Ever been to Kalso, Kinsale or Kilwa Kivinje? How about Hermanus or the Abrolhos Archipelago? Neither has any cruise line before Swan Hellenic added them to their coming itineraries.
The storied brand has been reborn with new owners and a fleet of new eco-friendly expedition ships. In a discussion with The Cruisington Times, Eric Bacon, Swan Hellenic’s director of key accounts for the Western USA and Canada wants you to know why it’s aiming to become the go-to exploration line for North Americans.
“Whatever your experiences were on Swan Hellenic in the past, It’s totally different today,” he says. The former company ceased operations and the brand was bought in 2017 by G Adventures, but the old ships did not sail again. In 2020, a team of investors bought the name and launched a whole different company. “Now there are three new ships and a new outlook. But we are keeping the same mission of cultural expeditions to see what others don’t, which goes back to the 1950s when the Swan family developed the brand,” Bacon says.
The original ships had a very British clientele and were hardly promoted in North America. Today the marketing is international and between 50 and 70 per cent of the guests on board most Swan Hellenic cruises are North Americans. The rest are international, mostly from English-speaking countries.
Swan Hellenic stands out from the growing number of expedition ships in the market, Bacon notes. “You have luxury cruise brands doing expeditions as a niche, but not the core of what they’re doing. And then you have traditional expedition brands like Lindblad, Quark and Hurtigruten–where I worked in the past– and they are more rough and ready. At Swan Hellenic we bring both true down and dirty expedition-style activities and five- star dining and services onboard.”
It’s the youngest fleet of expedition ships afloat. SH Minerva and SH Vega, two 152-guest Polar Code PC 5 expedition cruise ships with ice-strengthened hulls, launched in 2021 and 2022. The slightly larger SH Diana, a PC 6 ice-class vessel that accommodates 192 guests launched in 2023. The ships boast nearly one to one staff to guest ratios, among the highest levels of personal service in the cruise industry, and include teams of seasoned expedition guides, expert speakers and lecturers.
The ships built in Finland feature the latest technology to minimize ecological footprint. “A GPS position system means we rarely ever have to drop anchor, which is important in sensitive areas like Antarctica to keep the marine floor as intact as possible.”
On board, the Maris Culinary Discovery at Sea brings gourmet chefs from JRE-Jeunes Restaurateurs, an organization of 350 chefs, many of them Michelin starred for gastronomic voyages. In addition, there are Depak Chopra Explore & Restore well-being voyages and a SETI Explore Space at Sea Series that brings a different world-renowned scientist from the SETI Institute aboard each cruise to provide guests with expert insights into the latest discoveries in astronomy, astrophysics, astrobiology and planetary science.
On many cruises, guests can also participate in Swan Hellenic’s Citizen Science partnerships, assisting on climate and plankton monitoring and Antarctic seabird counting through a partnership with Stony Brook University and recording whale sightings with Happywhale.
All three ships feature three dining venues – the Swan Restaurant, Club Lounge and Pool Bar & Grill and no reservations are needed. Life onboard is very casual and home-like and while a lot of people like to get dressy for dinner, there’s no obligation to change out of sportswear, Bacon notes. Unique features include the Swan’s Nest at the bow of the ship that holds about 30 at a time, with walls designed to push away wind and let you view the sea comfortably outdoors even on a chilly day.
Features in staterooms include realistic electric fireplaces. “While they don’t produce heat, they still crackle and many of our guests find them amazing and leave them on whenever they are in the room.”
To support increasingly strong sales growth and its new partnership with the Virtuoso network of luxury travel advisors, Swan Hellenic has expanded its North American sales team. Kelly Predmesky was promoted to the new position of director of national accounts, with Mark Spillane, most recently director of expedition sales for Seabourn filling her previous role as director of Eastern USA sales. Focused support will include social media postings and a training program for North American agents in Swan Hellenic offerings. Virtuoso will have specific offerings of shore excursions and marketing partnerships with affiliates.
New global itineraries for 2025 and 2026 feature many first-ever cruise destinations. For instance: Kalso is one of the Faroe Islands, Kinsale is in Ireland and Kilwa Kivinje, Tanzania and the Abrolhos Archipelago is a featured stop in Brazil’s Bahia state –obviously not all on the same cruise.
Hermanus is a remarkable first for expedition cruises, with SH Diana making its inaugural call in the charming town southeast of Cape Town in November, 2025. It’s known for its rich natural beauty and the Fernkloof Nature Reserve, celebrated for its exceptional flora and a scenic 12 km cliffside trail.
“Our message to everyone is we go where others don’t and the destinations and the way that we do things are certainly unique. If you want to see the world in a different way, Swan Hellenic will bring you beyond the ordinary experience,” Bacon says.
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