Partner line · Sylvia Earle and Douglas Mawson in the Arctic
Aurora Expeditions
Aurora Expeditions was founded in Sydney in 1991 by the mountaineer Greg Mortimer and still sails the way he did, small groups ashore and as much time off the ship as the ice allows. We have sailed its ships, we know the cabins deck by deck, and we hold offers on many departures that are only available by talking to us.
Why we recommend Aurora Expeditions
The Australian line, built for time ashore
Aurora is the line we recommend to guests who want the expedition first and the ship second, and who like the idea of an Australian company running it. Sylvia Earle and Douglas Mawson carry 130 and 154 guests on the wave-piercing X-Bow hull, with a glass atrium at the bow, a Citizen Science programme on every voyage and an expedition team drawn largely from Australia and New Zealand. The small guest count means the whole ship lands at once and the days are long: two outings most days, Zodiac cruising at the ice edge, hikes with the naturalists and, as options, sea kayaking, snorkelling and the polar plunge. Fares include a hotel night and the charter flights between Oslo and Longyearbyen on the Svalbard routes.
We have sailed with Aurora in both polar regions and we know which cabins on the X-Bow ships are quietest in a head sea and which balconies face the ice on the way into Longyearbyen. Tell us the month and the kind of Arctic you want, and one Australian specialist chooses the sailing and the cabin with you, books the flights from Australia to Oslo or Reykjavík, brings in the offers we hold for Arctic Cruise guests, and stays with you until you are home.
- 2 ships in the Arctic
- Svalbard, Greenland, Iceland, Canada
- 9 to 14 nights
On board
What you notice in the first day
The accents, first of all. Then the briefing, which is about tomorrow’s landings rather than tonight’s dinner, and the gear room where the jacket and boots are waiting with your name on them. On the X-Bow ships the glass atrium at the bow is where everyone ends up when the first bear is called, and the Citizen Science desk is where the voyage turns into something you take part in rather than watch.
Bird cliffs by Zodiac
Two outings a day
Briefings that matter
Wildlife, found by the team
September nights on deck
The fleet
The two ships we send north
Two sister ships on the Ulstein X-Bow hull, three years apart, both rated Polar Class 6 and both built around time off the ship. We tell you honestly which one suits the voyage you have in mind.
Launched in 2022 for 130 guests, with the X-Bow hull, a glass atrium at the bow, a Citizen Science centre and a fleet of Zodiacs for every guest. The ship of Svalbard, East Greenland and Iceland.
Her Arctic season
Arctic expeditions aboard Aurora Expeditions
Svalbard from Oslo, Svalbard with East Greenland, Iceland and the fjords of East Greenland under the northern lights, and the Northwest Passage. Tell us the month you have in mind and we tell you which sailing suits it, which cabin, and what we can do on the fare.
All expeditions
Questions
Aurora Expeditions in the Arctic, your questions answered
Seasons, ships, what is included and how to get there from Australia. If your question is not here, we are a call away.
Svalbard, East Greenland, Iceland and the Canadian Arctic. The routes we sell run from Longyearbyen around Spitsbergen, from Svalbard across to the Greenland fjords and Iceland, around Iceland and East Greenland in September, and through the Northwest Passage.
June to September. The Svalbard sailings run through June and July under the midnight sun, the Greenland and Iceland voyages sail in August and September, and the Northwest Passage closes the season in late August and September.
Sylvia Earle, with 130 guests, and Douglas Mawson, with 154. Both have the Ulstein X-Bow hull, a glass atrium at the bow, a Citizen Science centre, a gym, a sauna and a fleet of Zodiacs for every guest.
The Svalbard sailings start with a hotel night in Oslo and the charter flight to Longyearbyen, both included in the fare. The Iceland and Greenland sailings start in Reykjavík, the Northwest Passage from Canada or Greenland with the flights named in each programme. We arrange your flights from Australia to the gateway city and any extra nights.
The cabin, all meals, beer and house wine with dinner, Zodiac outings, landings and guided hikes, lectures, the polar jacket to keep and boots on loan, the hotel night and charter flights named in the programme, port fees and permits, and Wi-Fi where available. Kayaking and the other adventure options are booked in advance. Crew gratuities are added to your onboard account. We confirm the exact inclusions of your sailing in the proposal we write for you.
Polar bears, walrus, Arctic fox and reindeer in Svalbard. Musk oxen, Arctic hares and whales in East Greenland. Puffins and seabird colonies in Iceland, bears and beluga in the Northwest Passage. Sightings depend on the season, the ice and the route, and no one can promise them. What we can promise is a team that knows where to look.
We have sailed the ships and we know them. You get one Australian specialist who chooses the sailing and the cabin with you, books the flights from home, the hotels and the insurance, brings in the offers we hold for Arctic Cruise guests, and stays with you until you are home.
Made to measure
Tell us your Arctic, we build the rest
Every guest sails differently. Tell us what you are hoping for, the ice, the wildlife, the light, who you are travelling with, and we match it to the right sailing, the right stateroom and the right year, with flights from Australia and our own offers included. One Arctic Cruise specialist stays with you from the first call until you are home.