For the 2021 Solar Eclipse, Book a Cruise to Antarctica With Quark Expeditions

Quark Expeditions was the first and the only expedition company to offer a cruise for the 2003 solar eclipse to the continent, leading the pack in terms of companies looking to branch out to offer a type of cruise to adventurer customers. It happened on the icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov, and a video with highlights from the trip is available at the bottom of the page.

Come next year, the Seattle-based company will offer a handful of guests the same rare opportunity to take part in a transformative experience, with the only difference being that, this time around, 2 cruise ships will be making the journey. The more the merrier, as the saying goes.

So, while other companies are also offering voyages to Antarctica for the 2021 total solar eclipse, Quark can boast of having the experience necessary to give you a truly memorable trip. Accumulated experience also explains the decision to add another ship.

Guests have the option of choosing from 2 vessels and 2 different schedules. Both ships will be in the Scotia Sea between the Orkney Islands and South Georgia on December 4, for guests to witness the event.

The first one is on World Explorer and lasts 20 days, taking them through the Falklands, South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula, from the starting point in Ushuaia, Argentina.

Retired NASA astrophysicist and scientist emeritus at Goddard Space Flight Center Fred Espenak will be on board the World Explorer, offering special presentations to guests. Known as “Mr. Eclipse,” Espenak has 29 eclipse expeditions under his belt.

Ocean Diamond departs for a 17-day trip the next day, also from Ushuaia. It will travel through South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula, and will have 2-star guests on board, making presentations: photographer Babak Tafreshi and David Baron, author of American Eclipse.

Tafreshi is not only an award-winning photographer, he’s also the night sky photographer for National Geographic. Baron, on the other hand, has spent his entire life chasing eclipses. An experienced science journalist and radio broadcaster, he witnessed his first in 1998 and experienced such a “visceral connection to the universe that it changed him forever.” He is also the author of the highly popular TED talk “You owe it to yourself to experience a total solar eclipse.”

“This no ordinary eclipse,” Quark Expeditions president Andrew White says of the 2021 event. “Although it’s occurring in the planet’s most spectacular place, Antarctica can still be unforgiving. It is important for those wanting to participate in this experience to do so with an operator that knows the regions well.”

That would be, you guessed it, Quark. Either voyage has a starting price of $16,995 per person, which sure sounds like a lot. For this kind of money, you get the opportunity to experience the ultimate solar eclipse chase and a cruise few others will be able to say they’ve taken. Make no mistake about it: this is not the cruise in the Caribbean your grandparents took on their wedding anniversary, this is a cruise on a whole new level.

The price includes a stay in a suite-style cabin, a celebratory dinner on the night of the eclipse and special eyewear to watch the eclipse. If it sounds too little for that amount, you can always find consolation in knowing you’ve sailed to the Antarctica and were a part of a select group of people to watch the total solar eclipse. Probably.

Also included in the ticket price is a photograph by Tafreshi from the expedition, which you get to keep, and participation in a photography webinar prior to departure.

Early booking gets you a 10% discount on the cabin, and another 10% off if you pay for the voyage in full by May 2020.

Icebreaker Eclipse Antarctica 2003 from eclipseguy on Vimeo.