Aurora Expeditions Reviews 

Pre-Voyage review
I have had the pleasure of working with Katie Havas in reserving our Aurora Expedition trip to Antarctica. Katie has been more informative, with quicker and much friendlier responses than any prior agencies my wife and I have worked with the past 10 years or so. We were very concerned about what real life COVID travel would require, but she has made this complex COVID reality trip much easier for us with suggestions, recommendations, etc., and I truly thank her. If the actual trip is as nice as her pre-voyage effort we are in for a trip of a lifetime - Thanks Katie!!

I have sailed on the Greg Mortimer vessel to Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic islands pre-Covid and had a good experience on the journey and with Aurora Expeditions. Post-Covid dealings with them have changed my opinion of the company.

I was booked to go to the Arctic on August 2020 and had paid a deposit of AUD 2500. The voyage was cancelled in March 2020 because of Covid-19 and Aurora offered a travel credit. I requested for a refund on the basis that the journey was cancelled by them and I was entitled to a full refund according to the terms and conditions of the booking.

During the process, my emails to them were ignored for weeks and I had to send many reminders for them to reply. I also had to call their office and all my calls were answered by staff who had no authority to issue refunds and had to refer to the decision makers.

This went on for 4 months and the outcome was that Aurora offered to refund my deposit in 2 years time from April 2020. That means I will have to wait until April 2022 before I get my money back.

This experience has left me extremely disappointed with Aurora Expeditions. I cannot recommend them.

It helped me a lot in my studies thank you so much (excellent)

Aurora Expedition have been deceptively selective in the trustpilot reviews they have on their website. None of these negative reviews (all since Covid debacle) are available to read. Why don’t trustpilot insist on fair coverage - good and bad. It’s so much more honest.
PS still waiting for my refund from Aurora Expeditions 3 months after they cancelled my trip.

Seeing and experiencing Antarctica from the Greg Mortimer ship is absolutely the trip of a lifetime!

The ship itself is beautiful, solidly built for the conditions, small enough to still feel like an team expedition but with all the comforts and luxury of much larger ships. The staff on board, both the crew and the expedition team were second to none; professional, super friendly, knowledgeable, great fun and constantly eager to make our adventure the best it could be. The food was delicious and the service sensational!

The zodiac trips and landings were spectacular -our whole family learned so much from the expert expedition team about the landscape, history and wildlife.

The absolute highlights include the people we met onboard, passengers and crew, kayaking in antarctic waters alongside wildlife and all the wonders that we saw while paddling along, watching fat snowflakes fall on the water on Christmas morning, the polar plunge and being so close to the seals, whales and penguins -watching them in their ecosystem.

The whole team at aurora did an excellent job of educating us all about protecting, respecting and not to touch or damage in any way the environment we were so privileged to be in, so that the stunning Antarctic Peninsular will remain pristine for many generations to experience, what we were so lucky to on this trip.

Thank you Aurora for exceeding well beyond our expectations of this long anticipated adventure!

I was on the ill-fated cruise to Antarctica in March 2020 that got stranded at Montevideo due to COVID. Apart from the fact that this cruise should never have gone ahead in the first place this review is not about that. It is about the ship itself and the expedition.
I should say that I suspect I am not a "cruise person", hence my review will not gel with a lot of people.

THE TOUR - apart from it being cut very short due to COVID, I believe end of March is not a good time to go. Very little wild life (as in penguins, seals and whales) since it is nearing winter in Antarctica. Scenery is ok but for me personally it did not have that "OMG" factor I was expecting (probably watched too much "David Attenborough"). I like my holidays more active and sitting in a Zodiac for hours or traversing a very limited course with a hundred or so fellow travellers lacked the sense of adventure I was hoping for.
THE EXPEDITION STAFF - absolute fantastic - despite the fact that quite a few were hardcore scientists (which can be a bit elusive at times) they were personable, engaging, knowledgable, funny at times and the "lectures" they gave on various subjects, were absolutely worth it and fascinating.
THE SHIP CREW - friendly, hard working.
MY CABIN (417) - and let's remember this is pretty much a brand new ship.
- Shower - the water collects and does not run off easily
- Shower mat - not reassuring that to not slip I had to stand on a rubber mat that everybody else has been standing on as well - hot bed for germs
- Cabin - the bedside light switch cannot be accessed when lying down so what is the point of it if you have to get up again when you just drifing off to switch off the light
- Cabin - Cupboard - the strap holding the door was already broken
- Cabin - Safe instructions - inside the cupboard were the MASTER instructions meaning my safe was not safe since anybody reading this could have opened the safe
- Cabin - Balcony door - squeaking when closed.
But having said that, the room was clean, the bed was inviting, the mattress firm, the bedding fresh and clean, the towels white and fluffy.
FOOD - decent, nothing to write home about but it was not a gourmet cruise, so fine.
Do I think it was worth all the money - personally - NO, but I like my holidays a little more active and sitting in a Zodiac for hours or traversing a short route on land with a hundred or so other passengers did not give me the sense of awe and adventure I was looking for. Rosie

Our trip to Antarctica is booked for Jan 2021- obviously it's not going ahead but NO communications from this company. I wish now I had never booked with them after all the fiasco due to Covid - that ship should never have sailed. They now have our deposit and we've been told to rebook?????? Not so sure about this. The closest cruise to our current one leaves in March 2022 - we've been told that is the closest to what we have booked BUT ITS NOT WHAT WE BOOKED. Why should we have to adjust or change for their decision to not refund our deposit. Thankfully it was only a deposit but still $8000.

We were blessed to be onboard the Greg Mortimer to Antartica over Thanksgiving 2019. This trip exceeded our expectations BY FAR! The new ship is luxurious and beautiful. This was a dream of a trip, however, what truly made the journey so memorable was the staff of Aurora. The guides are exceptional in every aspect of their job and yet after a few days you feel as though you are traveling with friends. They go about and beyond to make sure that you create memories of a lifetime. The experiences we had, spectacular scenery and wildlife we saw made this trip exciting, inspirational and more memorable that one can describe. It literally brought me to tears a few times. We loved how Aurora educates their guests about the environment and wildlife, given guests freedom and trust them to experience Antartica with a care and concern for the environment and in our experience everyone on board did. The food on board was exceptional, all dining and bar staff were top notch servers and fun to sail with. We hope that we will have another opportunity to sail with Aurora because we know the experience will be 5 stars all the way around!

We would have given 5 stars after 3 earlier Ant. Voyages, BUT... like you, we are being held at length by the “we didn’t CANCEL CR-Panama-Columbia, we POSTPONED it” policy! I wonder how that choice would stand up to legal scrutiny, given COVID19 insecurities.
We are promised our balance payment next week... vamos aver... (& we’ll ‘post’ accordingly) but our Feb’19 $US5000 deposit is now to be held as a ‘deposit’ for TWO YEARS.
We’d like to think AURORA EXPEDITIONS is being run by the new owners with the moral bottom line set by Greg Mortimer himself...🤞...let’s stay in touch, fellow expeditioners!

Same problem as others. Aurora cancelled (my words) a July 2020 cruise - Aurora say they have only "postponed" the trip for about a year and therefore they do not have to make refunds. None of the options are suitable for us so Aurora has advised they will make a refund in 2 (yes, two) years time. Does this suggests a cash-flow problem? Be very careful.

We were booked to go to Chile /Patagonia in April 2020 -the cruise after the ill fated one to antartica. We booked it as part of a tour. Aurora have postponed the cruise to March 2021 when it would be extremely foolhardy to even contemplate overseas travel. We want for them to abide by their refund policy and we want our refund now.

I booked an expedition with Aurora in August 2019 for a trip at the end of June 2020.
Due to Covid 19 they cancelled my cruise; and since then they have had extremely bad press regarding a cruise to the Antarctic in March where more than 60% of the passengers came down with the virus. I have emailed Aurora many times for a full refund and they continue to give me the run around.
All I want is my money back!

We kayaked with whales, seals, penguins, icebergs and glaciers. Our kayak guides were like paddling encyclopaedia and the other guides shared their wealth of knowledge. We did not just see Antartica from a boat, we lived it as you could only do from the waterline and being on shore. The passion and professionalism of the Aurora team cannot be faulted. Just go!

Aurora have this adventure holiday off to a T. Nothing is overlooked, from the expertise of the expedition staff to the flexibility of the cruise itself, in being able to change plans if the weather dictates.
The shore excursions and zodiac trips were really interesting and these were supported with lectures from the various experts within the expedition team. I elected to participate in the photography side of the trip and my family kayaked. We all had amazing experiences: this was a without doubt the trip of a lifetime.
The Greg Mortimer is state of the art supported by a friendly, attentive crew. Nothing was too much trouble and the food was first class everyday catering to all tastes.
Full marks to Aurora.
Phillip Ennis

Aurora delivered an incredible experience. The Greg Mortimer and all the crew and staff made everything seem so easy while we enjoyed the wildlife, stunning scenery. With up to 2 shore excursions each day and amazing meals you barely had any free time. Overall the best trip ever.
This is a must do if your contemplating it.

I wrote a VERY detailed review the day after we disembarked the Greg Mortimer. I hope you can find that as I took some time to write it

Fabulous experience. Amazing new boat and great crew. As we were on one of the first few trips,still some kinks to work out but generally fantastic. Would highly recommend

I would thoroughly recommend Aurora expeditions. The new ship, the Greg Mortimer, is purpose built and fabulous, notwithstanding there were some teething problems and some damage sustained in a storm on the delivery voyage. The boat is designed to be stable for the notoriously rough seas of the Drake passage and it really felt stable. The food and service were excellent and the expedition team were first rate. We managed two landings most days and even though I'd been to the Antarctic peninsular before, only three of the landings were places at I'd been to before. The Antarctic is other worldly in its splendour. Go before it all melts!

The Greg Mortimer was an amazing state of the art ship, but the best was the crew and the people with the expedition team. These guys were great and always there to answer questions and help, whether on the ship or out on shore. When we go back to the Antartic or the Artic it will be with Aurora. Have not been with any of the other companies and they might be good, but why take a chance. It would really be hard to beat the experience I had with Aurora, and I am not going to try. I'm afraid I would be comparing others to Aurora and expect them to live up to Aurora Expeditions.