National Geographic Resolution

What is National Geographic Resolution?

National Geographic Resolution is the second of two polar ships Lindblad Expeditions had built for itself, a 124.4 m (408 ft) ship with an X-Bow and the PC5 ice class, delivered by the Ulstein Verft yard in Norway on September 30, 2021.¹ She is the sister of National Geographic Endurance, which the same yard delivered on March 16, 2020.¹² Lindblad lists her at 138 guests, 116 staff and crew and 76 cabins on six decks, 408 ft long and 69 ft wide; she sails under the Bahamas flag.³⁴

Ulstein's reference page gives her design as CX104, yard number 316 and IMO 9880685, with a launch from the dock hall on June 9, 2021, and a nomination for the 2022 Ship of the Year Award.¹ Its as-built figure was 126 guests and 112 crew, and Lindblad's own annual report lists 75 cabins, so expect small differences between sources.¹⁴ Ulstein lists Lindblad as the company that ordered, owns and operates her.¹

Why is she called Resolution?

Lindblad named her to honor the second voyage of Captain James Cook.³ Ulstein notes that Cook was the first to circumnavigate Antarctica and to cross the Antarctic Circle, and the first European to reach Hawaii, and that of all the ships he captained, the Resolution was his favourite.¹

How is Resolution different from National Geographic Endurance?

On board, very little: the two April 2026 deck plans list the same nine cabin categories on the same decks and the same public rooms.⁵⁶ The real differences are where her Antarctic trips start, where she sails the rest of the year, and the art on her walls.

Lindblad's Resolution deck plan says the artist Zaria Forman has curated a new exhibit of work by a wide range of artists for her, "echoing the pioneering installation aboard National Geographic Endurance".⁵ The shared features are the ones covered on our Endurance page: the PC5 rating, which Transport Canada describes as year-round operation in medium first-year ice, the X-Bow, the igloos and infinity-style hot tubs on the top deck.¹¹⁵

Which cabin should you book on National Geographic Resolution?

Every cabin faces outside, and 59 of the 76 have a balcony with chairs, a table and a hammock: all of Categories 3 to 7 and all 14 solo cabins.⁵⁹ The 17 cabins in Categories 1 and 2 on the Fore Deck have two large windows instead.⁵ The table shows each category on the December 6, 2026 Voyage to Antarctica, per person with two sharing, as Lindblad's booking system showed it on October 15, 2026:

Categories 3 to 7 can take a third person on the sofa; on that departure a Category 5 balcony cost $24,250 each for three.⁹ The junior suite and the eight Category 7 suites come with priority booking for one spa treatment and one igloo, plus free laundry.⁵¹²

Solo travelers have a real choice here, because every solo cabin has its own balcony. One person in a Category 1 cabin pays double, $41,000 on December 6, so the $33,625 solo cabin is the cheaper way to sail alone, though none were open that day.⁹ The lowest solo fare we saw open on her 2026-27 Voyage to Antarctica dates was $30,630, for a Solo A cabin on December 16.⁹

Every fare includes meals, beer, wine and spirits, crew gratuities, kayaking and the other expedition gear, a National Geographic photographer on board and a basic Wi-Fi plan.¹²

Where do Resolution's Antarctic trips start?

Her Voyage to Antarctica departures start with a night at the Ritz-Carlton in Santiago, Chile, or similar, then a recommended group flight to Ushuaia to board; Endurance guests start in Buenos Aires instead.⁸ The split is temporary: Lindblad says her departures route through Santiago until the end of the 2027-28 season and through Buenos Aires from 2028-29.⁸ The longer Patagonia, Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica Odyssey also starts in Santiago for its 2027 and 2028 departures, and Lindblad says it moves to Buenos Aires from 2029.¹³ Flights are not included in these fares, so price the Santiago routing when you compare her with Endurance.⁸

Where does National Geographic Resolution sail in 2026-27?

She spends November to early March on the Antarctic Peninsula with four itineraries, after an Easter Island to Tahiti voyage in October 2026.⁹ Fares per person with two sharing, read October 15, 2026:

The Odyssey is the long one: the Chilean fjords and Tierra del Fuego, then the Falkland Islands, four days at South Georgia and five on the Peninsula before the Drake Passage back to Ushuaia.¹³ Antarctica and Patagonia gives six days on the Peninsula, then turns through the Chilean fjords, Karukinka Natural Park and Torres del Paine to finish in Puerto Natales.¹⁴ The same trip on National Geographic Explorer four days later starts at $20,000.⁹

Every Category 1 and 2 cabin on her six Voyage to Antarctica dates was sold out, and the December 26 departure was full.⁹ Lindblad's air credit of up to $2,000 per person, for US and Canadian residents who book by November 4, 2026 and buy flights through Lindblad Air, applies to her January 5, February 7 and February 17 departures.⁹¹⁵

Where does Resolution sail in the 2027 Arctic season?

After a spring in the South Pacific and Japan, she heads into the Canadian Arctic and Greenland from late July to late September 2027.⁹ Endurance spends the same summer in Svalbard, Iceland and East Greenland, so Resolution is the one of the pair that sails the Northwest Passage.¹⁰

The Northwest Passage voyage flies from Anchorage to Nome by charter, follows the Alaska and Yukon coast to Herschel Island, spends Days 8 to 17 in the passage itself, then Lancaster Sound on Baffin Island, Ilulissat and Sisimiut before leaving the ship in Nuuk.¹⁶ Lindblad also sells the route westbound and warns that some departures follow a modified itinerary.¹⁶ Only two cabins were open on it when we checked.⁹

Baffin Island is the short, cheaper Arctic trip: a round trip from Reykjavik with Days 4 to 10 in Canada's High Arctic after crossing the Davis Strait.¹⁷ Fabled Lands of the North runs from Nuuk via Sisimiut and Disko Bay, Baffin Island and the Labrador coast's Torngat Mountains to St. John's, Newfoundland, with staff archaeologists aboard.¹⁸ The Baffin Island and Fabled Lands departures carry the up to $2,000 air credit; the Northwest Passage does not.⁹

Who should choose National Geographic Resolution?

Choose her for the Northwest Passage or Baffin Island, for a PC5 ship and a balcony in the same cabin, or if flying to Antarctica through Santiago suits you better than Buenos Aires. Families can book triples in most balcony categories.⁵

Choose Endurance if your dates fit hers, since the ships are near twins, and look at National Geographic Explorer or Aurora's Douglas Mawson if price matters more than ice class. For how Lindblad compares with Quark on price and inclusions, see Quark vs Lindblad; for the wider field, see our guide to choosing an Antarctica cruise and Arctic cruises.