L’Austral
Guests: 200
Category: Luxury
Ultramarine
Arctic and Antarctic Ships
Luxury Expedition, Luxury & Fly Cruise
We’ve handpicked the finest Arctic and Antarctic cruise ships to transport you to these breathtaking wildernesses. Organised into three categories—Expedition-Luxury, Luxury, and Fly-Cruise—many of these vessels offer voyages to both polar regions, showcasing the Arctic and Antarctic in the northern and southern hemisphere summers respectively.
All our ships are IAATO members, equipped with expert crews, dual engines for safety, and high operational standards, ensuring a safe, enriching, and environmentally responsible journey.
Ship size and why it matters
Choosing the right ship is essential for your polar cruise adventure, as your experience depends significantly on the vessel size. We specialise in smaller luxury ships with fewer passengers, ensuring a more personal and high-quality experience.
Smaller ships foster better connections with expert expedition staff, historians, and wildlife guides. You’re not just a guest—you’re part of the journey. These intimate vessels also allow access to secluded bays and fjords, enabling exploration of hidden gems in places like South Georgia, Svalbard and Greenland. Their flexibility allows for spontaneous wildlife encounters or itinerary changes, making every moment unforgettable.
In Antarctica, strict IAATO rules limit shore landings to 100 people at a time. With fewer passengers, everyone can land together without compromise. Larger ships often require splitting passengers between landings and Zodiac cruises, and ships of over 500 passengers can not land guests ashore.
Luxury Ships
These cruise ships blend classic cruising with Antarctic exploration. These pure luxury ships place greater emphasis on the onboard experience. Exceptional service and fine dining cuisine, stylish interiors and extended onboard ammenities such as wellness and fitness centres can be expected.
Luxury Expedition
These ships blend the best of expedition and luxury cruising. Smaller vessels, hosting around 100 guests, typically offer two landings per day, with a focus on maximising off-ship, exploration opportunities like traditional expedition ships, but with the onboard comfort, space, amenities and dining you would come to expect of a luxury cruise. Larger ships, accommodating up to 200 guests, often provide one off-ship excursion daily, balancing adventure with logistical constraints of the 100-passenger ashore limit. These ships often feature newer designs and more spacious cabins. with cuisine of an exceptional standard.
Fly Cruise
Fly-cruise voyages operate from Chile to Antarctica and offer two key advantages: bypassing long sea crossings and, maximising your time on the continent. A flight takes you from Punta Arenas, Chile, to either King George Island - (the largest of the South Shetland Islands near the Antarctic Peninsula). For Antarctic Peninsula-only itineraries, these flights make shorter visits possible without sacrificing the magic of the experience. Here, you'll find ships offering round-trip flights to and from King George Island, while others combine a flight one way with a Drake Passage crossing the other.
