Best Antarctica Cruise Lines
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Whether you want a full-on expedition cruise with hiking, kayaking and polar plunges, or are looking for a slightly less intense Antarctica cruise, there’s a cruise line that suits your needs. Join us on our immersive and responsible expeditions on new purpose-built small ships to the world’s wildest and most remarkable destinations – Antarctica, the Arctic and beyond. An outstanding expedition ship with a hard-won reputation for navigating some of the Polar region's most challenging waters, carrying just 108 guests. Glad we were on a smaller ship with only around 120 guests so we never felt overcrowded on any of the shore landings.
When is the Best Time to Go on an Antarctica Cruise
Among the amenities are fine dining, hot tubs, yoga classes, spa services and fitness center. The line attracts a slightly older mainstream passenger than Celebrity, and the extended cruise length rules out almost all families. Expect seasoned travelers onboard, particularly those who’ve sailed Holland America before. Situated in the scenic Errera Channel, Cuverville Island boasts the largest known colony of Gentoo penguins. The narrow Errera Channel offers a spectacular passage to and from Cuverville as icebergs become trapped and grounded in the nearby shallows.
Classic Antarctica Air-Cruise
Both of these vessels sail with a maximum of 500 passengers when operating in Antarctica, which is on the high side for an Antarctic-based vessel. If you're eager to make a lot of landings in Antarctica during a trip to the continent, Hurtigruten's newest ships may not be the best choice. With Antarctic regulations limiting landings to 100 people at a time, these ships only can land a small fraction of their passengers at any given time. Each of the ships has a polar class rating of PC 5 Category A (a notch above many Antarctica vessels), allowing them to travel through icy areas with ease.
Solo Travellers
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With such a wide variety of cruise options, ranging from small, older vessels to high-end luxury ships, it can be hard to determine what is worth spending your money on. IAATO, the body that regulates tourism in Antarctica, has strict rules around the number of passengers from any one ship that can leave the vessel at any one time. You might be tempted to book a tour onboard a larger cruise ship for a number of reasons. However, their ships are very large, with between 250 and 500 passengers on each trip, meaning your actual time spent off the ship is limited. “Our pioneering spirit leads us to explore rarely visited locations and introduce unique itinerariesfor every season,” Hayley Peacock-Gower tells us, who is the Chief Marketing Officer of Aurora Expeditions. All of their ships have under 200 passengers too, meeting IAATO regulations for number of people off the ship at any one time.
Akin to super yachts with their magnificent staterooms, outstanding amenities, ambiance and service, not to mention epicurean cuisine, elegant décor and luxuriant and spacious social areas, these truly are a breed of boat apart. Like Scenic Eclipse, Viking Octantis carries a submarine for underwater exploring, as well as kayaks. In a first for polar expedition cruise vessels, every cabin has floor-to-ceiling glass walls that slide partially open from the top to create a balcony-like feel. Public areas feature the same elegant Scandinavian design found on Viking's ocean ships and river ships, as well as such familiar Viking venues as Italian restaurant Manfredi's and a top-of-the-ship, glass-walled Explorers' Lounge. In all cases, these are ships specifically built for "expedition cruising" -- a type of cruising that involves traveling to remote, hard-to-reach places on small, hardy vessels that carry their own landing craft.
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Launched between 2010 and 2015, these four sister ships are regular visitors to Antarctica -- both under the banner of Ponant, a French brand, and as vessels chartered to high-end, U.S.-based tour companies Tauck and Abercrombie & Kent. The last few years have brought a stunning new crop of small "expedition" cruise vessels specifically designed for Antarctica sailings that are far more upscale and elegant than anything seen before. Quark is also favored by those who prefer flying over the Drake to either save time with a shorter vacay or avoid seasickness concerns. Cruisers wanting bragging rights for crossing the Antarctic Circle -- many expeditions don't venture that far south -- or to see the rare king, or even rarer, Emperor penguins.
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You’re on a large expedition ship which is designed to handle much worse conditions than the Drake. Like Scenic river ships, Scenic Eclipse is a high-end vessel with all-suite accommodations (and we're talking real suites, with separate living rooms), butler service for all and a wide range of onboard dining options including a sushi restaurant. It has a whiskey bar stocked with more than 110 whiskies and other high-end liquors, plus a spa and a yoga studio. These Lindblad Expeditions ships may be my favorite all-around picks for an Antarctica cruise. Sailing since July and November 2021, respectively, National Geographic Endurance and National Geographic Resolution each are designed to hold no more than 126 passengers -- a notably low number that allows for an intimate experience when exploring the White Continent. Tourists have been visiting Antarctica in small numbers since 1966, when adventure tour pioneer Lars-Eric Lindblad led a small group of "citizen scientists" to the Antarctic Peninsula on a chartered Argentine navy ship.
The ‘Trio’ – Antarctica, South Georgia and Falkland Islands
If weather, sea or ice conditions do not allow our planned navigation, our experienced crew will deliver an adapted itinerary. Flexibility and our deep knowledge of the area combine to give you an amazing exploration experience. Superior to authentic expedition ships with their upgraded facilities and suite-style cabins, these mid-range vessels are more floating four-star hotels than cruise ships.
Only every book a trip with a company that is registered of IAATO, which is an official organisation that designates Antarctica purely for the purpose of science and research. Truth is it’s not comfortable at all, most people get anxious about it and there’s the fear of being too cold to sleep, but we’ll let you in on a little secret – Camping in Antarctica is nowhere near as bad as it sounds and is the ultimate experience. As icebergs loom majestically overhead and seals laze on floating ice, you can navigate through a surreal world rarely experienced by others.
Considered to be the pinnacle of best Antarctic tours is a trip that includes the Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia and the Falkland Islands, often referred to as the ‘trio’. There’s a lot of fascinating history in the Weddell Sea, especially around Sir Ernest Shackleton and his legendary tale of survival from the Endurance with his crew, so if this is of interest it’s worth looking for an itinerary that follows this path. If your flight to Antarctica is cancelled on one day, the company usually only has one more attempt to get their guests down there before they have to forfeit their spot for the next company’s charter. Seasickness might be a concern, but there’s medication to help with that and every trip has a doctor onboard. In November, as the continent emerges from its icy slumber, voyagers are greeted with pristine and untouched snowy landscapes.
These 264-passenger sister ships feature many of the amenities of Seabourn’s more traditional ships. Antarctic itineraries on Lindblad-National Geographic run between eight and 25 days. The shortest (and most economical) are the Fly the Drake cruises that let you skip sailing across the Drake Passage, thus allowing you to spend the entire cruise actually in the waters of Antarctica. Some begin in Buenos Aires; others start in Santiago and include more of South America, such as Patagonia and the Chilean fjords. The line also offers coveted sailings that include time inside the Antarctic Circle, not just out on the Peninsula. The itineraries are generally 17 nights round-trip from Buenos Aires, simplifying airfare.
Learning more about each subject is certain to enhance your expedition experience. Early sealers in the area used Yankee Harbour on Greenwich Island as a frequent base of operations, its remarkable setting providing a natural safe haven for the sailors. Remnants of those early days can still be seen littering the shoreline, but the big draw for visitors here is the large colony of Gentoo penguins, whose numbers are estimated to be around 4,000 breeding pairs. Staggeringly photogenic and blessed with some of the most spectacular Antarctic scenery imaginable, Half Moon Island is a glittering gem amongst these island treasures.
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