Early Bird Specials:
- Scroll down for promotional details for each departure date
- Exclusive onboard credit of $100 pp from Polar Dream Travel
Day 1 - Hobart, Tasmania
Hobart occupies a wonderful location at the mouth of the Derwent River, overseen by majestic Mt Wellington and surrounded by natural bushland. The Tasmanian capital is Australia's second-oldest city, after Sydney, and the picturesque waterfront is bordered by 19th-century warehouses and colonial mansions.
Day 2-5 - At sea aboard Le Commandant Charcot
Spend exceptional moments sailing aboard Le Commandant Charcot, the world’s first luxury polar exploration vessel and the first PC2-class polar cruise ship capable of sailing into the very heart of the ice, on seas and oceans which the frozen conditions render inaccessible to ordinary ships.
Day 6 George V Land
Fall under the spell of the immaculate shores of George V Land, a remote region on the eastern coast of Antarctica. Between monumental ice shelves and infinite white expanses, tabular icebergs slowly drift, revealing their turquoise- and azure-tinged walls. Along the shores of this isolated region, the marine life will reveal itself in all its splendour: orcas, rorquals and humpback whales wander these enchanted waters, offering exceptional encounters in this preserved polar setting.
Day 6 - Commonwealth Bay
Welcome to the country of blizzards, these violent winds filled with snow flakes. Plunge into the history of the Australian polar expeditions and discover Commonwealth Bay, by slipping into the shoes of the legendary Douglas Mawson, who created his main base in 1911 in Cape Denison.
Day 7 - Adélie Land
Adelie Land covers around 400,000 km2 (around 250,000 square miles) of the White Continent between the 136th and 142nd meridians longitude East. These lands claimed by France in Antarctica are home, on Petrel Island, to Dumont-d’Urville station, which is named after the eponymous French explorer who investigated the region in 1840. Here, the few resident scientists share the Antarctic desert with Adelie penguins, seals and orcas, as well as emperor penguins during the winter. The extreme climate of this land at the edge of the world, characterised by its very low temperatures and its violent winds or blizzards, make it difficult to access its shores, which are protected by thick ice floe.
Day 8 - Magnetic South Pole
The convergence point for the field lines of the Earth's magnetic field, the Magnetic South Pole attracts the magnetic needle of the compass. While the Geographic South Pole is the Earth’s southernmost fixed point, marking the intersection of the Globe's rotation axis with the Earth’s surface, the Magnetic South Pole moves over time.
Day 9 At Sea
Days 10-12 - Wilkes Land
Aboard Le Commandant Charcot, follow in the footsteps of the American explorer Charles Wilkes, during his USS Vincennes expedition undertaken between 1838 and 1842. A veritable mine of information for scientists, this isolated land - where only moss and lichen have managed to adapt and to take hold, forming the tundra -, promises a unique moment.
Day 13 - Sailing along Shackleton Ice Shelf
During this unique navigation, suspended in time, admire the fantastic spectacle of the Shackleton Ice Shelf. In the luxurious comfort of Le Commandant Charcot, specially designed for polar exploration, the vast icy expanses of the Antarctic will unfold before your astonished eyes. The air here is imbued with solemn serenity, only broken by the distant cracking of icebergs drifting along the shelf. You will perhaps have the chance to observe the many mammals, such as the whales, seals and penguins, which prosper in these icy waters.
Day 14 Wilkes Land
Aboard Le Commandant Charcot, follow in the footsteps of the American explorer Charles Wilkes, during his USS Vincennes expedition undertaken between 1838 and 1842. A veritable mine of information for scientists, this isolated land - where only moss and lichen have managed to adapt and to take hold, forming the tundra -, promises a unique moment. Under an immaculate white coat, a secret world comes to life: from the icy mountains defying the sky to the vast glaciers, some of which stretch all the way to the Southern Ocean, and the icebergs drifting silently through frozen waters. These landscapes, unlike any other, are sure to captivate you.
Days 15-17 At Sea
Days 18-24 - Queen Maud Land
Dive into the heart of Queen Maud Land, a huge expanse where ice and sea merge endlessly. Impressive glaciers move towards the ocean, accompanied by turquoise- and azure-tinged tabular icebergs. In these waters, seals, orcas and penguin colonies roam freely, offering striking scenes of polar life. Explored by Roald Amundsen and Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen, this region remains remote and intact, with each panorama bearing witness to the raw and preserved power of Antarctica.
Days 25-26 Antarctica Peninsula
Dive into the heart of Queen Maud Land, a huge expanse where ice and sea merge endlessly. Impressive glaciers move towards the ocean, accompanied by turquoise- and azure-tinged tabular icebergs. In these waters, seals, orcas and penguin colonies roam freely, offering striking scenes of polar life. Explored by Roald Amundsen and Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen, this region remains remote and intact, with each panorama bearing witness to the raw and preserved power of Antarctica.
Day 27 Endurance Wreck Site
In 1915, Endurance, the famous three-masted schooner that transported Ernest Shackleton and his 27-man crew to the Antarctic, became trapped in pack ice and sank into the depths of the Weddell Sea. For 107 years, these waters nicknamed by Shackleton as “the worst sea in the world” kept the wreck’s location secret. This symbol of polar adventure was rediscovered in 2022, lying over 3,000 metres (almost 10,000 feet) deep. Aboard Le Commandant Charcot, follow the pack ice in the heart of the floe and glide over the seabed on which this legend rests, to relive the great era of the explorers.
Day 28 Antarctica Peninsula
Days 29-20 At Sea
Day 31 Ushuaia and fly to Santiago
Capital of Argentina's Tierra del Fuego province, Ushuaia is considered the gateway to the White Continent and the South Pole. Nicknamed “El fin del mundo” by the Argentinian people, this city at the end of the world nestles in the shelter of mountains surrounded by fertile plains that the wildlife seem to have chosen as the ultimate sanctuary. With its exceptional site, where the Andes plunge straight into the sea, Ushuaia is one of the most fascinating places on earth, its very name evocative of journeys to the unlikely and the inaccessible…
