HX Expeditions has opened its 2028-29 season for sale, rolling out 57 voyages across 14 destinations — 26 of them new itineraries — along with two destinations the expedition line has never sailed and a handful of firsts that should catch advisors' attention, including Antarctic departures from the Falkland Islands and HX's debut in the Baltic Sea.
The Stanley departures mark the first time in more than a decade a major cruise company has used the Falklands as a gateway to Antarctica. The new In-Depth Antarctica, Falklands & South Georgia Expedition packages all three destinations into a shorter timeframe than a traditional Ushuaia round-trip, a useful lever for clients who want South Georgia's wildlife without committing to three-plus weeks. HX, the largest operator on the continent, is also adding a 19-day Antarctica & South Georgia — Kingdoms of Ice and Wildlife voyage with early-season departures, pairing the Antarctic Peninsula with South Georgia's Shackleton heritage sites.
"The voyages may be new, but the expertise behind them is not," said Gebhard Rainer, CEO of HX Expeditions. "At HX, exploration is about more than reaching remote destinations. It's about how you experience them: with insight, intention and respect. The 2028/29 season builds on more than 130 years of expedition heritage, creating new ways for guests to connect with the people, wildlife and landscapes that make these places so extraordinary."
In Alaska, HX is swapping its 10- and 13-day itineraries for two eight-day Alaska's Inside Passage — Wilderness & Culture expeditions sailing northbound and southbound between Vancouver and Sitka, each with five full days in Southeast Alaska and a single sea day. The two routings share no ports, so clients can stack them into a 15-day Vancouver round-trip without a repeat call. A pair of 17-day Aleutians to Katmai: Wild Alaska Revealed sailings between Vancouver and Whittier rounds out the program, which was built with Indigenous communities and local stakeholders — an extension of the Old Harbor Native Corporation partnership that made HX the first commercial line to call at Old Harbor on Kodiak Island. Kake joins the northbound route and Elfin Cove the southbound.
Scandinavia gets HX's first dedicated program in the region, aboard MS Spitsbergen. The headline itinerary, Sweden & Finland: Autumn in the Gulf of Bothnia, takes the line into the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Bothnia for the first time, threading the UNESCO-listed Kvarken Archipelago and coastal towns largely untouched by mainstream cruising. The slate also includes Copenhagen-to-Bergen sailings through Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, plus a Lindesnes-to-North Cape voyage timed for Northern Lights potential.
Among the season's most ambitious additions is a 19-day Into the Northwest Passage — Circumnavigating Baffin Island voyage, which will attempt a transit of the rarely navigated Fury and Hecla Strait and include visits to Inuit communities such as Qikiqtarjuaq and Kinngait.
Greenland gains an eight-day Discovering West Greenland — Icebergs & Communities of Disko Bay itinerary with no sea days and direct access via Nuuk, covering the UNESCO-listed Ilulissat Icefjord and villages including Kangaamiut and Maniitsoq. With additional Reykjavik–Nuuk sailings through the island's southwest fjords and Norse sites, HX's Greenland voyages now range from eight to 15 days.
Svalbard will see 23 departures in 2028, the line's largest program there yet, extending into September for the first time so guests can catch the shift from Midnight Sun to aurora season. In the Galápagos, HX continues year-round sailings aboard MS Santa Cruz II, with Machu Picchu extensions available.
Finally, HX is turning repositioning into a product of its own: nine new Ocean Crossing voyages span the Atlantic and Pacific with lectures, workshops, and wildlife watching at sea, plus port calls including Bermuda, Cape Verde, Salvador, Recife, and Golfito. New wrinkles include a sailing up the Guadalquivir River into Seville and Pacific calls at Huatulco and La Paz.
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