Audley Polar specialists inspect some of the vessels closer to home!

Jon and Phil, two of our Polar Specialists, with the National Geographic Explorer

Over the last few weeks some of our Polar specialists have been travelling around the UK to inspect the boats that we use on Antarctic and Arctic cruises. As Carolyn, our Latin America Programme Manager, reports …

Jon, Phil and I have spent the last 4 weeks travelling the length and breadth of Great Britain, from Aberdeen to Falmouth, in order to inspect some boats for Audley.

At this time of year the expedition vessels that ply Antarctic waters in our winter relocate themselves to begin their Arctic cruises, and this means they come past these shores. We decided to take advantage of their proximity (sadly I cannot get away with 5 separate journeys to Antarctica to get first hand knowledge of each boat, as much as I would like to!) to conduct some inspections on behalf of Audley. 

Things we discovered en route are that boat schedules are somewhat flexible so always leave a 24 hour window of time and Aberdeen is warmer than Witney.

Akademik Ioffe cruising the icy waters of the Antarctic

Ultimately our time and investment over the last few weeks now means that our Polar specialists here have seen every single expedition vessel that cruises the icy waters. We know which boats have the best deck space, which have the biggest bathrooms, which cabins have the best views and which dining areas will allow you to see wildlife while you eat.

We are quite proud of ourselves for knowing all this (and we also got to see a lot more of our own country which otherwise we may never have got to – Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Ipswich, Portsmouth and Falmouth!).

Call one of our Polar specialists on 01993 838 950 to find out more about an Antarctic or Arctic cruise or send an enquiry online.