Svalbard Arctic Cruise

Categories Svalbard Spitsbergen Small Ship Cruises Arctic Cruises Adventure & Eco Travel Cruises

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Spitsbergen expedition cruise on board an Arctic vessel to Svalbard's remote northern and eastern regions. A tour for those who wish to experience drift ice and, most likely, polar bears.

It is possible to add 3 additional days to this cruise. Please inquire.

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Additional nights in Longyearbyen available. Please inquire.

Itinerary

Longyearbyen airport-meeting point transfer is provided for passengers arriving on flights for the the day of embarkation.

Longyearbyen has a population of about 1,100 people and about as many snowmobiles. Check-in at the meeting point with your luggage by 2:00 pm. Luggage transfer is at 2:30 pm. Passenger transfer to the ship is at 4:00 pm so you will need to be in the lobby of the hotel by 3:30 pm. We depart Longyearbyen in the evening.

Longyearbyen is the largest settlement on Svalbard. It has about 1,700 inhabitants, most of them Norwegians and some Russians. Located in the Advent Fjord at the entrance of the Advent Valley, this community has an infrastructure fit for a much larger city. There are four inhabited settlements and some scientific stations. Barentsburg, a Russian coal mining settlement, has approximately 850 inhabitants. Sveagruva, the functional Norwegian mine has around 100 inhabitants and Ny Ålesund, a scientific settlement has between 30 and 150 inhabitants, depending on the season. All settlements are found on the west coast, the part of Spitsbergen with the mildest climate due to the warm Gulf Current.

Each day will be planned to take advantage of local ice and weather conditions. Distances are relatively short in the Archipelago and as there are no ocean crossings, the seas are normally calm. Svalbard is one of the few places on the planet that offers such a wealth and diversity of natural and cultural history sites. During these seven days we will visit ice covered seas, fjords with breathtaking mountain scenery and glaciers flowing into the sea around us. We will spend time steaming through the ice in search of polar bears hunting seals. Ivory gulls will be a highlight for the birders, while we keep a constant lookout for walrus hauled out on ice floes or on sandy beaches. We will visit, ice permitting, spectacular bird cliffs filled with thousands of murres (guillemots), as well as kittiwakes and glaucous gulls. A little auk colony will also be on our agenda. Our shore stops will be highlighted with flowers nearing, or at the peak of, their bloom. We will have the opportunity to observe and discuss some of their adaptations to what we consider a harsh environment. At one or more of our stops, we hope to see Svalbard’s unique subspecies of reindeer. They are much smaller than their southern relatives, but still carry impressive antlers. We also have the possibility of Arctic foxes. This is also a land of history: from whaling to reaching for the pole, to trapping, coal mining and war. We will visit some of these historic sites. We may cruise in Zodiacs along the ice edge viewing seals or walrus, in fjords with glaciers spilling down to the sea or in front of spectacular seabird cliffs. We will have opportunities to walk on shore, observe and photograph the Arctic flora and fauna. As we are in the land of the polar bear, your expedition staff will carry rifles and flare guns on shore for your protection. Krossfjord, Konigsfjord, Monaco Glacier, Hinlopen Straiit, Ny-Ålesund, Northeast Land, Edgeoya, Hornsund and Bellsund are just a few of the places that we may visit. By not having a set itinerary, we take on an expedition spirit and are free to take advantage of the best that Svalbard has to offer. The evening of our last full day of adventure will find the expedition ship anchored off Longyearbyen.

Arrival in the am and disembark after breakfast.

Ship-Longyearbyen airport transfer is provided for people departing on flights for the day of disembarkation. Read the FINISHING POINT INSTRUCTIONS for more details.

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