HIGHLIGHTS
- Go
on excursions looking for walrus and polar bears
- Sail
through the Forever Fjord to right front of the Evigheds glacier and
visit the site of the first European settlement in North America at
L’Anse aux Meadows
- Watch
the incredible Northern Lights (if conditions are right)
DATES / RATES
Rates are listed per person in USD. Promotional offers are not reflected in the rates below.
|
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.
Day
2 - Evighedsfjord | Evigheids Glacier | Kangaamiut
Within
roughly an hour of steaming south from Kangerlussuaq Fjord is
Evighedsfjord Fjord. The fjords in this area can reach over half a mile
in depth and are lined with tidewater glaciers from the Maniitsoq ice
sheet located high up in the interior of Greenland. Some of the cliffs
along the fjords of this region can exceed 6,600 ft. (2,000 m) in
height.
The
Evigheids Glacier flows from the Greenland Ice Sheet (the second
largest ice body in the world after the Antarctic ice sheet) to the
west. It is a slow-moving tidewater glacier, meaning this valley
glacier winds down through the coastal mountains to the ocean at a
snail’s pace. As the glacial ice enters the water it begins
to float and then eventually breaks apart into icebergs that float away
down the fjord. The shades of blue and carved shapes of these ice floes
are infinite.
Only
350 people live in the small Greenlandic community of Kangaamiut.
Located on the south coast of Timerdlit Island and facing the Davis
Strait, Kangaamiut is situated between the mouths of two long fjords:
the Kangerlussuatsiaq Fjord (or Evighedsfjorden in Danish) to its
south, and, to its north, the Kangaamiut Kangerluarsuat Fjord. Founded
in 1755, it was called “Sugarloaf” (Sukkertoppen)
because of the appearance of three nearby hills.
Day
3 - Nuuk (Godthab)
Nuuk,
meaning “the cape”, was Greenland’s first
town (1728). Started as a fort and later mission and trading post some
240 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle, it is the current capital.
Almost 30% of Greenland’s population lives in the town. Not
only does Nuuk have great natural beauty in its vicinity, but there are
Inuit ruins, Hans Egede’s home, the parliament, and the
Church of our Savior as well. The Greenlandic National Museum has an
outstanding collection of Greenlandic traditional dresses, as well as
the famous Qilakitsoq mummies.
Day
4 - At Sea
While
we're at sea, enjoy wine tastings, designer boutiques, language and
dance classes. Take in a matinee movie, check the market or your e-mail
in the Internet Point, slip away with a novel from the library to a
sunny chaise or with a movie to your suite. Or just take in the sun
pool side. The choice is yours.
Day
5 - Iqaluit, Canada
Iqaluit
is the capital of Canada’s newest territory, Nunavut, which
is Inuktitut for “our land”. The community is
located at the head of Frobisher Bay, an inlet of the North Atlantic
extending into southeastern Baffin Island. The Bay is so long that it
was first taken to be the possible entrance of a Northwest Passage. In
Iqaluit, the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum and the Nunavut Legislative
Assembly Building both house incredible collections of Inuit artwork
with interesting local prints for sale in the museum shop.
Day
6 - Lady Franklin Island | Monumental Island
Named
in honor of Sir John Franklin’s widow, the lonely and
uninhabited Lady Franklin Island lies off of Baffin Island’s
Hall Peninsula at the entrance to Cumberland Sound. The island is named
for the wife of Sir John Franklin, the Arctic explorer who died trying
to discover the Northwest Passage. The geology of the island is
striking with vertical cliffs of Archean rocks, likely to be some of
the oldest stone in Canada. The waters around Lady Franklin Island
offer an abundance of seabirds, ducks, seals, and walrus. With a bit of
luck it is possible to see Atlantic Puffins here.
Monumental
Island in Davis Strait was named by Arctic explorer Charles Francis
Hall as a tribute to the memory of Sir John Franklin who died in his
quest to find the Northwest Passage. The island is offshore of Baffin
Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago of the territory of Nunavut.
Around the shoreline, scores of Black Guillemots dive and fish for
little Arctic cods and capelins. Successful birds fly off with a minnow
grasped tightly in their beaks. On a far larger scale, it is possible
to find groups of walruses with their impressive tusks along the shores
of the island.
Day
7 - Akpatok Island
Akpatok
Island is a remote spot near the northernmost limits of the Labrador
Peninsula. Steep and sheer limestone cliffs jut out of icy waters.
Encased in snow and surrounded with sea ice in the winter months, this
uninhabited island lures huge amounts of wildlife, most notably the
world’s largest population of breeding Thick-billed Murres
(known as Brünnich’s Guillemots in Europe),
estimated at well over a million birds. These auks flock to the bare
cliffs of the island between June and September, and murres incubate
their single pear-shaped egg on the cliff ledges.
Day
8 - Torngat Mountains National Park
The
Torngat Mountains National Park is situated on the eastern side of
Labrador’s northernmost point and features mountains
sometimes described as the “Eastern Rocky
Mountains”. The park covers an area of over 6,000 sq. mi.
(9,700 sq km) and is dotted with remnants of several cirque glaciers.
Saglek Fjord has an outstanding array of geological features and the
steep cliffs provide some of the best exposures to the
earth’s geologic history. The name of the national park goes
back to Torngarsoak, who was believed to control the life of sea
animals and took the form of a huge polar bear.
Day
9 - At Sea
Day
10 - L'Anse aux Meadows
Around
the year 1000, Vikings from Greenland and Iceland founded the first
European settlement in North America, near the northern tip of
Newfoundland. They arrived in the New World 500 years before Columbus
but stayed only a few years and were forgotten for centuries. Since the
settlement's rediscovery in the last century, the archaeological site
has brought tourism to the area. Viking themes abound but so do views,
whales, icebergs, fun dining experiences, and outdoor activities.
L'Anse Aux Meadows on the northern tip of the island of Newfoundland is
a remote community of just 40 people.
Day
11 - Woody Point, Newfoundland
Acclaimed
for its unearthly landscape, Woody Point is probably as close to Mars
as you will ever get in this lifetime. Situated on the west coast of
the island, the Tablelands behind Woody Point in the Gros Morne
National Park are composed of peridotite - like much of the surface of
Mars - and NASA, the Canadian Space Agency, plus others are
studying this unique land form searching for insights into possible
bacterial life on the red planet. The story of the Tablelands earned
Gros Morne its World Heritage Site status from UNESCO in 2010, and the
area remains a geological wonder.
Day
12 - Havre St. Pierre
Havre
St. Pierre is a tiny seaside port on the north shore of the Saint
Lawrence River in Quebec. It was settled in 1857 by Acadians from the
Magdalen Island, and still today locals speak a dialect more similar to
Acadian French than to Quebec French. It was originally called
Saint-Pierre-de-la-Pointe-aux-Esquimaux until 1927, when it was
officially shortened to Havre St Pierre. Until recently the local
economy relied mainly on fishing and lumbering, today it is mainly a
titanium ore transshipment port. Nearby is one of the world’s
most amazing natural phenomena – the Mingan Archipelago.
Day
13 - Bonaventure Island | Perce
Bonaventure
Island, on Quebec’s Gaspe Peninsula, is an uninhabited island
that is home to the largest gannet colony in North America, and the
second largest in the world. It was first protected as a bird sanctuary
in 1919 by the federal government. Later, in 1973, it became a national
park, administered by Canada’s National Park Service.
Explorer Jacques Cartier noted seeing gannets as he sailed past in
1534. One report in 1887 estimated 3,000 birds. Today, there are more
than eighty thousand gannets, along with many other seabird species
that nest on the island.
The
discovery of these parts of Canada, inhabited at one time by Micmac
Indians, by French explorers made Percé a stop-off point
between Québec City and France. In the 17th century
Percé developed into a bustling port with hundreds of boats
anchored in the summer season. During the English campaign against
Québec, the small village was burned down by the English.
Afterwards, Percé was forgotten for almost half a century.
Following the Treaty of Versailles, reconstruction began; by 1777
Percé added 400 seasonal fishermen to its year-round
population of 300.
Day
14 - At Sea
Day
15 - Quebec City, Canada
Québec
City's alluring setting atop Cape Diamond (Cap Diamant) evokes a past
of high adventure, military history, and exploration. This
French-speaking capital city is the only walled city north of Mexico.
Visitors come for the delicious and inventive cuisine, the remarkable
historical continuity, and to share in the seasonal exuberance of the
largest Francophone population outside France. The historic heart of
this community is the Old City (Vieux-Québec), comprising
the part of Upper Town (Haute-Ville) surrounded by walls and Lower Town
(Basse-Ville).
(Click image to view Ship details)
WHAT'S INCLUDED
- Transfers
and luggage handling
- Personalised
service – the best crew-to-guest ratio in expedition cruising
- Butler
service in every suite and stateroom – all guests are
pampered equally
- Open-seating
dining options – dine when and with whomever you please
- Beverages
in-suite and throughout the ship – select wines, premium
spirits, specialty coffees and soft drinks, plus your own tailored
mini-bar
- In-suite
dining and room service – available 24 hours aboard Silver
Explorer, and from 06:00 to 23:00 aboard Silver Galapagos and Silver
Discoverer
- Enrichment
lectures by a highly qualified Expeditions Team
- Guided
Zodiac, land and sea tours, and shoreside activities led by the
Expeditions Team
- Gratuities
always included in your fare
- Unlimited
Free Wifi
- Complimentary
Parka