Aurora Expeditions Reviews 

Your staff was great and did the best they could with weather conditions that were rougher than expected.
We fully expected that there might be issues with a brand-new ship. However, we were disappointed that some things malfunctioned "due to the ship rocking in the waves" (according to top staff members). This on a ship that I would have expected to be designed to operate in fairly rough seas.

I spent a great deal of time researching expeditions to Antarctica and I’m so grateful that I chose Aurora Expeditions! From the initial booking until arriving back to the airport in Ushuaia heading home I felt well taken care of. The pretrip hotel was beautiful and the day tour prior to boarding was a fun way to get to know some of your fellow travelers and see some of the surrounding areas.
I traveled solo and booked a solo cabin but felt like the crew did an amazing job of making everyone feel like we were all already long time friends!! I appreciate the eco conscious approach to sailing and visiting Antarctica while still making sure we experienced as much of it as we safely could. I enjoyed having the options for kayaking/paddling, snorkeling and scuba diving, but you should definitely sign up early because spots fill quickly. Learning about the history and nature of the continent from the expedition team was very interesting, you can tell everyone was excited to share what they have learned.
I would highly recommend this company for anyone interested in a small ship expedition style adventure.

The commitment of all the staff on board to ensure you have the best, safest, most engaging adventure.

Beautiful new ship and a most excellent heipful, smiley crew!

Wonderful expedition staff and crew. Nice ship and excellent cabins.

The staff was fantastic and the exploration guides were amazing

Excursions were all above expectations. Preferred our extended visit to Tangiers in place of Gibraltar. The ship's crew and service were great.

The people involved in handling the whole program from arrival in Lisbon to departure from Amsterdam. Fran was there at every step to guide us old folks, telling us to stay on the ship or watching out for us when we left the ship. The entire crew were wonderful - helpful and friendly - the various staffs made the trip for us.

My wife and I travelled aboard the Douglas Mawson on Aurora’s “Epic Antarctica: Crossing the 7th Continent” trip, from Dunedin in New Zealand to Ushuaia in Argentina, for 32 cruise nights from early February 2026.
We have previously cruised with APT, Uniworld, Seabourn, Silversea, Regent and American Cruise Lines.
The trip cost US$43,036 each, or about AU$2,000 a night.
Notwithstanding luxury-level fares, Aurora does not compare favourably with other luxury cruise lines.
Drinks (wine, beer and soft drinks) are not included except at dinner. Bar prices are in USD and not cheap.
Gratuities are not included in the fare. There is no self-service laundry.
Aurora required passengers to complete a health information form, to be signed by a doctor. The information sought is essentially a medical history including all current medications. I refused on the grounds that it was an invasion of privacy and contrary to the Privacy Act.
I was invited to speak to their doctor by telephone, who called from South Africa. I advised that we had no mobility, respiratory or allergy issues that would affect our ability to take the trip, and refused any additional information. I asked her the purpose of collecting information on other health matters. She acknowledged it had no purpose.
Aurora is motivated by environmental evangelism. Its mission is to:
“Create lifelong ambassadors for the planet”
It was like being at a Baptist religious event from which there is no escape, where the objective is to recruit us to the church to save our souls.
Most of the Expedition staff viewed passengers as necessary to enable them to pursue their passion, but were otherwise not a priority.
On a shore expedition, I was taking photos of a seal which started to move a bit. Two Expedition staff started yelling at me to move away. When I didn’t move immediately, one threated to come and physically move me. As it happens, I am a retired veterinarian and probably know more about animal stress than they do. (Had this occurred in Australia, I would have considered lodging a formal complaint about threatened violence.)
On another occasion I was told by an Expedition staff member that I could not walk along a certain stretch of land because it was an ASPA area. However, she then walked across it herself.
On the last night wrap up, the Expedition Leader read out complimentary comments about members of the Expedition team, written by fellow Expedition team members. It was unbelievably self-indulgent, with no input from passengers.
At the end, almost as an afterthought, there was a brief acknowledgement that it was the paying passengers who made it all possible. One even candidly implied that the passengers were quite strange for spending so much money, but was thankful that they did.
We will not be travelling with Aurora again and we will not be recommending it to our friends who travel.
Aurora’s journeys are not good value for money, and its environmental evangelism is not welcome. The opinion of travel companies is no more welcome than the opinions of actors and sportspeople.

A very well run expedition with professional, knowledgeable and courteous staff.

There’s a lot of information about the voyage but oddly enough, they fail to mention how if you don’t bring pants that are up to their standards, you’re not getting on the zodiac

Considering everything is done on the zodiac, it feels like a pretty important piece of information to clarify.

Then they force you to their shop where the lady tells you “yeah it happens a lot”

Ridiculous.

if you’re gonna charge tens of thousands of dollars, please provide required gears

Don’t believe the customer service’s reply, they never offered a loaner pair. We asked for it and they said no.

They offered to refund so that we take the review off and then proceeded in never refunding us

We recently completed a 23-day expedition to Antarctica on the M/V Sylvia Earle, booked through Explore/Aurora Expeditions. As someone who has travelled extensively, I found this to be a standout experience in every way. We had to make our own way Ushuaia via Buenos Aires (direct with BA), and then a one night stop-over. Return was again via Buneos Aires to London with Iberia with a short stop-over at Madrid. We booked our own international flights and the local flights via Explore/Aurora. The local flights with Aerolíneas Argentinas are chaotic and likely to change, so give yourself plenty of time.
The Ship & Facilities: The Sylvia Earle (launched 2022) is a purpose-built vessel with a unique X-Bow that made the Drake Passage crossings much smoother. Onboard, the 15 Zodiacs ensured we could make landings or cruises twice daily (excluding the sea days). Warm padded inner and waterproof outer jackets were provided for us to keep and tall “wellies” and walking polls for the wet landings. They are very environmentally conscious, and we have to wash our boots and polls for each disembarkation and embarkation via the mud room. There was a sauna and top-deck heated Jacuzzis for relaxing after your polar plunge (which only the crazy ones did).
For photographers, this itinerary is a dream. We experienced 18–24 hours of daylight, allowing for endless opportunities to capture the “porpoising” penguins, grounded icebergs, amazing scenery, and nesting albatross. Grant, the ships photographer provided a collection of his photos for you to download from library’s laptop, and Daisy, another professional photographer, gave lectures and workshops on how to take better photographs. Rune, our Norwegian expedition leader and his 20+ team took excellent care of us all, almost half the passengers were from the US with quite a few single women, so although the ships total capacity is about 130, there were only 99 of us. Captain Andrus was excellent and got us through the Drakes passage and some narrow channels without hitting any big bergs and sinking us !!
Highlights included crossing the Antarctic Circle (66°33' south), Christmas day inside the Circle at Margaret Bay, passing through the Gullet and Lemaire Channels, visiting South Georgia (Cooper’s Bay, Grytviken, Rookery Point, Stormness and Salisbury Plain) and the Falkland’s (Port Stanley, Gypsy Cove, Saunders and West Point). We saw incredible wildlife close-up, including Adélie, Chinstrap, Gentoo penguins and various seals as well as humpback whales in Antarctica; as well as Kings, Maccaroni, Magellanic, and Rockhopper penguins and Commerson’s dolphins in South Georgia and the Falkland’s.
It is an expensive undertaking, and flights are an additional cost, but for a “once in a lifetime” experience, it is worth every penny. If you are a regular customer of Explore (UK), be sure to check for loyalty discounts—we were able to secure 10% off our booking.

What a shocker. Mawsons Antarctica. Buyer beware. Unsure where to start. I have gone more into depth in the review further on. Suffice to say they talk a big game with their " proposed " itinerary but deliver a fraction of what is promised. The company will hide behind the premise that adventure sailing is dependant on weather etc but this trip was a total joke. As you can read below, there was a lot promised and nothing delivered except days bobbing around an endless ocean in the futile hope the sea ice may dissipate at a time of year they should have been aware this could be a problem. Many other companies who travel to this region dont even bother going till January/ February for this reason. Apart from the failure to achieve virtually all of trips main objectives, this was accentuated by the expedition leader having a medical episode and forcing us to abandon our time in Sub Antarctic islands to rush to an appropriate medilift point. Throw in facilities on a new boat not working and bullying by expedition team member and the whole thing was shameful.
As a further insult, Aurora has offered a 20 percent discount on a future trip !! So not only do they think they are worth trusting again, but want you to spend more money..... clearly they have no interest in customer satisfaction but are interested in their bank account. I have contacted the company directly with my concerns but they insist the 20 percent is fair !!!! Wow.

More info below as promised based on their itinerary....

Proposed Itinerary as provided by Aurora .... Guided visit to Mawsons Hut, Hobart pre voyage. Visit : yes. Guided : massive overstatement. Self guided absolutely.


Transfer from airport .. not provided as I mistakenly arrived a day early so paid for private taxi. I did actually ask an Aurora rep ( via phone ) if they could still organise for me which was possible if I was prepared to pay for an extra night at The Tasman. The almost 500 AUD quoted by Aurora for one nights accommodation is a bit rich for my blood.



Day 6/7 Macquarie Island : Incredible experience and a rare highlight on the trip. Kudos to Aurora for their processes around bio security etc allowing us this rare treat.



Day 11-13 East Antarctic Coast/ King George V Land/ Adelie Land coastlines, Ninnis and Mertz glaciers, Petrel Island, Point Martin ... I am sure they are quite lovely but we didn't get there as we bobbed around the ocean.



Day 14-15 Commonwealth Bay/ Cape Denison ... I am sure they are quite lovely but we didn't get there as we bobbed around the ocean.



Day 20-22 Sandy Bay/ Carnley Harbour/ Erlangen Clearing/ Victoria Passage ? These names mean nothing to me ( unsure re Sandy Bay ) Actual was Campbell Island which we were supposed to spend more time at until a well documented medical emergency meant we lost most of that visit in a sprint to Stuart Island for medical evac. We then backtracked to The Snares ( interesting Zodiac cruise ) and a very boring Enderby Island.

Summing up .. paid for a lot and received less than a quarter of what Aurora proposed.



Facilities on the ship .... there are two lovely Jacuzzis at the rear on Deck 7. They operated the first two days and then were closed for the entirety of the voyage for " maintenance ". How can a brand new ship have that issue ? Closing for safety ... absolutely, but that was not the reason given. Also the elevator hardly operated at well due to a sensor issue. While it did not affect me there were a plethora of less able patrons struggling with the staircases.

Bullying by an expedition team member.... while I was not personally affected there was a nasty incident regarding a passenger who had an acquired brain injury. One female team member was quite derogatory and made sure everyone else knew about his issue. There is no room for that in society let alone a cruise ship.

Food was generally excellent and staff looked after all dietary requirements.
Cabin steward was superb.

The trip was a disaster. As always if reading this review, make your own informed assessment but be very very careful. I was expecting at least a 50 percent refund based on the false promises ( that incidentally were constantly repeated at nightly briefings by the Team Leader ). Unsure I can add more to my bitter disappointment.

All around, this is a superb cruise line. Service was consistently helpful, friendly, exceptionally caring. The kayak expedition team of 5 guys were supremely skilled, attentive, and supportive, for individuals of all levels of skill. Food was consistently tasty, fresh, well-presented. Rooms were immaculate, well-appointed, and extremely well-designed to maximize the small space. Medical care was available as needed. The trip to Antarctica created lifelong memories, and an interest in other cruises with Aurora, such as Norway.

Postscript: some important personal items were left on board by mistake. Reaching out to the administrative staff prompted a quick reply, and efforts on board to find them. Though it took a few weeks, all the items were returned by mail, carefully packed and intact. What an example of caring service, above and beyond! All the more reason to highly recommend Aurora, and to return for another expedition.

This Douglas Mawson Inaugural Tasmania voyage was sold and priced as an expedition cruise, but what was delivered felt more like a poorly planned coastal pleasure cruise.

They knew they couldn’t fulfil the trip in the week before we boarded. Yes, weather affects expedition travel — that is not the issue. The issue was the absence of meaningful contingency planning, weak execution, and a diluted program that bore little resemblance to what was marketed. We did very limited real hiking, inaccurate activity descriptions (a hike described as “up to 10km” was closer to 18km), disorganised zodiac operations, and one genuinely unsafe situation on Maria Island where guests had to intervene to prevent accidents. Following closely on the back of 4 passengers going overboard from a Zodiac, this was even more concerning.

Several advertised highlights were skipped entirely, including Freycinet, without explanation.

Food and guest care were well below expectations for a product costing around £1,000 per day. A packed lunch on Flinders Island was particularly poor and inadequately catered for dietary needs, while other guests elsewhere on the island were taken to a country club for oysters and scallops. Facilities such as hot tubs, pool, and the outdoor bar were frequently unavailable, and basic comfort details were consistently overlooked.

The overall impression was that this was a trial or marketing voyage, not a finished expedition product — with a high number of influencers, travel agents, staff, and competition winners on board, while full-fare guests effectively subsidised the operation.

What ultimately says the most about Aurora Expeditions, however, is how they handled the complaint. After submitting a detailed, formal complaint, I was offered no refund — only a future cruise credit, which I declined. Since then, Aurora has stopped responding entirely. No engagement. No resolution. Just silence.

I have travelled with Aurora before and had a far better experience. Sadly, this trip — and the complete lack of follow-up afterwards — suggests a company that has lost sight of both its expedition standards and its respect for paying customers.

Based on this experience, I would not book with Aurora again.

Update based on auroras response:
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Bruna, to clarify, my dissatisfaction was not simply that the itinerary changed due to weather — I fully understand and accept that expedition travel involves real-time environmental decisions. I have travelled on multiple expedition cruises before, including with Aurora.

The issue was the lack of meaningful contingency planning and the poor quality of the alternative experience delivered. The revised program was not remotely comparable to the expedition sold, and consisted largely of short walks, disorganised landings, and prolonged periods of inactivity that felt closer to a pleasure cruise than an expedition.

Key advertised highlights, including Freycinet, were skipped entirely. Activity difficulty and distances were repeatedly miscommunicated. One landing created a genuinely unsafe situation due to crowd mismanagement. Food quality, dietary catering, and guest comfort were well below expectations for a product costing approximately £1,000 per day.

These issues reflect execution, planning, and operational standards — not weather.

Following a detailed formal complaint, I was offered no refund and only a future cruise credit, which I declined as I do not intend to travel with Aurora again. Since then, Aurora has stopped responding altogether, which is the most disappointing aspect of this experience and speaks volumes about post-trip customer care.

I have no issue with expedition flexibility. I do, however, expect a company charging expedition prices to deliver professional planning, strong leadership, and genuine customer engagement — none of which were demonstrated here.

Our trip was unforgettable—kayaking beside whales, seals, penguins, and glaciers with guides who felt like walking encyclopedias. We didn't just see Antarctica; we lived it, from the waterline to the shore. The Aurora team’s passion and skill are unmatched. Seriously, just book it!

I am one person in a group of 4 couples who undertook an 'expedition' to Costa Rica in April 2025. We had all previously travelled with Aurora but never will again.

Many of the issues we experienced relate to the fact that the ship was full but had an itinerary that was not suitable for that number of people. Our experience could have been improved with better management but fundamentally the design of the experience was not appropriate for the number of bookings.
Quite often our ‘expedition’ involved lengthy waits and large groups that were inappropriate for viewing wildlife. While we did have local guides on the whole there were too few, groups were large and continually bumped into each other.

In my opinion Aurora generally has enthusiastic expedition staff. However, on this trip we did not get to benefit from them as we should have. Largely ‘expert’ expedition staff drove the zodiacs and some gave a 10 minute presentation on a topic of interest. 3 gave longer presentations. That’s really it. They tagged along chatting to each other at the back of our large groups or stood in our way while they took their photos. It felt like polar skilled expedition staff, while lovely, were having a welcome warm break while moving between the arctic and antarctic. We had a few local guides who took us to places that could more easily have been reached on land and where there were plenty of tourists seeing more of the country than we were.
The advertised descriptions of snorkelling on coral reefs was not what we experienced. We had few opportunities and when we did we were restricted to very small areas, looking at dead reefs for short periods of time. We really were not in areas where good snorkelling was achievable.
We did not have anything like an expedition. Our experience was actually worse than people visiting on 40 or 50 person bus tours because we had 130 passengers + the expedition staff and crew all doing exactly the same activities at the same time.

In all honesty I had a far superior experience seeing wildlife, at a fraction of the cost, on the land based small group tour I took before boarding the Aurora ship. The group size was smaller and we spent much more time having meaningful, fantastic wildlife filled experiences. We saw SO much more and experienced much more remote areas than when on the Aurora expedition.

One of the biggest disappointments was the lack of an appropriate response from Aurora management. I do not blame the staff onboard the ship the problem absolutely rests with the management structure of Aurora. We were offered a small amount off a future cruise - very little in comparison to the cost of the trip. The company perceived that as it had delivered the advertised product our issues warranted nothing more.

I strongly feel that this cruise was a "fill in" to earn some revenue while the ship shifted regions and crossed the Panama Canal. An 'expedition' experience was not delivered and the management did not care about the experience of many customers. It has lost a lot of business and has left me disappointed, angry and frustrated. Do not travel with Aurora to Costa Rica - there are far better experiences to be had, particularly given the cost of the cruise (cruise - because it was not an expedition).

After extensive research, we chose Aurora Expeditions’ All-Inclusive Activities voyage for its small, comfortable ships, innovative X-Bow design, ample time in Antarctica, and wide range of activities. What truly exceeded expectations, however, was the expedition team’s and supporting staff exceptional organization, enthusiasm, and professionalism, elevating a once-in-a-lifetime trip from amazing to truly EPIC.

Aurora Expeditions promotes “women only cruises”. This is offensive, discriminatory and highly regressive.

Very good need to deal with them