Antarctica or the Arctic? Silversea boss on why they're poles apart

A matter of distance

For UK travellers, the main difference between a Silversea cruise to the Arctic and to Antarctica is, perhaps obviously, the distance.

While it’s possible to fly to Iceland from the UK in less than three hours, visiting Antarctica means flying to Chile or Argentina and then sailing through the Drake Passage for two days to reach the southern continent.

For those who want to skip the ship though, Silversea offers its ’Antarctica Bridge’ option, which flies passengers on a private business class flight from Punta Arenas in Chile straight to King George Island. 

Wildlife spotting

Another major difference between the two destinations is the type and quantity of the flora and fauna, Combrink says.

While the Arctic is home to more than 21,000 species of cold-adapted mammals, in comparison the Great White Continent’s extremely harsh conditions are endured by less than 12,000. 

“The Arctic offers a larger variety of wildlife, and it is completely different to that of Antarctica,” he adds. “You’ll hopefully see polar bears and walrus in the Arctic, whereas, of course, there are millions of penguins in Antarctica.”

Cultural connections  

Another of the main differences between travelling to Antarctica and the Arctic is their population – or lack of. While scientific bases exist in Antarctica, there is no permanent settled inhabitation. On the contrary, the Arctic is home to approximately four million people. 

“In the Arctic, you have history and inhabited places, so there’s that chance to build cultural connections,” explains Combrink. “For example, you have the settled community in the south of Greenland, where we usually have a local tour company guiding us on small group walks.” 

Talking operations 

“It’s surprisingly not easy to plan itineraries in the Arctic,” says Combrink. “If your focus is just to go to ports, it is easy. But on expedition travel, we don’t focus on inhabited ports. 

“There’s multiple layers of permitting – just to operate one voyage in Canada, we have to apply for about 50 permits, whereas in Antarctica, it’s one permit.

“Another huge difference, for us, is the vastness of the Arctic. You’ve got Svalbard, Greenland, the Canadian Arctic, and we position ships in all of these areas, whereas in Antarctica, it’s a small geographic area we visit.” 

Back to basics

While guests can expect outdoor activities such as kayaking and hiking, Combrink insists that Silversea’s itineraries are not trying to appeal to adrenaline junkies. 

“We’re a traditional company when it comes to expeditions and we’ve taken the approach of going back to basics,” he explains. “Our company vision is: nothing stands between you and the beauty of the world. We don’t believe in things like helicopters, submarines, ice climbing, or camping overnight on the ice as part of our cruises.”

Instead, Silversea says it chooses to invest in staff, to ensure passengers get the most out of the experience and return from the voyage feeling “enriched” and prides itself on the variation in the expertise of its expedition team, from historians to geologists; glaciologists to scientists. 

“We deliver experiences for how it was offered in the beginning, using our zodiac tours. We believe that, for our product, we have the best expedition team for our programme. For us, they are the key to unlocking the experience,” says Combrink. 

“We also believe we have the best ratio of zodiacs to guests, and the best ratio of expedition team members to guests, which is about 1:10. We get you onshore more frequently, for longer. That’s the magic.”