This cruise ship just broke an Antarctic record. It won’t be the last

Antarctica is the ultimate expedition destination for many cruisers, and the race is on to push further into the White Continent.

Last month Seabourn Venture sailed further south than any of the cruise line’s ships had done before, crossing the Antarctic Circle and reaching 70 degrees south, where it disembarked guests on the ice at George VI Sound for celebratory champagne.

Seabourn and other expedition companies have been pushing the boundaries of Antarctica sailings of late, helped by climate-change conditions that produce less icepack and have shifted giant icebergs to open up new navigational channels.

Ponant’s ship Le Commandant Charcot set a record last year when it journeyed south from New Zealand to just over 78 degrees, the furthest south ever sailed by a cruise ship. Charcot, which has a Polar Class 2 rating, is capable of breaking through ice 2.5 metres thick.

Polar Class ratings range from one to seven, with one being the highest rating. Only Quark Expedition’s former Soviet-era icebreaker claims that capability.

Most luxury expedition ships such as Seabourn Venture, Silver Endeavour and Scenic Eclipse carry a Polar Class 6 rating, which will take them through medium first-year ice no more than a metre or so thick.

Itineraries are getting more ambitious. Ponant pushes ever further into the Weddell Sea. Scenic has sailed close enough to Snow Hill Island, which has the only Emperor Penguin breeding ground in Antarctica, to be able to land guests by helicopter.

Scenic will return to Snow Hill again (conditions permitting) on two itineraries at the end of this year that also take in South Georgia and the Falkland Islands.

At the end of last year, I reported on voyages to East Antarctica from Australia and New Zealand by intrepid companies Aurora, Chimu, HX, Ponant and Scenic, which are visiting previously inaccessible parts of the Ross Sea, such as Mawson’s Huts and the Bay of Whales, formerly blocked by icebergs.

For many, Antarctica is top of the dream travel list, and high demand coupled with restricted access means expedition cruises often book out long in advance. Aurora, HX, Lindblad, Ponant, Scenic, Seabourn and Silversea are among companies that sail the more-visited Antarctica Peninsula, most sending several ships and offering dozens of journeys.

In 2028 Ponant’s Le Commandant Charcot will complete a cruise-ship first by circumnavigating the entire continent.

That’s impressive, but Seabourn is offering a unique take with its “Pole to Pole Grand Expedition” in 2027. Over 94 days between Kangerlussuaq in Greenland and Ushuaia in Argentina, Seabourn Venture will sail 20,500 nautical miles from 82 degrees north to 66 degrees south.

The journey takes in both the Arctic and Antarctic – and the opportunity to thaw out in the Caribbean and South America in between. For those who dream big, there isn’t much better.