LUXURY expeditions cruise line Ponant has released its 2024-2025 sailing itinerary for the incredible white continent of Antarctica.

With the first departure in the 2024- 2025 season scheduled for October 19 2024, Ponant will offer a total of 26 sailings across three ships during the Australian summer.

Ponant has more than 30 years’ experience in the region, and offers Antarctic expeditions from October to March, with each month offering something unique and the full season covering the entire reproduction cycle of the penguins that populate the white continent.

November is extra special, as this is when the penguins’ breeding and nesting take place on the Antarctic Peninsula against a backdrop of snowcovered mountain peaks where icebergs drift in the distance.

In January, new-born penguins are simply an amazing sight, while February is an equally magical as the chicks are growing and the end of summer snow makes hiking a bit easier.

Aboard the company’s three ships – Le Lyrial, L’Austral and Le Boréal – Ponant captains, expedition leaders and naturalist-guides share their passion and knowledge of the region to enhance the expedition experience.

With their knowledge and assistance, passengers have an opportunity to see Adélie, chinstrap and gentoo penguins, orcas, seals, elephant seals, albatrosses and southern fulmars, all in conditions that fully respect the environment.

Among Ponant’s special cruises is the Southern Adventure, which is a 15-day polar expedition in the highest latitudes between the Falkland Islands and untouched lands of the Antarctic.

There’s also the Great Adventure, which takes in the southern region’s most beautiful sites, and Expedition to Southern Lands, which follows in the wake of the greatest explorers in South Georgia along shores of the white continent on a 17-day voyage.

The 14-night Southern Adventure begins at Ushuaia and the first stop is the Falkland Islands, where the expedition ship cruises through this archipelago of 200 islands, before approaching the frozen shores of Antarctica.

This is where you discover that white comes in a thousand shades. The 18-day Great Adventure starts at Buenos Aires and cruises south to take in the stunning South Georgia, where the black sand beaches are framed by snow-capped mountains.

(It was here that Sir Ernest Shackleton miraculously washed up during the famous Endurance Odyssey in 1916.)

The cruise moves further south to the South Orkney Islands before the Antarctic Peninsula. Disembarkation is at Ushuaia before an air transfer back to Buenos Aires.

Ponant has released two documentaries about its expedition cruises, featuring brand ambassador and Australian media personality Andrew Daddo.

The documentaries cover Antarctica and the Kimberley region, where Ponant offers a series of cruises every year. Mr Daddo is aboard the expedition ship Le Laperouse for the just-released 50-minute Kimberley documentary.

Surrounded by one of the world’s oldest and largest wilderness landscapes, Mr Daddo embarks on an 11-day expedition between Broome and Darwin, joined on his journey by experts and destination specialists including Mick Fogg, Ponant’s head of expeditions and destination development for the Asia Pacific.

The documentary follows the Kimberley coast for 11 days on the small ship expedition, capturing picturesque waterfalls, gorges, savannah, tidal phenomena, and Indigenous history.

Travelling along the Hunter River and exploring the Twin Falls – the highest falls in WA – the documentary provides the opportunity to catch a glimpse of wild mangrove forests (home to estuarine crocodiles) and Montgomery Reef, the world’s largest inshore reef with plenty of marine life.

“The Kimberley is undeniably one of the most awe-inspiring places on earth, and to explore it is truly an unforgettable experience,” Mr Daddo said.