A WORLD OF HIDDEN WONDERS

If you want to travel the seas less sailed and experience wonders of which very few fellow adventurers ever dare dream, then our Expedition Collection will change your perspective on what it means to truly live life to the fullest. Walk among the penguins in the Falkland Islands, gaze at the snow-crowned peaks of the Chilean Fjords and discover the creatures and islets of the Galapagos Islands, which led Charles Darwin to rewrite history. Sit down to a traditional reindeer steak in a tiny town on the rugged northern coast of Norway, search for polar bears against the brilliant white landscape of Antarctica and walk among the ruins of a Viking settlement in Greenland. Dip into a thermal bath of Iceland and be one of the elite few to sail the fabled Northwest Passage. With comfortable accommodations, a bevy of renowned experts, enticing enrichment programs and a spirited sense of true adventure, your expedition ship is your portal to a world rarely seen.

ANTARCTICA

Discover the wilderness spirit of remote Ushuaia, the world’s most southern city, visit a penguin rookery or the battlefields of 1982’s Falklands War in Port Stanley, or spend the afternoon on deck with a mug of hot chocolate as the gray granite and sparkling snowy peaks of the Chilean Fjords pass by like ghosts from the prehistoric age. Head ashore in a Zodiac in Paradise Bay and look for blue-eyed shags, an offshoot of aquatic cormorants. Visit explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s grave, sail among the blue icebergs of Lemaire Channel and introduce yourself to an audience of Gentoo penguins on Petermann Island. Climb to an icefield atop the bottom of the world in Neko Harbor, look for whales as your ship sails along the ice shelfs of Antarctica, and on South Georgia Island say hello to a colony of albatrosses or a huddle of walruses. In the great untouched land of Antarctica, the delicate balance of life on our planet is the main attraction.

ARCTIC / GREENLAND / ICELAND

Dodge ice floes in a Greenland fjord, feel the ground shake as a volcano growls in Iceland, and stay up all night with the midnight sun in Svalbard and watch polar bears roam the landscape. Touch the face of Thrym Glacier in Greenland’s Skoldungen Fjord, unwind in the hot springs of Uunartoq, and tour the manor house of Erik the Red in Qassiarsuk. Iceland’s charms abound in the cliffside seabird colonies of Grimsey, the local beers of Akureyri, the 18th-century town center of Isafjordur, and the cosmopolitan edge of Reykjavik. Sail above the Arctic Circle and visit isolated Spitzbergen. Up here where the air is infinitely clear and the ice is pure white, your imagination and your sense of awe converge.

GALAPAGOS ISLANDS

Science as we know it changed in 1859 with the publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, the seminal work that introduced the world to the theory of evolution. Follow in the footsteps of his five-year voyage on the HMS Beagle as the unique flora and fauna of the Galapagos Islands beguile you. Gaze across the cacti dotting the landscape around Baltra, look for the silhouettes of sea turtles roaming the gin-clear waters of Black Turtle Cove, watch a colony of sea lions bask in the sun on Rabida Island and snorkel among the marine iguanas of Santiago Island. From the giant tortoises of Santa Cruz Island to the colonies of Nazca and Red-footed Boobies on Genovesa Island, the Galapagos are the land that time forgot.

NORTHWEST PASSAGE

This voyage is the Holy Grail of adventure seekers. Most ships sailing this route are icebreakers with passenger accommodations, so don’t expect luxury, but note that there are a few smaller luxury ships which make the passage at the height of summer. Pricing can average $1,000 per person per day but if the blood of an explorer courses through your veins, then this cruise is well worth it. Travel from Greenland through the Canadian arctic atop the North American continent into the Bering Sea to Alaska. From the misty hills of Franklin Bay to remote Inuit villages, the Northwest Passage is the ultimate bucket list prize.

NORWEGIAN FJORDS

Discover the brightly colored warehouses of Bergen’s 14th Bryggen district, kayak along the River Nid in Trondheim, and take in the awe-inspiring view from the mountains ringing Geirangerfjord, where your ship shines like a white marble far below. Meet the Sámi peoplein Tromsø, Norway’s indigenous reindeer herders, and wonder at the miracle of the Lofoten Wall, soaring 3,000 feet above a picturesque fishing village as if a postcard has come to life. Wonder if the sun will ever set as the sky glows perpetually orange and pink on the North Cape at the roof of Europe, ride an ATV along the Russian border outside Kirkenes, and go for a snowmobile ride through snow-cradled valleys as the northern lights pulsate over Mehamn. Sail from Bergen to Kirkenes and back – Norway will reveal her soul to those who choose to open their hearts to this remarkable land.