To the Ends of the Earth

The polar cruises to book for 2022.

“We’re going to see a busy season in Antarctica,” predicts cruise expert Ashton Palmer (ashton@expedition

trips.com), founder and president of Expedition Trips. That’s quite a change after a shortened 2019–2020 season and COVID-19 restrictions carrying into 2021. “People want to invest in experiences and do those ‘trips of a lifetime,’ ” Palmer says. To meet that demand, numerous polar-class ships will debut in the Southern Ocean.

A pair of new 378passenger vessels,

Viking Octantis and Viking

Polaris (from `11,42,127 for 12 nights; viking.com), will blend the feel of an expedition with the amenities of a more traditional ship. Guests can hang outdoors around lava-rock firepits on deck two or opt for lectures by geologists, botanists, and oceanographers.

Lindblad Expeditions has also launched twin ships,

National Geographic Resolution and National Geographic Endurance

(from `11,48,601 for 13 nights; expeditions.com). Both 126-passenger vessels have a cutting-edge design known as an X-Bow that provides a smoother ride, better fuel efficiency, and reduced emissions.

The 12-passenger

Nansen Explorer (from `24,10,691 for 12 nights; eyos expeditions.com) isn’t exactly new—it was once a

Russian research ship—but it has been transformed into a luxury yacht, now operated by EYOS Expeditions. Le Commandant Charcot

(from `14,36,513 for

14 nights; us.ponant.com), the latest ship from Ponant, is a 270-passenger cruiser that recently cut through the ice to the geographic North Pole. As the season shifts south, the ship will, too, with trips to the Weddell Sea and even a 15-day itinerary designed to chase this December’s solar eclipse.