Travel Trends & Tips

Expedition and Exploration cruises are growing travel trends. What are they? 

According to CLIA-

Expedition cruising is a more physically active and adventurous style of cruising, designed for travelers seeking off-the-grid, immersive exploration in extreme environments like the Arctic and Antarctica. These cruises focus on the journey itself, scientific discovery, nature, and active participation

Exploration cruising refers to voyages that take travelers to unique, remote destinations while still offering a comfortable and often luxurious experience. These cruises prioritize discovery through hands-on learning and cultural immersion of the destination.

While it’s definitely not for everyone, these cruises take you to places you can’t get to on a contemporary ship (large cruise ship) and often are places you just can’t do as a land tour. The most popular and well known expedition cruises typically are in the polar regions, Svarlbard Norway up north, Antarctica down south. 

But there are also expedition cruises to Europe and Asia.

There are a variety of cruise lines that offer expedition cruising and the experience will vary depending on the line. The idea is to choose the one that best fits your expectations and frankly, budget.

A few cruise lines that offer expeditions/explorations are

Silversea

Poseidon

Atlas

Lindblad

Hurtigruten

There are others, but each line has its own style and will lean more towards expedition or exploration depending on what they know their guests expect.

Link to a sample Antarctica cruise