By RUTH STAINER

Published: 08:56 GMT, 15 March 2025 | Updated: 12:18 GMT, 15 March 2025

A British travel influencer has been slammed for sailing through Antarctica onboard a large luxury cruise ship.

Millie Mclay, 27, took to social media platform TikTok to share the realities of cruising through the Earth’s southernmost continent.

Following a rocky journey through the infamous Drake’s Passage, Ms Mclay described her luxury stay onboard the Le Lyrial ship as the ultimate ‘trip of a lifetime’.

Prices to stay on the 200-passenger ship for a 19-day tour start at £17,810 for a classic state room, while a premium suite costs up to £47,700. All state rooms and suites feature a private balcony with panoramic views over the ocean.

For those staying in a premium suite, a personal butler is on call to meet any demands, while guests can also enjoy the extravagant six-course dinner restaurant, library, theatre, outdoor swimming pool and gym. 

Advertised as a ‘fully luxury expedition ship that boasts state of the art navigational systems and safety layout’, passengers are offered five star service.

However, some viewers were quick to criticise the influencer’s decision to travel to the remote continent on such a large cruise ship, with one commenter saying ‘the fact that global warming is affecting Antarctica a lot, we shouldn’t be sending boats there making the water polluted and making it worse for all the animals to live.’

Mille Mclay tucks into a six-course evening meal on the cruise ship's bottom deck restaurant

Mille Mclay tucks into a six-course evening meal on the cruise ship’s bottom deck restaurant

Millie Mclay, 27, (pictured) took to the social media platform of TikTok to share the realities of luxury cruising through the Earth's southernmost continent on a 'trip of a lifetime'

Millie Mclay, 27, (pictured) took to the social media platform of TikTok to share the realities of luxury cruising through the Earth’s southernmost continent on a ‘trip of a lifetime’

For those staying in a premium suite, a personal butler is on call to meet all food demands, while guests can also enjoy the extravagant six-course dinner restaurant, library, theatre, outdoor swimming pool and gym

For those staying in a premium suite, a personal butler is on call to meet all food demands, while guests can also enjoy the extravagant six-course dinner restaurant, library, theatre, outdoor swimming pool and gym

Meanwhile, another user said that they simply ‘fear nothing more than this’. 

The number of tourists visiting Antarctica via large cruise ships has grown significantly in recent decades, with visitor numbers reaching a peak of up to 100,000 in the October 2023-March 2024 tourist season.

Such figure was a 40 per cent increase from the previous year, with Claire Christian, executive director of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, telling the BBC that such figure had ‘really lit a fire under folks’ and created an ‘urgency (about) the need to properly manage this industry’. 

Meanwhile, a Change.Org petition calling for Antarctica to be made into a maritime protected area and ‘relatively untouched by human activity’ has received more than 2,000 signatures.

The petition states that ‘Antarctica and its surrounding areas are already under enormous pressure from a variety of forces’ with climate change ‘tremendously transforming the area’. 

Some viewers were quick to criticise the influencer, with one commenter saying 'the fact that global warming is affecting Antarctica a lot, we shouldn't be sending boats there making the water polluted and making it worse for all the animals to live'

Some viewers were quick to criticise the influencer, with one commenter saying ‘the fact that global warming is affecting Antarctica a lot, we shouldn’t be sending boats there making the water polluted and making it worse for all the animals to live’

According to the IUCN, tourism can 'cause damage at visitor sites and along travel routes' while also 'disturbing wildlife'

According to the IUCN, tourism can ’cause damage at visitor sites and along travel routes’ while also ‘disturbing wildlife’

According to the IUCN, tourism in Antartica can ’cause damage at visitor sites and along travel routes’ while also ‘disturbing wildlife’. 

They even report that there have been cases where penguins have had to change their reproductive and social behaviours as a result of tourists. 

While activities in Antarctica are regulated through the Antarctic Treaty System that provides certain rules for tourists, the day-to-day management is typically self-regulated by the industry, which many experts fear is failing to adequately protect the area’s ecosystems and wildlife.

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Influencer slammed over luxury trip to Antarctica on cruise ship with personal butler service and gym

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