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Book Incredible Cruises to Antarctica and the Arctic

May 01, 2024 - 
May 08, 2024
This program is designed for experienced ski mountaineers who have mastered techniques both for ascent and descent in challenging snow-covered alpine terrain. A typical day involves climbs on mountaintops averaging heights of 700 - 850 meters (2,300 - 2,800 feet) and downhill skiing fro...
May 08, 2024 - 
May 15, 2024
This program is designed for experienced ski mountaineers who have mastered techniques both for ascent and descent in challenging snow-covered alpine terrain. A typical day involves climbs on mountaintops averaging heights of 700 - 850 meters (2,300 - 2,800 feet) and downhill skiing fro...
May 15, 2024 - 
May 22, 2024
Cruise along the pack-ice of North Spitsbergen for a great chance of spotting Polar Bears. You’ll sail into beautiful fjords found on the north coast of West Spitsbergen, a fantastically beautiful fjord crested with spectacular glaciers and home to Ringed and Bearded Seals. The sh...
May 22, 2024 - 
May 29, 2024
Cruise along the pack-ice of North Spitsbergen for a great chance of spotting Polar Bears. You’ll sail into beautiful fjords found on the north coast of West Spitsbergen, a fantastically beautiful fjord crested with spectacular glaciers and home to Ringed and Bearded Seals. The sh...
May 26, 2024 - 
Jun 06, 2024
Sailing between our home port of Vlissingen and our most cherished Arctic archipelago, Svalbard, this expedition adventure visits the Scottish port of Aberdeen, the islands of Fair Isle and Jan Mayen, and the amazing Spitsbergen ice edge, giving you the chance to search for whales, and ...
May 01, 2024 - 
May 08, 2024
This program is designed for experienced ski mountaineers who have mastered techniques both for ascent and descent in challenging snow-covered alpine terrain. A typical day involves climbs on mountaintops averaging heights of 700 - 850 meters (2,300 - 2,800 feet) and downhill skiing fro...
May 28, 2024 - 
Jun 06, 2024
Sailing between the Scottish port of Aberdeen and our most cherished Arctic archipelago, Svalbard, this expedition adventure explores the islands of Fair Isle and Jan Mayen as well as the amazing Spitsbergen ice edge, giving you the chance to search for whales, and other animals of the ...
Jun 06, 2024 - 
Jun 13, 2024
Sailing along the pack-ice of North Spitsbergen, will give us the best opportunities to spot the King of the Arctic. We sail to Raudfjord on the north coast of West Spitsbergen, a beautiful fjord dominated by spectacular glaciers and favoured by Ringed and Bearded Seal. The cliffs and s...
May 08, 2024 - 
May 15, 2024
This program is designed for experienced ski mountaineers who have mastered techniques both for ascent and descent in challenging snow-covered alpine terrain. A typical day involves climbs on mountaintops averaging heights of 700 - 850 meters (2,300 - 2,800 feet) and downhill skiing fro...
May 15, 2024 - 
May 22, 2024
Cruise along the pack-ice of North Spitsbergen for a great chance of spotting Polar Bears. You’ll sail into beautiful fjords found on the north coast of West Spitsbergen, a fantastically beautiful fjord crested with spectacular glaciers and home to Ringed and Bearded Seals. The sh...
Jun 08, 2024 - 
Jun 18, 2024
The North Spitsbergen cruise sails to some of the remotest locations of northern Europe. The expedition gives you the opportunity to spot historic whaling remains, glaciers, a variety of Arctic birds including the Little Auk, and polar bears....
Jun 10, 2024 - 
Jun 17, 2024
Join our adventurous expedition to the north of Svalbard’s largest island, taking in the area’s fantastically beautiful landscapes, thousands of seabirds, and possibly even polar bears. While searching for whales, seals, and other exotic wildlife among the sea ice, we’...

Antarctica – Discovery and learning voyage + navigational workshop

Home Trips Antarctica Cruises Antarctic Peninsula Cruise Antarctica – Discovery and learning voyage + navigational workshop

This Antarctic Peninsula and South Shetland Islands cruise delivers you into a landscape of dark rugged rock, pure white snow, and a fantastic variety of wildlife. Come say hello to whales, seals, and thousands of penguins.

Trip Itinerary

Navigational workshop

Be part of a true polar expedition! During this adventurous voyage, we will visit some of Antarctica’s remote islands. This includes the Wauwermans Islands (close to Anvers Island), where we will chart and make depth measurements while exploring the area in our Zodiac boats and kayaks. Navigation workshops and presentations about historic Antarctic voyages are also part of this exciting activity-based expedition.

Select this activity if you’re interested in learning the history, theory, and practice of land and sea navigation. Topics covered include the use of sextants, chart positioning, and GPS functions, among others. All courses are led by experienced expedition guides. No additional equipment needed.

Day 1

Your voyage begins where the world drops off. Ushuaia, Argentina, reputed to be the southernmost city on the planet, is located on the far southern tip of South America. Starting in the afternoon, you embark from this small resort town on Tierra del Fuego, nicknamed “The End of the World,” and sail the mountain-fringed Beagle Channel for the remainder of the evening. 

Day 2 - 3

Over the next two days on the Drake Passage, you enjoy some of the same experiences encountered by the great polar explorers who first charted these regions: cool salt breezes, rolling seas, maybe even a fin whale spouting up sea spray. After passing the Antarctic Convergence – Antarctica’s natural boundary, formed when north-flowing cold waters collide with warmer sub-Antarctic seas – you are in the circum-Antarctic upwelling zone. Not only does the marine life change, the avian life changes too. Wandering albatrosses, grey-headed albatrosses, black-browed albatrosses, light-mantled sooty albatrosses, cape pigeons, southern fulmars, Wilson’s storm petrels, blue petrels, and Antarctic petrels are a few of the birds you might see.

Day 4 - 7

Gray stone peaks sketched with snow, towers of broken blue-white ice, and dramatically different wildlife below and above. You first pass the snow-capped Melchior Islands and Schollaert Channel, sailing between Brabant and Anvers Islands. 

 

Sites you may visit include: 

 

Danco Island – Activities here may focus on the gentoo penguins nesting on the island, in addition to the Weddell and crabeater seals that can be found nearby.

 

Neko Harbour – An epic landscape of mammoth glaciers and endless wind-carved snow, Neko Harbour offers opportunities for a Zodiac cruise and landing that afford the closest views of the surrounding alpine peaks.

 

Paradise Bay – You may be able to take a Zodiac cruise in these sprawling, ice-flecked waters, where there’s a good chance you’ll encounter humpback and minke whales.

Port Lockroy – After sailing through the Neumayer Channel, you may get a chance to visit the former British research station – now a museum and post office – of Port Lockroy on Goudier Island. You may also be able to partake in activities around Jougla Point, meeting gentoo penguins and blue-eyed shags.

 

There are great opportunities also for kayaking and camping in this area, and when conditions are right, you can even snowshoe around the shore and to the old ski-way at nearby Damoy Point.

Day 8

The volcanic islands of the South Shetlands are windswept and often cloaked in mist, but they do offer subtle pleasures: There’s a wide variety of flora (mosses, lichens, flowering grasses) and no small amount of fauna (gentoo penguins, chinstrap penguins, southern giant petrels).

 

In Deception Island, the ship plunges through Neptune’s Bellows and into the flooded caldera. Here you find an abandoned whaling station, and thousands of cape petrels – along with kelp gulls, brown and south polar skuas, and Antarctic terns. A good hike is a possibility in this fascinating and desolate volcanic landscape.

 

As an alternative, you may be able to engage in activities near Half Moon Island. Here chinstrap penguins and Weddell seals often haul out onto the beach near Cámara Base, an Argentine scientific research station. Conditions on the Drake Passage determine the exact time of departure.

Day 9 - 10

Your return voyage is far from lonely. While crossing the Drake, you’re again greeted by the vast array of seabirds remembered from the passage south. But they seem a little more familiar to you now, and you to them.

Day 11

Every adventure, no matter how grand, must eventually come to an end. It’s now time to disembark in Ushuaia, but with memories that will accompany you wherever your next adventure lies.

Please Note...

All itineraries are for guidance only. Programs may vary depending on ice, weather, and wildlife conditions. Landings are subject to site availabilities, permissions, and environmental concerns per IAATO regulations. Official sailing plans and landing slots are scheduled with IAATO prior to the start of the season, but the expedition leader determines the final plan. Flexibility is paramount for expedition cruises. The average cruising speed for our vessel is 10.5 knots.

Cabin Information

Ship name Cabin Name Price Sale Price Departs on Returns on
m/v Ortelius Quadruple Porthole $8,650 NA Jan 22nd, 2025 Feb 1st, 2025
m/v Ortelius Triple Porthole $10,700 NA Jan 22nd, 2025 Feb 1st, 2025
m/v Ortelius Twin Porthole $10,700 NA Jan 22nd, 2025 Feb 1st, 2025
m/v Ortelius Twin Window $11,150 NA Jan 22nd, 2025 Feb 1st, 2025
m/v Ortelius Twin Deluxe $11,800 NA Jan 22nd, 2025 Feb 1st, 2025
m/v Ortelius Superior $12,650 NA Jan 22nd, 2025 Feb 1st, 2025
m/v Ortelius Quadruple Porthole $8,650 NA Jan 22nd, 2025 Feb 1st, 2025
m/v Ortelius Triple Porthole $10,700 NA Jan 22nd, 2025 Feb 1st, 2025
m/v Ortelius Twin Porthole $10,700 NA Jan 22nd, 2025 Feb 1st, 2025
m/v Ortelius Twin Window $11,150 NA Jan 22nd, 2025 Feb 1st, 2025
m/v Ortelius Twin Deluxe $11,800 NA Jan 22nd, 2025 Feb 1st, 2025
m/v Ortelius Superior $12,650 NA Jan 22nd, 2025 Feb 1st, 2025
m/v Ortelius Quadruple Porthole $7,900 NA Nov 30th, 2024 Dec 10th, 2024
m/v Ortelius Triple Porthole $8,800 NA Nov 30th, 2024 Dec 10th, 2024
m/v Ortelius Twin Porthole $9,700 NA Nov 30th, 2024 Dec 10th, 2024
m/v Ortelius Twin Window $10,100 NA Nov 30th, 2024 Dec 10th, 2024
m/v Ortelius Twin Deluxe $10,750 NA Nov 30th, 2024 Dec 10th, 2024
m/v Ortelius Superior $11,550 NA Nov 30th, 2024 Dec 10th, 2024
m/v Ortelius Quadruple Porthole $7,900 NA Nov 30th, 2024 Dec 10th, 2024
m/v Ortelius Triple Porthole $8,800 NA Nov 30th, 2024 Dec 10th, 2024
m/v Ortelius Twin Porthole $9,700 NA Nov 30th, 2024 Dec 10th, 2024
m/v Ortelius Twin Window $10,100 NA Nov 30th, 2024 Dec 10th, 2024
m/v Ortelius Twin Deluxe $10,750 NA Nov 30th, 2024 Dec 10th, 2024
m/v Ortelius Superior $11,550 NA Nov 30th, 2024 Dec 10th, 2024

Inquire about this trip