Antarctica, 15 UNESCO Sites, and One Ship to See It All: Princess Cruises Unveils Its Most Ambitious South America Season Yet

For cruise travelers who have ever dreamed of standing on the bow while glaciers calve into the sea around them, Princess Cruises just dropped news worth circling on the calendar.

On March 24, 2026, Princess Cruises officially announced its 2027-28 South America season, and it may be the line’s most ambitious southern hemisphere program to date. Majestic Princess will serve as the dedicated ship for the season, running six departures across four distinct itineraries between October 2027 and January 2028 — and the scope of what’s on offer is genuinely staggering.

Nineteen destinations. Eight countries. Fifteen UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Antarctic Peninsula. And overnight stays in Buenos Aires on every single sailing.

This is not a typical Caribbean winter escape with a detour south. This is a purpose-built season for travelers who want to go deep.

What the Season Actually Looks Like

The four itineraries range from 15 to 37 days, which immediately signals that Princess is aiming for the serious expedition-minded traveler — not just the casual cruiser who wants warm weather and a beach day.

The headline offering is the 37-day South America Passage Grand Adventure, which sails from Southampton all the way to San Antonio (Santiago, Chile). That’s a proper grand voyage — the kind of sailing where you genuinely unpack once and wake up in a different world every few days.

For those who can’t commit to five-plus weeks at sea, the 15-day Cape Horn & Glaciers of Patagonia itinerary runs between Buenos Aires and San Antonio, threading through some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet. Then there’s the 17-day Antarctica & South America itinerary, sailing roundtrip from Buenos Aires, which is the one that will have expedition cruisers talking. Both also come with optional cruisetour add-ons featuring five or six nights of land components — giving guests the chance to extend into the Patagonian interior or explore Chile overland.

The Antarctica Angle Changes the Game

Let’s talk about the Antarctic Peninsula access for a moment, because it’s what separates this season from a standard South American deployment.

Getting to the Antarctic Peninsula isn’t easy — and historically it’s been the domain of small expedition vessels, not mainstream cruise lines operating 3,500-passenger ships. The fact that Princess is building an entire itinerary around Antarctic access, and including onboard naturalists during that portion of the sailing, is a meaningful step toward making this kind of experience available to a broader audience at a more accessible price point than dedicated expedition operators typically offer.

Princess has also highlighted continued scenic cruising through Glacier Alley and the Beagle Channel Fjords, a route that debuted in their 2026-27 season and was clearly popular enough to bring back. These are the kinds of passages — where hanging tidewater glaciers cascade from the Darwin Mountain Range on both sides of the ship — that make for the sort of photographs people frame and hang on walls.

The UNESCO Site Count Speaks for Itself

Fifteen UNESCO World Heritage Sites across a single season of sailings is a remarkable claim, and it speaks to how historically and ecologically dense this region really is.

The announced highlights include Peninsula Valdes — one of the most important wildlife reserves in South America, home to southern right whales, elephant seals, and Magellanic penguins — and the Carioca Landscapes in and around Rio de Janeiro, which include the famous Tijuca Forest. Beyond those, the Falkland Islands, the Cape Horn region, and various Chilean fjord systems all carry UNESCO designations of their own.

For travelers who use these designations as a meaningful travel benchmark, the 2027-28 season is legitimately stacking up.

Late-Night Port Calls Are the Underrated Highlight

One detail buried in the announcement that deserves more attention: Princess has built in late-night port calls in Lisbon, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Rio de Janeiro, and Ushuaia.

This matters more than it might seem. Late-night stays are how you experience a city’s actual rhythm — dinner at a proper hour, a walk through a lit-up waterfront, the nightlife version of places that look completely different after dark. Ushuaia in particular transforms in the evening hours, with the Beagle Channel going still and the mountain backdrop turning deep blue. Getting an extended evening there rather than a rushed daytime stop is a genuine quality-of-life improvement.

Why Majestic Princess

The choice of Majestic Princess for this season makes sense. At 3,560 guests, she’s large enough to offer the full range of Princess amenities — specialty dining, entertainment, the Princess MedallionClass technology — while still being maneuverable enough for the tighter channels of Patagonia and the waters approaching Antarctica. She’s been deployed in Asia and Australia in previous seasons, giving her crew experience with longer-haul, itinerary-intensive routes far from Caribbean home ports.

Chief Commercial Officer Jim Berra noted the season is “designed to bring guests closer to the world’s most breathtaking landscapes and vibrant cultures,” and that framing feels accurate. This isn’t a season built around private island beach clubs and waterslides. It’s built around access to places most people will visit once in a lifetime, if at all.

What This Means for Cruisers

If South America and Antarctica have been sitting on your bucket list, the 2027-28 Princess season gives you a compelling mainstream option to make it happen — without having to book a small-ship expedition line at three times the price.

The overnight Buenos Aires inclusions on every sailing are a smart touch for first-timers to the region, giving guests time to actually experience one of South America’s great cities rather than just port-hop through it. And the range of itinerary lengths — from 15 to 37 days — means there’s an entry point for different travel budgets and time constraints.

Bookings are open now at princess.com or by calling 1-800-PRINCESS. Given the niche appeal of Antarctic-adjacent itineraries and the relatively limited departure count (six sailings total), the more adventurous options are likely to fill faster than a typical Caribbean season. If this season speaks to you, it’s worth looking sooner rather than later.