10 More Things Travel Advisors Should Know about Quark Expeditions

Despite being nearly 35 years old, Quark Expeditions remains a lesser-known expedition cruise line among many travel advisors – possibly because the line has a smaller fleet than some others and only offers polar cruises.

(Advisors who specialize in expedition cruising know the line well and like it for its strong expedition offering. Said one, “I LOVE Quark Expeditions amongst the expedition-ship lineup… [Ultramarine] is designed perfectly for expedition: incredibly respectful of sustainability, with just the right touches of up-level and comfort. And, what’s sexier than a helicopter which is brilliant for the fjords of Greenland! Even more impressive was the staff: they were inspiring, enthusiastic, kind, engaging, safety-first, knowledgeable, and fun. Every professional onboard was a brilliant host.”)

While there are still advisors not yet familiar with Quark, the North American travel trade still drives more than half of the company’s North American bookings.

There are some singular differences between Quark and other expedition lines that travel advisors should be aware of, notably the fact that Quark is one of only three cruise lines that carries a helicopter onboard. (The other two are Scenic and PONANT.) Having helicopters (only onboard one of its three ships) allows Quark to be one of just a few companies to offer Snow Hill Island itineraries in Antarctica, the only place in Antarctica cruise passengers can see emperor penguins.

Two years ago, TMR contributor Judi Cohen traveled onboard Quark’s signature ship, Ultramarine, and shared some of the basics that travel advisors need to know. Recently, TMR’s senior editor Dori Saltzman spent eight days onboard Ultramarine to find out even more.

Here’s what else travel advisors should know.

1. Polar Expeditions Only

Unlike most other cruise lines that sail to the poles, Quark only sails to the polar regions – thus it’s motto “Polar Obsessed since 1991.”

In the Northern Hemisphere summer, the fleet sails strictly in the Arctic, including itineraries in Svalbard, Greenland, and the Canadian Arctic. Sailings can be as short as five nights to as long as 16 nights for a Northwest Passage from Calgary to Reykjavik.

In the Northern Hemisphere winter, the fleet sails throughout the Antarctic, with sailings as short as seven nights and as long as 22 nights. Quark also offers a handful of fly/fly Antarctic itineraries as well (skipping the Drake Passage sailing), and also typically offers two Chilean coastline and fjords sailings that do not venture to Antarctica per year.

In between each season there is about one month for the ships to undergo any needed technical updates or repairs.

2. Fleet of Three Ships

Quark’s fleet comprises three ships, although only two sail in the Polar regions, including the line’s largest ship (and the only one Quark owns, as opposed to leases), the 199-passenger Ultramarine, which debuted in 2020. It features an X-Bow design, created by shipbuilder Ulstein. The unique design helps the ship glide through the water with less movement and makes it more capable of breaking through ice, though it’s not an ice-breaker. (Its ice class rating is 1A+, PC6.) The ship has two restaurants, but the smaller of the two was not used during our sailing, which had only 108 passengers. There’s also a spa with sauna and gym and a comfortable Observation Lounge with 24/7 coffee, tea, and snacks. It is the only ship in the Quark fleet with no hot tub, but the only one to carry two helicopters.

The smaller, 144-passenger Ocean Explorer, which debuted in 2021 – added to the Quark fleet in 2023 – is another X-Bow ship, and is the second ship to sail in the Arctic for Quark. (Also, with an ice class rating of 1A, PC6.) Unlike Ultramarine, Ocean Explorer has two outdoor hot tubs and a two-story Library Lounge.

The 168-passenger World Voyager, which will join the Quark fleet in November of 2026, is not an X-Bow ship. Highlights of this ship include a Science Hub, a spa with sauna, a Deck 7 outdoor heated pool flanked by two hot tubs, and a wraparound deck on Deck 8 with a jogging track. It is a sister ship to the 172-passenger, all-suite World Explorer, which is leaving the Quark fleet (having been sold by its parent company to Windstar Cruises) after the 2025/26 Antarctica season.

3. Long Days, Twice Daily Excursions

Quark claims more off-the-ship adventures than any other cruise line sailing in the Poles. While we can’t confirm that, the line does emphasize off the ship activities. Generally, the expedition leader aims to provide two off-the-ship excursions every day (though weather and extended wildlife sightings can derail these plans). Because all the ships in the fleet are less than 200 passengers, all guests get to partake in all excursions at the same time if they choose, rather than having to wait while only half of the passengers go out as on some of the larger expedition vessels.

Days start at either 7 or 8 a.m. with breakfast, and excursions starting up at anywhere from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. depending on a number of variables. Cruisers are back on board for lunch from roughly 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. Afternoon excursions can start anywhere from 3 p.m. to as late as 4:30 p.m. An evening recap is generally at 7:15 p.m. and dinners start at 7:30 p.m. Evening talks or activities generally start around 9 or 9:30 p.m.

Excursions are generally Zodiac cruises or landings/hikes but can also include biking Greenland and Standup Paddleboarding in Antarctica.

Additionally, guests can sign up for the line’s sea kayaking or paddle programs.

The sea kayaking program is a daily program that replaces Zodiac excursions. When the weather is good, participants take to sea kayaks for their on-the-water touring. It’s a one-time price (typically over $1,000 per person) but includes pretty much daily sea kayaking.

The paddle program is a pay-per-excursion program, which uses a different type of kayak. These also replace the Zodiac excursions, but participants typically sign up only once and go out when their group gets called. (Our sailing had enough people sign up, that four groups of paddlers needed to be created.)

Other excursions that may be available include helicopter flights and heli-hiking adventures.

We’re not sure it counts as an excursion per se, but every sailing also gives guests the chance to jump into the freezing cold waters in a badge-earning polar plunge.

4. Massive Expedition Team

Quark doesn’t skimp on its expedition team. On our sailing of 108 guests, our team numbered 25 members, which we were told is typical. (It is certainly the largest expedition team we’ve ever encountered on an expedition cruise ship.) The team is divided into four groups – paddle (to run the line’s two kayaking programs), lecturers, guides, and leadership, with three additional members – an expedition doctor, an expedition photographer, and a future sales agent.

Though they are divided into categories, all team members do a little bit of everything, from guiding on land to operating Zodiacs to standing guard for polar bear. The educational presentations, however, only came from the lecturers.

Team members have varied backgrounds, most with some type of specialty, like marine biology or ornithology). All, however, are capable of answering most questions from guests. Additionally, the lecturers often gave presentations on topics that are not their actual specialty. For instance, our mammal lecturer was primarily an ornithologist and our geology and glacier lectures came from a botanist.

5. Off-Ship Activities More Important than Onboard Education

Speaking of presentations, Quark’s priority during every sailing is to get passengers off of the boat as often as possible. As a result, presentations and formal education take a back seat. Passengers can expect short, overview-style presentations most evening during the re-cap. We typically had three five- to seven-minute presentations on a variety of topics each evening before dinner.

Our sailing also featured one day where our morning excursions had to be skipped after the boat sat in place all night tracking two polar bears to see if they would come closer. (They did not, but the time spent there meant we had to skip a.m. excursions to get to our afternoon activity.) On that day, we had two slightly more in-depth presentations.

On another day that we had to skip excursions, no presentations were offered, which we thought was a missed opportunity.

The only other presentations came after dinner and included one by the photographer on photo basics, and two by one of the marine biologists regaling passengers with stories of his time working on a BBC documentary and studying elephant seals in Antarctica.

With all that said, Arctic cruises are more destination-intensive with few to zero sea days. On Antarctica cruises, which usually have four full sea days — two each during the Drake Passage crossings — there are more frequent, and more in-depth, educational sessions

If your clients want in-depth education from active scientists or university professors with their expedition cruise experience, check the itinerary to see if there are any special guest speakers or extended days at sea.

6. Dining with Quark Expeditions

Dining is the only aspect of the Quark experience where the cruise line doesn’t shine – which is not to say that dining is bad. It’s just not the line’s strongest selling point. We had multiple meals where the chicken and beef were unpleasantly chewy (including a filet mignon that needed to be sent back).

Other than those meals, the dining was fine, if not exceptional. We were impressed with Quark’s offering of vegan meals. Every lunch buffet had a vegan section, and all dinner menus had vegan options, as well as regular options that could be made vegan-style. We also found the desert offerings, especially at lunch, to be fantastic, with a pudding or pie available each night (the spice pudding was to die for), as well as three types of ice cream with all the fixings (including a vegan ice cream option that we never saw anyone try).

Breakfast always had omelet and fried egg stations, and lunches always had a themed station from fish and chips one day to tacos another to sushi and sashimi another. Our favorite should have been the shawarma day, but the chicken was, once again, very chewy.

Except for the first night, the dinners are always plated sit-down meals, with one vegan, one meat, and one fish selection every night. There was also an always-available grilled chicken, salmon, steak, and tofu with noodles, as well as an always-different pasta selection.

Soups were a highlight each night, especially after spending much of the day outdoors in the cold.

If the culinary offerings were underwhelming, the service was outstanding. While seating is not assigned, many passengers found a favorite spot and stuck with it. Our waiter had or spots arranged for us before we arrived with a Coke Zero for me and a red wine with a glass of ice for my husband – at every lunch and every dinner. He quickly got to know our tastes and was ready with recommendations, and he started checking on our food after our first few chewy dishes.

About half of the expedition team members made an effort at most meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) to sit with different passengers. It was fun to get to know the team members we ate meals with and here more about their lives and how they wound up guiding with Quark.

7. Wide Age Range, English-Speaking

Our sailing of 108 passengers had a mix of nationalities, with more than half coming from English-speaking countries, namely the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Australia. The demographic mix on our sailing was unusual we were told with the largest number of passengers coming from the U.K., thanks to a group built around a U.K. influencer. Normally, guests from the U.S. and Canada dominate. Other passengers came from Singapore, Japan, India, and Spain, among several other countries.

The youngest person on our sailing was 14 and the oldest was 81, with pretty much every age in between represented. The average age, we were told, was mid-50s. Sixty-three of the guests were women. Among the guests there were plenty of couples (again of all ages), multi-generational adult families, and groups of relatives or friends.

Most passengers were friendly, eager to chat about their experiences during the day and share their photos.

8. Solo Travelers Welcome

Our sailing had several solo travelers onboard, thanks to a few options Quark makes available to them.

First, on Ultramarine, there are six panoramic ocean-view cabins suites (132-square-feet) and priced specifically for solo travelers. Ocean Explorer has six porthole-view suites (166 square feet) on deck 3 and one studio veranda (162 square feet) suite on deck 7 designated for solos as well. On both ships, these are in high demand and sell out well in advance of sailings, often a year or more ahead of time.

Second, the line offers a solo matching program. When a solo traveler books a cruise, they let the line know they’re open to being matched with another solo cruiser, so that neither one has to pay a single supplement for a non-solo stateroom.

Finally, we also spoke to a solo traveler who got a balcony cabin to herself without a single supplement by waiting until about a month before the sail date to book.

9. No Such Thing as a Set Schedule

Sailing with Quark, as with many expedition lines in the Antarctic and Arctic, means accepting some level of uncertainty. We rarely knew for sure what we would be doing the next day, though Ryan (our expedition leader) usually gave us a general destination he had in mind for morning and afternoon excursions. Sometimes, we knew if the excursion would be a Zodiac cruise or a hike, other times we didn’t find out until it was time for the excursion. To say there were a lot of TBA’s (to be announced) on our schedule would be an understatement.

Whether or not we had an excursion – and what type – depended on the wind, precipitation and visibility, wildlife sightings, and other factors. The weather was in our favor most of the time, with only one landing delayed due to low visibility from a heavy snowfall. High winds did force the cancellation of the paddle and sea kayak tours once, as well.

One of our coolest excursions, by far, was a pack ice landing that was a total TBA. Our sailing was the first in four sailings that conditions were right for. Ryan told us at that night’s recap that he’d been looking for a safe landing spot since arriving in the Arctic four weeks earlier. Chances are high that the line won’t be able to repeat such a landing as the weather warms up and the pack ice gets thinner. (He mentioned that Ultramarine has only ever done one previous pack ice landing, in Antarctica.)

At least twice, we missed out on excursions because we ended up staying elsewhere longer – both times because of polar bear sightings. This led to unexpected stretches of time with little to do –later in the journey, these unexpected moments of free time became an opportunity for many passengers to catch up on much needed sleep!

10. Quark’s Pricing is Highly Inclusive

One of the nice things about most expedition cruise lines is how inclusive they are – and Quark is no exception. All meals, most beverages, basic Wi-Fi, and all Zodiac and landing excursions are included in the price of a cruise. So is a pre-night in Helsinki and charter flights to/from Helsinki/Longyearbyen.

Quark’s pricing also includes bright yellow, exceptionally warm expedition jackets, which are much needed during both Antarctic and Arctic cruises.

On some itineraries, particularly in Greenland and Antarctica, one or more premium helicopter excursions are also included. (Itineraries such as “Antarctica by Helicopter” and “South Greenland Adventure.”)

What’s not included are crew gratuities, the paddle and sea kayak excursions, bike and standup paddle boarding excursions, spa treatments, Antarctica overnight camping, and helicopter excursions where available, and not specified as included. (Svalbard does not allow helicopters in the region.)