Day 2: At sea - The ship will be followed by several species of albatrosses, storm petrels, shearwaters and diving petrels.

Day 3: Falkland Islands (Malvinas). We will spend the day on the west side of the islands. We will have an opportunity to hike and see views of Magellanic and Gentoo penguins, as well as assorted water fowl. On Saunders, we will see Gentoo, King, Magellanic and Rockhopper penguins as well as black-browed albatrosses and king cormorants.

Day 4: Stanley, Falkland Islands - On this stop we will soak up the Falkland culture, an unusual mixture of Victorian charm and South American features. You will have an opportunity to explore on your own; we highly recommend a visit to the local church and museum (admission fees not included).

Days 5 & 6: At sea - On our way to South Georgia we will cross the Antarctic Convergence. The temperature will drop by as much as 10 degrees C in a few hours. Near the Convergence we will see numerous seabirds.

Days 7 – 10: South Georgia - We arrive at our first landing site in South Georgia. We might visit the bay of Elsehul, with its very active fur seal breeding beach, and then set course to Right Whale Bay, Salisbury Plain, Godthul, St. Andrews Bay, Gold Harbour, Cooper Bay and Drygalski Fjord where we will see an excellent variety of wildlife, such as the introduced reindeer, elephant seals, fur seals, and king and macaroni penguins. We may visit Prion Island to observe the breeding efforts of the gigantic Wandering Albatross.

At Fortuna Bay, we might hike to Stømness Bay, following in the footsteps of Shackleton. There and at Grytviken we'll see an abandoned whaling village, where King penguins now walk in the streets and seals have taken over the buildings. At Grytviken we'll also offer a visit to the Whaling History Museum as well as to Shackleton´s grave near by. We will depart from South Georgia in the afternoon of day 10.

Day 11: At sea

Day 12: South Orkney Islands - We will visit the Argentinian base of Orcadas station, where the friendly base personnel will show us around and we can marvel at the surrounding glaciers.

Day 13: At sea

Days 14 – 17: Antarctic Peninsula - We will sail into the Weddell Sea through the ice of the Antarctic Sound and its enormous icebergs. Conditions permitting, we plan to visit Paulet Island with its million pairs of Adelie penguins and the remains of the Nordenskjöld expedition. At Brown Bluff we may set foot on the Antarctic Continent, where fewer people have set foot than have climbed Mount Everest. We may land at Half Moon Island to observe Elephant, Weddell and Fur seals as well as Chinstrap penguins, Blue-eyed Shags, Wilson's Storm Petrels, Kelp gulls, Snowy Sheathbills, Antarctic terns and Antarctic Brown Skuas.

If the weather is good, we will try to land at Baily Head on Deception Island, home to a colony of ten thousands Chinstrap penguins.  As an option, you can hike from Baily Head over the ridge of the crater into Whalers Bay, while our ship sails into the natural harbor of the crater through the spectacular Neptune's Bellow.

On our way south, we sail to Cuverville Island in the Errera Channel, and we may attempt a continental landing at Neko Harbour in Andvord Bay. We then sail further south to Paradise Bay with its many icebergs and deep cut fjords.  There, we will cruise by zodiac amongs the icebergs.  This is an area where we have a good chance of seeing whales. Other possibilities for landing sites are Port Lockroy on Goudier Island, Jougla Point. Sailing north again through Neumayer Channel and Gerlache Strait, we arrive at the beautiful Melchior Islands. Here we may see Leopard seals, Crabeater seals and whales.

Days 18 – 19: At sea, across Drake Passage.

Day 2: At sea - The ship will be followed by several species of albatrosses, storm petrels, shearwaters and diving petrels.

Day 3: Falkland Islands (Malvinas). We will spend the day on the west side of the islands. We will have an opportunity to hike and see views of Magellanic and Gentoo penguins, as well as assorted water fowl. On Saunders, we will see Gentoo, King, Magellanic and Rockhopper penguins as well as black-browed albatrosses and king cormorants.

Day 4: Stanley, Falkland Islands - On this stop we will soak up the Falkland culture, an unusual mixture of Victorian charm and South American features. You will have an opportunity to explore on your own; we highly recommend a visit to the local church and museum (admission fees not included).

Days 5 & 6: At sea - On our way to South Georgia we will cross the Antarctic Convergence. The temperature will drop by as much as 10 degrees C in a few hours. Near the Convergence we will see numerous seabirds.

Days 7 – 10: South Georgia - We arrive at our first landing site in South Georgia. We might visit the bay of Elsehul, with its very active fur seal breeding beach, and then set course to Right Whale Bay, Salisbury Plain, Godthul, St. Andrews Bay, Gold Harbour, Cooper Bay and Drygalski Fjord where we will see an excellent variety of wildlife, such as the introduced reindeer, elephant seals, fur seals, and king and macaroni penguins. We may visit Prion Island to observe the breeding efforts of the gigantic Wandering Albatross.

At Fortuna Bay, we might hike to Stømness Bay, following in the footsteps of Shackleton. There and at Grytviken we'll see an abandoned whaling village, where King penguins now walk in the streets and seals have taken over the buildings. At Grytviken we'll also offer a visit to the Whaling History Museum as well as to Shackleton´s grave near by. We will depart from South Georgia in the afternoon of day 10.

Day 11: At sea

Day 12: South Orkney Islands - We will visit the Argentinian base of Orcadas station, where the friendly base personnel will show us around and we can marvel at the surrounding glaciers.

Day 13: At sea

In Charlotte Bay, on the west coast of Graham Land we are likely encounter icebergs. Mostly we see seals on floes in Charlotte Bay, and occasional, kelp gulls, skuas, shags, or penguins. In Wilhelmina Bay we will admire the rugged ice coated mountains of the Arctowski Pensinsula.

At Deception Island our ship sails into the entrance of the natural harbor of the sub-ducted crater through the spectacular Neptune's Bellow. Here we find hot springs, an abandoned whaling station, thousands of Cape Pigeons and many Dominican Gulls, Brown and South Polar Skuas and Antarctic Terns. Wilson's Storm Petrels and Black-bellied Storm Petrels nest in the ruins of the whaling station in Whalers Bay. We leave from here and sail through the Shetland Islands (Half Moon) to the open sea, headed for Ushuaia.

Day 19: Ushuaia - We arrive in the morning in Ushuaia and disembark.

Antarctic Destinations

Below are the major destinations along the route of the various ships' itineraries we offer. Please refer to them when choosing your itinerary. Not all departures may visit all of the locations listed.

Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
The Falkland Islands, or Malvinas, as they are known to the Argentineans, give the overwhelming impression of a slice of Britain, despite the long-simmering dispute with Argentina over their sovereignty. Little Port Stanley with its brightly-painted houses with impeccable English gardens, seem just a skip and a jump from merry old England.

Stanley is also noted for its large number of stranded three and four-masted clippers, whalers and freighters from the golden age of sail in the shallow harbor. These extremely well-preserved (due to the cold climate) vessels from the 19th Century, some with their rigging and masts still intact, constitute a virtual 'accidental sailing museum', one of the world's most unique!

The Falklands are also known for their healthy populations of sub-Antarctic wildlife species. Our trips will visit the fascinating western part of the archipelago, where we can expect to find black-browed albatross , rockhopper penguins and blue-eyed shags (cormorants) on New Island. On Carcass Island, we can view two more penguin species, the Magellanic and gentoo, along with night herons and waterfowl such as steamer ducks.

Of course, in any of the inlets and channels we have good chance for whales, such as orcas and humpbacks.

South Georgia Island
Approximately two days sailing southeast from the Falklands lies the hauntingly beautiful South Georgia Island. Long a bustling center for whalers, it was largely abandoned by 1964 except for a few research facilities. The main whaling station of Grytviken is still largely intact and the huge wooden flensing dock still reeks of rancid whale oil. A whaling museum has been established at the whaling station.

The beaches are now abandoned to a few king penguins and huge elephant seals hauled up on the shore. A short hike will take us to the grave of one of the 20th Century's greatest explorers, Sir Ernest Shakleton.
In 1916, in what has become one of modern history's greatest heroic stories, Shakleton's Antarctic expedition became stranded when their ship, the Endurance, was crushed in ice. Shakleton and five others left 22 others on Elephant Island, some 800 miles to the west, and traveled in a small lifeboat to South Georgia, where, exhausted, they hiked 22 miles over rugged mountains to the little whaling station of Stromness. He then directed the rescue of his remaining party at Elephant Island. Not a man was lost in this harrowing adventure.

South Georgia is also home to some spectacular bird species, such as the wandering albatross, which has the largest wingspan of any bird (more than 10 feet). Conditions permitting, we'll land on Prion Island to observe their fascinating nesting and courtship behavior.

We'll also visit Salisbury Plain where more than 200,000 king penguins raise their chicks. We may also visit Elsehul, Right Whale Bay, Possession Bay, Gold Harbor and Drygalski Fjord to give you a good opportunity to see a wide spectrum of landscapes and wildlife, like the introduced reindeer, plus fur seals, elephant seals, gentoo and macaroni penguins, grey-headed albatrosses, light-mantled sooty albatrosses, northern and southern giant petrels, several species of prions and storm petrels, brown skuas, Dominican gulls, Antarctic terns, sheathbills and the endemic South Georgia pintail.

South Orkney Islands
Further to the southwest of South Georgia and closer to the Antarctic Circle, lies the South Orkney Islands. The islands were discovered in 1821, and though they were declared British territory in 1908, under the 1959 Antarctic Treaty sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed and therefore may be used by any nation for peaceful purposes.

Depending on the voyage, we can visit Coronation and Laurie Islands. Of interest are the possibility of seeing nesting giant petrels, Adelie penguin colonies as well as snow and cape petrels.

Elephant Island
Elephant Island is known primarily as the overwintering location of the stranded Shakleton Antarctic Expedition of 1916. It was here that 22 of Shakleton's men miraculously weathered the winter while he sought help at South Georgia, some 800 miles distant. Weather permitting, we'll be able to stand on the very rocky shore where the encampment was. We can expect to see a small colony of chinstrap penguins here also.

The Antarctic Peninsula
The peninsula encompasses a large number of islands, straits and inlets and we'll explore many of them, weather conditions permitting. Below are just some of the possible targets and their features.

Paulet Island: Preserved by the cold climate, remains of several early 20th Century expeditions dot the island, such as the Nordenskiöld Expedition, and we'll find a colony of hundreds of thousands of Adelie penguins here also.

Trinity Island: View thousands of gentoo penguins and Weddell and fur seals hauled out on the beach.

King George Island: Home to several research stations, and if time and the stations' schedule permits, we will visit some for a look at the scientists' activities.

Deception Island: Carefully navigating our ship through the impossibly narrow channel of Neptune's Bellows, we'll anchor in a ancient caldera where volcanic activity warms the water enough for a swim! Explore old whaling installations and abandoned boats, along with cliffs with petrel nests.

Cuverville Island: a small precipitous island, nestled between the mountains of the Antarctic Peninsula. It contains a large colony of gentoo penguins and breeding pairs of brown skuas.

Charlotte Bay: A chance to set foot on the Antarctic Peninsula itself as well as observe crabeater seals.

Hannah Point: One of the best wildlife spots in the area. Great for giant petrels, cape pigeons, blue-eyed shags, gentoo, chinstrap and possibly macaroni penguins, plus elephant seals.

Paradise Bay: Home to colonies of thousands of chinstrap and gentoo penguins.

Gerlach Straits, Lemaire, Neumeyer, Errata Channels: Some of the most spectacular scenery on your voyage can be viewed here. Precipitous mountains and massive tidewater glaciers line the shore and enormous icebergs dot the channels.

At Sea: While sailing between our land destinations, your time will be spent attending fascinating lectures by our top expedition staff and speakers. On deck, you'll want to be ever-vigilant for a wide variety of whale species: orca, humpback, minke and possibly a blue whale. Seabirds follow our ship and will keep your binoculars busy: MacCormick skua, snow, giant, white-chinned and storm petrels and the elusive juvenile emperor penguins.

Looking for shorter Antarctica cruises? Check out our Antarctic Peninsula itineraries.

2012 and 2013

Please download our Antarctica Compendium for detailed information, or call our office at 800.808.4492 to have a copy mailed.

Single supplement: 1.7 times share price in any cabin style.

The Plancius

Rebuilt in 2009 as a 112-passenger vessel, it complies with the latest SOLAS-regulations (Safety Of Life At Sea), is classed by Lloyd’s Register in London and flies the Dutch flag. 

The Plancius is comfortable and attractively decorated, but is not a luxury vessel. Our voyages in the Arctic and Antarctic regions are and will still be primarily defined by a top-quality exploratory educational travel programme, spending as much time ashore as possible. This vessel fully meets our demands to achieve this and provide comfortable accomodations during our days at sea.

M/v “Plancius” was named after the Dutch astronomer, cartographer, geologist and vicar Petrus Plancius (1552 – 1622). Plancius theorised the existence of an accessible northern passage to Asia and his theory encouraged several northern discovery voyages at the end of the 16th century. A Dutch expedition - under the command of Willem Barentsz - discovered Spitsbergen, but got stuck in the pack-ice of Novaya Semlya (now Russian territory). Those discoveries gave rise of the 17th century whaling industry in Spitsbergen.

M/V Plancius can accommodate 112 passengers in 54 passenger cabins with private toilet and shower in 4 triple private cabins, 40 twin private cabins (ca. 15 square meters) and 10 twin superior cabins (ca. 21 square meters). 

The vessel is manned by 30 international crew members (inc. 10 stewardesses/cabin cleaners), 6 hotel staff (4 chefs, 1 purser and 1 steward-barman), 6 expedition staff (1 expedition leader and 5 guides-lecturers) and 1 doctor.

Plancius's Deck Plan