The last great voyage, planned by people who have been selling it since 1994. Icebergs the size of cathedrals, a hundred thousand penguins on one beach, humpbacks surfacing beside the Zodiac. This guide covers what an Antarctica cruise costs, when to go, how the Drake Passage works, and every expedition line compared, with 924 sailings from 17 cruise lines and live fares for the 2026–27 through 2029–30 seasons.
Reviewed by Craig Pavlus, Founder & CEO, Pavlus Travel & Cruise. 55+ years in travel · Travel Weekly Lifetime Achievement Award.
An Antarctica cruise on an expedition ship starts around $9,268 per person, and long South Georgia voyages typically run about $30,000, more for suites. Big-ship scenic cruises that view Antarctica without landing start near $3,252. Full cost breakdown.
The Antarctica cruise season runs from November to March. December and January bring the warmest weather and penguin chicks; February and March are best for whales.
Most Antarctica cruises sail from Ushuaia, Argentina, crossing the Drake Passage in about two days. Fly-the-Drake voyages fly two hours from Punta Arenas, Chile, to King George Island.
A classic Antarctic Peninsula cruise is 10 to 14 nights. Fly-the-Drake voyages take 6 to 10 nights. Adding the Falklands and South Georgia takes 18 to 23 nights.
An Antarctica cruise is the most expensive voyage most people ever take. Here is where the money goes, using the published fares on this page today.
| Type of voyage | Fares from | Typical fare | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scenic cruising on a large ship | $3,252 | $5,500 | Several days cruising past the Peninsula on a longer South America voyage. No landings. |
| Classic expedition, sail the Drake | $9,268 | $17,300 | 10–14 nights from Ushuaia, Zodiac landings most days. |
| Fly the Drake | $9,700 | $17,900 | Skip the crossing; more of a shorter trip spent on the ice. |
| Luxury expedition (Seabourn, Silversea, Ponant, Scenic) | $9,700 | $22,600 | Small luxury ships, most of them all-suite, with submarines or helicopters on some. |
| Falklands, South Georgia & Antarctica | $9,775 | $30,000 | 129 sailings, mostly 18–23 nights, with South Georgia’s king penguin colonies. |
Published cruise-line fares per person, double occupancy, from live inventory. “Typical” is the median sailing. Your Pavlus price is a separate quote.
Three things move the price more than anything else: the cabin category, how early you book, and whether you sail or fly the Drake. The best cabins on the small ships sell a year or more ahead, and that is when the strongest pricing is available.
The full Antarctica cost breakdown → This season’s lowest fares
The cruise lines publish one price. We usually have a better one, and many of those fares we’re not permitted to show online. Our negotiated pricing saves guests hundreds, often thousands, over booking direct. On a voyage that starts near $9,000, that is real money.
Pricing that comes from more than 30 years of contracts with the expedition lines. You get it by asking, not by searching, and we send it in writing with the cabins still open, usually the same day.
We sell all 17 lines on this page, so we can tell you which ship, cabin and itinerary fits, not which one we happen to represent.
No service fees and no planning fees, including the flights and the pre-cruise nights in Buenos Aires or Santiago.
Family-owned since 1994 · #1 Tauck seller worldwide for 20+ years · 90+ luxury cruise and tour brands · BBB A+ · CLIA · IATAN
Seventeen cruise lines sail to Antarctica. Eleven run true expedition ships that land you by Zodiac; the other six view the Peninsula from large ships. Choosing the best Antarctica cruise comes down to three questions: how many landings you want, how much luxury, and whether you’ll sail or fly the Drake.
Below: live sailing counts and the lowest published fare for each line. Ask for your Pavlus price, or compare the lines side by side for ship size, landings and what’s included.
Expedition
Lindblad Antarctica expeditions sail with National Geographic naturalists and photographers. NG Endurance and NG Resolution are purpose-built Polar Class 5 ships.
Quark Expeditions Antarctica voyages come from polar specialists sailing since 1991, with fly-the-Drake options and Ultramarine, which carries two twin-engine helicopters for flightseeing and remote landings.
Expedition
Silversea Antarctica voyages are all-suite with butler service, with a large luxury fly-the-Drake program that flies guests from Chile straight to the ship.
Expedition
HX Antarctica expeditions come from the line born from Hurtigruten. Hybrid-powered ships, an onboard Science Center, and some of the best-value fares to the ice.
Scenic Antarctica voyages sail all-inclusive "Discovery Yachts" with helicopters and a submarine aboard Scenic Eclipse and Scenic Eclipse II.
Expedition
Seabourn Antarctica cruises sail on Seabourn Venture and Seabourn Pursuit, ultra-luxury purpose-built expedition ships each with two submarines and a fleet of kayaks.
Expedition
Ponant Antarctica cruises bring French luxury to small expedition ships, plus Le Commandant Charcot, a true icebreaker that reaches the Weddell and Ross Seas.
Atlas Antarctica voyages sail all-inclusive luxury-expedition yachts, with round-trip and one-way fly-the-Drake voyages from King George Island.
Expedition
Viking Antarctica expeditions are adults only. Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris launch Zodiacs and two submarines from an enclosed marina inside the ship, The Hangar.
Swan Hellenic Antarctica voyages offer culture-led expedition cruising on small, ice-class ships, with long voyages that link Antarctica to Africa and New Zealand.
Expedition
Tauck Antarctica is the most inclusive way to go: a chartered Ponant ship, with Buenos Aires hotel nights, the charter flights to Ushuaia and gratuities included. Pavlus has been the #1 Tauck seller worldwide for 20+ years.
Also sailing past Antarctica on big-ship South America voyages (scenic cruising, no landings): Celebrity Cruises, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Azamara, Oceania Cruises, Regent Seven Seas.
Every voyage below comes from the live inventory. Tap a style to open the cruise finder already filtered to it.
The voyage most people mean by “Antarctica”: Ushuaia, the Drake, the South Shetlands and four to six days on the Peninsula. The best first trip.
Browse classic voyages →Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica in one voyage: the great polar safari. South Georgia’s king penguin colonies number in the hundreds of thousands, and Shackleton is buried at Grytviken. Many people call it the highlight.
Browse South Georgia voyages →Push south past 66°33′S, where few ships go: quieter landings, more sea ice, and a crossing ceremony to mark it.
Browse Circle voyages →Fly from Chile to King George Island and start in Antarctica. The answer for short vacations and anyone who dreads seasickness.
Browse fly-cruises →Tabular icebergs, emperor penguin territory and the huts of the heroic-age explorers. Specialist voyages on ice-class ships, including Le Commandant Charcot.
Browse Weddell Sea voyages →South America voyages that spend a few days cruising the Peninsula. No landings, but the lowest fares and the comforts of a large ship.
Browse scenic voyages →Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, highest and driest continent on Earth, and almost all of it is buried under ice. No single country governs it: under the Antarctic Treaty, signed in 1959, territorial claims are set aside and the continent is reserved for peace and science. Nobody lives there permanently. The only way most of us will ever see it is from the deck of a ship.
Nearly every voyage goes to the Antarctic Peninsula, the long arm of mountains that reaches up toward South America. It is the mildest, most dramatic and most wildlife-rich part of the continent, and it lies about two days’ sail south of Cape Horn across the Drake Passage.
Once you arrive, the days are built around the weather. On an expedition ship the expedition team goes out at dawn, picks the landing sites, and puts you ashore by Zodiac once or twice a day: among gentoo penguin colonies, beside a research station, on a glacier-ringed beach. Between landings you cruise through ice-choked channels like the Lemaire Channel and Paradise Bay, with lectures from naturalists, glaciologists and historians in between. Many ships offer kayaking, overnight camping on the ice, and the famous polar plunge.
The Drake Passage is the roughly 600-mile stretch of ocean between Cape Horn and the South Shetland Islands, and the first decision every Antarctica traveler makes. Sail it in about two days each way, or fly over it in two hours from Punta Arenas.
About two days each way from Ushuaia or Puerto Williams. You cross the Antarctic Convergence, albatrosses ride the ship’s wake, and the first iceberg is an event. Calm or rough, it is how Shackleton came, and it is the most affordable way in.
See sail-the-Drake voyages →A charter flight from Punta Arenas, Chile, lands on King George Island in the South Shetlands, and you board the ship already in Antarctica. Shorter trips, no seasickness worry, and more of your time spent on the ice. Flights are weather-dependent, so build in a buffer day.
See fly-the-Drake voyages →Seasickness, the “Drake Shake,” and which side of the ship to book: read our Drake Passage guide.
The best time to visit Antarctica depends on what you want to see. The season is short, November through March, and each month is different. Sailings are open now for the 2026–27 through 2029–30 seasons.
The next expedition departure from each line. Last-minute cabins in Antarctica are rare, and worth a call.
Antarctic animals have no land predators, so most show little fear of people. IAATO guidelines keep you about 15 feet back; the penguins don’t always read them.
The three Peninsula species, in colonies from dozens to tens of thousands. King and macaroni penguins add South Georgia; rockhoppers the Falklands.
Humpbacks feed on krill all summer, often within yards of the Zodiacs. Late season is best, and orcas are seen on many voyages.
Weddell and crabeater seals sleep on the ice floes; leopard seals patrol penguin beaches. Wandering albatrosses follow the ship across the Drake.
Also from Pavlus: All expedition cruises · White Desert fly-in camps (the South Pole & emperor penguins) · Ushuaia port guide · Punta Arenas port guide · South Georgia port guide · Live cruise ship tracker
Tell us the season, the line, or just how much ice you want to see. We’ll send your Pavlus price and the cabins still open, usually the same day. Antarctica sells early: the best cabins on the small ships go a year or more ahead.
Your Pavlus Antarctica price will be emailed to you quickly. No obligation.