L&L will also soon be embarking on PC6 polar class Silver Endeavour (200 guests, 200 crew) for the six-day King George Island return trip, taking in the Antarctic Peninsula and South Shetland Islands. Endeavour’s godmother is Felicity Aston, the first woman to ski solo across Antarctica (in 2012).

Finally, one to watch out for: Australian-owned Scenic’s second ultra-luxury discovery yacht, Scenic Eclipse II (228 guests, 176 crew) is in the final stages of construction. The yacht’s inaugural voyage is scheduled to be the 11-day Incredible Iberian Discovery, from Lisbon to Barcelona, departing on April 13 next year.

Explorer itinerary tips
Seabourn’s Head of Expeditions, Robin West, has been in the game a while. “My favourite place is Antarctica, including the Falklands and South Georgia,” he tells L&L. “All three areas offer scenery and wildlife experiences like nowhere else on earth – in the Falklands, standing next to a black-browed Albatross colony and watching the young ones learn to fly; then coming ashore in South Georgia, Salisbury plain – seeing and hearing 250 pairs of king penguins.

“Then you have Antarctica, with its dramatic mountains, glacier, penguins, seals and whales.”

Another of his top picks for 2023 is the 15-night Greenland & Iceland: Vikings & Volcanoes itinerary on Seabourn Venture, departing…