Antarctica Cruises

By David Barclay | February 21, 2024

As expedition cruising becomes more popular and many travelers embark on their bucket list trips at younger ages, Antarctica has become a very desired destination. Even with more cruise lines adding itineraries, it remains a trip that few travelers can take. The narrow sailing window combined with a finite number of ships that can navigate the icy waters around Antarctica limit the number of travelers who can journey to the seventh continent each year.

Ships cruise Antarctica during the southern hemisphere’s summer months. The typical cruising season is from November to February, though some of the new purpose-built ships with strengthened hulls can sail in the shoulder months and extend the sailing season a bit. While the current 2023/2024 cruise season is wrapping up and the next one won’t begin until the end of 2024, I decided to write about this cruise experience today because the next cruise season is filling up quickly. This is one of the trips I recommend planning more than a year in advance, due to the high demand and low availability of ships and staterooms. If you hope to eventually take a cruise to Antarctica, even if not within the next year, I would still encourage you to reach out to discuss the options, as the 2025/2026 sailings have been released by most lines and you can lock in your preferred itinerary now.

The cruise lines that sail to Antarctica offer a variety of itinerary options, meant to meet the needs of many different travel budgets and availability of time to travel. That’s not to say there are budget options available to get to this frozen wonder–any trip to Antarctica qualifies as a bucket list trip with the expected investment for that type of experience. However, cruise lines offer shorter cruises that head directly across the Drake Passage for those with limited time and a desire to moderate their investment in their trip. They also offer longer itineraries which travel more broadly, up to 24-days cruising the far southern hemisphere. These longer cruises will typically visit several island groups in the South Atlantic Ocean before setting course for the Antarctic Ocean, allowing travelers to see incredible wildlife in addition to geographic wonders.

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From shorter weeklong cruises with a Drake fly-over option, to 18-24 day cruises which visit the Falkland Islands and South Georgia Island (home to a 150,000 pair colony of King Penguins), a perfect option exists for every traveler to visit Antarctica.

Below are just a few sample itineraries highlighting the options available to sail where few have sailed before.

Silversea (Silver Wind)

18-night Puerto Williams to Puerto Williams
Dec 18, 2024 – Jan 5, 2025

Silversea has several expedition ships which sail the Antarctic Ocean, including the Silver Wind, the Silver Cloud and the latest addition to the fleet, the Silver Endeavour.

This 18-day cruise on the Silver Wind is a round trip out of Puerto Williams, Chile. Guests will visit the Falkland Islands and South Georgia island, in addition to visiting many points along the coast of Antarctica.

Silversea’s door-to-door fares include economy-class flights from the U.S. (upgradable to Business-class), a pre-night hotel stay in Santiago, charter flights from Santiago to Puerto Williams, and the return flights home. The fares even include transfers to/from guests’ homes and their local airports.

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Seabourn (Seabourn Venture)

11-night The Great White Continent
Jan 4 – 15, 2025

Sailings that head directly across the Drake Passage usually last 10-14 days. This 11-day sailing on the new Seabourn Venture, one of the new custom-built expedition ships Seabourn added to its fleet, gives guests a wonderful visit to the seventh continent but allows travelers to complete the full trip in less than two weeks (including travel time to/from Argentina).

The cruise fare includes a pre-night hotel stay in Buenos Aires with tours/activities, and the charter flights to the tip of Patagonia where guests board the Venture in Ushuaia, Argentina.

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Lindblad (National Geographic Endurance & Resolution)

11-night Journey to Antarctica: The White Continent
Nov 12 – 23, 2024

Lindblad has partnered with National Geographics for most of their cruise itineraries, and this holds true for the two new purpose-built ships recently added to its fleet to sail the Arctic and Antarctic oceans. Both the Endurance & Resolution offer the same itinerary once guests set sail from Ushuaia, Argentina. However, depending on the ship/itinerary, guests will be asked to fly into either Buenos Aires or Santiago for their pre-cruise stay, before boarding a charter flight to Ushuaia.

The Endurance & Resolution boast some unique features given their purpose-built design for cold weather cruising, including two top-deck igloos which can be booked on a first-come, first-serve basis for a one-of-a-kind overnight stay under the stars.

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Silversea (Silver Endeavour)

6-night King George Island to King George Island
Dec 7 – 13, 2024

For those with limited time to travel to Antarctica, or those prone to seasickness and worried they might encounter the “Drake Shake” instead of the “Drake Lake”, several cruise lines, including Silversea, offer a Drake Flyover option.  Guests on these cruises board a charter flight on the southern tip of South America and fly to King George Island, where they board their ship for their cruise around Antarctica.

For the 2024/2025 sailing season, Silversea has dedicated the new Silver Endeavour to the Drake Flyover cruise itineraries. The Silver Endeavour was designed to bring the next level of luxury cruising to the icy waters, with all the expected features and amenities one would want in a luxury expedition ship. She currently holds the record for the most expensive construction cost per suite of any ship at sea, which won’t be topped until the Four Seasons cruise ship launches in 2025.