Today, we’re joined by Oscar Dunn, the Vice President of Expedition Cruise Sales at Abercrombie & Kent. In this episode, we’re diving into the world of luxury expedition travel, where Abercrombie & Kent stands out by offering intimate, personalized adventures to some of the most incredible destinations on the planet. From Antarctica's icy waters to the Galapagos' stunning wildlife, Oscar shares how Abercrombie & Kent curates unique, high-end experiences beyond traditional cruises. We’ll explore the magic of small-group explorations, how A&K brings the best of local culture to each journey, and why an expedition with them feels like no other cruise. 

IN THIS EPISODE:

• [2:16] Discussion of travel and expeditions worldwide
• [4:41] Oscar explains how Abercrombie and Kent is more than a cruise line
• [7:09] A&K uses the luxury ships from Ponant with the A&K experience
• [13:14] Expeditions to Antarctica, the Drake Passage, the Galapagos, Japan, Bali and Australia
• [17:57] Oscar explains how you can do an expedition in Japan and Italy
• [20:49] A typical day on an expedition cruise
• [27:02] Oscars recommendations for expedition destinations 

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• The Galapagos offers a unique and awe-inspiring expedition wildlife experience on land and underwater. With animals that are unafraid of humans, visitors can encounter rare species up close. Diving in the Galapagos is just as incredible as exploring on land, with experiences like swimming with hammerhead sharks, whale sharks, and endemic species you won’t find anywhere else in the world. The destination's untouched beauty and abundant wildlife make it a must-see for nature enthusiasts.
• Unlike traditional cruise lines, Abercrombie & Kent is a unique tour operator that offers exclusive, high-end expedition experiences by chartering entire ships. With over 35 years of experience and a world-class expedition team, A&K provides personalized and local experiences through its destination management companies. This allows travel to familiar destinations like Japan or Italy in a whole new way, offering private yacht experiences and custom-designed adventures that showcase the world through the distinctive A&K lens.
• Abercrombie & Kent offers deeply immersive, small-group experiences that allow travelers to engage with local cultures in ways money can't easily buy. In Italy, for example, guests can join culinary expeditions that include visiting local markets with a family matriarch and cooking in her home with authentic ingredients. Experience an in-depth opportunity that brings guests closer to the authentic local lifestyle, showcasing the true essence of the destination.

#cruises

RESOURCES:

Luxury Travelers - Podcast

Luxe Travel - Website

Luxe Travel - Facebook

Luxe Travel - Instagram

Oscar Dunn - LinkedIn

Abercrombie & Kent - Website

GUEST BIOGRAPHY: 

Oscar Dunn is a seasoned expedition travel expert with lifelong professional and personal family background in the luxury travel and leisure industry. Over the past 10 years he has led expeditions in many exotic locations around the world including Antarctica, the Galapagos Islands, the Arctic and Asia. An avid adventure seeker, Oscar is a scuba dive master and a licensed private pilot.

For the last two years he has been leading the Luxury Expedition cruises sales for Abercrombie & Kent.

#Luxury #rodneyGeorge #Adventure #cruise #traveltips #cruise

So buckle up and prepare for a journey into the lap of luxury. Now your host.

Now, Oscar's not only a seasoned expedition travel expert, [00:01:15] but he's got some family roots that, uh. That are, uh, uh, uh, based in, in this business as well. Uh, but Oscar, welcome to the show. Thanks, Rodney. How are you? I'm doing great. Looks like you got your [00:01:30] beard all ready to go to Antarctica there.

Oscar Dunn: Yeah, I'm prepping up for the cold of Antarctica.

So pretty much, um, I'm quite of those, but it's getting, it gets very cold down there, so yes, I have to get ready. Again,

Uh, I really believe that that's how, how this thing's going to expand. Do you have any thoughts on [00:02:15] that? Yes.

It's a perfect scenery for expedition. I went there two weeks ago with a diving trip and a stay [00:02:45] around the islands, and it's like one of the guests on board our ships, he said, it's like being in Jurassic Park. So it's amazing. It is. It's just like the iguanas. You have like the penguins in one side, the iguanas in the other, [00:03:00] sea lions, you have the blue fruit boobies dancing around, the pelicans just diving into the water.

in the world.

Oscar Dunn: Yeah. That's the thing. And APA is one of those destinations that you don't need to Like walk a lot or dive or nothing, [00:03:45] whatever you see to the sky, to the water, to the sides, you have all these amazing wildlife and touch wildlife, even though tourism has been there in the last 40 years.

That's the most important part. You won't see them anywhere in the world.

So why Abercrombie and Kent for expedition?

Everybody knows about ANK luxury service and experience. We have been doing us a Recommend Kent expeditions for over 35 years now. We have an amazing, amazing expedition team. We are very proud of it. [00:05:15] Uh, I would say there's only a couple of companies, no more than three that I would recommend. And even though in my past life or previous life where we met, uh, I would say ANK was always our to go.

And then with the ANK, we recommend getting off something that it's, we're the only company with over [00:06:00] 65. own offices around the world. So wherever we go, we are locals. We have our own DMCs, our own destination management company. So we create these amazing experiences, wherever we go. So maybe some of the people who are watching [00:06:15] us, they've been in Italy hundred times or 50 times or 20 times, but they, maybe they have never been the ANK way.

Rodney George: Well, you mentioned that A& K was your, you said to go company, you meant go to [00:06:45] company, right?

Oscar Dunn: Well, yes, exactly. Yeah. Go to. Sorry. Yeah. Potato, potato. Yes.

Oscar Dunn: but. But however, I would say, as, as I was told lately, don't say, but however, however, however, however, uh, yes, we use a company called Ponant.

So it's even worse. We take the, we take everybody from Ponat out and we bring our own expedition team, cruise director, hotel director. So we cater the ship. We use the hardware of the ship, [00:07:45] beautiful rooms, beautiful suites, beautiful accommodations, modern ships, and we bring our own people. So it's only English speaking.

Passengers, we keep it under 200 guests, and that's a magic number. 200, it's a magic number for the polar regions. You have access and limited access to all the landing sites in South Georgia, in Antarctica, [00:08:30] and that's what we want. We, we don't want to cancel a landing. We want to offer all kinds of activities as much as we can out of the ship.

So we use FONAN, but again, it's just a hard word. The A N K people, it's on board.

Oscar Dunn: we, and I'm going to be again in trouble. Uh, now with my, my boss, the CEO, we offer, and we gave the announcement, uh, when we launched Serenity, the first ship from [00:09:00] Crystal, that we're going to build.

And I'm going to [00:09:30] say something that I shouldn't, but I'm laughing so I can't keep any secrets. Uh, the idea is to have one ship around 150 guests for the non polar region. So amazing, the Kimberley going to French Polynesia, going to [00:09:45] Papua New Guinea, all these exotic destinations, and then having a less than 200, 199 guests ship.

Rodney George: be and building ships.

Take a number and we'll talk to you

I would say in the next three or four years.

Oscar Dunn: of you that it's, that's some, maybe a lot of people will be upset with me. Uh, you don't need a proper icebreaker. There's no real icebreakers, commercial icebreakers.

So that's what we want. Even, uh, There's one commercial, I would say icebreaker, but then even that one [00:11:30] can't go where the real icebreakers go. So we're going to be, our ship is going to be, yeah, P6 and it's a maximum category for the ice. So it's going to be a proper, I would say a proper expedition, polar expedition [00:11:45] ship.

Rodney George: So with that ship, do you actually get to the North Pole or you just?

Um, it's, you need a special equipment to that. So. It's [00:12:15] no need, but Ponant has a ship that will do that, right? Yes. Yeah. We chartered Ponant ship. That's a beautiful ship. We chartered that this year. We had it. Uh, we went to the North pole. That's reason you should, we change our itineraries now and then, or every year we do a [00:12:30] new, a new activity, uh, for 2027, where Ponant Looking to do something amazing also in the North.

Rodney George: Now, a lot of cruise lines in particular, they go, they, they, [00:13:00] they go to Antarctica, but it's a five to seven day thing.

You guys have a really expanded itinerary that goes into, uh, uh, Georgia, south Georgia, the .

We want to create more, uh, I would say experiences. And that's the reason we, again, we changed this year. We had, uh, Right now the ship is in Antarctica, just on [00:13:45] the classic one, just going from Ushuaia to Peninsula and then back, 10 day voyage. Then we have two long, long 19 day, Falcon Island, South Georgia, and then the Peninsula.

Uh, but it's, it's a magic place. It's where you will see penguins until. You can't see it anymore. And directly is a continent is beautiful. Don't get me wrong. It's an amazing experience. It's it's, it's a vastness of the continents, the [00:14:30] white continent for most of people here, maybe it's the last frontier, but South Georgia is a highlight.

So we are always changing. So for next year, but yes, we have, we have seen a lot of our own guests. They've been already in the peninsula and they come back and they want to go to South Georgia because once they come back, they see photos, [00:15:15] they see everything and the same. Why? Well, I never know that existed.

So that's the reason we're doing these two voyages next year. Just for those that maybe have been there, but they know they are missing. The highlight that it's South Georgia.

Ooh,

And how we propose Japan, the history, how we go in depth then. But for me, [00:16:15] as you just mentioned, I'm a scuba diver. Uh, one that I love it. It's between Bali to Australia. So we go to all these amazing small islands in the middle of a, the Anur ocean, we go to Anur [00:16:30] Island. We go to the Panda sea, we go to Papua New Guinea.

But again, then we have another destination, Italy. I've been in [00:17:00] Italy as I, as I mentioned many times, but then It's a different kind of activities. But for me, going back to which one is the best one. Indonesia departure, I would say it's out of this world.

Or is that something that's coming with the newer ships?

Rodney George: So, [00:17:45] I just, I'm having a hard time envisioning Italy or Japan as an expedition destination. Yes. Have you been, have you been to both those places, Italy, of course, a number of times, Japan, for I will

For example, in Italy, we have a lot of, uh, We give between three to five options per day. And one of them, one of those are hikes. So we go to the [00:18:15] Mount Edna, we hike there, but then again, it's going in depth. Uh, we have one of our culinary expeditions is going into the market with a local Nona, with a woman, the grandma of a family.

Rodney George: Yeah, I had a lady on the, uh, on the podcast, uh, of just a few days ago, she has a company called traveling spoon and they set up in [00:19:15] home dining with not professional chefs, but just ordinary people that love to cook and set up a dinner in their home all over the world. They have, they're, they're in 200 different cities around the world [00:19:30] right now.

Let's drill down and go local.

It's a different experience. It's a world more than just that. And in Italy, the same. It's just. [00:20:15] From place to place. And we have the, we have the local guides plus our local expedition. So what we try to do in this kind of expedition is that in depth. Now,

So what's a, what's a typical day like for [00:20:45] people who've never been, uh, on an expedition ship, what's

It's a place I would go again in a heartbeat, a classic day. And I, as expedition leader, when I was doing the first briefing, I was always sending the guests, you will need [00:21:15] vacations from your vacations. It's, it's not a classification. It's not just sitting there and enjoying and reading. It's active. It's going to these places.

30, 9 a. m. in the morning, after breakfast, and it's walks and hikes, and you have to walk to rookeries, and then after a couple of hours visiting the [00:22:00] place, you come back on board the ship around 11 ish, 12. Take out the gear and again, don't think that it's, it's easy. Oh, I'll take out the gear in two minutes.

And then you come back for the briefing at 7pm, dinner 7. 30, and believe me, by 9. 30, the ship is a ghost ship. Quiet. Quiet. Everybody asks me, [00:22:45] do you have entertainment? We want to go to the casino. We want to go to the theater. That's the first day. The third day, Everybody's sleeping. By 9. 30, everybody's out.

Oscar Dunn: tomorrow, right? Yes. So we have a briefing and recap and briefing is what we call every, every, every single day.

He has written books about Shackleton. He's going to tell the story. He's going to pretty much like prepare the guests to what, what to expect, what to see, where to see. So it's not just going there and taking [00:24:00] photos. It's going there and taking a little bit in your heart. with you back. So you go, you're, you know what to see.

So it's, it's a lot of knowledge [00:24:30] that we have there. So, and that's, that's a recap. And then the expedition leader will go to stage and he will cheer. He will say, talk about next day activities, which we always make the joke that we give the plan A. [00:24:45] to everybody at 7, 7. 15. Everybody then goes to dinner and when they're in dessert we're already in plan F and then when they're going to sleep we're already in plan P.

Rodney George: Well, and you have to be flexible too, because, uh, the weather in polar regions, the weather's really important and determines what you can and can't do each day.

It's really probably hour by hour, maybe minute by minute, even.

There's no [00:25:45] penguins and whales. Believe me, they have no time. It's when it happens. So yes. I always, uh, tell my guests on board, you, half of you are going to hate me. Half of you are going to love me, but I will wake everybody up. I don't care the time [00:26:00] it is when we see a polar bear in the Arctic, a blue whale or something amazing.

Rodney George: Yeah, that 1 percent probably

Oscar Dunn: shouldn't be on an expedition cruise. Exactly. What, that 1%? They're thinking where to do shopping more or less in Antarctica, but yeah, it's not the right place.

Rodney George: More or less. Oh, well, if you were, if, if you were someone who has, uh, has not done expedition cruising, Uh, what would you, what would, what would be [00:26:45] your advice to them, uh, as to where to start? How to start? I mean, a lot of people want to get to Antarctica, so they got the bragging rights of having been visited all seven, uh, continents.

Oscar Dunn: I would say the perfect transition to expedition is Galapagos, uh, from the U. S. It's not that far. It's all new. Depends from Miami. It's a four, easy four hour flight. Uh, it's already set up. The weather [00:27:15] is great. It's not, you don't have extreme weather.

[00:27:45] And are we going to do this? Are we going to see this? Are you promise we're going to do this once they get on board? Everybody realize how small we are in this world. Like when you go in between all these huge glaciers and huge [00:28:00] icebergs, and we go, for example, one of those it's Hope Bay, that it's massive, massive amounts of ice.

So that's [00:28:30] Antarctica. And I'll be very honest. After that, the bar is very high Arctic. Everybody says Antarctica is a place of magnitude, big things, thousands of penguins, huge icebergs, [00:28:45] Arctic. It's more birds, more a little bit different wildlife, but believe me, once you see the polar bear, it's over. It's that's it.

It's just amazing. Uh, and then. That's the polar regions in the warm waters. Comodo dryland, since I was a kid, watching National Geographic, watching all these [00:29:30] places, all these, uh, documentaries. And I never thought I was going to see one. But walking in the forest in Comodo Island with the rangers, and just seeing how they hunt, how they eat, how they hide.

Rodney George: Well, folks, I'm gonna, we're going to have to cut this off now, but I wanted to, uh, I wanted to [00:30:00] just, I hope you enjoyed the experience and I hope that you've, you've learned from Oscar, uh, some of the many, many, many reasons, and there's probably 1, 000 more reasons that you might want to take a look at expeditions.

With grandpa or grandma. Yeah.

Oscar Dunn: It's great for families and it's the best school the kids can have. I'll be very honest.

I just want to remind everybody. As you go on your way, uh, get out there and enjoy yourself because it's [00:31:00] later than you think. That's a good one. Bye for now, Oscar. Bye, bye. Bye, Robbie. Thank you very much.