Special 2: ARCTIC

This morning, your luggage will be collected from your hotel, transferred directly to the port for sanitization and clearance, and delivered to your cabin before your arrival on board. Please ensure your cabin luggage has cabin tags clearly labeled with your name and cabin number. Any valuables or personal items should be kept on you throughout the day. Enjoy breakfast in the hotel before joining your fellow expeditioners on a guided city tour of Longyearbyen.

On the drive to Camp Barentz in Advent Valley, your guide will introduce you to Longyearbyen’s fascinating history. Once at Camp Barentz, we enjoyed a presentation at the large ‘lavvo’ – a traditional building common in northern Norway. You will also have the opportunity to meet the friendly huskies and perhaps pick up some souvenirs. A visit to the Svalbard Museum is included back in town before embarking the vessel in the late afternoon.

After the tour, you will be transferred directly to the pier to embark in the late afternoon. Settle into your cabin before attending important safety briefings and enjoy the thrill of departure as we ‘throw the lines’ and set sail.

This evening, get to know your fellow expeditioners and our friendly Expedition Team and crew at the Welcome Dinner to celebrate the start of a thrilling adventure.

Svalbard offers arctic wilderness at its best. The members of our experienced Expedition Team, who have made countless journeys to this area, will use their expertise to tailor our itinerary, choosing the best options based on the prevailing weather, sea-ice conditions, and opportunities for wildlife encounters.

Phenomenal fjords, magnificent mountain ranges, and a polar desert rich in fossils set the stage for heroic tales of early exploration. See walruses hauled out on sea ice or beaches. On land, we stretch our legs on walks across tundra carpeted in brightly colored wildflowers. We visit towering cliffs noisy with nesting guillemots and puffins, and scree slopes that hold Svalbard’s largest little auk colonies. Most memorable are encounters with the majestic polar bear on pack ice. Your Expedition Team is just as keen as you are to find them and they will be on constant watch to spot these inspiring creatures.

If you have chosen an optional activity, such as kayaking, you can enjoy that activity when conditions allow. For those who are enthusiastic about participating in a polar plunge, as soon as conditions are suitable, you will hear the announcement to prepare for an exhilarating dip – a memory you will savor for years to come.

As we sail towards the coast of East Greenland, we may encounter whales feeding in the rich waters of the north. As we approach East Greenland, be prepared to encounter more pack ice and perhaps spot seals and a variety of seabirds, including the northern fulmar and Brünnich’s guillemot.

Strong, icy currents have isolated East Greenland from the Polar Basin, attracting large numbers of fish, seals, and whales. Climatic conditions and the concentration of ice in the vicinity often create thick morning fog that only vanishes in the presence of the midday sun. Our experts will inform and entertain us with fascinating discussions on plants, animals, ice, and heroic tales of exploration.

In the coming days, a host of choices are available to us, and depending on ice and weather conditions, the east coast of Greenland is ours to explore. Our experienced Expedition Team, who have made countless journeys to this area, will use their expertise to tailor our itinerary on a day-to-day basis. This allows us to use the prevailing weather, ice conditions, and encounters with wildlife. We generally attempt up to two landings or Zodiac excursions daily, including cruising along spectacular ice cliffs and following whales feeding near the surface.

Be prepared to experience ice – and lots of it! East Greenland contains some of the Arctic’s most impressive scenery. Deep fjords and narrow channels, flanked by sharp ice-clad peaks soaring up to 2,000 metres (6,562 feet), and glaciers birthing gigantic icebergs that drift throughout the fjord system, combine to create breathtaking scenes.

The tundra landscape is home to musk oxen, arctic hares, and reindeer. Throughout the area, there are ancient Thule archaeological sites, historical trappers’ huts, and present-day Inuit hunters’ cabins. A highlight is a visit to the Inuit village of Ittoqqortoormiit, the most isolated and northernmost permanent settlement in the region, with approximately 450 inhabitants. The community has an excellent museum, gift shop, an abundance of Greenlandic sled dogs and provides the opportunity to meet the friendly locals.

Explore Scoresbysund, the world’s largest fjord and a favorite hunting ground of the local Inuit. Massive glaciers flow into this fjord, the birthplace of hundreds of majestic Greenland icebergs. It is a spectacular place that must be seen and believed. North of Scoresbysund lies Kong Oskar and Kaiser Franz Josef fjords, two of Greenland’s most significant fjord systems, each encompassing several smaller fjords and sounds. The area is rich in wildlife thanks to the fertile volcanic soil and the surrounding mountains offering protection from strong winds. You may spot everything from musk oxs and arctic foxes to mountain hares and even reindeer near the fjord. Look skyward, and you can glimpse birds, including the glaucous gull, black-legged kittiwake, northern fulmar, common raven, and common eider.

We will attempt to enter Kaiser Franz Josef Fjord, a remote and rarely visited fjord system with countless opportunities for exploration, located within the Northeast Greenland National Park. Cruising through Kong Oskar Fjord, we marvel at the geological beauty of the mountains. We will then head south along the coast of Liverpool Land, with our passage dependent on ice conditions.

We stretch our legs on hikes across the tundra in search of ancient graveyards and summer villages occupied 3,000 years ago by the Inuit. We may see musk ox, arctic hare, and reindeer grazing. The maze of calm, interconnecting waterways in this area provides excellent opportunities for sea kayaking. We will see ring seals, perhaps glimpse the elusive narwhal, and maybe even a polar bear hunting on pack ice.

Crossing the Denmark Strait to Iceland, search for whale blows and photograph the many seabirds that trail our ship in the ever-present arctic winds.

During the early morning, we cruise into Reykjavik and disembark at approximately 8.00 am. Farewell to your expedition team and fellow passengers as you continue your onward journey. Transfer options are as follows:

1. Direct to Keflavik Airport. 2. Bus Stop #12 Höfðatorg (outside the Fosshotel Reykjavik). 3. For late afternoon and evening airport departures, Bus Stop #12 Höfðatorg (outside the Fosshotel Reykjavik) where we will hold your luggage on the coach until your departure to the airport at 1 pm.

Note: We do not recommend booking flights departing before 12:00 p.m. on the day of disembarkation, as we may experience delays at the conclusion of the voyage.