Antarctica Does Not Do Small Scale.
Fourteen nights on Swan Hellenic's SH Diana to the Antarctic Peninsula. Small ship. Serious expedition. February 22 – March 6, 2028.
Antarctica is not a vacation. It is a decision. The kind you keep almost making and then don't, because it feels too big, too far, too much. It isn't. It's just the furthest place most people will ever go.
This is a 14-night small group expedition on Swan Hellenic's SH Diana, departing Ushuaia, Argentina on February 22, 2028 and returning March 6, 2028. The ship crosses the Drake Passage, spends seven days in the Antarctic Peninsula with daily Zodiac landings, and returns the way it came.
The group is the company, not the program. No assigned dinners. No scheduled mixers. Just people who wanted to go to the same extraordinary place and decided to stop almost going.
What This Is
The Route
Day 1 / Friday, Feb 22 / Embark in Ushuaia, Argentina
Days 2–4 / Sat–Mon, Feb 23–25 / At Sea / Drake Passage crossing
Days 5–11 / Tue–Mon, Feb 26–Mar 3 / Antarctic Peninsula / Daily Zodiac landings
Days 12–13 / Tue–Wed, Mar 4–5 / At Sea / Drake Passage return
Day 14 / Thursday, Mar 6 / Disembark in Ushuaia, Argentina
SH Diana
Boutique expedition vessel. 152 guests. Built for exactly this.
SH Diana carries 152 guests. That is not a typo. On a ship this size, you know the expedition team by name by day three. The crew knows how you take your coffee by day two.
The ship was built specifically for polar and expedition sailing. Floor-to-ceiling windows throughout. Scandi-inspired staterooms with a flame-effect fireplace, blackout curtains, and a bathroom that doesn't require you to fold yourself in half. A full spa, gym, sauna, and outdoor hot tubs. Outstanding food from a team of international chefs.
Every sailing includes a full expedition team — naturalists, historians, and polar specialists — who run daily briefings, lead Zodiac landings, and know the difference between a Weddell seal and a crabeater seal from a quarter mile out.
This is not a cruise ship that happens to go to Antarctica. It is an expedition vessel that happens to be genuinely comfortable.
Antarctica is the only place on earth where you arrive and immediately understand why people spend years trying to get back.
There is no equivalent. Nothing prepares you for the scale of it.
What It Costs
Stateroom categories on SH Diana:
Oceanview — 20 m². Two single beds or a double bed. Flame-effect fireplace.
Balcony — 25 m². Private 5 m² balcony. Two single beds or a double bed. Flame-effect fireplace.
Junior Suite — 32 to 36 m². Private 6 m² balcony. King size bed. Separate living room.
Suite — 41 m². Private 5 to 10 m² balcony. King size bed. Separate living room. Soaking tub and walk-in shower.
Premium Suite — 41 m². Private 8 to 12 m² balcony. King size bed. Separate living room. Walk-in wardrobe. Soaking tub and shower.
All fares include meals, complimentary beverages, all expedition landings, one shore excursion per port, expedition team lectures, Wi-Fi, a branded parka to keep, and onboard gratuities and port taxes.
Pricing is available on request. Fill out the form below and I'll be in touch within one business day.
How This Works
This is a group expedition, not a group tour. You book your own cabin. You join the Zodiac landings when you want. You eat where you want, when you want.
What you get is a group of people who already understand each other, traveling to the same extraordinary place at the same time. Some evenings you'll find each other at the bar comparing what you saw that day. Some landings you'll end up on the same beach. Most of the time you'll do exactly what you'd do anyway, except the people around you are your kind of people.
That's the whole program.
Who's Behind This Trip
I'm Michael Beaver, a CLIA Master Cruise Counselor and General Manager of Expedia Cruises NorthShore. Travel with the Beav is my practice, and group sailings like this one are built the same way I build every trip: around what actually makes a destination worth going to, for the people who are actually going.
Antarctica has been on my list for a long time. SH Diana is the right ship for it. I put this sailing together because I wanted to go, and I wanted good company for it.
Questions before you fill out the form? Book a 30-minute call.