Tag Archives: King George Island

Silversea Cruises has added three new Antarctica Bridge sailings

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The move comes in response to a recent uptick in demand for the luxury line’s fly-cruise offering. 

Adding to Silversea’s existing Antarctica Bridge offering for 2022 and 2023, the line has added two new five-day expedition voyages aboard Silver Cloud, departing 2 and 7 February 2024, and a six-day sailing departing 12 February 2024.

After arriving at Chile’s Eduardo Frei Montalva air base on King George Island, Silver Cloud’s guests will spend the same amount of time exploring Antarctica as on the cruise line’s conventional itineraries. They will journey to destinations such as Antarctic Sound, the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands.

“In response to exceptional demand, we have added three new fly-cruise voyages aboard Silver Cloud for 2024, enhancing our industry-leading Antarctica offering and strengthening our destination leadership,” said Roberto Martinoli, Silversea’s president and chief executive.

“We offer guests the luxury of choice, with the most diverse offering in ultra-luxury Antarctica cruising.”

New Magellan Explorer Christened

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Magellan Explorer Christening

Antarctica21 christened the Magellan Explorer on a sunny Southern Hemisphere summer day in Punta Arenas, Chile. More than 200 special guests attended the Nov. 8 ceremony, a select few of which were invited for an overnight cruise.

Francesco Contini, executive vice president of sales and marketing, called the ceremony “moving” and that the friends-and-family overnight sail was a chance to test the ship out.

Magellan Explorer Christening

“It was the first opportunity to test the ship for guest operations, including boarding procedures, hospitality, dining, zodiac operations, et cetera,” Contini said. “We’re now very much looking forward to welcoming your guests and delivering our personalized, boutique service onboard our beautiful, new ship.”

The distinctive hull design and logo marks the company’s chance from Antarctica XXI to Antarctica21 last year. Several photographers are booked on the inaugural cruise Nov. 28 to Dec. 8.

Magellan Explorer Christening

The 90.7 meter, 4,900 ton, Magellan Explorer has a crew of 60. The ship was built for 100 guests but will sail with just 73 passengers for the season, the same number as the of seats on the company’s flights to King George Island, according to the 2019 Expedition Market Report by Cruise Industry News. The ship has been built for expedition operations, with a 60-day operational capacity, meaning huge amounts of cold storage space and fuel tank space.

The local operation has an edge in the market, as the only player operating a full season of fly-cruises, cutting days off sailing time with no Drake Passage transits.