Polar Latitudes Expeditions

Is Polar Latitudes good for Antarctica?

Yes, if you want a small, well-equipped ship at a mid-range fare and are happy to sail the Drake Passage both ways. Polar Latitudes Expeditions (PLX) is the company formed when the US operator Polar Latitudes and Albatros Expeditions, from Denmark's Albatros Group, merged in 2025, and its four ships never carry more than 180 passengers.¹²³ Its 2026-27 Antarctic fares start at $8,997 per person, sharing a two-bed cabin on Discoverer from Ushuaia on March 4, 2027, and most departures work out to about $900 to $1,300 per person per day.⁴⁵

The catch is change. In under two years PLX absorbed Albatros, dropped Seaventure and added Discoverer, and its terms let it swap your ship without a refund, as it did in 2026 for everyone booked on Seaventure.⁶⁷⁸

What happened to Albatros Expeditions?

Albatros Expeditions no longer sells trips under its own name: it merged into Polar Latitudes Expeditions in 2025, and on October 15, 2026 albatros-expeditions.com redirected permanently to polar-latitudes.com.²⁹ Its two ships, Ocean Albatros and Ocean Victory, still sail, and PLX sells all their departures.⁵

If you are reading Albatros Expeditions reviews:

• The ships are the same. What reviews say about Ocean Albatros and Ocean Victory, their X-Bow hulls, balcony cabins, two jacuzzis and spa, still applies.¹³¹⁴
• The fares, inclusions and terms are PLX's. Check what a review says was included or refunded against the lists below. If you booked with Albatros, see which terms your invoice cites: PLX's apply to bookings from December 1, 2025.¹⁵⁷
• PLX's reviews page will not help much. Its testimonials are chosen by the company, and the first ones are about Ocean Nova, not the Albatros ships.¹⁶

Which ships does Polar Latitudes sail?

PLX lists four ships: Discoverer, Ocean Albatros, Ocean Victory and Ocean Nova.³

The X-Bow pair are SunStone Infinity-class ships, the same design as Quark's Ocean Explorer and Aurora Expeditions' Sylvia Earle and Douglas Mawson, with the same 104.4 m hull, PC6 rating and zero-speed stabilization, so on these ships you are choosing between operators, not designs.²²²⁴

Discoverer is the newcomer: PLX's parent company took a majority stake in it, it sails as Heritage Expeditions in other regions, and it was formerly Prince Albert II, Silver Explorer and Exploris One.⁸ PLX sells 140 places, although IAATO's record lists 124 passengers.²⁰²⁵ All its cabins face outward, many with a balcony or Juliet balcony, and Deck 6 has a wrap-around outer deck and outdoor jacuzzis.²⁰

Ocean Nova is PLX's classic small ship, small enough at 80 guests for everyone to land together.²¹ In 2026-27 its Antarctic dates are sold through PLX's sister company Chimu Adventures and do not appear on the PLX rates page.^2627285

What is the price of a Polar Latitudes expedition to Antarctica?

PLX's 2026-27 Antarctic fares start at $8,997 per person, and most departures cost about $900 to $1,300 per person per day at the lowest fare, before flights to Ushuaia.⁴ These are the lowest per-person fares on the booking forms on October 15, 2026, for representative departures on each ship. Triple fares are one berth in a three-bed cabin, and the per-day column is our arithmetic:

The crossed-out prices are the Explorer's Antarctica Sale, advertised as up to 30% off with no end date shown; Discoverer's March 4 departure is 40% off, its December dates 30% and its January and February dates 15% or less (our arithmetic).³³⁴ Prices are dynamic, and a lower price after you pay a deposit is not applied retroactively.⁷ Holiday dates cost more: Ocean Victory's Christmas trip is listed from $13,895 and its New Year's Antarctic Circle Crossing from $27,095.⁵

Add-ons are priced per person: camping $395, Discover Kayaking $350, Immersive Kayaking $1,195, snowshoeing $150, and the photography program $495 on Peninsula trips or $995 on the South Georgia voyages; adventure activities need a 20% non-refundable deposit.⁵ A worked example: two people sharing the $8,997 Ocean Stateroom on March 4 pay $17,994, plus $400 at the suggested tip of $20 per person per night for 10 nights, before flights and insurance.⁴³⁴ For a full budget, see what an Antarctica trip costs and the cheapest way to Antarctica.

What is included, and what are the booking terms?

Every PLX Antarctic fare includes one pre-voyage hotel night with breakfast in Ushuaia, arrival and embarkation transfers, all meals, house wine, beer and soft drinks at lunch and dinner (wine at dinner only), 1GB of Wi-Fi, an expedition jacket and an insulated puffer jacket to keep (a 3-in-1 jacket from 2027-28), loaner boots, landings and port fees. Suites add free laundry, a stocked non-alcoholic minibar and an espresso machine. Flights, insurance, tips, other drinks and laundry cost extra.¹⁵ Insurance is compulsory and must cover medical evacuation, which PLX warns can cost up to $150,000 from Antarctica. Every voyage carries an emergency doctor, and children generally need to be at least 12, with ages 7 to 11 considered case by case.³⁴

Solo travelers who do not pay for single occupancy share with another guest of the same gender, and gender-neutral shares are available on request.⁷ A cabin to yourself costs about 50% more than sharing: Discoverer's Solo Vista Stateroom was $13,437 on March 4 against $8,997 shared, and Ocean Albatros's Single Stateroom $14,895 on March 18 against $9,895 in a triple (our arithmetic). On the X-Bow ships, taking a double cabin alone costs a 70% supplement.⁴¹³¹⁴

How many passengers go ashore at once?

At most 100 passengers can be ashore at one Antarctic site at a time under IAATO's rules, with at least one guide for every 20.³⁵ Ocean Nova, at 80 guests, can land everyone together. Discoverer at 140 and the X-Bow ships at up to 175 have to land in groups of no more than 100 (our reading of the rule).³⁵²⁰¹⁷ PLX says it takes guests off the ship twice a day, weather permitting, for an average of six hours, with one team member per seven or eight guests; those are its own figures.³⁶ For more on landings, see how to choose an Antarctica cruise.

Does Polar Latitudes fly over the Drake Passage?

Not in 2026-27. The first Fly & Cruise departures on the PLX rates page are in January 2028, and the 2026-27 itineraries we read all sail from Ushuaia and back across the Drake.⁵²⁹²⁶ From then PLX sells Fly & Cruise voyages on Ocean Nova from Punta Arenas, with a flight of about two hours to King George Island.²³ The 2027-28 rates page lists the 9-day Fly the Drake Passage round trip from $12,746, the 9-day Fly In, Sail Out from $11,996 and the 11-day Sail In, Fly Out from $10,796.⁵ To weigh the options, read fly or sail the Drake Passage.

Which Polar Latitudes trip should you choose?

Choose by budget, cabin and how far south you want to go:

• Lowest fare: Best of Antarctica's Whale Season on Discoverer, March 4, 2027, from $8,997; on the same departure a Balcony Stateroom is $9,897 (was $16,495), the cheapest Antarctic balcony we found.⁴ Our balcony guide sets out what a balcony adds.
• An X-Bow ship for less: Ocean Albatros on March 18, 2027, from $9,895 in a triple, or Ocean Victory on November 13, 2026, from $10,595 in a porthole cabin and $11,795 with a balcony.⁴
• The Antarctic Circle: the Extended Antarctic Circle Crossing on Discoverer, December 28, 2026, from $15,187.⁴
• South Georgia and the Falklands: Ocean Albatros on February 10, 2027, from $22,995 in a triple.⁴
• No Drake crossing by sea: wait for Ocean Nova's Fly & Cruise trips in 2027-28, from $10,796.⁵

Does Polar Latitudes go to the Arctic?

Yes. In 2027 PLX sails to Svalbard, Greenland, Iceland and the North Atlantic, and it is a provisional member of AECO, the Arctic operators' association.⁵¹¹ The cheapest Arctic trip is Discoverer's 8-day Svalbard: North to the Midnight Sun, round trip from Longyearbyen, from $5,527 per person (was $7,895), and Discoverer is exempt from the Oslo flight package every other 2027 Svalbard voyage requires.³⁷³⁸

The Disko Bay package covers return flights between Copenhagen and Kangerlussuaq.³⁸ Two departures have a different style: the May 25, 2027 Svalbard trip on Ocean Albatros is Mandarin-speaking, and Discoverer's August 17 departure is halal-friendly, with a halal-only galley.⁵³⁴

How does Polar Latitudes compare with Quark, Aurora and Oceanwide?

PLX undercuts Quark and Aurora on the same design of ship and costs more than Oceanwide. The lowest 2026-27 Antarctic fares we found for each operator:

The gap is widest on the Infinity-class ships: a porthole cabin on Ocean Victory starts at $10,595 for 10 days, against $15,095 for a Triple Suite place on Quark's 11-day trip on its sister Ocean Explorer. Inclusions differ, so compare per day and read each list.⁴⁴⁰ For a wider view, see the best Antarctica cruise lines.

What do Polar Latitudes reviews say?

We found no independent reviews we could cite, so this is the company's own material: testimonials it selected, mostly praising Ocean Nova's food, staff and small size, a passenger Net Promoter Score of 91% and a Best Expedition Cruise Operator 2024 award from Expedition Cruise Network, both cited in April 2025.¹⁶⁶

Two cautions when reading reviews elsewhere. Reviews that mention Seaventure describe a ship PLX no longer sells: it now sails full time for its owner, 66° Expeditions, which sells it on its own website (see our Seaventure page).⁸⁴² And Discoverer's first PLX departure is December 8, 2026, so reviews from its years as Silver Explorer or Exploris One describe other operators.⁵⁸

Who should not book Polar Latitudes?

Skip PLX if you want to fly over the Drake Passage in 2026-27, need a guaranteed ship, or travel alone and will neither share nor pay about 50% more for a single.⁵⁷⁴ If you want every drink, tips and laundry included, look at luxury Antarctica cruises. If you get seasick, note that every 2026-27 trip crosses the Drake twice by sea; PLX says the X-Bow rides more smoothly, and our Drake Passage seasickness guide covers the rest.¹³¹⁴