The first of the new luxury expedition cruise ships, the SH Minerva, began sailing to Antarctica in December and started its South American voyages in March with a series of spectacular itineraries. This ship marks the return of one of the oldest brands in the expedition cruise market.
Article from CruisesNews magazine no. 60 – March 2022
Swan Hellenic relaunched in July 2020 to continue the spirit of expedition cruising that the company pioneered in the 1950s. Drawing on its British roots, the new company has a cultural cruising perspective dedicated to offering guests the opportunity to “see what others don’t see.”.
Swan Hellenic's ships boast elegant Scandinavian-designed interiors, expansive outdoor spaces, and expedition-oriented facilities. The SH Minerva and SH Vega, their two 5-star ships with a polar code of PC 5, arrived in December 2021 and next May, respectively. They can accommodate 152 guests each in 76 spacious suites and cabins, most with large balconies. A larger, ice-class ship, with a polar code of PC 6, will arrive in early 2023, accommodating 192 guests in 96 cabins and suites offering the same comfort and style.
Based in Cyprus with offices in London, Dusseldorf, Monaco, Fort Lauderdale, Hong Kong, Sydney, Copenhagen and representation for India and Japan, Swan Hellenic wants to offer its services worldwide.
The company's meticulously planned itineraries are aimed at adventure and cultural exploration enthusiasts who enjoy wild landscapes, wildlife, and the unique peoples and cultures of the world's less-traveled regions.
The SH Minerva has a total crew of 120, including an expedition team comprised of expert guides, lecturers, and teachers, reflecting the high level of personalized service offered.
Cultural Expedition
As noted, Swan Hellenic created the cultural expedition cruises in 1954, taking members of the London University Hellenic Society to iconic sites of ancient Greece in the company of eminent professors of classical arts.
Today they continue with that pioneering inspiration. Each cruise combines geographical exploration of the most extraordinary sites on Earth with cultural and scientific discovery.
This inspiration leads them to offer a real vision of the history, cultures, fauna, flora, geology and geography of the places they explore, enriching the experience and fostering a stimulating social life and a feeling of camaraderie on board, encouraged by the exchange of sensations experienced during the cruise.
In addition, each cruise offers many opportunities for passengers to develop their creative passions, with professionals on board to help them photograph, draw, or even write, including on a blog.
Interior design
: The decor features organic tones and textures, natural light and a great sense of space, all adorned with works of art.
Even the sauna area has been designed to put guests in close contact with the elements, with a full-length panoramic window that is perfect for moments of relaxation after, for example, a workout in the gym or any wellness treatment.
On all cruises there are expert lectures that explain what we are going to see at each destination.
The cabins and suites are a true home away from home, all featuring panoramic ocean views, a fireplace, original artwork, comfortable sofas, premium mattresses, and Egyptian cotton towels, bathrobes, and sheets. They also include a pillow menu, a premium sound system, a large flat-screen TV, an espresso machine, and a minibar. Of course, you can dine in your cabin at any time.
Designed to connect with the outside world, the SH Minerva features open interior views with abundant panoramic windows, spacious outdoor deck areas and multiple observation stations near the sea, including the Swan's Nest platform, which rises above the bow, a distinctive feature of the ship's profile and offers an exclusive viewpoint to guests.
The clean lines and warm, natural materials of the Scandinavian-designed interiors combine comfort with casual elegance, extending from the spacious lounge and three dining venues to the fitness center, sauna, and Basecamp—a full-service, concierge-managed changing room where guests prepare for their expeditions. The conference room, equipped with state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment, supports presentations by onboard experts, while a fully equipped photo lab with a professional photographer ensures guests can create inspiring images and videos to relive their extraordinary experiences back home.
Dining
There are three restaurants on board: the Swan Restaurant, the Club Lounge, and the Pool Bar & Grill. All offer a wide selection of food and drinks, from healthy snacks and balanced, functional cuisine to suit every taste and need, to local specialties and more sumptuous gastronomy, supported by a high-quality wine cellar featuring classic vintages, new-generation natural wines, premium spirits, and craft beers.
Each evening, the Swan Restaurant transforms into a gourmet haven, serving spectacular creations by consulting chefs Andrea Ribaldone and Sang Keun Oh, each a Michelin-starred chef, and brought to life onboard by SH Minerva's executive chef, Jörg Lehmann. Guests on a Swan Hellenic cultural expedition cruise embark on a parallel journey, discovering a world of extraordinary flavors, textures, and contrasts, encompassing creative Asian and Italian fusion cuisine, as well as the more traditional, yet no less astonishing, classic French, Chinese, Japanese, and international dishes.
The SH Minerva is the first in a series of three extraordinary, world-class expedition ships designed to navigate extreme latitudes. It features a 5-megawatt diesel-electric propulsion system with selective catalytic reduction and a PC5 ice-strengthened hull with oversized stabilizers for exceptional comfort. At 113 meters in length, this 10,500-ton vessel has been specially designed to explore the most inaccessible places on Earth .
Designed to meet the latest environmental regulations, it is equipped with exhaust gas cleaning systems, advanced wastewater treatment systems, and the necessary waste storage facilities to operate in sensitive polar regions. Furthermore, it is completely self-sufficient for up to 40 days or 8,000 nautical miles, enabling exceptionally immersive cruises.
The SH Minerva offers ample 5-star accommodation for 152 guests in 76 spacious suites and cabins, the vast majority with large balconies, and is operated by a team of 120 people on board to provide the highest levels of personal service.
Its sister ship, the SH Vega, joins the fleet this year to begin its British Isles cruises. The company's third ship, slightly larger, is already under construction at Helsinki Shipyard.
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or wildlife interest, as well as famous cities that have always been on our bucket list. However, above all, it visits many exceptionally remote locations beyond the ports of call, embarking on Zodiac boats and exploring at sea level to disembark in rich, untouched areas of our planet that are often inaccessible by any other means.
Thus, each expedition cruise leads to the discovery of some of the most amazing secrets of our planet, from the polar regions to the Americas, Asia, Northern Europe, Siberia and the Mediterranean, where the unique tradition of cultural expedition cruises began.
The interior design, which follows the canons of Scandinavian design, is by Tillberg Design of Sweden.
Places like Puerto Quetzal, Puerto Chiapas, Salina Cruz, Huatulco, Puerto Escondido, Acapulco, Zihuatanejo, Manzanillo, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán in America or Portrush, Gigha, Iona Island, St Kilda, Stornoway, Stromness (Kirkwall Islands), Lerwick, Peterhead, Lindisfarne, Leith in the British Isles, far from the regular itineraries of other companies, open the eyes of those who flee from the traditional.
story
emerged from Swans Travel Bureau, a London family business founded by travel industry veteran WF Swan in 1931. Five years later, he was joined by his son Richard Kenneth, born in 1919 and known simply as Kenneth or Ken, who had started helping out in the office since his teens.
The company gradually suspended operations during World War II, as Ken was away serving in the army during that time and the office was declared unsafe after a bombing raid. Father and son set to work restarting business in 1946, when Ken returned home, and made their first postwar trip in 1947.
Swans Tours prospered with the boom in overseas travel, and in 1951 the University Society of London for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies contacted them to offer its members a trip to Greece with visiting lecturers. This appealed to a tradition in which W.F. Swan had been directly involved early in his career, working as private secretary to Sir Henry Lunn, who had founded the Hellenic Travellers Club with Lord Byron in 1906.
Accepting the challenge, Swans Tours conducted its first “discovery cruise” in 1954, chartering a ship called the Miaoulis to take 128 members of the society to explore the sites of ancient Greece for 14 days. Francis Kinchin-Smith, head of the Department of Classical History at the University of London, organized the lecture program and invited three speakers.
After witnessing the popularity of this type of vacation, the formula was repeated and refined the following year, when Swans chartered the Aegaeon to take 268 guests on a cruise with several innovations: It introduced an all-inclusive policy that protected guests from the problems of financial constraints and included all gratuities to offer them the flexibility of open seating for dinner. There were five guest lecturers, including the classicist Sir Maurice Bowra and the archaeologist Sir Mortimer Wheeler, who had become doubly famous for his television program Animal, Vegetable or Mineral.
A key difference of Swans from the beginning was that its cruises frequently stopped at unusual destinations, allowing guests to explore places that were largely unknown.
The stage was set for what would become "the" Swan Hellenic, which gradually expanded its horizons across the Mediterranean and beyond, pioneering Nile River cruises. The distinctive combination of bold and intriguing itineraries, eminent speakers, and expert expedition guides who accompany guests on their cruises continues to this day, enriching the experience with modern expedition facilities and a sophisticated onboard experience.
Technology:
All Swan Hellenic ships are built with advanced health and hygiene technology according to the latest global standards. Onboard air conditioning systems incorporate ultraviolet disinfection using state-of-the-art technology. As a final guarantee, Swan Hellenic's booking policy provides complete protection and peace of mind for all guests.
