liner gloves sometimes underneath these gloves, and a few times put a chemical heater pack in there.

Back to your specific question: waterproof and windproof, and you'll be fine. The parka the cruise company gave me was actually not that high quality (I gave it to the ship staff and kept my old jacket in the end) but others were perfectly happy with them.

Oh yeah, you didn't mention waterproof pants. I used some old ski pants that weren't totally waterproof, and this was fine most of the time, but made me miserable a few times when I got drenched by waves in the zodiacs. If I go again, I'd find cheap waterproof rain pants

The cruise parka will be more than adequate. Save your money to tour Ushuaia or to have a nice dinner there. Just got back from Antarctic Explorer with Quark.

You will use less clothes than you bring. You will need good wool socks and liners along with at least two great pair of gloves. It will be your hands and feet you will have to worry about keeping comfortable. Foot and Hand warmers were useless for me. You are never out too long that it becomes too uncomfortable if you are properly dressed. Some days it was in the low 40's for us. For photo shooting the half-glove/mittens seem the best.

Will post more later about my experiences and recommendations.

For Ushuaia:

http://dmbtraveler195.blogspot.com/2010/12/argentina-ushuaia-gateway-to-antarctic.html

I agree with DMBTraveler -- if your cruise is providing a parka, you'll be totally fine with it. The only reason I brought my old rain shell was that I wanted a jacket for before I boarded the ship (Do some companies ship you your parka before departure?), and I planned to donate my old one at the end of the trip and bring home the new one. But in the end, my old one was better quality for the sort of conditions I normally deal with (very wet), so I donated the brand new cruise parka instead.

I had assumed magster518 was on a trip that didn't provide a parka, hence the question.