Antarctica cruises 2027: prices, new ships and the best departures

An Antarctica cruise in 2027 sails in one of two seasons: January to March 2027 is the end of the 2026-27 season, and from mid-October 2027 the 2027-28 season begins, because tourist ships sail to the Antarctic Peninsula in the austral summer, October to April.¹³⁷ The cheapest 2027 expedition departure we found is $7,050 for a berth in a shared four-berth cabin on Oceanwide Expeditions' Plancius on March 26, 2027.² Most lines already sell 2027-28, from $9,150 for a shared berth on Oceanwide's late-March 2028 trips and $9,500 on its first trip of the season, October 30, 2027.² The biggest changes are in how you reach the ship: Silversea now runs its whole Antarctic program through Puerto Williams, where it has opened its own hotel, Antarctica21 adds a new ship, and Polar Latitudes turns Ocean Nova into a fly-cruise ship for 2027-28.⁵⁵⁹⁶⁷

All fares below are per person, two sharing unless noted, in US dollars as listed on the operator's own site and read October 14 or 15, 2026. Per-day figures are our arithmetic. Where a fare includes a discount, we give the end date the operator publishes; where it publishes none, we say so, and the fare can change at any time.

When is the Antarctica cruise season in 2027?

There are two windows: January to March 2027, then mid-October 2027 to March 2028. Lindblad's first 2027-28 departure leaves on October 15, 2027.³⁷ IAATO, the tour operators' association, says 98% of tourist voyages run on the Antarctic Peninsula during the seven-month austral summer, October to April, most of them from Ushuaia.¹

IAATO expects slightly fewer passengers in 2026-27 than in 2025-26, when 85,195 people landed. Its preliminary estimate, as of April 10, 2026, is 408 expedition voyages by 45 ships carrying 65,055 passengers to the Peninsula, plus 124 air-cruise voyages by 19 ships for 13,498 passengers and 14 sailings by 7 cruise-only ships carrying 26,238 people who will not go ashore.¹

Which window suits you depends on what you want to see and pay. Late-season departures are often the cheapest: the five lowest fares in our January to March 2027 table below all sail in March. December and January bring the calmest Drake Passage crossings.⁸ When to visit Antarctica and Antarctica weather by month set out the trade-offs month by month.

Which Antarctica cruises are on sale for January to March 2027?

Plenty of departures in the last three months of the 2026-27 season are still on sale, from $7,050 on Oceanwide's Plancius on March 26, 2027, or $8,700 for a twin.² These are the lowest fares on each line we priced for departures between January and March 2027:

As the cheapest cabins sell, the lowest fare rises, as it already has on Antarctica21's March 4 departure, so treat these as the floor. Fares also cover different things: HX, Atlas, Viking, Seabourn and Quark's Ultramarine trip include a Buenos Aires hotel night and the flight to Ushuaia, while Oceanwide starts in Ushuaia and leaves the flights to you.^282930324133 For the full cost picture, see Antarctica trip cost and the cheapest way to Antarctica. Only the big cruise ships go lower, from $3,698, and they make no landings; see the big-ship section below.³⁴³⁵

Which 2027-28 Antarctica cruises are on sale now?

Most lines already sell 2027-28: they open bookings about two years ahead, and several now sell 2028-29.

Demand is strong on some lines. In March 2026 Swan Hellenic said its 2026-27 bookings were at 65% of capacity, 20% ahead of the year before.¹⁵ Early booking has paid on some lines, too: Antarctica21's first 2027-28 promotion offered up to $5,000 off for bookings before January 30, 2026, and its current one up to $4,000.²⁰²³

These are the lowest 2027-28 fares on sale:

What is new for Antarctica cruises in 2026-27 and 2027-28?

New ships, new gateways and more fly-cruises. These are the changes that affect what you can book for 2027:

Two ships now share the Discoverer name, which confuses booking pages. Antarctica21's Magellan Discoverer is the new Chilean-built ship.¹¹ The other is the Finnish-built former Silver Explorer and Exploris One, which Polar Latitudes and Heritage Expeditions bought together: Polar Latitudes lists it as Discoverer and Heritage as Heritage Discoverer.¹⁸¹⁹⁷

Silversea's change matters most if you want to skip the Drake. Its fly-cruise guests stay a night in Santiago, take a direct charter to Puerto Williams, sleep at The Cormorant, then fly on to King George Island to board; they spend another night at the hotel on the way home.⁹ Its voyages that cross the Drake now start or end in Puerto Williams too, and the cheapest that sails both ways this season is $11,000 for 10 days on Silver Wind from December 12, 2026, with a Santiago hotel night and the charter flights included; it is a Last-Minute fare, paid in full and non-refundable.⁵⁴⁵⁵⁵⁹ Our Silversea review covers the fares and how the new flights compare with the old Punta Arenas route. IAATO also accepted two new provisional operators in April 2026, Oceanwide Sail Expeditions and Terra Nova Expeditions, which are not in its 2026-27 forecast.¹

Is 2027-28 cheaper than 2026-27?

Sometimes, and mostly because of early-booking discounts. Comparing the same trip across the two seasons gives mixed results:

Read the drops with care. Quark's itinerary page shows $18,895 for 2026-27 against $14,895 for 2027-28, which looks like a $4,000 cut, but the 2026-27 figure is high because the cheaper cabins are sold out or must be booked by phone: the lowest brochure fare not sold out is the $15,095 Triple Suite on November 12, 2026, marked Please Call, after the $14,895 one on November 21 sold out.³⁸⁵¹ Lindblad's October 2027 date is the first of the season, and its $19,000 category in 2026-27 was sold out.³⁷ The rise on Oceanwide is real, and the March 2027 trip is tagged "Last berths" on Oceanwide's table.² If price is all that matters, the lowest fares we found were on late-season 2026-27 departures; if you want a particular ship, date or cabin, the 2027-28 early-booking offers are the better bet.

What are the best deals for Antarctica cruises in 2027?

The deals worth acting on now are Heritage's 20% off its 2027-28 Peninsula voyages, which ends October 30, 2026, Viking's and G Adventures' fall sales, which end October 31, and Antarctica21's up to $4,000 off 2027-28 air-cruises, which runs to December 31.^3302523 These were the offers on operators' pages on October 14 and 15, 2026, each with the end date the operator publishes:

Some discounts have no end date, so we do not count them as deals with a deadline. Ponant's Ponant Bonus shrinks as a cruise fills: on October 15 it was 20% on Le Commandant Charcot's December 16, 2027 Weddell Sea voyage, then from $29,600, and the fares Ponant shows already include it.⁴⁹⁵⁰ Polar Latitudes' sale and early-booking prices and Atlas's Bonus Savings also carry no published end date, so book on those fares only if the price suits you now.⁴²⁶²⁹

Which big cruise ships sail to Antarctica in 2027?

Celebrity, Princess and Holland America all include Antarctic scenic cruising in South America voyages in January and February 2027, from $3,698 with taxes included, but none of them lands passengers: the Antarctic Treaty's visitor guidelines bar landings from ships with more than 500 passengers.³⁴³⁵

For 2027-28, Holland America's 22-day South America and Antarctica cruises move to Nieuw Amsterdam, from $5,119 on December 17, 2027.⁵⁷ Big-ship Antarctica cruises compares what you see from the deck with an expedition trip.

What is the best Antarctica cruise in 2027?

For value, the best 2027 departures are late-March trips on Oceanwide or G Adventures; for anything else it depends on what you want most, so here is a pick for each kind of traveler, from the fares above:

• Lowest price: Oceanwide's Plancius on March 26, 2027, from $7,050 for a shared berth, or G Adventures' Antarctica Classic on March 22, 2027, from $8,559.20 for a twin if you book by October 31, 2026.²²⁵
• Most time in Antarctica for the money: HX's 16-day Iconic Antarctica on November 21, 2027, from $11,672, with nine full days planned in Antarctica, about $1,297 per Antarctic day by our arithmetic.²⁷³⁶
• Skip the Drake Passage: Antarctica21's 8-day Classic Antarctica Air-Cruise from Punta Arenas, from $15,995 in 2027-28 or $13,995 on select departures booked by December 31, 2026, now also on the new Magellan Discoverer; or Polar Latitudes' Ocean Nova fly-cruises in 2027-28, such as Fly the Drake Passage on January 29, 2028, listed from $12,746 for 9 days.²⁴²³⁶⁴ See fly or sail the Drake Passage and, if seasickness is the worry, Drake Passage seasickness.
• South Georgia's king penguins too: Oceanwide's 19-day Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica Birding Special on Plancius from November 22, 2027, at $16,450 for a shared quad berth or $20,100 for a twin porthole.² Whether the extra week pays off is in is South Georgia worth it.
• Luxury: Seabourn's Seabourn Pursuit on March 13, 2027, from $15,998 in a Veranda Suite with a Buenos Aires hotel night and charter flights included, or Silversea from Puerto Williams, whose lowest 2027 fare is $14,900 for Silver Wind's March 10 trip that flies to King George Island and sails back, a Last-Minute fare.^3132595355 Luxury Antarctica cruises compares the top lines.

Not sure which line suits you? Best Antarctica cruise lines and how to choose an Antarctica cruise walk through the choice, and how many days in Antarctica shows what each trip length buys.