HIGHLIGHTS
- Head
up to the High Canadian Arctic, following the route of several
explorers that had looked for the Northwest Passage
- While
crossing from Greenland to Alaska, experience the beauty of fjords and
crystal clear glaciers
- Visit
small towns and villages to encounter a fascinating mix of local and
Danish or Canadian culture and reach emblematic sites of Franklin's and
Amundsen's attempts to sail through the Northwest Passage
- Look
for polar bears, musk oxen, seals, narwhals and walrus
- Throughout
the voyage, learn about the history, geology, wildlife and botany of
this spectacular area from lecture presentations offered by your
knowledgeable onboard Expedition Team
DATES / RATES
Rates are listed per person in USD. Promotional offers are not reflected in the rates below.
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| Start Date | End Date | Vista Suite | Veranda Suite | Deluxe Veranda Suite | Medallion Suite | Silver Suite | Royal Suite | Grand Suite | Owner's Suite |
|---|
Rates are listed per person in USD. Promotional offers are not reflected in the rates below.
|
| Start Date | End Date | (Starting from)
Vista Suite | (Mid-range)
Silver Suite | (High-end)
Owner's Suite |
|---|
ITINERARY
Day
1: Kangerlussuaq, Greenland
Kangerlussuaq
is a settlement in western Greenland in the Qeqqata municipality
located at the head of the fjord of the same name (Danish:
Søndre Strømfjord). It is Greenland's main air
transport hub and the site of Greenland's largest commercial airport.
The airport dates from American settlement during and after World War
II, when the site was known as Bluie West-8 and Sondrestrom Air Base.
The Kangerlussuaq area is also home to Greenland's most diverse
terrestrial fauna, including muskoxen, caribou, and gyrfalcons. The
settlement's economy and population of 512 is almost entirely reliant
on the airport and tourist industry.
Day
2: Sisimiut, Greenland
Located
just north of the Arctic Circle, Sisimiut is the northernmost town in
Greenland where the port remains free of ice in the winter. Yet it is
also the southernmost town where there is enough snow and ice to drive
a dogsled in winter and spring. In Sisimiut, travelling by sled has
been the primary means of winter transportation for centuries. In fact,
the area has been inhabited for approximately 4,500 years. Modern
Sisimiut is the largest business center in the north of Greenland, and
is one of the fastest growing Greenlandic cities. Commercial fishing is
the lead economy in the town‘s thriving industrial base.
Day
3: Ilulissat, Greenland
Known as
the birthplace of icebergs, the Ilulissat Icefjord produces nearly 20
million tons of ice each day. In fact, the word Ilulissat means
“icebergs” in the Kalaallisut language. The town of
Ilulissat is known for its long periods of calm and settled weather,
but the climate tends to be cold due to its proximity to the fjord.
Approximately 4,500 people live in Ilulissat, the third-largest town in
Greenland after Nuuk and Sisimiut. Some people here estimate that there
are nearly as many sled dogs as human beings living in the town that
also boasts a local history museum located in the former home of
Greenlandic folk hero and famed polar explorer Knud Rasmussen.
Day
4: Uumannaq, Greenland
In the
iceberg-laden waters surrounding the remote community of Uummannaq it
is common to see whales. This area of Greenland is also known for its
huge basalt mountains, and the small hunting and fishing village of
Uummannaq rests at the foot of the heart-shaped Uummannaq Mountain, a
name that translates to mean “in the shape of a
seal’s heart”. The town of over 1200 people has a
granite church and the country’s most northerly ferry
terminal. The economy of Uummannaq revolves largely around the
halibut/fish-processing factory.
Day
5: At Sea
Days at sea
are the perfect opportunity to relax, unwind and catch up with what
you’ve been meaning to do. So whether that is going to the
gym, visiting the spa, whale watching, catching up on your reading or
simply topping up your tan, these blue sea days are the perfect balance
to busy days spent exploring shore side.
Day
6: Cape York, Greenland
Visit the
arctic seascape of Cape York, Greenland. Located on the northwestern
coast of Greenland in Baffin Bay, Cape York is an important
geographical feature delimiting the Melville Bay at its northwestern
end and Kiatassuaq Island at its other end. There is a chain of coastal
islands that stretches between the two capes, most notably Meteorite
Island, named for the discovery one of the world’s largest
iron meteorites in Savissivik, a settlement on the island. The iron
from this meteorite attracted Inuit migrating from Arctic Canada who
used the metal in making tools and harpoons. Visitors to this region
will see iconic drifting blue-white icebergs that are shrinking as the
earth temperature rises.
Day
7: Pond Inlet (Nunavut), Canada
Located in
northern Baffin Island, Pond Inlet is a small, predo¬minantly
Inuit community, with a population of roughly 1,500 inhabitants. In
1818, the British explorer John Ross named a bay in the vicinity after
the English astronomer John Pond. Today Pond Inlet is considered one of
Canada's "jewels of the North" thanks to several picturesque glaciers
and mountain ranges nearby. Many archaeological sites of ancient Dorset
and Thule peoples can be found near Pond Inlet. The Inuit hunted
caribou, ringed and harp seals, fish, polar bears, walrus, narwhals,
geese, ptarmigans and Arctic hares, long before European and American
whalers came here to harvest bowhead whales. Pond Inlet is also known
as a major center of Inuit art, especially the printmaking and stone
carving that are featured in the town’s art galleries.
Day
8: Dundas Harbour (Devon Island), Canada
Dundas
Harbour is located in the southeast of Devon Island, Canada’s
6th largest island. It is a forlorn but starkly beautiful spot. The
island was first sighted by Europeans in 1616 by the English explorers
Robert Bylot and William Baffin. But it did not appear on maps until
after explorer William Edward Parry’s exploration in the
1820’s. Parry named it after Devon, England. In the local
Inuktitut language, the place is called Talluruti, which translates as
“a woman’s chin with tattoos on it.” This
refers to the deep crevasses and streaks on Devon Island, which from a
distance resemble traditional facial tattoos. On land there are remains
of a Thule settlement dating back to 1000 A.D., including tent rings,
middens and a gravesite. There are also much more recent remains a
Royal Canadian Mounted Police outpost. Read more
Day
9: Devon Island (Radstock Bay), Canada
Devon
Island is Canada’s sixth largest island and was first seen by
Europeans in the early 17th century. The Thule culture had already
settled there many centuries before, and left behind qarmat homes, made
of rocks, whale bones, rock and sod walls, and skins for roofs that
tell a story of over 800 years of human habitation. Other striking
finds in this area are the many fossils of corals, crinoids and
nautiloids that can be seen. Just across Lancaster Sound is Prince
Leopold Island, a Canadian Important Bird Area, a federally listed
migratory bird sanctuary, and a Key Migratory Bird Terrestrial Habitat
site with large numbers of Thick-billed Murres, Northern Fulmars and
Black-legged Kittiwakes that breed there.
Beechey
Island, Canada
Beechey
Island is a small island off the southwest coast of Devon Island,
separated by a narrow waterway called the Barrow Strait. Captain
William Edward Parry was the first European to visit the island in
1819. His lieutenant, Frederick William Beechey, named the island after
his father, the artist William Beechey (1753–1839). Beechey
Island played a significant role in the history of Arctic Exploration.
During the winter of 1845-46, Sir John Franklin and his men camped on
the island as part of their ill-fated quest to find the Northwest
Passage. Mummified remains of three of Franklin’s crew were
discovered, giving a better understanding of what happened before the
disappearance of the expedition. In 1850 Edward Belcher used the island
as a base while surveying the area. Later, in 1903, Norwegian explorer
Roald Amundsen stopped at the island at the beginning of his successful
voyage in search for the Northwest Passage. Subsequently, Beechey
Island has been declared a "Territorial Historic Site" since 1975 by
the Northwest Territories government.
Day 10: Resolute
(Nuvanut), Canada
Day
11: Cruise Peel Sound (Nunavut), Canada
Peel Sound
is a 30 mile wide, 125 mile long channel separating Prince of Wales
Island to the west and Somerset Island to the east. It was named in
1851 by explorer Vice Admiral Horatio Austin in honour of Sir Robert
Peel, a former prime minister of Great Britain. Austin, however, was
not the first person to sail through the sound. Five years earlier, in
1846, Sir John Franklin had passed through the strait, just before his
ships became icebound. Peel Sound is not always open. Several
explorers, including Francis Leopold McClintock in 1858 and Allen Young
in 1875, were unable to pass because it was blocked by ice.
Day
12: Gjoa Haven (Nuvanut), Canada
Day
13: Jenny Lind Island, Canada
Day
14: Cambridge Bay (Nunavut), Canada
Day
15: Cruise Dease Strait, Canada
Day
16: Cruise Amundsen Trough, Canada
Day
17: Sachs Harbour (Northwest Territories), Canada
Day
18: Smoking Hills (Northwest Territories), Canada
Day
19: Cruise Beaufort Sea
Named after
Sir Francis Beaufort, the British naval officer whose observation of
the wind and sea state resulted in the Beaufort scale, the Beaufort Sea
is part of the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska and the Canadian Yukon and
Northwest Territories. The Beaufort Sea is frozen for most of the year,
only opening a channel near the Canadian and Alaskan shore during the
months of August and September, the best time for a transit through the
Northwest Passage. Beluga and bowhead whales, seals and polar bears are
part of the Beaufort Sea’s wildlife.
Day
20: Herschel Island (Yukon Territory), Canada
Day
21: At Sea
Day
22: Barrow (Alaska), United States
Days
23-24: At Sea
Day
25: Nome (Alaska), United States
Nome is
located on the edge of the Bering Sea, on the southwest side of the
Seward Peninsula. Unlike other towns which are named for explorers,
heroes or politicians, Nome was named as a result of a 50 year-old
spelling error. In the 1850's an officer on a British ship off the
coast of Alaska noted on a manuscript map that a nearby prominent point
was not identified. He wrote "? Name" next to the point. When the map
was recopied, another draftsman thought that the
“?” was a C and that the “a” in
"Name" was an o, and thus a map-maker in the British Admiralty
christened "Cape Nome." The area has an amazing history dating back
10,000 years of Inupiaq Eskimo use for subsistence living. Modern
history started in 1898 when "Three Lucky Swedes”, Jafet
Lindberg, Erik Lindblom and John Brynteson, discovered gold in Anvil
Creek…the rush was on! In 1899 the population of Nome
swelled from a handful to 28,000. Today the population is just over
3,500. Much of Nome's gold rush architecture remains.
(Click image to view Ship details)
WHAT'S INCLUDED
- Guided
Zodiac, land and sea tours, and shoreside activities led by the
Expeditions Team
- Parka
- Enrichment
lectures by a highly qualified Expeditions Team
- Spacious
suites
- Butler
service in every suite
- Unlimited
Free Wifi
- Personalised
service – nearly one crew member for every guest
- Choice
of restaurants, diverse cuisine, open-seating dining
- Beverages
in-suite and throughout the ship, including champagne, select wines and
spirits
- In-suite
dining and room service
- Onboard
entertainment
- Onboard
gratuities
