Kensington Tours has announced a new range of Arctic and Antarctic sea-and-land itineraries, called Voyages by Kensington Tours, that combine some of the world’s finest cruise experiences with private-guided land experiences pre- and post-cruise that are customized for each client’s passions and interests.
With Voyages by Kensington Tours, clients can in a single journey combine an exploration of some of the planet’s most legendary and challenging destinations in unparalleled comfort and style. And, before and after their expedition cruise, embrace the cultural, historical, and gastronomic possibilities of destinations such as Chile, Argentina, Norway, and Iceland. This unique combination lets clients indulge their desire to explore, assures them of a high level of comfort and service, and helps them unlock incredible private-guided land-based moments, all in one itinerary with a single point of contact.
Kensington Tours has created award-winning private-guided trips for discerning travelers for over a decade. The company maintains a large team of knowledgeable Destination Experts who can tailor any of its 600+ itineraries to clients’ specific needs. Kensington Tours runs trips in more than 100 countries worldwide offering handcrafted itineraries, expertise and local insights.
“We’re so thrilled to be able to bring these unique sea-and-shore travel experiences to our clients,” said Helen Giontsis, President of Kensington Tours. “Voyages by Kensington Tours enables our clients to enjoy some of the world’s finest cruise experiences paired with authentic privately guided experiences on land that reveal the best of their chosen destination—with the unparalleled level of customization that Kensington Tours provides. This luxe combination of sea and land travel offers a whole new perspective on discovering the world.”
In bringing this unique travel approach to life, Kensington Tours has carefully chosen to work with the “best of the best” of the world’s cruise experts. This ensures the broadest range of experiences for clients to choose from, in travel style, activities, and destinations to explore—all with an exceptional standard of expertise and service.
Each of the cruise partners working with Kensington Tours offers highly specialized and luxurious vessels that are custom designed to tackle the unique conditions of the poles while embracing clients in extraordinary comfort and style. Each provides outstanding dining and hospitality, with elevated standards of service. And each vessel provides different options for clients to explore the polar regions the way that suits them best, with options including:
- Navigating in close through a field of majestic icebergs on a Zodiac with an Arctic expert.
- Stepping out from their cabin onto a private balcony directly above the stunning Arctic waters.
- Taking in incredible vistas from a rugged ocean kayak or flightseeing from the cockpit of a helicopter.
- Braving the frigid waters for a once-in-a-lifetime polar plunge followed by warming themselves in a luxurious ocean-view sauna.
- Taking advantage of the facilities of the onboard photography lab to help them get the most out of their wildlife and landscape shots.
- Collecting scientific samples and other ways to help ongoing research.
From this rich variety of possibilities, a Destination Expert will work closely with each client to find the vessel, route, and timing that best reflects their individual aspirations and needs, as well as creating incredible pre- and post-cruise memories. For instance, a week-long exploration of the penguin habitats of Antarctica might be followed by exploration of the exquisite nightlife and culture of Buenos Aires. Or a client might choose to pair sightings of feeding whales and seals while paddling their kayak through the Antarctic Sound, with astronomical sightings during a private tour of an observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert. Each voyage can be as unique as the person embarking on it.
The polar regions provide a stunning setting for discovery, across an incredibly wide range of personal interests and tastes, as well as starkly beautiful geographies:
- In Antarctica, cruises take place between October and April—the Southern Hemisphere’s summer—with each month of the season bringing different opportunities for clients. For instance, the early season of October means lots of floating ice and fresh snow without animal tracks, which is ideal for many photographers. On the other hand, late in the season (February to April) is prime time for whale watching, and is also the only time when it’s possible to push south to cross the Antarctic Circle.
- Arctic expeditions operate from May through September, with a wide variety of stunning vistas for discovery. For example, the Svalbard archipelago offers incredible opportunities for photography with glaciers, nature reserves, polar bears, walruses, reindeer, and ice caps. Meanwhile, Iceland is the puffin-viewing capital of the world, as well as being home to breaching orca and humpback whales, and of course, remote fjords, waterfalls, thermal pools, and geysers. And Jan Mayen is a rarely visited remote island dominated by a snow-covered stratovolcano in the middle of the Greenland Sea.
For more information about Voyages by Kensington Tours, or to explore the full range of itineraries being offered, visit kensingtontours.com/voyages.