Expedition Cruise Ships Antarctica

EXPEDITION – LUXURY CRUISE SHIPS ANTARCTICA

Expedition cruises to Antarctica come in four styles: 1. Expedition, 2. Expedition-Luxury, 3. Luxury and 4. Fly-Cruise.  Here we’re looking at Expedition-Luxury Ships. Mostly modern purpose-built Polar Expedition ships.

These ships arguably offer the best of both worlds; maximising time off the ship and a reasonably high level of on-board amenities (comfortable cabins and good cuisine).

Expedition cruising is focused on maximising your time off the ship; exploring by zodiac, kayak and on foot (or even snorkeling, snow-shoeing and skiing with some operators).  These ships and operators often have a long-history of operating in Antarctica (and the Arctic).

Their core beliefs are to create ambassadors for Antarctica by show casing this amazing continent.  They also believe that most guests want to explore as much as is possible; with two excursions (weather and conditions permitting) each day.  The assumption is that you want to maximise your time exploring Antarctica.

ZODIAC CRUISING

Zodiacs are key to exploring Antarctica and offer an excellent way to leave the ship.  Some excursions from the ship will be purely in a zodiac (each site is different, as is the weather) and these rugged inflatable boats are perfect for exploring.  What you see is varied; icebergs, whales, penguins, seals and stunning Antarctic scenery.

SHORE EXCURSIONS

Each evening you’ll be given an explanation of the options for the next day (weather and conditions permitting).  Wherever possible you’ll board a zodiac for the trip to shore.  Once ashore you’ll be informed of the different options and will head off on your chosen shore excursion – sometimes there are massive penguin colonies, other place historical sites, others simply magical landscapes.  No two days are ever the same.

SPECIALIST ACTIVITIES

Some operators offer a range of specialist activities including; snorkeling, snow-boarding, skiing, and mountaineering.  These operators have many years of experience as well as expert guides to instruct and help ensure you’re safe and get the most from these amazing experiences (in Antarctica).

KAYAKING

There are two types of kayaking offered by many ships;  in-depth and taste of kayaking.  In simple terms the in-depth will see you kayaking wherever conditions allow – some experience is required and there is an additional fee for these immersive kayaking programmes..  The taste of, gives you the opportunity to give it a go on one or two occasions.  Please ask your specialist consultant and they will advise what options for kayaking any given ship offers.  For more on kayaking Click here

EXTENDED HIKES (SOUTH GEORGIA)

The options for extended hikes depend on the destination.  South Georgia, in particular, offers and range of amazing longer walks and hikes.  Once again your expedition team will explain the level of difficulty and relative fitness and experience to join any of the shore excursions.  Most people of reasonable fitness can enjoy these hikes.

MAXIMISING TIME WILDLIFE VIEWING

If your chosen ship has closer to 100 guests then you’ll have more time to explore the amazing wildlife found in Antarctica, The Falklands, South Georgia as well Australia and New Zealand sub-Antarctic Islands and the Ross Sea.  The expedition team will brief you as to what you should see at each location – they’ll also brief you and approach distances to the different wildlife species you’ll likely encounter.

COMFORTABLE ACCOMMODATION

Expedition-Luxury Cruise ships have a range of cabin options.  All have en-suite facilities, many have balconies.  Larger suites will have a bedroom and separate lounge area.  All cabins are serviced twice a day and the ship’s on-board staff are incredibly accommodationg.

VERY GOOD CUISINE

Good food is important, particularly if you been out exploring, hiking, zodiac cruising or kayaking.  All of these ships offer a good standard of cuisine.  They will offer a mix of a la carte dining and buffet meals.  Often they will have two dining areas (one a little more relaxed than the main dining area).  The is some variation by ship and we can help you with our first-hand knowledge of many of these ships/operators.

VERY GOOD ON-BOARD FACILITIES

Purpose built expedition-luxury Antarctic cruise ships have ideally located Observation Lounges offer viewing in comfort as well as easy access to exterior decks, ensuring you don’t miss out on sightings of whales or spectacular Polar scenery.  For more reflective times the ship’s library offer an in-depth range of polar literature as well a quite place to review your images or simply to reflect on your experiences.  Newer built ships have purpose built mud rooms and water level zodiac and kayak loading platforms.

There are two key factors that effect your time off the ship:

The 1^st is the style of operator: we’ve chosen to work with operators who want to maximise your time ashore.  The 2^nd, in many ways, has greater impact on what’s possible – and that is the size of the ship.

As you are likely aware the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) limits the number of guests that can go ashore at one time to 100.  IAATO is a unique organisation in as much as you have competitors working together protect the place they all operate in – and it works.

As a result ships with closer to 100 guests will very likely spend more time off the ship, exploring, in particular at sites where you physically land (go-ashore).  Each of the 117 sites that allow expeditioners to go ashore have a set time allowance, often 3-4 hours.

If your chosen ship is close to capacity then if you want to spend as much time out exploring then we suggest a ship with 130 guests or fewer.  On these expedition ships there are often up to 24 kayakers, which means there are only 106 (and that’s only when the ship is sold out) guests to take ashore.  Which more often than not translates to those guests being able to spend maximum permitted time ashore.

Ships with a greater number of guests should generally offer lower prices; largely as they have more guests over which to spread fixed costs.  The trade-off is you will likely spend less time ashore, or exploring simply due to time constraints (and the 100 person ashore regulation).

In the case of Ocean Victory and Ocean Albatros these ships are very similar in overall size and build design to Greg Mortimer, Sylvia Earle and Douglas Mawson (each having a maximum of 130 guests) – but  Ocean Victory and Albatros carry a maximum of 189 guests.

EXPEDITION-LUXURY SHIPS WE WORK WITH

LISTED BY # OF GUESTS

SEA SPIRIT

GUESTS: 114
BUILT: 1991 (refurbished 2017)
ACTIVITIES OFFERED: ZODIAC CRUISING/KAYAKING/CAMPING/HIKING

NATIONAL GEOGRPAHIC ENDURANCE 

GUESTS: 126
BUILT: 2020
ACTIVITIES OFFERED: ZODIAC CRUISING/KAYAKING/CAMPING/HIKING

NATIONAL GEOGRPAHIC RESOLUTION

GUESTS: 128
BUILT: 2021
ACTIVITIES OFFERED: ZODIAC CRUISING/HIKES/KAYAKING

GREG MORTIMER

GUESTS: 130
BUILT: 2019
ACTIVITIES OFFERED: HIKES, ZODIAC CRUISING, CAMPING, KAYAKING, SNOW-SHOEING, SKIING, SNORKELLING AND MOUNTAINEERING

SYLVIA EARLE

GUESTS: 130
BUILT: 2021
ACTIVITIES OFFERED: HIKES, ZODIAC CRUISING, KAYAKING, CAMPING, SNOW-SHOEING, SKIING, SNORKELLING AND MOUNTAINEERING

DOUGLAS MAWSON

GUESTS: 130
BUILT: 2025
ACTIVITIES OFFERED: HIKES, ZODIAC CRUISING, KAYAKING, SNOW-SHOEING, SKIING, SNORKELLING AND MOUNTAINEERING

OCEAN EXPLORER

GUESTS: 138
BUILT: 2021
ACTIVITIES OFFERED: HIKES, ZODIAC CRUISING, KAYAKING, CAMPING

HERITAGE ADVENTURER

GUESTS: 140
BUILT: 1993 (refurbished 2023)
ACTIVITIES OFFERED: ZODIAC CRUISING, HIKES

SEAVENTURE

GUESTS: 200
BUILT: 2023
ACTIVITIES OFFERED: ZODIACS/HIKES

HONDIUS

GUESTS: 176
BUILT: 2019
ACTIVITIES OFFERED: HIKES/ZODIAC/KAYAK EXCURSIONS

OCEAN ALBATROS

GUESTS: 189
BUILT: 2021
ACTIVITIES OFFERED: HIKES, ZODIAC CRUISING, KAYAKING & CAMPING

OCEAN VICTORY

GUESTS: 189
BUILT: 2021
ACTIVITIES OFFERED: HIKES, ZODIAC CRUISING, KAYAKING & CAMPING

MAGELLAN DISCOVERER (FLY-CRUISE)

GUESTS: 76
BUILT: 2026
ACTIVITIES OFFERED: HIKES, ZODIAC CRUISING, KAYAKING

MAGELLAN EXPLORER (FLY-CRUISE)

GUESTS: 76
BUILT: 2019
ACTIVITIES OFFERED: ZODIAC CRUISING, HIKES, KAYAKING