What is the Ocean Explorer like?
The Ocean Explorer is Quark Expeditions' one ship of this design; their other vessels are different. She shares a hull and much of her cabin layout with the Sylvia Earle and Ocean Albatros, and like the Sylvia Earle she carries a two-storey glass front at the bow.
Ship at a glance
Specifications, as published by the operator
- Operator
- Quark Expeditions
- Guests
- 138
- Crew
- 105 staff and crew
- Cabins
- 72, including 7 single suites
- Ice class
- 1A, PC6
- Length
- 104.4 m (342 ft)
- Regions sailed
- Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia, the Falklands, Snow Hill Island and Patagonia; the Canadian High Arctic, Greenland, Svalbard and Iceland
What we observed on our visit
- Where we toured her
- Longyearbyen, Svalbard, July 2025
- Bow space
- Two-storey glass front at the bow, as on the Sylvia Earle
- Lounge style
- Lecture-focused — the lounge doubles as the lecture space
- Stands out for
- The glass bow, on a hull she shares with the Sylvia Earle and Ocean Albatros
We have toured this ship but not sailed her. A full review will follow when we do.
What are the public spaces like?
Like the Sylvia Earle, Quark have put a two-storey glass front at the bow — somewhere to sit with a book and a coffee and watch scenery and wildlife without standing out in it. The lounge doubles as the lecture space, much like Ocean Albatros.
Cabins are appointed very similarly to both other ships.
Three ships, one hull
The Sylvia Earle, Ocean Albatros and Ocean Explorer come from the same shipbuilder and share a hull, dimensions and much of their cabin layout. What differs is the decor and how each operator chose to arrange the common areas. Touring all three in forty-eight hours made those choices unusually easy to compare.
Related reading
Written by your expedition advisor
Erika Commisso · Travel Experience Architect
CLIA Elite Cruise Counselor · ASTA Verified Travel Advisor · Signature Travel Expert
Chris and Erika have sailed ten expedition voyages and toured seven more expedition ships. Favorite explorations so far: Antarctica, Svalbard, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Alaska, the Galápagos, the Scottish Hebrides, Churchill and French Polynesia.
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