Most expedition ships change hands quietly. This one went under the hammer. In January 2026, after its last operator collapsed, the 1989-built ship that many polar regulars remember as Silversea’s Silver Explorer was bought at auction by a family company from Christchurch, New Zealand. Ten months later, she is about to carry her first guests under her new name, on one of the longest routes in the Southern Ocean.
Heritage Expeditions’ Heritage Discoverer is scheduled to sail her 21-day preview voyage, “The Ultimate South Georgia, Falklands & Antarctic Peninsula Cruise”, roundtrip from Ushuaia from November 19 to December 9, 2026. The 130-guest, 1A ice-class ship joins the Heritage fleet full time in May 2027, with a first full season covering the Atlantic coast of Europe, the High Arctic and the Antarctic Peninsula. Preview fares on Heritage Expeditions’ site start at $21,875 per person, and most cabins are already waitlisted.
Heritage Discoverer: Key Facts
- Operator: Heritage Expeditions, family-owned and run by brothers Aaron and Nathan Russ
- Previous names: Silver Explorer (Silversea), Prince Albert II, Exploris One
- Built: 1989 in Rauma, Finland; refitted in 2023 and 2026
- Size: 108 meters, 6,158 gross tons, Lloyd’s 1A ice class
- Guests: up to 130, with a 15-person expedition team and 14 Zodiacs
- Accommodation: 70 ocean-view cabins and suites, including 12 suites of 37 to 67 square meters with balconies
- Preview voyage: November 19 to December 9, 2026, roundtrip Ushuaia
- Maiden Heritage season: from May 2027
- Fares from: $21,875 per person for the preview voyage (checked November 8, 2026)
From Silver Explorer to Heritage Discoverer
Heritage Discoverer was built at the same Rauma yard as Heritage’s flagship, Heritage Adventurer, and spent years as Silversea’s polar ship before sailing as Exploris One. When that operator failed, Heritage bought her in January 2026 and sent her to a Bremerhaven drydock, overseen by Nathan Russ, which finished in August.
The ship sails with a partner. Polar Latitudes says it bought the vessel together with Heritage, and it will run her as “Discoverer” on its own Antarctic departures this season. Heritage’s own sailings use the full name Heritage Discoverer.
On board, the layout is classic small expedition ship: a dining room and Outside Grill, a presentation lounge, an observation lounge and bar, a gym, a sauna and massage room, two outdoor Jacuzzis and an open bridge. Aaron Russ calls her purpose-built for this kind of voyage, and her Finnish ice-class hull has years of polar sailing behind her.
21 Days: Falklands, South Georgia and the Peninsula
The preview voyage spends two days in the Falkland Islands, at Carcass Island, Steeple Jason and Stanley, where five penguin species and one of the largest black-browed albatross colonies live. After two sea days past Shag Rocks, the ship has four days at South Georgia for the king penguins of Salisbury Plain, St Andrews Bay and Gold Harbour, and a visit to Shackleton’s grave at Grytviken.
The last stretch gives around five days on the Antarctic Peninsula in late November, with close to 20 hours of daylight. Possible landings include Cuverville Island, Paradise Bay, Port Lockroy, Petermann Island, Cierva Cove and Elephant Island, depending on ice and weather. The voyage ends with a Drake Passage crossing back to Ushuaia.
On any Drake crossing, choose a cabin in the middle of the ship and on a low deck. That is where the motion is gentlest, and on a three-week voyage with four Drake and Scotia Sea days you will be glad of it.
Why It Matters
Heritage is still run by the Russ family that founded it in New Zealand, and Heritage Discoverer brings its expedition style back to the Antarctic Peninsula and South Georgia, on a ship with 12 balcony suites.
The 21-day route is also the right shape for South Georgia. Short Peninsula-only voyages from Ushuaia skip it, and a ship with four full days at Salisbury Plain and Gold Harbour gives the wildlife the time it deserves. That is a different trip from the fly-cruise ships I covered recently, such as Antarctica21’s Magellan Discoverer, a different ship with a similar name, or the 36-guest Secret Atlas Aureum.
Who it is not for: anyone who wants a brand-new ship, or who struggles with long sea days. Heritage Discoverer is a 1989 hull with modern refits, not a newbuild, and three weeks is a long time at sea.
Prices and How to Book
On November 8, 2026, the preview voyage was listed from $21,875 per person in a Deck 4 Superior cabin (with 10% off a $24,250 fare), up to $39,830 per person in the Heritage Suite. Most categories were waitlisted. Fares include a hotel night in Ushuaia with dinner and breakfast, transfers to the ship, all meals on board, house beer, wine and soft drinks with lunch and dinner, all shore excursions and lectures. Flights, insurance, gratuities and kayaking (US$2,690 per person, for experienced paddlers) are extra. The original 30% and 40% launch discounts ended on June 30, 2026.
For the 2027-28 season, Heritage is offering 20% off all departures booked before January 8, 2027. The 22-day South Georgia, Falklands and Peninsula voyage in November 2027 starts at $19,420 per person with that discount. Heritage Discoverer is bookable through Heritage Expeditions and polar specialists.
Planning further ahead? Ponant has opened its 2028-29 Antarctica season, including a second 59-night circumnavigation; I cover it in my Ponant Antarctica 2028-29 story.
The Lens I’m Reading This Through
My own benchmark for Antarctica is a nine-night voyage from Ushuaia on Atlas Ocean Voyages’ World Voyager, which I rated 5/5. The Drake was calm on the way down and rough on the way back, and a cabin at the front of the ship taught me why midship matters. Kayaking cost extra there too, and the food, the service and a big expedition team made the trip.
Heritage Discoverer carries fewer guests than World Voyager’s polar limit and spends far longer in the region, so the comparison I’ll be making is time ashore and quality of guiding against comfort on board. For South Georgia especially, the extra days are what I’d pay for.
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This preview is based on official announcements — I haven’t sailed aboard Heritage Discoverer yet. Read more about how I review or visit my Work With Me page.
