Built by people who have run the trip.
7 Continents Explorer Inc. is a small, founder-led advisory practice. We exist to make polar planning faster, clearer, and more personal — without the noise of a marketplace.
The practice
A small advisory, by design.
Most polar journeys are bought, not chosen. A consumer browses ships on a marketplace, picks the highest-rated departure that fits a window, and discovers the trade-offs onboard. The trip is rarely bad — but it is rarely the right trip.
7CEI exists to make a single, slightly old-fashioned promise: you get the same advice we would give a close friend planning their first Antarctica. We work with around two hundred travellers a year because that is the size at which the advice still stays personal.
We are independent, operator-agnostic, and not a booking platform. Recommendations are made on fit, not inventory pressure. Most enquiries move from listening to a clean recommendation in under two weeks.
Founder
Ten Antarctic seasons. A practice built on them.
Before founding 7CEI, Raj Shetty spent a decade in expedition operations and onboard leadership with Quark Expeditions and Adventure Canada. The work was hands-on: routing decisions in the wheelhouse, briefings at six in the morning, conversations with guests at every level of experience.
The advisory grew out of the same conversations he was having in the corridors of those ships. Travellers asking, quietly, what they should have booked instead. 7CEI is the chance to answer that question before the trip, not after.
What ten seasons taught him most: the difference between a great voyage and a forgettable one is rarely the destination. It is whether the right questions were asked before the booking. Cabin location over cabin category. Season nuance over departure availability. Operator culture over brochure photography. 7CEI exists to ask those questions on a traveller’s behalf, before the deposit is paid.
Raj Shetty
MD & Founder
How we work
Clear advice before commitment.
Four principles we are unwilling to compromise on, because they are what make the practice worth recommending.
Insider, not salesperson
We explain operational differences that are hard to see from brochures. The cabin, the ice-class, the strength of the expedition team.
Tradeoffs made visible
Fly-cruise versus Drake, Peninsula versus South Georgia, cabin category, season — we lay them out side-by-side in plain English.
Quality over inventory
We do not work to a catalogue. Most enquiries result in two or three serious options, not twenty.
Reachable through departure
Our phone stays on from first conversation to the moment you board. When weather changes the itinerary, we hear about it before you do.
Honest framing
What 7CEI is not.
We say no to certain kinds of work because the practice depends on staying small and clear. It helps travellers to know this up front.
Not a booking platform
HonestThere is no live inventory page, no instant book, no cart. Booking happens once a recommendation is right.
Not a marketplace
HonestWe do not sell every operator. We recommend the operators we would book ourselves for your specific brief.
Not commission-led
HonestRecommendations are made on fit. Where commissions exist, they do not influence which ship goes onto your shortlist.
Not the right fit for some travellers
HonestIf you want the cheapest available departure or the largest possible ship, you will be better served elsewhere. We will tell you that early.
Working with 7CEI
A short first conversation tells us a lot.
Most engagements start with a fifteen-minute call or a careful written brief. From there, expect a written shortlist within five to seven working days, refinement in the following week, and a confirmed booking once you are certain.
Plan your expedition
Bring us the options you are comparing.
We will tell you honestly if a season, ship, or budget does not fit.