"Expedition cruise lines used to be about people who wanted to take pictures of birds and didn't mind eating oatmeal in a cafeteria for breakfast," said Doug Gollan, editor of luxury travel newsletter DG Amazing Experiences.
"Now they're going from being like Jacques Cousteau diving at a reef to 800-thread-count linens and sipping on Champagne," he added.

French cruise ship operator Compagnie du Ponant, which specializes in high-end expedition cruises, has seven new ships on order that will be rolled out over the next few years. Its newest ship, La Laperouse, is set to launch in July with a circumnavigation of Iceland, and five other Explorer-class ships will debut through the end of 2020.
Additionally, Ponant is building the Icebreaker, which will be the first luxury ship able to reach the true North Pole (rather than the magnetic North Pole, which is located in Northern Canada), and plans to enter it into service in 2021.