Expedition Voyages

The expedition lines, in their own words

Aqua Expeditions: Aqua Expeditions was founded in 2007 in the Peruvian Amazon by Francesco Galli Zugaro and has grown into a fleet of six small ships, each with one crew member for every guest. In Peru, Aria Amazon and Aqua Nera, for 32 and 40 guests, explore the Pacaya-Samiria reserve, home of the pink river dolphin, with naturalist-led excursions twice a day and around 70 per cent of ingredients sourced locally. Aqua Mekong, launched in 2014, sails between Cambodia and Vietnam with 20 suites of 322 square feet, a plunge pool and four private tenders. Aqua Blu, a 60-metre former British naval vessel, cruises the islands of Indonesia; Aqua Mare, a 50-metre CRN yacht for 16, sails the Galápagos; and the newest, Aqua Lares, a 77-metre former icebreaker launched in February 2026, divides its year between the Seychelles and Tanzania and the Arctic.

Aurora Expeditions: Aurora Expeditions was founded in 1991 by Greg and Margaret Mortimer and takes its name from the Aurora, the ship of Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson. It is still Australian-owned and is a certified B Corp. With one expedition team member for every seven guests, Aurora is known for keeping people active: kayaking, alpine trekking and climbing, camping, snowshoeing and even scuba diving. Douglas Mawson, the newest, adds diesel-electric propulsion, waste-heat recovery and a Citizen Science Centre, and TIME named it among its World's Greatest Places for 2026.

PONANT Explorations: PONANT sails a fleet of 12 French-flagged ships, from six 184-guest Explorer-class yachts and four 264-guest Boréal-class ships to its flagship, Le Commandant Charcot. Charcot stands apart. She is the only passenger ship with a Polar Class 2 hull, able to break multi-year ice, and the first hybrid-electric polar ship powered by liquefied natural gas, and on September 6, 2021, she reached the Geographic North Pole. On board, 245 guests are looked after by 215 crew, with around 20 nature guides, interiors by Jean-Philippe Nuel and Jean-Michel Wilmotte, a heated open-air pool, a snow cabin and Le Nuna, the only Alain Ducasse restaurant at sea.