Best Antarctic Cruises
Alex Burridge, MD Antarctica Travel Centre gives his top 5 (or 6) Antarctic cruises...
Antarctica Travel Centre specialises in small-ship cruises to Antarctica voyaging to the Antarctic Peninsula, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, Macquarie Island, New Zealand’s sub Antarctic Islands and the Ross Sea. We are an independent specialist with 25 years of first-hand experience and will work with you to select an Antarctic cruise to suit your travel needs. Our Antarctic cruise experts will help you select the right vessel (expedition- luxury, luxury, expedition or fly-cruise), itinerary and season to ensure your holiday really is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The Antarctica Travel Centre Difference
Independent & Expert Antarctic Cruise Advice
Our experienced Antarctica cruise consultants have travelled widely in Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, Macquarie Island and New Zealand’s sub-Antarctic Island and have first-hand knowledge of a wide range of Luxury & Expedition Antarctic cruise ships. Each Antarctica cruise that our specialists select is matched to your needs and your pre/post travel in South America is tailored for you.
Antarctica Cruise Early Booking Offers
Many ships have Antarctica cruise Early Booking offers as well as special rates for last minute berths often made available by group cancellations. Check here for the best Antarctic cruise rates for Antarctica 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons.
Frequently Asked Questions
We’ve tried to answer many frequently asked questions as well as offer our insights into the key factors that should be considered when asking ‘what’s the best Antarctic cruise for me’:
Which ship, which itinerary, when to go and a host other other important factors.
As Independent experts with first-hand experience of numerous operators, ships and itineraries we hope you find this useful.
Book with Confidence
We have been operating since 1995 and have carefully selected ships and operators with proven track records. As a member of Australian Travel Industry Association (ATIA) and the ATIA accreditation scheme ATAS you have financial security when booking with Antarctica Travel Centre. We are a wholly Australian-owned company. We are proud to be Associate Members of the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators.
Antarctica Travel Centre is part of Tailor-Made Journeys. Most cruises and expeditions to Antarctica depart from South America; Ushuaia in Argentina or Punta Arenas in Chile.
South America Travel Centre is our dedicated South America tailor made tour division, with 29 years of experience in travel throughout South America we can arrange all of your pre and post-holiday arrangements in a seamless and efficient way.
We have a dedicated Arctic web site featuring cruises to Svalbard (Spitsbergen), Iceland, Greenland, Northwest Passage and the ultimate Arctic cruise the North Pole.
To speak to an Antarctica cruise expert call 1300 784 794
Inspiration
To discover more about Cruises to Antarctica, South Georgia, Falkland Islands, the Ross Sea, the Arctic and South America, stay up to date on any special offers and new season releases, sign up to our email newsletter.
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A Selection of Antarctica Cruise Ships
These luxurious ships combine more traditional-style cruising with an Antarctic adventure. They offer large, very comfortable cabins with en-suite facilities and many have private balconies. The experienced expedition team enable you to explore the Antarctic Peninsula with Zodiac dinghies and come home to an exquisite ship with superior comfort and excellent cuisine options.
As the name suggests these ships are a hybrid of an Expedition Ship and a Luxury Ship. Focusing on maximising opportunities for exploring as on an expedition vessel but with the added comfort of having larger, more comfortable cabins and common areas. Generally cabins are larger or perhaps the ship is newer than an Expedition ship. The cuisine is of a very high standard.
Expedition ships have a greater emphasis on maximising time off the vessel or out on deck. The expedition team works closely with the ship’s captain and crew to get you out exploring on the Zodiac dinghies and on shore as much as possible. Most voyages also offer kayaking and sometimes camping. Cabins are simple and comfortable, the food excellent. The ships are stable, fast and manoeuvrable.
Antarctic Cruise Itineraries
Client Testimonials – Antarctica Cruises
Now back in Sydney after a wonderful holiday. The EcoCamp was also fantastic! The whole holiday was co-ordinated beautifully – everything just flowed from one adventure to the next without a single problem. We now have 100’s and 100’s of absolutely spectacular photos to sort through. Interestedly we had 8 different flights whilst we were away and each one of them was either full or nearly full – people are obviously travelling again. Thank you so much for all your assistance in co-ordinating our Patagonia experience. With Kindest Regards, Joe & Judy
Thank you for all you did to organise the trip – it went off flawlessly. All the flights and connections and transfers and hotel bookings all worked as scheduled – amazing really for such a complex itinerary. All the local guides were good – no complaints there. The highlights for me were Antarctica, Patagonia, Atacama and Iguazu in that order. The most outstanding properties were Awasi, Hub Porteno and the Sea Spirit (also in that order). The Posada Verde Oliva in Mendoza and Helsingfors in Patagonia was also very good. In terms of travel experience the wonders of Antarctica speak for themselves. In Argentinian Patagonia the Blue lagoon hike/horse ride at Helsingfors provided the most intimate and stark views of Patagonia.
Here we are back in Sydney and our trip has been and gone before I’ve managed to thank you for the fabulous travel itinerary and pack you sent with our details prior to departure. So a belated thank you. We had a fantastic time and no problems at all. Valparaiso was really interesting and a fabulous place to start so thanks for that recommendation. Found a couple of gems in Santiago as well. Both Tierra hotels were stunning and really well run and delivered a great product. And finally Antarctica…well, words can’t quite describe how stunningly beautiful it is. We had the weather god looking after us and had incredibly calm, sunny weather. They joked about the Drake “lake” as opposed to the Drake Passage and according to the cruise operator they said we had a week of ‘brochure’ days. Lucky us.