Seabourn Venture

Seabourn Venture was the first ship Seabourn built for expeditions: a 264-guest, all-suite vessel with a PC6 ice-strengthened hull, delivered in Genoa in June 2022.¹² It spends the southern summer on the Antarctic Peninsula, sailing from Buenos Aires with a hotel night and charter flights included, and the northern summer around Greenland, Iceland and the Northwest Passage.³ A 2026-27 Antarctic voyage on Venture starts at $17,298 per person in a Veranda Suite, taxes included, on the December 8, 2026 departure.³¹⁹ Its near-twin, Seabourn Pursuit, sells the same trip for less late in the season.

How big is Seabourn Venture, and what is its ice class?

Seabourn Venture is about 170 m (557 ft) long and 24 m (78 ft) wide, carries 264 guests in 132 ocean-front veranda suites, and is built to Polar Class 6 standards.¹⁴ The figures Seabourn publishes:

PC6 is the second-lowest of the seven polar classes. It covers summer and autumn operation in medium first-year ice that may include old ice.⁶ That matches how Seabourn uses the ship: Antarctica from late October to March, the Arctic from July to September.³ Ponant's icebreaker Le Commandant Charcot is PC2, rated for year-round operation in moderate multi-year ice, and it is the one of the two that sails to the North Pole.⁶⁷²⁵

Seabourn describes "advanced maneuvering technology for superior stability," but none of the pages we read gives a stabilizer specification or hull form.² We have not sailed on Venture, so we cannot say how it handles the Drake Passage, which its round trips from Ushuaia cross both ways.

What does 264 guests mean when you land in Antarctica?

It means you share each landing with two other groups at the busiest sites. Antarctic Treaty site guidelines for places such as Petermann Island and Cuverville Island allow 100 visitors ashore at a time, with one guide per 20.⁸⁹ With 264 guests, Venture needs at least three rotations at those sites (our arithmetic), so each guest gets roughly a third of the ship's time there.

The ship's size also puts it in a restricted class. IAATO lists Venture at 264 passengers and files Seabourn among operators of ships carrying 201 to 500.¹⁰¹¹ Petermann Island accepts no more than two ships of over 200 passengers per day, and Cuverville Island no more than three, so a busy day can push Venture to a different site.⁸⁹

On the water the ship is generously equipped. When Venture entered service, Seabourn said it carried enough Zodiacs to take every guest out at once.⁵ Seabourn also sells time ashore. Its Polar Pass buys priority access, the choice to be first off the ship, more time ashore and longer Zodiac outings.¹² Seabourn lists it at two prices on the same departures, $1,850 and $2,250, and the pages we read do not explain the difference.³ Polar Pass holders cannot also join the Image Masters photography program on the same voyage.¹²

What is included on Seabourn Venture, and what costs extra?

Zodiac cruises and walks ashore are included on every Antarctic day, and so are drinks, Wi-Fi and gratuities.¹³¹⁴² Seabourn's published inclusions for its Antarctic voyages:

• a custom Seabourn parka and a waterproof day pack, both made by Helly Hansen¹⁴
• the Polar Plunge and Caviar on the Ice, served on deck with champagne¹⁴
• Wi-Fi carried over Starlink¹⁴
• premium spirits and fine wines, with tipping "neither required, nor expected"²
• a hotel night at the Alvear Palace in Buenos Aires and charter flights to and from Ushuaia¹³

Three activities cost extra. Kayaking is $325 for a two-hour outing, with a dry suit, pogies and booties supplied. You book it on embarkation day for whichever outing the team can offer, not for a site of your choice.¹⁵ Image Masters, a four-day photography program, costs $1,850.¹⁶ Polar Pass is described above.

Can you still take a submarine dive on Seabourn Venture?

No. Seabourn ended its submarine program at the close of the 2025-26 Antarctic season, telling travel agents in February 2026 that the submarines on Venture and Pursuit would be removed from service within six weeks. It blamed low guest participation, the specialist work needed to maintain and recertify the submarines, and regulations that limited where they could dive.²⁴ The two six-seat submersibles had been part of the ship since delivery, and guests on its first Antarctic voyage in November 2022 could book a dive.²⁵ None of the 2026-27 Antarctic departures lists a submarine excursion, and Seabourn's submarine page now redirects to its home page.³ Ignore older brochures and agency pages that still show them.

What are the suites like?

Every suite on Venture has a veranda, and even the entry Veranda Suite has a walk-in closet sized for expedition gear.¹ Sizes from Seabourn, with fares for the February 20, 2027 Antarctic departure, per person in a double with taxes included:

Sizes are from the ship page.¹ On that sailing the "Owners Suite and Above" fare was $7,600 more per person than a Veranda Suite, for almost three times the space (our arithmetic).¹³ The 16 Panorama Penthouse Suites are smaller than the Penthouse Suites but have a semicircular living area with floor-to-ceiling windows, and on this departure they cost more.¹⁴ Wheelchair-accessible suites have roll-in showers only.¹ On board you also find a sauna, a Discovery Center big enough to seat every guest at once, and a mast-mounted Cineflex camera that films wildlife up to 3 miles (about 5 km) away and streams it to the suites.⁴¹

Where does Seabourn Venture sail in 2026-27 and 2027?

Venture sails Antarctic voyages of 11 to 21 days between late October 2026 and March 2027, almost all of them round trips from Buenos Aires, then Greenland, Iceland and the Canadian Arctic in summer 2027.³ Its Antarctic program, read on October 14, 2026 and rechecked on October 15, 2026:

"Per night aboard" is our arithmetic: 10, 12 and 20 nights on the ship. The December 8 sailing of the 11-day voyage, sold out on October 14, was back on sale a day later and is Venture's cheapest Antarctic sailing this season.¹⁹ In January the 13-day voyage gives two extra Antarctic days for the same fare as the 11-day one: $22,998 on January 7 and on January 19.¹⁷¹³ The holiday sailings cost more: $24,998 on December 18 and $26,998 on December 28.¹⁹ Fares for the 2027-28 season are already on sale, with the 21-day voyage from $27,498 on November 18, 2027.¹⁸ For what flights, insurance and gear add, see our Antarctica trip cost guide.

In summer 2027 Venture sails out of Reykjavík. The 14-day Southeast Greenland and Iceland voyage, from July 3, starts at $17,498. The 20-day Northwest Passage and Baffin Island voyage, from July 30, begins with a charter flight to Kangerlussuaq and starts at $31,998.²⁰²¹ None of its 2027 voyages calls at Svalbard or the North Pole.³

Which ships are the closest alternatives?

The closest alternative is its sister, Seabourn Pursuit, which shares the PC6 design and 24 Zodiacs.⁴ It sells the same 11-day voyage from $15,998 on March 13, 2027, and the 13-day voyage from $21,998 on January 10.¹³¹⁷ If ship size worries you, Ponant says its Antarctic ships carry no more than 200 guests, which means two landing groups instead of three (our arithmetic).²² Le Commandant Charcot is the pick if you want the North Pole or the deep Weddell Sea, from $29,600 in the 2027-28 season.²³ Viking Octantis is bigger again, listed by IAATO at 378 passengers.¹⁰ Our guide on how to choose an Antarctica cruise weighs these trade-offs.

Is Seabourn Venture a good ship for Antarctica?

Venture is a good choice if you want a luxury hotel at sea with everything included, from the Buenos Aires hotel to the bar, and you accept landing in three shifts. Pick the 13-day voyage over the 11-day one: it costs the same in January and gives you seven Antarctic days instead of five.¹⁷¹³ If your dates are flexible, look at Pursuit in March first.