Greg Mortimer

What is the Greg Mortimer?

The Greg Mortimer is the first of Aurora Expeditions' three purpose-built expedition ships and the first passenger ship built with the Ulstein X-BOW, an inverted bow that pierces waves instead of riding up and slamming down on them.¹² It is 104.4 m (343 ft) long, takes at most 130 guests on Aurora's expeditions and has 76 cabins, 85% of them with a private balcony.¹² SunStone Ships ordered it from China Merchants Industry Holdings; steel was cut on March 16, 2018, the ship was named and delivered at the CMHI yard in Haimen, China, on September 6, 2019, and its maiden voyage left on October 31, 2019.² It was the first of the seven ships in SunStone's Infinity class.³

Its two younger sisters, the Sylvia Earle (2022) and the Douglas Mawson (2025), share its length, its X-BOW and its 130-guest cap on expeditions.⁴⁵ This page covers what sets the Greg Mortimer apart: its cabins, its Ross Sea season and its 2027 charter to Lindblad Expeditions.

Who is the Greg Mortimer ship named after?

It is named for Greg Mortimer, the Australian mountaineer who founded Aurora Expeditions with Margaret Mortimer in Sydney in 1991; the company ran its first Antarctic expedition in 1992.⁶²⁰ Aurora says he was one of the first Australians to summit Mount Everest, in 1984 and without supplementary oxygen, that he went on to climb K2 and Annapurna II, and that he holds an Order of Australia (OAM).⁶ Aurora also says the ship was designed in conjunction with him.¹

His name comes up again on the ship's Ross Sea voyage. In 1988 he launched the Australian Bicentennial Antarctic Expedition from Cape Hallett, and its six-man team made the first ascent of Mt Minto (4,165 m) in the coastal ranges behind it.⁷

How is the Greg Mortimer different from the Sylvia Earle and Douglas Mawson?

It is the oldest of the three, Aurora lists no swimming pool on it, and it has more porthole twins and triples than the Douglas Mawson.¹⁵ The main differences:

The hydraulic viewing platforms fold out from the ship's side to give clear views of passing whales and seabirds, and Aurora calls them unique; its pages for the two sisters do not list them.¹ Besides the main dining room there is Tuscan Grill, which takes reservations only.¹ Fifteen Zodiacs load through four dedicated doors, and Ulstein lists a separate platform for kayakers and divers.¹²

Ulstein's class notation for the Greg Mortimer includes Polar Class 6 and ICE1A*, and the owner lists Rolls-Royce Aquarius stabilizers that work at rest and Kongsberg dynamic positioning, so the ship can hold station without dropping anchor.²³ Polar Class 6 is a summer and autumn rating for medium first-year ice, one step below the year-round PC5 of Lindblad's National Geographic Resolution.⁹ For the X-BOW in the Drake Passage, see our Sylvia Earle page.

What cabins does the Greg Mortimer have, and what do they cost?

Every cabin faces the sea, and all but the porthole twins and triples on Deck 3 have a private balcony; the sizes below are Aurora's.¹ Fares are for the ship's Across the Antarctic Circle departure of February 28, 2027, per person with two sharing unless shown, after the save up to 10% offer on that date, as read on October 14, 2026:

The cheapest berths sit on Deck 3 beside the mudroom and Zodiac platforms: eight porthole twins and six porthole triples, the triples sold only on certain departures.¹ At the top there is one Captain's Suite and there are four Junior Suites on Deck 7; suite fares add a stocked minibar, a bottle of champagne, a pair of binoculars to take home and a crew gratuity of $15 per person per day.¹ Otherwise Aurora adds a gratuity of $20 per person per day to your onboard account, which you can adjust or remove when you settle up.⁸ Some Balcony Superior cabins have wheelchair accessible bathrooms.¹

Solo travelers get ten dedicated balcony cabins: C cabins 611 and 614, B cabins 603 and 606, and A cabins 407, 409, 410, 412, 607 and 610, priced at the full fare with no single supplement.⁸ That also means no discount: on February 28 the A solo cost $25,395, while two people sharing an A paid $22,856 each.¹⁰ Book a double for one and Aurora's usual 50% supplement applies; the B cabin for one person was $31,854.⁸¹⁰ All the solo cabins on that date were sold out.

Where does the Greg Mortimer sail in 2026-27?

It has four Antarctic departures, and two of them are the only voyages on Aurora's Ross Sea and East Antarctica page for the season.¹¹¹² Fares per person after discounts:

Ross Sea Odyssey starts with a hotel night in Hobart and reaches Macquarie Island on Day 6; Mawson's men set up a radio relay station there in 1911 that sent the first messages from Antarctica to the outside world.⁷ Days 11 to 17 are on the Victoria Land coast and in the Ross Sea, where Aurora may visit the Ross Ice Shelf, the explorers' huts of McMurdo Sound, the emperor penguin colony at Cape Washington, Cape Hallett and Cape Adare.⁷ Aurora says Cape Adare has Antarctica's largest Adélie penguin colony, more than 250,000 breeding pairs, beside the huts Carsten Borchgrevink's expedition built when it became the first to winter on the continent in 1899.⁷ The voyage ends at New Zealand's Auckland and Campbell Islands. It skips the Drake but not the open ocean: Days 3 to 5, 7 to 10 and 18 to 21 are all at sea.⁷

Epic Antarctica links the two halves of the continent. After New Zealand's subantarctic islands and Macquarie Island it spends Days 13 to 18 in the Ross Sea, eight days of expedition cruising that cross the International Date Line, Days 27 to 31 on the Antarctic Peninsula, and then crosses the Drake once, north to Ushuaia.¹³ Aurora's header calls it 33 days, but its itinerary runs to Day 34.¹³ Antarctica Complete pairs Days 5 to 10 on the Peninsula, where the plan includes crossing the Antarctic Circle, with three days at South Georgia and two in the Falkland Islands.¹⁴

Fares on these voyages include a pre-voyage hotel night, meals, premium spirits, beer and wine, a 3-in-1 polar jacket, the loan of Muck Boots, landing fees and Wi-Fi; flights and add-on activities are extra.⁷¹⁰ On Across the Antarctic Circle the add-ons start at $1,330 per person for sea kayaking, $1,395 for ski or snowboard touring, $1,295 for scuba diving, $675 for snorkelling, $370 for snowshoeing and $350 for paddling.¹⁰ All four departures are on Aurora's Stop Saying Someday list, a saving of up to 35% that varies by departure, for new bookings made and deposited from October 6 to December 22, 2026.⁸

Does the Greg Mortimer sail to the Arctic in 2027?

No. After the February 28 departure Aurora lists no Greg Mortimer voyage until Antarctica Active on November 13, 2027.¹¹ In between, Lindblad Expeditions takes the ship for the northern spring and summer under a three-year charter announced on December 11, 2025, to grow its Alaska program as its National Geographic Sea Bird and Sea Lion retire after a 2026 farewell season.¹⁵

Lindblad lists the ship at 154 guests, 95 staff and crew and 77 cabins, with 21 pairs of connecting cabins and room for a third person in 60% of staterooms, and it sells the ship to families.¹⁶ Its 2027 departures run from March 27 to April 20 on Panama and Costa Rica's Pacific coast (13 days, from $9,900) and from May 7 to September 24 in Alaska and British Columbia (8 days from $6,190, 15 days from $11,870), per person in the lowest category with two sharing.¹⁶¹⁷ Lindblad's ship page quotes lower starting fares of $6,000 and $11,250 for the Alaska trips without naming a date.¹⁶ The release promises time at Hubbard Glacier and the Inside Passage through Grenville and Princess Royal Channels.¹⁵ Lindblad's fare includes crew gratuities on the Greg Mortimer.¹⁸ For Svalbard or Greenland with Aurora in 2027, look at the Sylvia Earle or the Douglas Mawson.

What happened on the Greg Mortimer during COVID-19?

CNN reported that it left on March 15, 2020 on a voyage to Antarctica and South Georgia, that from early April it was held off Uruguay after authorities refused to let passengers land, and that 128 of the 217 people aboard, almost 60%, had tested positive.¹⁹ Aurora arranged a chartered Airbus A340, fitted with medical and quarantine facilities, to fly the Australian and New Zealand passengers to Melbourne.¹⁹

Who should book the Greg Mortimer?

Book it for the Ross Sea, for a start in Hobart or Dunedin, or for the late-season Antarctic Circle trip, which still had triple berths at $18,086 and balcony cabins from $21,236 when we checked.¹⁰ It also suits solo travelers who want a balcony, and kayakers and divers, who get their own launch platform.²

Choose a sister instead if you want the Arctic with Aurora in 2027, a pool, or a shorter trip that flies across the Drake: the Douglas Mawson has two January 2027 departures that fly at least one way.¹¹ For a PC5 ice class, see Lindblad's National Geographic Endurance. Compare costs in our Antarctica trip cost guide and weigh ship size in small vs large expedition ships.