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Antarctic Cruise Itinerary Categories - Southern Explorations

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Antarctica Cruise Itineraries

Select from the list below for details about that itinerary and scheduled departures for that itinerary. [ Expand all | Collapse all ]

Classic Antarctica Cruises

2011-12 Departure Schedule
These well-established Antarctic expedition cruises provide an ideal introduction to Antarctica, with a ten to twelve day itinerary that visits the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula. These Antarctica cruise tours emphasize wildlife viewing and the breathtaking scenery of narrow waterways, glaciers, icebergs and rugged mountains.
Each Antarctic voyage is different. Stops usually include a working scientific station as well as historic sites on the Antarctic Peninsula, including abandoned whaling stations. Some of the Antarctica expeditions offer adventure options such as kayaking, mountaineering, camping and cross-country skiing. To ensure availability of these popular adventure excursions, it is wise to book your Antarctic trip well in advance.
To optimize wildlife viewing opportunities, the captain and expedition leader of the Classic Antarctica tours assess daily weather conditions, taking advantage of the extended daylight to maximize time ashore the Antarctic Peninsula. Throughout these Antarctica cruises, passengers travel ashore by Zodiacs boats for up-close views of Antarctic wildlife, accompanied by expert naturalists and guides with considerable knowledge of this remote, spectacular continent.

Antarctic Explorer Cruises

2011-12 Departure Schedule
These Antarctica tours range from sixteen to twenty-four days and visit the Antarctic Peninsula as well as making more island stops than the Classic Antarctica cruises. Zodiac excursions ashore the Antarctic enable passengers to have close-up encounters with penguins, seals and whales, as weather conditions permit.
One may have the rare opportunity to stand among thousands of penguins in the Falklands and explore the wildlife-rich, glacier-carved coves and rugged shoreline of South Georgia Island, one of the most popular Antarctic destinations on the Antarctica tours. Passengers observe abundant Antarctic wildlife, visit scientific bases and enjoy the otherworldly scenery including pristine waterways, glaciers, icebergs and mountains.
For adventurous travelers, some voyages offer sea kayaking and camping options as well as an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton on a three to five day traverse of South Georgia Island.

Weddell Sea Antarctic Cruises

2011-12 Departure Schedule
On these eleven to thirteen day Antarctic cruises, passengers observe the wildlife and scenic highlights of the Antarctic Peninsula, cruising into the Weddell Sea as well as visiting the South Shetland Islands. Each cruise incorporates as much Antarctic wildlife viewing as possible, with plenty of time to enjoy the extraordinary Antarctica scenery and landscape.
Antarctica tours that depart earlier in the season focus on Snow Hill Island’s Emperor Penguin rookery, a rarely visited site where as many as 4,000 pairs of Emperor Penguins have been observed. These Antarctica cruises are an ideal opportunity for photographers and nature lovers to view Emperors early in the breeding season. One expedition spends three days of Antarctica travel at an Emperor Penguin rookery, allowing cruise ship passengers to watch the adult birds tending to their chicks, as well as visiting Adelie, Chinstrap and Gentoo penguin rookeries while the birds are choosing partners and selecting nesting sites.
One of the Emperor Penguin rookeries cannot be reached through the ice. Here the cruise ship makes multiple attempts to sail between Snow Hill Island and James Ross Island close to the ice-edge where young Emperor Penguins may be observed on their way to open Antarctic water. If weather and/or ice-conditions are adverse or Emperor Penguins are not in the area, the ship instead visits the hut of the historic Swedish Nordenskjöld Expedition and makes a stop at Seymour Island where some fascinating fossil discoveries have been made.

Crossing the Antarctic Circle Cruises

2011-12 Departure Schedule
Traveling deeper into Antarctica, these twelve to fourteen day adventure cruises are designed for passengers who enjoy active adventures and wish to travel south of the Antarctic Circle. The Antarctica cruise conducts a shipboard education program, and an average of three activities per day takes place off the cruise ship while in the vicinity of the Antarctic Peninsula. Select ship departures offer optional camping and kayaking adventures.
The Antarctic expedition itinerary includes the South Shetland Islands and Antarctic Peninsula stops of the Classic Antarctica tours in addition to the Polar Circle. Few people in the world can claim to have crossed this latitude, an Antarctica voyage through spectacular channels and bays of icebergs with seals, penguins and more.

Unique Antarctic Cruise Itineraries

2011-12 Departure Schedule
The itineraries of these Antarctica tours have a particular focus and include additional days at selected sites to provide passengers in-depth exploration of certain Antarctica areas or topics. Please see each specific itinerary for details.