A cruise company specialising in sustainable travel to remote places is set to cap passenger numbers on its polar voyages, in a bid to demonstrate its commitment to preserving its destinations, as well as to capture the intimate cruise segment.
AE Expeditions has announced it will welcome a maximum of 130 passengers aboard its Antarctic and Arctic itineraries during the upcoming season, starting in October 2024 through to April 2025. But the cruises in question will not feel empty, since the cruise line’s fleet is made up of purpose-built ships, designed to be “small enough to go where others simply can’t.”
This change solidifies our position as one of the most intimate small ship offerings in our class for the polar regions.
Michael Health, CEO AE Expeditions
Small ship experience
The Greg Mortimer and the Sylvia Earle ships each have a capacity of 130, so ticket holders will find the cruise feels full to the limit if that number is reached. The Douglas Mawson due for launch in 2025, has a maximum capacity meanwhile of 154 passengers.
The ships are described on the company website as “base camp in the most incredible environments on earth”, and CEO Michael Heath has echoed that sentiment, highlighting that time off ship will still be a priority: “With passenger landing limits in Antarctica and some areas of the Arctic, we wanted to reinforce our commitment to providing the small ship experiences our passengers know us for, with more time off ship and more immersive activities.
Still full to capacity?
Critics however may point out that the smaller boats will still be full to capacity, with every passenger taking a cruise to Antarctica responsible for creating a carbon footprint equivalent to the yearly emissions of an average European, travel author Sara Clemence says.
But Heath is framing small cruises as a climate-driven choice, saying that AE Expeditions “recognise our responsibility to protect and preserve the remote places we travel to, and we are proud to be one of the few companies visiting Antarctica and the Arctic with under 150 passengers.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to responsible travel and our vision to be the global leader in sustainable expedition travel.”
Cruise ports around the world, from Alaska to Barcelona to Santorini, will be wondering if small ships are the answer to their dilemmas, as many consider disembarkation limits on cruise passengers and seek to reduce the number of days when thousands of cruise passengers descend on overwhelmed residents, who nonetheless rely on the income the tourism sector brings.
