HIGHLIGHTS
- Join our expert team of polar specialists on board our
boutique expedition ship and share in their vast experience of these
icy regions
- Celebrate your inner strength as you brave the notorious
Drake Passage
- Discover the island where explorer Ernest Shackleton spent
his last days
- Pop into the post office and buy stamps from islanders who
call this remote part of the world home
- Mingle on beaches with thousands of rockhopper, gentoo and
king penguins
DATES / RATES
Rates are listed per person in USD. Promotional offers are not reflected in the rates below.
|
Start Date | End Date | Oceanview D4 | Oceanview M4 | Balcony D5 | Balcony M5 | Balcony D6 | Suite |
Rates are listed per person in USD. Promotional offers are not reflected in the rates below.
|
Start Date | End Date | (Starting from) Oceanview D4 | (Mid-range) Balcony M5 | (High-end) Suite |
ITINERARY
USHUAIA
DAY 1
Ushuaia is the gateway to the White Continent. Found at the
southernmost tip of South America in Argentinian Patagonia, the city is
often described as “the End of the World”. The
city’s mountain backdrop rises above the harbour and entrance
to the Beagle Channel. The town itself is walkable and has a few small
museums as well as pubs, restaurants and cafes - a good place to try
Patagonian lamb cooked over open fire pits.
AT SEA
DAY 2
As you cruise to your next port of call, spend the day at sea savouring
the ship’s facilities and learning about your
destination’s many facets from the knowledgeable onboard
experts. Listen to an enriching talk, indulge in a relaxing treatment
at the spa, work out in the well-equipped gym, enjoy some down- time in
your cabin, share travel reminiscences with newly found friends: the
options are numerous.
WEST POINT ISLAND
DAY 3
Site of bloody battles in the 1982 war, this westerly Falklands Island
is now overrun with flora and fauna. Living alongside a small
population who welcome you with ‘smoko’ - tea and
cakes - are black-browed albatross and king cormorants who nest in the
cliffs. As we drop anchor, keep an eye out for dolphins and orca whales
in the water, as well as elephant seals, sea lions and five species of
penguin lounging on the beaches.
SAUNDERS ISLAND
DAY 3
Birdlife is the big draw on this lush sheep-farming island, where
thousands of rams and ewes roam. Settled by British explorers in 1765,
the island’s unique scenery includes the beaches at The Neck
filled with the cacophony of rockhopper, gentoo and king penguin
colonies, and you might spot the pillar-shaped nests of black-browed
albatross. Nine of the Falklands’ 14 endemic plants,
including silvery buttercup and hairy daisy, grow here and are a real
treat.
PORT STANLEY
DAY 4
Anyone familiar with Britain’s trademark red post boxes might
spot a resemblance in this British outpost. Port Stanley, on East
Falkland, is the tiny capital of the Falkland Islands and is small
enough to get around on foot. You can visit The Historic Dockyard
Museum devoted to maritime history and exploration or pop into the post
office. Magellanic penguins gather in hordes at nearby Gypsy Cove, and
sea lions and dolphins frolic in the harbour.
AT SEA
DAY 5-6
As you cruise to your next port of call, spend the day at sea savouring
the ship’s facilities and learning about your
destination’s many facets from the knowledgeable onboard
experts. Listen to an enriching talk, indulge in a relaxing treatment
at the spa, work out in the well-equipped gym, enjoy some down- time in
your cabin, share travel reminiscences with newly found friends: the
options are numerous.
SOUTH GEORGIA
DAY 7-9
Often called the “Galapagos of the Poles”, South
Georgia has a number of landing sites where you get up close to half a
million king penguins or three million breeding pairs of macaroni
penguins, making up the largest population in the world. If you are
lucky you will also see harrumphing elephant seals - from a distance!
We also visit Grytviken, the historic whaling station where legendary
British explorer Ernest Shackleton (1874–1922) is buried.
AT SEA
DAY 10-11
As you cruise to your next port of call, spend the day at sea savouring
the ship’s facilities and learning about your
destination’s many facets from the knowledgeable onboard
experts. Listen to an enriching talk, indulge in a relaxing treatment
at the spa, work out in the well-equipped gym, enjoy some down- time in
your cabin, share travel reminiscences with newly found friends: the
options are numerous.
ELEPHANT ISLAND
DAY 12
Elephant Island, named for the elephant seals that call this place
home, is a harsh, glacier-covered and volcanic island on the outer
reaches of the South Shetland Islands. It was here that legendary
explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew from the Endurance were
stranded for months in 1914. At Point Wild, his monument overlooks a
colony of gentoo penguins. Chinstrap and macaroni penguins gather at
Cape Lookout alongside the island’s main residents, elephant
seals.
ANTARCTIC PENINSULA
DAY 13-14
Among captivating glaciers, majestic icebergs and snowy islands, the
Antarctic Peninsula is where most visitors to the White Continent will
live out their Antarctica dream. The Antarctic Peninsula, the most
accessible area of the continent, hosts several scientific bases and
some of the most interesting wildlife scenery, such as the extremely
photogenic Lemaire Channel. Shore excursions might include Petermann
Island, where among Adelie penguins, blue-eyed shags and skuas, huge,
lumbering elephant seals haul out.
SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS
DAY 15
While the South Shetlands’ proximity to Antarctica makes the
ice-bound sea impassable during winter (April to November), these are
the first islands to see snow melt in spring (March) and the slightly
warmer temperature means that the fauna is also different from what you
see in Antarctica proper. As we go ashore by Zodiac, notice ferns,
grasses, lichens and native flora that have more in common with
Patagonia than they do with Antarctica.
AT SEA
DAY 16-17
As you cruise to your next port of call, spend the day at sea savouring
the ship’s facilities and learning about your
destination’s many facets from the knowledgeable onboard
experts. Listen to an enriching talk, indulge in a relaxing treatment
at the spa, work out in the well-equipped gym, enjoy some down- time in
your cabin, share travel reminiscences with newly found friends: the
options are numerous.
USHUAIA
DAY 18
Ushuaia is the gateway to the White Continent. Found at the
southernmost tip of South America in Argentinian Patagonia, the city is
often described as “the End of the World”. The
city’s mountain backdrop rises above the harbour and entrance
to the Beagle Channel. The town itself is walkable and has a few small
museums as well as pubs, restaurants and cafes - a good place to try
Patagonian lamb cooked over open fire pits.
(Click image to view Ship details)
WHAT'S INCLUDED
- Return flights: Buenos Aires to Ushuaia or Santiago to
Ushuaia
- One night pre-cruise hotel accommodation with breakfast
- Transfer from the airport to the hotel on the day prior to
embarkation
- Transfer from the hotel to the port for embarkation
- Transfer from the port to the airport on return
- Onboard accommodation
- All meals onboard including room service 24 hours a day
- Coffee, tea, soft drinks & select alcoholic
beverages 24 hours a day
- Lecture programmes by our experienced expedition team and
guest speakers
- Shore excursion programme led by our expert expedition team
- Branded Swan Hellenic expedition parka
- Use of rubber boots for shore landings
- Basic WIFI (Premium WIFI available)
- Onboard gratuities & port taxes
- *Itineraries & prices are subject to change*