Seabourn

Seabourn is the ultra-luxury cruise brand of Carnival Corporation, and it reaches Antarctica on two purpose-built expedition ships, Seabourn Venture and Seabourn Pursuit, each carrying 264 guests.⁸¹⁶ A 2026-27 voyage costs from $15,998 per person for 10 nights aboard. The fare includes a hotel night in Buenos Aires, charter flights to and from Ushuaia, drinks, Wi-Fi and gratuities.¹⁰⁸ The trade-off is ship size. At sites that cap visitors ashore at 100, a 264-guest ship lands in at least three shifts.¹⁷ Seabourn sells a Polar Pass, listed at $1,850 or $2,250, to guests who want to be first ashore.¹⁵⁹

How much does a Seabourn cruise to Antarctica cost?

A Seabourn Antarctic cruise of 11 to 21 days costs $15,998 to $33,998 per person in a Veranda Suite for the 2026-27 season. Price depends mostly on the ship, the length and the date.⁹ These are representative fares, read on October 14, 2026 and unchanged on October 15, per person in a double, with taxes and fees already included:

"Per Antarctic day" is our arithmetic: the fare divided by the days Seabourn schedules in Antarctica, which tells you what each landing day really costs. On that measure the 13-day voyage is better value than the 11-day one on the same ship, and the January 10 Pursuit departure is the best value in midsummer. Late-season Pursuit departures are the cheapest way aboard. The holiday departure that spans New Year costs $4,000 more than the January 19 sailing of the same 11-day voyage.²⁵¹⁰

Veranda Suite fares also carried $500 of onboard credit per suite, which matches Seabourn's Explore Beyond offer: $250 per guest on bookings made by November 16, 2026.¹⁰²⁸ Six of the season's departures were sold out when we rechecked on October 15, 2026. The December 8, 2026 sailing of Seabourn Venture, sold out the day before, was back on sale from $17,298, the lowest Antarctic fare on Venture that season.⁹²⁵ For what flights, insurance and gear add on top, see our Antarctica trip cost guide.

What does a Seabourn Antarctic voyage include?

A Seabourn Antarctic fare covers the trip from Buenos Aires back to Buenos Aires, not only the cruise. On the 11-day voyage, day 0 is a night at the Alvear Palace Hotel in Buenos Aires. Day 1 is a charter flight to Ushuaia, and the ship sails at 5 p.m.¹⁰ Then come two days at sea across the Drake Passage, five "Seabourn Antarctic Experience" days on the Antarctic Peninsula, and two more days at sea. You disembark in Ushuaia in the morning and take the charter back to Buenos Aires.¹⁰ Transfers are included, and the charter allows two checked bags per person of up to 50 pounds (23 kg) each.¹⁰

On board and ashore, Seabourn includes:⁸

• Zodiac cruises, ice landings and walks ashore led by the expedition team
• a custom Seabourn parka and a waterproof day pack, both made by Helly Hansen
• premium spirits and fine wines at all times, an in-suite bar and complimentary caviar
• Wi-Fi with unlimited minutes, carried over Starlink
• signature events such as the Polar Plunge and Caviar on the Ice
• no tipping; only spa and salon services carry an 18% gratuity⁸

Three things cost extra. Kayaking runs $325 per outing; it is booked on embarkation day for any outing that becomes available, not for a chosen site.¹³ Image Masters, a four-day photography workshop with limited seats, costs $1,850.¹⁴ Polar Pass buys priority access, the option to be first off the ship at landings, and more time ashore, plus a dinner with the expedition leader. Seabourn lists it at $1,850 and, on the same departures, $2,250, and its pages do not explain the difference.¹⁵⁹

Is Seabourn good for Antarctica?

Seabourn is good for Antarctica if you rank ship comfort, food and an all-inclusive bar above maximum time on shore. The limit is arithmetic. Antarctic Treaty site guidelines allow 100 visitors ashore at once at sites such as Petermann Island, with one guide for every 20.¹⁷ A 264-guest ship therefore needs at least three landing groups where a ship of 200 or fewer needs two (our arithmetic). The same guidelines treat ships carrying more than 200 passengers as a separate class. Petermann Island admits no more than two of them a day, and Cuverville Island no more than three.¹⁷¹⁸ IAATO, the Antarctic tour operators' association, lists Seabourn in its "Ships 201-500 passengers" category.⁷

Seabourn's answer is staffing and equipment. Each expedition ship carries 24 Zodiacs and a 19-person expedition team.¹⁹ The existence of the Polar Pass suggests that time ashore is the scarce resource on board. We have not sailed with Seabourn and do not quote traveler reviews. If reviews are what you are weighing, judge them against these published limits rather than against the brochure.

Does Seabourn still offer submarine dives in Antarctica?

No. Seabourn ended its submarine program at the close of the 2025-26 Antarctic season: in February 2026 it told travel agents that the submarines on Seabourn Venture and Seabourn Pursuit would be removed from service within six weeks.²⁷ It gave three reasons: lower guest participation than expected, the specialist work needed to maintain and recertify the submarines, and regulations that increasingly limited where they could dive.²⁷ When Venture entered service in 2022, Seabourn had announced two custom-built submarines with six seats each.²⁰ The 2026-27 Antarctic departures list kayaking, Image Masters, Polar Pass and the included Zodiac outings, and no submarine excursion, and Seabourn's submarine page now redirects to its home page.⁹ Brochures or agency pages that still show the submarines are out of date. See our Seabourn Venture page for the ship itself.

When does Seabourn sail to Antarctica, and does it go to the Arctic?

Seabourn sails to Antarctica from late October to late March. It divides that into an early season (late October to early December), a mid-season (mid-December to early February) and a late season (mid-February to late March).⁸ Seabourn pitches early season for sea ice and a chance of emperor penguins, and late season for humpback whales.⁸ Its 21-day voyages add the Falkland Islands and South Georgia.¹² Our best time to visit Antarctica guide compares the months.

In summer 2027, Seabourn Venture sails the Arctic from Reykjavík: Greenland, Iceland, the Northwest Passage, Nunavut and Labrador.⁹ Fares start at $17,498 for 14 days in southeast Greenland and Iceland, and $31,998 for 20 days through the Northwest Passage.⁹ None of its 2027 sailings calls at Svalbard or the North Pole, and Seabourn Pursuit spends that northern summer in the Kimberley, Indonesia and the South Pacific.⁹²⁹ For the Pole, see Ponant, whose icebreaker sails there from Svalbard.

Who founded Seabourn, and who owns it now?

Seabourn was founded in 1986 by a group of hospitality and cruise executives, including the Norwegian industrialist Atle Brynstad and the cruise executive Warren S. Titus. Its first ship, the 208-guest Seabourn Pride, launched in 1988.¹² Seabourn dates its anniversaries from that first sailing: it marks its 40th in 2028.⁸ Today it is a brand of Carnival Corporation & plc, based at 450 Third Avenue West in Seattle.³²⁶ It runs five ships carrying 264 to 600 guests each.⁵⁶ Venture, launched in 2022, and Pursuit, which joined in 2023, are its first purpose-built expedition ships.²⁴ Seabourn is a member of IAATO and a full member of AECO, the Arctic expedition cruise operators' association.⁷⁵

Is Seabourn or Ponant better for Antarctica?

Choose Seabourn for the lowest late-season luxury fare and charter flights both ways; choose Ponant for smaller landing groups. The two are the closest luxury rivals on the Antarctic Peninsula, and on price they overlap:

If you can sail in mid-March, Seabourn Pursuit is the cheaper luxury option. If you want two landing groups instead of three, or the Weddell Sea on the icebreaker Le Commandant Charcot, pay Ponant's premium. Viking runs a larger ship still: IAATO lists Viking Octantis at 378 passengers.¹⁶ For a different style of expedition, compare Lindblad Expeditions, or start with how to choose an Antarctica cruise.

Is Seabourn or Silversea better for Antarctica?

Choose Silversea if you want to fly over the Drake Passage; choose Seabourn if you are content to sail it and want the charter from Buenos Aires built into the fare. Silversea sells an Antarctica Fly Cruise that skips the Drake on a private charter to King George Island, beginning, from 2026, at The Cormorant at 55 South hotel in Puerto Williams; it also sells voyages that cross the Drake.³⁰ Every Seabourn Antarctic itinerary we checked crosses the Drake by ship from Ushuaia.¹⁰¹¹¹² The ships are close in size: Silversea lists Silver Endeavour at 220 guests and Silver Cloud at 254, against 264 on each Seabourn ship.³⁰¹⁶ All three are above the 200 that lets a ship land in two groups at the busiest sites (our arithmetic), unless Silversea carries fewer on your departure. We have not priced Silversea's voyages for this page. Our guide to whether to fly or sail the Drake Passage weighs the choice.

Who should book Seabourn, and who should not?

Book Seabourn if you want a polished, all-inclusive ship with flights handled from Buenos Aires, and especially if your dates are flexible enough for a late-season Pursuit fare. Skip it if being ashore as long as possible is the point of your trip, if you want kayaking included, if you would rather fly over the Drake, or if you were counting on a submarine dive. Skip it too if your Arctic plans are Svalbard or the North Pole.