By
Laura Hyde |
HX Expeditions aims to make expedition cruising ‘more accessible’ with new itineraries and chartered flights.
The cruise line shared the updates as it celebrated its 130th anniversary with selected partners and media representatives at the Royal Geographical Society Kensington in London, UK, on 9 July 2026. Speaking at the event, Gebhard Rainer, CEO of HX Expeditions, promised to continue supporting travel agents and the expedition cruise sector to make expedition cruising “more accessible”.
“The trade is really important to us as expedition cruising is a complex product where travellers want human contact and personal experience, and someone to talk to who can passionately bring a story across,” he said.
Later this year HX Expeditions will launch a selection of new itineraries for 2028-2029, including a seven-night voyage in Greenland; seven-night Alaska sailings, which will travel both south (Sitka to Vancouver, Canada) and north (Vancouver to Sitka); and voyages to South Georgia onboard Roald Amundsen, one of two hybrid-powered ships in the HX Expeditions fleet. The cruise line is also looking into developing a new Scandinavian offering, as well as chartering flights directly to the Falkland Islands – an industry first – to create a “more seamless way” for guests to access the South Atlantic Ocean destination.
Rainer thanked agents for their support over the past two years as the cruise line legally separated from Hurtigruten Group to become the industry’s newest expedition cruise line with 130 years of heritage, experience and exploration behind it.
“We’re proud to be the oldest expedition cruise company in the world, with the first expedition cruise on 8 July 1896,” said Rainer. “We’ve had a number of firsts including launching two hybrid ships and removing single use plastics onboard, as well as appointing a chief scientist onboard. We’re now at the point where we’re really looking at the next 130 years – I’m not going to be around for 130 years – but it will be an interesting evolution.”
To support the trade, Nathaniel Sherborne, senior vice president and managing director for EMEA, ANZ and global sales enablement at HX Expeditions, announced plans to run three more “mega FAM” trips in 2027 and 2028 onboard Fridtjof Nansen, Fram and Spitsbergen following the success of the May 2026 “mega FAM” trip from Hamburg, Germany, to Helgoland in the North Sea. Routes are being finalised but one sailing will depart from a UK port, to give more UK agents the opportunity to experience the HX Expeditions product and ships first-hand.
Additionally, HX Expeditions will launch a new online agent training platform to “remove some of the fear” around selling expedition cruises to travellers.
Following the event, attendees were invited to a private lunch at a nearby restaurant which concluded with a chorus of happy birthday as Rainer cut the ship-shaped cake (Photo: Laura Hyde)