Antarctica is known for its raw and wild landscape, and has long been associated with adventure and exploration. While this might paint a picture in travellers’ minds that Antarctic cruises are pretty basic or simple affairs, nowadays it’s quite the opposite.
Now, cruises to Antarctica offer a comfortable and refined experience, with many vessels providing levels of luxury that explorers like Shackleton could only ever have dreamed of. With exceptional service, lavish facilities, and unrivalled itineraries and experiences, these luxury Antarctica cruises are some of the most highly desired among affluent travellers.
If you think you might be tempted by an Antarctica luxury cruise, let us spell out why at Swoop Antarctica we believe they are one of the best ways to explore the White Continent.
The 8 Reasons to do a luxury Antarctic cruise
Comfort
Just because Antarctica is one of the harshest environments on the planet doesn’t mean that visiting it shouldn’t involve some creature comforts. On a luxury Antarctic cruise, you can expect to be spoiled on some of the best ships afloat on the seven seas.
Each luxury Antarctic cruise vessel comes with a selection of terrific accommodation. Forget cabins with portholes and think instead of roomy ocean view suites – some measuring in excess of 1080 square feet (11 sq m). Private balconies allow you to enjoy Antarctica in your own space, perhaps wrapped up for an al fresco breakfast or glass of champagne before dinner.
Comfort extends to the ship’s operational capacities. State of the art technology, from noise reduction systems to minimise engine noise and motion stabilisers ease your passage through. While no ship can ever account for polar waves and weather, today’s luxury cruises in Antarctica offer as smooth as possible transit as it’s possible to get.
A wealth of choice
Luxury travel has become intertwined with being spoilt for choice. Now, exploring the White Continent onboard luxury Antarctic cruises offers as much choice as any other popular expedition cruise destinations around the world.
How you experience your Antarctica cruise is entirely your preference. While most people will be keen to explore off the ship with the shore landings and zodiac cruises, there are plenty more options on board. There is a strong ‘choose your own’ adventure to a Antarctica luxury cruise, where you can participate or relax entirely as much as you like.
If you’ve had your daily fill of penguins, there’s the option of taking a spa day, or just enjoy the views of icebergs with a glass of wine or catching up on email with high speed satellite internet. With a selection of restaurants and in-suite dining, you can be as social or private as you like: it’s all part of making the perfect luxury Antarctica cruise for you.
First-class service
Luxury travel, no matter where in the world you are, promises exceptional service that is incomparable to other travel experiences. But, there’s something about the high-class service offered onboard a luxury Antarctica cruise, in the midst of the White Continent’s desolate and uninhabited landscapes, that makes it all the more exclusive.
First and foremost, luxury cruises in Antarctica offer extraordinarily high crew-to-passenger ratios. This enables Antarctic cruise providers to offer a personalised and attentive service to suit your needs, and an attentive one at that, where your wants and desires will always be met promptly. Some vessels even offer a 24/7 butler service, so that at literally any hour you can ensure that you’re well looked after.
Expert guides
Luxury Antarctica cruises are all about engaging with the White Continent as closely as possible, and to help you in that you’ll be accompanied by some of the best polar guides in the business.
These experts onboard luxury cruises to Antarctica come from a host of backgrounds, and include marine biologists, environmental scientists, naturalists and historians. They’ll help interpret what you’ll be experiencing so that you return from your trip with as rich and deep an understanding of Antarctica as possible.
During your luxury Antarctic cruise, the guiding team will offer a series of onboard lectures and talks about polar topics. Off the ship they’re there on the shore or piloting a zodiac to get you close to penguins, icebergs and more, all the while ensuring that you’re experiencing this incredible region in as safe a way as possible.
Unparalleled facilities and amenities
Antarctic expedition cruises have advanced in leaps and bounds when it comes to the variety of luxurious amenities and facilities they offer onboard. What was once basic offerings has now evolved into large spaces prioritising comfort and luxury that are comparable to lavish hotels on land.
On board luxury Antarctica cruises you can expect healing spas and wellness facilities with luxurious treatments and even snow rooms to plunge into after a sauna. State of the art gyms offer the chance to burn off some calories after sampling the host of dining options, you can just sink into a comfy chair in the cosy ship’s library for some polar reading.
Small details further add to the luxury Antarctic cruises experience. Think Swarovski binoculars, Bose speakers and top of the line coffee makers in the suites – and would it truly be a luxury experience if there wasn’t champagne on tap, perhaps accompanied by a cheese and charcuterie board whenever you fancied a nibble?
Delectable gastronomy
Speaking of food, gourmet dining doesn’t stop just because you’re in the middle of the most remote landscapes in the world. Antarctica’s luxury cruise vessels have perfected their onboard dining experiences to offer a variety of cuisines to suit all tastes, and offer relaxing dining atmospheres that make for a world-class affair on the seas.
With as many as eight restaurants on board, these cruises in Antarctica offer a dining experience for every mood, whether you’re after a relaxed bistro or want to dress up for a degustation meal at an exclusive place where the menu has been designed by a Michelin-starred chef. And if you want to mark a more private occasion, there is always the option of dining in your own suite.
To accompany your meal, luxury cruise ships have some of the finest wine cellars afloat, carefully selected by sommeliers to ensure that your dining experience onboard is as good be, while the bar managers will top things off by knowing your name and favourite tipple from the moment your Antarctica cruise sets sail.
Next-level experiences
While shore landings and zodiac cruises in small groups are at the heart of every trip, today’s luxury Antarctic cruises offer other fantastic ways to experience the White Continent up close with their adventure activities
How better to get a penguin’s eye view of the world than by paddling in a kayak through the brash ice of an Antarctic bay. It’s a thrilling moment when a group of them burst out of the water to porpoise alongside your craft – and even more so if you travel late in the season when there’s a chance of a close kayak encounter with a whale.
And to get an idea of how a whale sees their world, two of our luxury Antarctic cruise ships give the unique opportunity to die beneath the waves in a piloted mini-submarine. If luxury is about having access to truly exceptional experiences, this one is hard to beat.
Ease of travel
Luxury travel is synonymous with convenience, so our luxury Antarctica cruises have been meticulously crafted to make travelling all the more seamless for guests.
Our trips start the moment you step off your international flight. You’ll be transferred to a luxury hotel in either Buenos Aires or Santiago, according to your itinerary, and after a night in the capital, you’ll be whisked off with your fellow cruise passengers on a flight south to join your luxury Antarctica cruise ship.
All this means that you can enjoy a hassle-free experience from start to finish during your trip knowing that all of your needs are taken care of by experts. And if you don’t want to book your international flights yourself, the team at Swoop can help arrange those as well. All of this in service of giving you as comfortable a trip as possible where all you need to worry about is packing your luggage (we’ll give detailed polar packing lists as well).
How to choose the right Antarctic luxury cruise for you
The team at Swoop Antarctica have more than 100 years of collective Antarctic experience between us, and unrivalled expertise when it comes to knowing the ins and outs of the polar fleet. We send more of our team to Antarctica every year than any other polar agent, so we really know every Antarctica luxury cruise inside out.
Whether you prefer to sail to Antarctica or fly across the Drake Passage, have a preference for adventure activities or are looking for more onboard amenities we can help find the right ship and itinerary for your perfect luxury cruise – and at no extra cost to you.
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