HX or Oceanwide: buy the drinks and the flight, or buy the kayak and the tent
Two of the lower-priced polar lines we’ve checked, with opposite ideas of what a fare should hold. HX folds in the bar, the tips and often the charter flight. Oceanwide folds in camping, kayaking and mountaineering on its Basecamp voyages.
Book HX if you want the easy version of a value polar trip. House drinks, gratuities and Wi-Fi are in the fare, Highlights of Antarctica includes the Buenos Aires charter and a hotel night, and the fleet reaches Alaska and the Galápagos too. The ships are bigger — up to 490 guests.
Book Oceanwide if you want to do more once you’re there. Its Basecamp voyages put camping, kayaking and mountaineering in the berth price, on ships of 108 to 170 guests. You pay for drinks, tips and flights on top — budget for all three.
Per day, the two land close — a dead heat in Svalbard, a narrow HX edge in Antarctica. Each company also has a 2026 record worth reading first, and we cover both below.
Price them the way you’ll pay them
HX against Oceanwide, all in
Five published voyages. Switch between them, tick what you’d add, and change any figure.
HX fares are its lowest “from” prices on its U.S. site, as published on November 1, 2026, most at anniversary offer pricing; HX may add a fuel surcharge up to 30 days before departure, per its terms. Oceanwide fares are its published USD rate-sheet prices per person, before flights. Both lines change prices often. The tip line uses $10 a day, the low end of Oceanwide’s guide. Rows at $0 have no published price.
Switch from HX’s Highlights to Oceanwide’s Basecamp and watch the green rows trade places. HX’s are the charter, the hotel and the bar; Oceanwide’s are the tent and the kayak.
The flight row decides more than either fare. Get a price to Ushuaia or Longyearbyen first — then add the drinks you’ll actually order.
What a day costs, and how many share it
The per-day tab is close, not one-sided. The guest tab isn’t: HX’s two hybrids carry nearly three times Hondius’s count.
Two ideas of what a fare should hold
The extras, paid up front
House wine, beer and cocktails, gratuities, Starlink Wi-Fi without streaming, a polar jacket and the Science Center. Many voyages add the gateway hotel night and the connecting flight. Kayaking and camping cost extra.
The activities, paid up front
On Basecamp voyages the ship parks for two or three days and works as a hub. Camping, kayaking, hiking, mountaineering and a photo workshop come in the berth price. The bar, tips, laundry and flights don’t.
HX is the former Hurtigruten Expeditions, separately owned since February 12, 2025. It runs five ships, from the 490-guest hybrid sisters to the 90-guest Santa Cruz II in the Galápagos.
Oceanwide is a Dutch line that began in 1993 as part of a university research program. Its four ships are small and plain by luxury standards — and its fares say so.
One sells comfort included. The other sells effort included.
Neither approach is the cheaper one by default — it depends on your habits. A couple who drink wine at dinner and tip well narrows Oceanwide’s gap; a couple who’d book kayaking and a camping night narrows HX’s.
Decide which list you’d have bought anyway. That’s your line.
Head to head, row by row
From each line’s terms, FAQs, rate sheets and fleet pages, checked November 1, 2026. Where one side is clearly ahead, it’s in bold.
| Row | HX | Oceanwide |
|---|---|---|
| Ships | Five: Roald Amundsen, Fridtjof Nansen, Fram, Spitsbergen, Santa Cruz II | Four: Hondius, Ortelius, Plancius and the schooner Rembrandt van Rijn |
| Guests | 490, 490, 200, 150 and 90 | 170, 108, 108 and 33 |
| Ice class | PC6 on Roald Amundsen, per Hurtigruten’s 2019 release; not stated for the others on the HX pages we read | PC6 on Hondius; UL1 on Ortelius; 1D on Plancius; none named on the schooner |
| In the fare | House drinks, gratuities, Starlink Wi-Fi, polar jacket, boots on loan, Science Center; often a gateway hotel and connecting flight | Meals, landings, lectures, boots and snowshoes, port charges; Basecamp activities on Basecamp voyages |
| Extra | Kayaking ($114–$229), camping ($402–$505), premium drinks, international flights, insurance | Bar, gratuities ($10–15 a day suggested), laundry, telecom, flights, insurance; activity supplements off Basecamp |
| Solo policy | No supplement on selected departures; typically 25–70% on many others | Share for no extra, or 1.7 times the twin rate |
| Minimum age | 5 for Antarctica and the Galápagos | 3, advised 8; 40% child discount on request |
| Deposit | 15% (bookings from Nov 3, 2025, departures from Apr 1, 2027); 25% per the FAQ otherwise | 20% of the total |
| Balance due | 90 days before departure | 60 days before departure |
| Cancelling early | 25% from 90+ days, 50% from 89, 75% from 59, 100% inside 30 (2027 terms) | 20% up to 90 days, 50% from 89, 100% from 59 |
| Insurance | Required; Antarctic evacuation cover, US$200,000 recommended | Required; evacuation minimum $100,000 Antarctica, $50,000 Arctic |
The deposit row hides a trap on HX’s 2027 terms — small, but real. A 25% fee on a 15% deposit means an early cancellation can cost more than you’ve paid.
Oceanwide’s fee and deposit match at 20%, so walking away early costs what’s already gone.
Both lines require insurance — not just recommend it. The CDC puts a remote evacuation above $250,000, so we’d buy past both minimums. Our expedition insurance guide compares plans that clear them.
Where each fleet is, month by month
Solid cells mark the busiest months on each line’s own listings; pale ones are the start and end of a run.
HX and Oceanwide, side by side
One row per line in every region they share. Tap a month for the voyage behind it.
The polar calendars overlap almost exactly — give or take a fortnight. Antarctica runs October to March on both, with Oceanwide holding on into early April; Svalbard runs late May to September.
The difference is what each line does outside the ice. HX sends ships to Alaska, the Northwest Passage and the Galápagos. Oceanwide sends Plancius on the Atlantic Odyssey to St Helena and Cape Verde. Choose your region in our Antarctica, Arctic or Greenland guide, then match the month.
What to read before you pay a deposit
HX: its 2026 half-year accounts. HX’s own half-year accounts flag a material uncertainty over its ability to continue as a going concern, tied to market uncertainty from the Middle East conflict and to refinancing it hasn’t yet done. The directors still adopt the going-concern basis.
The same report shows first-half operating revenue up to EUR 138.6 million and bookings for 2026 departures 22% ahead of a year earlier. It also reports a EUR 44 million first-half loss and guides to a 2026 normalised EBITDA loss of EUR 17 million to EUR 25 million, so the recovery is a forecast, not a result. Its customer-fund protection is ATOL, a UK scheme, so U.S. bookers shouldn’t assume it applies.
That’s a disclosure — not a prediction. Read the full summary on our HX guide.
Oceanwide: the Hondius outbreak. Three people died in an Andes-strain hantavirus outbreak on an Argentina-to-Cape Verde voyage in April and May 2026. Oceanwide’s position is that the virus was introduced from a source in South America, not the ship.
The Rotterdam-Rijnmond health service cleared Hondius to return to service on May 30, and WHO declared the outbreak over in early July. Hondius is on Oceanwide’s 2026–27 Antarctic rate sheet — back in service, not sidelined.
The ship-by-ship detail is on our Oceanwide fleet guide.
We report both because each company published them, not to steer you off either line. Whatever you book, pay the deposit by credit card and choose insurance with supplier-default cover.
Oceanwide by four rows to three, with four dead even
Oceanwide takes four rows, HX three, and four finish even. Read that as permission to choose on the row you care about most — either line can win it.
About $845 a day on HX’s Highlights of Antarctica, with the charter flight and a hotel night inside it. Oceanwide’s Basecamp runs about $962 in a twin porthole and $781 for a shared-quad berth, before flights.
About $833 a day on HX’s 14-day circumnavigation, Oslo flights included, against about $831 to $915 on Oceanwide’s twin portholes. A dead heat.
HX includes house drinks, gratuities and Starlink Wi-Fi. Oceanwide bills the bar, suggests $10–15 a day in tips, and lists a 1.5 GB daily Wi-Fi allowance on its Basecamp page.
Oceanwide’s Basecamp includes camping, kayaking, mountaineering and snowshoeing. HX charges $229 to kayak and $505 to camp in Antarctica, though its Norway winter voyage includes kayaking.
Up to 490 on HX’s hybrid sisters, 200 on Fram. Oceanwide runs 108 to 170, and 33 on the schooner.
Oceanwide names PC6 for Hondius; Roald Amundsen’s PC6 comes from Hurtigruten’s 2019 release, not HX’s current pages. Oceanwide also names Ortelius’s UL1 and Plancius’s 1D.
HX: no supplement on selected departures, typically 25% to 70% on many others. Oceanwide: share at no extra cost, or 1.7 times the twin rate. Different shapes, both fair.
HX’s minimum age is 5 for Antarctica and the Galápagos. Oceanwide’s is 3, though it advises against under 8, with 40% off on request for under-16s in certain cabins.
Oceanwide wants the balance 60 days out and charges 20% to cancel up to 90 days. HX wants it 90 days out, and its 2027 terms charge 25% from 90 days on a 15% deposit.
Both require cover. HX recommends US$200,000 of Antarctic evacuation; Oceanwide sets a $100,000 minimum. Both rules are floors; the CDC puts a remote evacuation above $250,000, so buy past both.
HX adds Alaska, the Northwest Passage, the Chilean fjords, Norway in winter and the Galápagos. Oceanwide stays polar, plus the Atlantic Odyssey.
Oceanwide publishes staff counts: about 13 guests per staff member on its three motor ships, by our arithmetic. HX’s pages we read don’t publish one, so that side is unknown, not a loss.
These rate fit, not quality. They’re our judgement of how each row serves a traveler watching the total. A “?” marks a fact the line doesn’t publish; it counts as unknown, not a loss. The company records in section 06 aren’t scored. Facts rechecked November 1, 2026.
Book HX if… Book Oceanwide if…
We can arrange either line and earn a commission when we do, so the rows above decide these, not the payout. Both are sound bookings for the right traveler.
You want the bar, the tips and the charter flight settled
On Highlights of Antarctica they’re in the fare, from $10,141. Read the HX fleet guide to pick the hull.
You’d pay for the kayak and the tent anyway
Basecamp puts them in the berth price, along with mountaineering in Antarctica. Places are limited, so ask early.
The trip is Alaska, the Galápagos or the Northwest Passage
Oceanwide doesn’t sail them. HX does, on the same inclusions list.
You’re solo and happy to share
A shared twin, triple or quad berth costs the per-person fare, with no supplement, per both current rate sheets.
You want fewer than 200 people aboard
108 to 170 guests, or 33 on the schooner. The Oceanwide fleet guide has each one.
You want a small ship and the bar in the fare
HX has the bar on bigger ships; Oceanwide has small ships and a bar bill. Aurora carries no more than 130 guests on expeditions, with the bar and Starlink Wi-Fi in the fare.
The questions we get about HX and Oceanwide
Which is cheaper for Antarctica, HX or Oceanwide?
On published fares, HX by a little per day, once you count what each fare carries. HX's 12-day Highlights of Antarctica starts from $10,141 on its U.S. site, with the Buenos Aires-Ushuaia charter flights, a Buenos Aires hotel night, gratuities and house drinks included. Oceanwide's 13-day Antarctica Basecamp is $12,500 per person in a twin porthole cabin, or $10,150 for a berth in a shared quad, before flights to Ushuaia, tips and drinks. Our arithmetic puts those at about $845, $962 and $781 a day.
Which line is better for kayaking and camping?
Oceanwide, on its Basecamp voyages. Oceanwide's Basecamp page says camping, kayaking, hiking and snowshoeing, mountaineering and the photo workshop come in the price of your berth, with camping limited to one night per voyage and every activity subject to weather. HX sells them as extras in Antarctica: a Guided Sea Kayaking Adventure at $229 and a night camping in a tent at $505, bookable on board only.
Is HX financially safe to book?
We can only report what HX has published, and we don't give financial advice. HX's results for the first half of 2026, published August 28, 2026, use the words 'material uncertainty' about its ability to continue as a going concern. The report names two causes: market uncertainty from the Middle East conflict, and refinancing it hasn't yet undertaken. HX's directors still concluded that preparing the accounts on a going-concern basis is appropriate. The customer-fund protection the report describes is ATOL, a UK scheme, so U.S. bookers shouldn't assume it applies. Paying by credit card and choosing insurance with supplier-default cover are the usual safeguards on any line.
Which is better for a solo traveler?
They take different routes to the same place. HX's FAQ says selected departures carry no solo supplement on the cruise portion, as long as there are no hotel nights, and many others run reduced supplements of typically 25% to 70%. Oceanwide's rate sheets offer a cabin to yourself at 1.7 times the twin rate, or no supplement at all if you agree to share a twin, triple or quad cabin with another guest.
Do both lines require travel insurance?
Yes, both. HX says every guest needs insurance covering cancellation, medical care and repatriation; for Antarctica it must include medical evacuation, and HX recommends at least US$200,000. Oceanwide's terms make medical, accident and evacuation cover mandatory, and its insurance FAQ sets minimum evacuation cover of 100,000 euros or dollars for Antarctica and 50,000 for the Arctic.
What happened on Oceanwide's Hondius in 2026?
Three people died in an outbreak of Andes-strain hantavirus on an Argentina-to-Cape Verde voyage. The first death aboard was on April 11, 2026, and WHO was first notified on May 2; WHO figures reported in July put infections at 13 or more. Oceanwide says the virus was introduced from a source in South America, not the ship. Dutch health officials cleared Hondius to return to service on May 30, and WHO declared the outbreak over in early July.
When is the balance due on each line?
Later on Oceanwide. Its terms take 20% at booking and the balance 60 days before departure. HX's balance is due 90 days out; its terms for bookings made from November 3, 2025 on departures from April 1, 2027 set a 15% non-refundable deposit, and its FAQ describes a 25% payment for other bookings made more than 90 days out.
Still on the fence? Send us the month and we’ll price both.
Tell us the region, the dates and who’s traveling. We’ll check HX’s live offer and solo deals, Oceanwide’s Basecamp places and shared berths, and price flights to the gateway for each.
- Both totals, flights included
- HX solo deals and Oceanwide shared berths
- Insurance that meets both lines’ rules
No fee, no obligation. You pay the cruise line’s own fare. A real advisor replies, usually within one business day.
Ask about HX vs. Oceanwide
Answers come straight from this guide.
Answers come from our guides and are general information. Confirm details with us before you book.
Every figure, and where it lives
Fares, inclusions, terms and fleet figures are each line’s own published numbers on the date shown, reused from our HX and Oceanwide guides and rechecked where they change often. The financial and outbreak facts are the companies’ and health authorities’, quoted without comment on what comes next. The per-day costs, scores and picks are our arithmetic and judgement. Your invoice or confirmation governs.
Next stops
Further up the price ladder: Ponant vs. Silversea and Silversea vs. Seabourn.
The voyage, the gateway night, and the cover that matters out there.
Expedition trips have more moving parts than a Caribbean week: a charter flight, a night in a gateway city, gear lists and an evacuation clause the line sets for you. We book them together and check that the dates and the fine print agree.