Page 15 - Expedition

EXPEDITION MARKET RUI MINAS AGOSTINHO

POSEIDON

Sea Spirit Impresses

The 114-guest Sea Spirit

With the Sea Spirit deployed through the 2020-2021 circled on their calendars when a major eclipse is scheduled
Antarctica season, Poseidon Expeditions has plenty of forward- to take place across a stretch of the Southern Ocean, between
looking knowledge on booking trends. South Georgia and the Antarctica Peninsula. The company
plans to operate a slightly longer Antarctica itinerary in De-
“We continue to position the Sea Spirit as a premium- cember 2021, lining up with the eclipse.
level offering with mid-range pricing,” said Steve Wellmeier,
managing director. Poseidon traditionally offers a few holiday sailings, 11 and
12 days, and a longer January sailing to South Georgia, the
The Sea Spirit is on charter through 2021 from SunStone Falkland Islands and the Antarctica Peninsula.
Ships, while CMI Leisure handles the company’s hotel and
food and beverage operation. “It’s the height of the season. We can set a nice price and
there is a lot of demand,” Wellmeier told Cruise Industry News.
The ship saw a notable $2.5 million refurbishment in 2017,
including an overhaul of all suites. Another drydock was “We get charter requests we turn
scheduled in May in Lisbon, where new stabilizers were set down. We do one or two a season
to be installed. and that is enough. You have to keep
the brand out there and have the
The 114-berth vessel spends winters in Antarctica and
summers in the Arctic, and the company is the only operator product to build the brand.”
that can go direct from Svalbard to the Franz Josef Land ar-
chipelago without having to touch mainland Russia first, The 2019 Christmas cruise starts at $9,795 per person,
saving precious sailing time. sailing 12 days roundtrip from Ushuaia, and featuring the
South Shetland Islands and the Antarctica Peninsula.
For the first time this year, the summer season started in
Scotland with a British Isles cruise on May 22 as opposed to The company has early bird booking deals, but does not
a Greenland start. do much discounting beyond that.

“There has been a great response, the ship is sold out,” said
Wellmeier.

The height of the Arctic season is similar to years’ past,
with Svalbard sailings, the Franz Josef Land Archipelago and
then winding the way down to east Greenland and finishing
up with some Northern Lights sailings.

“It’s a successful formula,” Wellmeier added.
The forward planning is stretching further out than ever,
and most operators, including Poseidon, have December 2021

124 Cruise Industry News: 2019 Expedition Market Report