Silversea

Silversea is the luxury cruise line of the Royal Caribbean Group, founded in 1994 and based in Miami, and in Antarctica IAATO expects it to fly more guests over the Drake Passage in 2026-27 than any other line.¹² Royal Caribbean bought two-thirds of the line in 2018 and the rest in 2020.³ For 2026-27 it lists 40 Antarctic departures between October 20, 2026 and March 10, 2027 on three ships: Silver Endeavour, Silver Cloud and Silver Wind.⁴ Silversea counts 29 of them as Antarctica Fly Cruise voyages, staged for the first time from its own hotel in Puerto Williams, Chile.⁵ The cheapest fare is $9,000 per person, two sharing, on a 9-day Silver Wind voyage in October; the median of the 34 departures with an open fare is $21,650 (our arithmetic).⁴⁶

How much does a Silversea Antarctica cruise cost?

A Silversea Antarctic voyage costs from $9,000 to $43,500 per person in 2026-27, depending on the ship, the length and how close the departure is.⁴ Silversea quotes fares per guest based on double occupancy.⁷ These are the cheapest open suites on representative departures, read on October 15, 2026:

"Fare per Antarctic day" is our arithmetic: the fare divided by the days each itinerary schedules at the Antarctic Sound, the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands. It shows that the cheapest way into Antarctica with Silversea is not the 6-day fly cruise. Silver Wind's 9-day voyage sails south across the Drake, spends six days in Antarctica and flies home, for $4,000 less than Silver Endeavour's fly cruise on the same date.⁶⁹ The price of that saving is two days at sea on the way down.

Two fare types explain the spread. The Last-Minute fare is Silversea's best rate on voyages departing within five months, paid in full and non-refundable.¹⁵ The All-Inclusive Plus fare comes with a refundable deposit,¹⁶ but the refundable share shrinks as departure nears: the January 24 fly cruise was 75% refundable until October 25, 2026, and the November 7 departure was already non-refundable.¹¹¹⁰ Several All-Inclusive Plus fares carried "Save $5,000" and "Save an extra $1,000" offers that expire on November 2, 2026.¹³ Timing moves the price more than anything else: the same 6-day fly cruise costs $13,000 on October 20 and $29,100 on January 24.⁹¹¹ Our Antarctica trip cost guide covers what flights and insurance add.

What is the Silversea Antarctica Bridge?

The Antarctica Bridge is the name Silversea gave its fly-cruise service when it announced it in 2019; the service is now sold as the Antarctica Fly Cruise, and from 2026-27 its flights leave from Puerto Williams instead of Punta Arenas.¹⁷¹⁸²² Silversea announced it in December 2019 as the first ultra-luxury service to fly guests to Antarctica: 12 voyages on Silver Explorer from December 2021, with a private plane flying 670 nautical miles from Punta Arenas to King George Island.¹⁷ Silversea's own fare data still labels the flight "Antarctica Bridge".¹⁹

The move to Puerto Williams came with Silversea's first hotel. The Cormorant at 55 South has 150 rooms, a restaurant called Latitude 55 and a bar called Bar Sur, and was due to take its first guests on October 19, 2026, a season later than first planned.²¹¹⁸ Fly-cruise guests spend one night there on the way south and one on the way north.¹⁸ Silversea's figures for the new flight vary: its practical guide says about 1.5 hours, an editor's note on its blog says about two, and its head of expeditions told a trade outlet 1 hour and 20 minutes.²⁰²²¹⁸ Silversea's blog described the earlier Punta Arenas flights as operated by DAP on BAe 146 or Avro RJ aircraft.²²

How does the Antarctica Fly Cruise work?

The fly cruise wraps flights and hotel nights around a short voyage, so a 6-day cruise is a 10-day trip from Santiago: on the October 20, 2026 departure the included journey starts on October 18 and ends on October 27.⁹ The sequence, from Silversea's practical guide:²⁰

1. Arrive in Santiago two days before the expedition, with a hotel night included.
2. Fly 3.5 hours on a private charter to Puerto Williams. Your parka, waterproof trousers, boots, backpack and water bottle wait in your room at The Cormorant, then the biosecurity check and a welcome dinner.
3. Fly about 1.5 hours to King George Island when the weather allows, already dressed in that gear and carrying only the issued backpack and hand luggage.
4. Step through a boot wash at the airfield, ride to the shore and board the ship by Zodiac.
5. At the end, reverse it: Zodiac to shore, a wait in a shelter with limited facilities, the flight back, a second night at The Cormorant and the charter to Santiago.

The charters leave from a private terminal reserved for Silversea guests, and Silversea advises booking onward flights from Santiago no earlier than 10 p.m.²³ On fly cruises all the cold-weather gear is included; on voyages that cross the Drake, some equipment is rented at extra cost.²³ Our guide to flights to Antarctica explains the King George Island airfield.

What happens if the flight to Antarctica is delayed or canceled?

If weather grounds the flight, Silversea keeps trying for up to three consecutive days, and if it cannot fly by 2:00 p.m. on the third day, the Antarctic part of the voyage may be cancelled with a full refund of the cruise fare and all money paid to Silversea.²⁰ If the plane flies on the second or third attempt, the voyage goes ahead and no refund applies, and Silversea may extend the window if the forecast improves. Extra nights at The Cormorant while you wait, including food, drinks and activities, are on Silversea. When several operators are waiting, the airline, DAP Antarctic Airways, usually gives priority to the guests delayed longest. If the return flight is delayed, you stay aboard at no cost, and in exceptional cases the ship may sail back to South America instead.²⁰ Silversea does not refund flights or hotels you booked yourself, so buy insurance that covers delays and book flexible onward flights.

What does a Silversea fare include, and why is it so expensive?

Both Silversea fares include butler-serviced suites, all dining, unlimited wines and spirits, onboard gratuities and Wi-Fi.¹⁵¹⁶ Antarctic voyages add:

• a Santiago hotel night and the charter flights to and from Puerto Williams, with one 50 lb (23 kg) checked bag and 17 lb (8 kg) of hand luggage²³
• on fly cruises, the flights to and from King George Island and a night at The Cormorant each way¹⁰
• a Silversea parka to keep, a backpack and a water bottle²³
• Zodiac cruising, hiking and kayaking, with no pre-booking, led by the expedition team²³
• the South Georgia visa on voyages that call there¹⁴

International flights to Santiago are an optional extra.⁹ The price pays for space and service rather than extra time ashore: Silversea staffs its ships at nearly one crew member per guest, and Silver Endeavour's smallest suite is 355 square feet with a veranda.²³⁹ Our guide to luxury Antarctica cruises compares what other luxury lines include.

What is the best month for a Silversea Antarctica cruise?

Go in late October, at the start of the season, for the lowest Silversea fares, or from December to February for penguin chicks and the most daylight, when its fly cruises are fullest. Silversea's fly-cruise page describes penguins nesting from October to December, chicks hatching and nearly 24 hours of daylight from December to February, and fledging chicks and the best whale sightings from February to March.²¹ Prices follow that demand. Silver Wind's 9-day voyages that sail one way and fly the other start at $9,000 and $9,700 in late October, $18,300 to $22,400 in January and $14,900 to $16,900 in March.⁴ Of Silver Endeavour's eight fly cruises from December 1 to February 23, five were waitlisted on October 15, 2026, and the other three started at $23,900 to $29,100.⁴ Book a year ahead for the peak. The six cheapest fares on sale were all Last-Minute fares, for departures within five months, paid in full and non-refundable.¹⁵⁴ Our guide to the best time to visit Antarctica compares the months across all lines.

Which Silversea ship is best for Antarctica?

Choose Silver Endeavour for the fly cruise and the newest ship, Silver Wind for the lowest fares, and Silver Cloud for voyages that cross the Drake both ways.⁴

Silver Endeavour is the only one of the three built for polar waters; the other two are 1990s ships Silversea has refurbished.²⁴²⁶²⁷ Silver Cloud and Silver Wind sell Oceanview suites of 240 square feet, which is why they undercut Silver Endeavour, where every suite has a veranda.⁶¹²⁹ IAATO's directory lists Silver Cloud at 240 passengers and Silver Wind at 270, a little under Silversea's figures.²⁸²⁹ It also gives Silver Wind's build year as 2010, but the Port of Hamburg's record for the ship (IMO 8903935) agrees with Silversea's 1995, so we use 1995.²⁹⁴⁴²⁷

How do landings work with more than 200 guests?

All three Silversea polar ships carry more than 200 guests, which puts them in Category 2 of IAATO, the Antarctic tour operators' association that Silversea belongs to, for vessels of 201 to 500 passengers.^3302829 IAATO allows no more than 100 visitors ashore at one site at a time and holds ships of that size to "stringent restrictions on time and place of landing activities".³¹ Site rules add more: Petermann Island takes no more than two ships over 200 passengers a day, and Cuverville Island no more than three.³²³³ A full ship therefore lands in at least three groups at a 100-person site (our arithmetic). Ships are not always full: IAATO's 2026-27 estimate averages about 178 passengers per Silver Endeavour voyage, which would still mean two groups (our arithmetic).² Silversea says it has worked with IAATO to open new landing sites, and names Wilhelmina Bay, Fournier Bay and Croker Passage among the places its fly cruises explore.²¹ For how ship size shapes a trip, see small vs large expedition ships.

Does Silversea sail to the Arctic?

Yes. In 2027 Silver Endeavour sails Svalbard, Greenland and Iceland from May to September, and Silver Wind sails Iceland and Greenland from June to September; Silver Cloud has no Arctic voyages listed.⁴ Silversea is a member of AECO, the Arctic expedition cruise association.³⁴

The first three fares include savings offers of $2,500 to $5,000 that end on November 2, 2026.³⁵³⁶³⁷ See our guides to Svalbard cruises and Greenland cruises.

Is Seabourn or Silversea better for Antarctica?

Pick Silversea to fly over the Drake or to find the lowest luxury fare this season; pick Seabourn to sail from Ushuaia with the Buenos Aires charter built in. Seabourn's two expedition ships each carry 264 passengers, against 220 on Silver Endeavour.³⁸²⁵ Seabourn's cheapest 2026-27 Antarctic fare is $15,998 for 11 days on Seabourn Pursuit in March 2027, with a Buenos Aires hotel night and charter flights to Ushuaia.³⁹ Silversea's open fares go lower, to $9,000 and $13,000, but those are non-refundable October sailings.⁶⁹ Our Silversea vs Seabourn comparison goes deeper.

How does Silversea's fly cruise compare with Lindblad, Quark and Antarctica21?

Silversea runs the biggest fly-cruise operation but neither the cheapest nor the smallest ships. IAATO's preliminary 2026-27 figures give Silversea 24 air-cruise voyages and 4,594 passengers, about a third of the 13,498 expected across all lines (our arithmetic).² Lowest 2026-27 fares (Silversea read October 15, the others October 14, 2026):

Antarctica21's ships are small enough to put every guest ashore at once at a 100-person site; Silversea's are not (our arithmetic).⁴² Silversea's edge is the chain from Santiago, with its own charter, hotel and fare that covers drinks and tips. Our guide to whether to fly or sail the Drake Passage weighs the choice, and Lindblad vs Silversea compares the two lines.

Are Silversea Antarctica cruises good?

We have not sailed with Silversea and do not quote guest reviews, so judge it on the record. Silversea ran 38 Antarctic voyages in 2025-26, 20 across the Drake and 18 fly cruises, and says nearly 140 guests on one voyage took the polar plunge.⁵ Its fly-cruise program has grown from 12 voyages announced in 2019 to 29, and its head of expeditions says two of its three ships are now dedicated to it.¹⁷⁵¹⁸ On a 2022 voyage Silversea hosted for travel partners and media, an Australian travel agent told Seatrade Cruise News that "everyone got to do at least two expeditions a day".⁴³

Book Silversea if you want to skip the Drake, have limited time, or want flights from Santiago, hotels, drinks and tips in one fare. Look elsewhere if you want every guest ashore at once, a refundable booking at the lowest price, a start in Ushuaia, or helicopter flights, which Silversea has said it does not want flying around Antarctica.⁴³⁴ Our ranking of the best Antarctica cruise lines puts Silversea alongside the alternatives.