Polar Latitudes Expeditions has put its Black Friday sale live, knocking 40 to 50 percent off a batch of expedition cruises booked through November 30, 2026. For anyone who has been pricing Antarctic or Arctic voyages and wincing, this is one of the more substantial discounts we've seen from an operator this year.
The sale covers three ships: the Ocean Albatros, Ocean Victory and Discoverer. Entry-level promotional fares begin at $4,017 per person, based on double occupancy, and stretch from a last-minute December 2026 Antarctic sailing right through to selected 2027 departures. Everything is quoted in U.S. dollars, per person, and accessed with the code BF-2026.
The headline discounts — a full 50 percent off — apply to three expeditions. The "Extended Antarctic Circle Crossing" aboard the Discoverer runs December 28, 2026 to January 10, 2027, with fares from $9,398 rather than the usual $18,795 — a two-week crossing that would normally sit firmly in luxury-territory pricing. Earlier in the year, the "Isles of the North Atlantic" on the Ocean Victory (May 25 to June 3, 2027) starts at $4,398, down from $8,795, making it the cheapest way into this sale. Then there's the ambitious "Ultimate Arctic Odyssey," a 17-day September 2027 loop taking in Svalbard, the Lofoten Islands, East Greenland and Iceland aboard the Discoverer, now from $8,748 instead of $17,495.
A second tier of departures gets 40 percent off, and it's a varied mix: two Antarctic Peninsula sailings timed for February and March 2027 — including one during peak whale season — plus a Chile and Peru voyage along the Humboldt Current, a South American explorer cruise through to the Panama Canal, and two Greenland itineraries in June 2027, one of them focused on Disko Bay and Ilulissat, home to one of the world's most active glacier calving fronts.
A couple of things worth flagging. These are capacity-priced expedition cabins, so the discounted fares assume two people sharing, and the best rooms will likely go first. The December 28 Antarctic departure is genuinely last-minute for polar standards — if that one appeals, you'd need flights and gear sorted quickly. Travel advisors can book into the same promotion and earn commission on the featured departures, so it's worth asking an agent to compare dates.
Why it matters: expedition cruising to Antarctica and the Arctic rarely gets discounted meaningfully — small ships, high fuel costs and limited berths keep prices rigid. A 40-50 percent cut changes the maths, potentially bringing a first Antarctic trip down toward the cost of a conventional cruise upgrade. If the White Continent or a Greenland summer has been on the long list, the November 30 deadline is the thing to watch.
