The roster has SH Vega and SH Diana but does not include any sailings for SH Minerva, which has been kept in the vicinity of Montevideo since completing the 2021/22 Antarctica season, pending resolution of its ownership.
Itineraries for SH Vega, and slightly larger sister SH Diana, extend from eight days to 21-night semi-circumnavigation voyages, accompanied by seasoned guides and experts, scientists and explorers.
SH Vega
SH Vega will explore the Antarctic Peninsula from Ushuaia until early March 2024, when she’ll steer west on a 21-day South Atlantic semi-circumnavigation cruise, visiting Gough Island – seabird capital of the South Atlantic – and Tristan de Cunha on her way to Cape Town, South Africa.
This voyage will be followed by cruises up the West Coast of Africa and on to Lisbon, Portugal, before coasting the Atlantic seaboard to Honfleur, France.
In West Africa, SH Vega will debut the Bijagós Archipelago, whose 88 islands are a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. There are visits to Loango National Park in Gabon and Conkouati-Douli National Park in the Republic of the Congo, neither of which, according to Swan Hellenic, are accessed by any other cruise line.
Celtic voyages
Celtic discovery voyages of Cornwall, Ireland, Wales and Scotland will then take SH Vega on into Iceland, Norway and the Arctic for her summer Season. In September, the ship will cross from Greenland to Halifax, Canada and southward to spend October and November in the Caribbean and Brazil through to the end of November 2024.
SH Diana
SH Diana, outfitted with tender boats as well as expedition Zodiacs, will be based in Antarctica until late February 2024, when she’ll turn north into the Chilean Fjords and up the entire West Coast of South and Central America to La Paz, Mexico.
Returning south to take the Panama Canal to discover Cuba, the ship will proceed up the US East Coast to Halifax, Canada then crossing to Greenland in late May for an Arctic season.
On July 20, SH Diana leaves Tromsø, Norway, sailing south for the fjords, Scotland and Holland. Making her way down the Atlantic seaboard, she’ll enter the Mediterranean for in-depth summer exploration of the cradles of culture that inspired the creation of Swan Hellenic in the fifties.
Africa
In early October, she’ll transit the Suez Canal and Red Sea to explore the Seychelles, Madagascar and South Africa through until late November. Finally, she’ll leave Cape Town for the semi-circumnavigation voyage to the Antarctic Peninsula and Ushuaia, arriving in early December for the start of her next Antarctic season.
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