Arctic expedition tourism is increasing. Here from the Magdalene fjord on Svalbard.

Vanishing sea ice opens for cruise vessels

Next summer you can transit the entire Northern Sea Route. Starting from Anchorage in Alaska, the voyage sails via Anadyr on Chukotka to Longyearbyen on Svalbard.
October 26, 2015

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Adolf Erik Nordenskoild was the first polar explorer to sail through the ice along the north coast of Siberia, the route today known as the Northern Sea Route. While Nordenskiold spent three years (1878-1880) on the voyage, you can do the route in 28 days next summer.

It is the New Zealand based Heritage Expedition that will sail the Russian flagged ice class vessel “Shokalskiy” and visit some of the most fascinating remote Arctic highlights like the Wrangel Island, New Siberia Islands, Severnaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land.

Bookings starts at $20,800 plus flights to Anchorage and return from Longyearbyen.  

An increasing number of expedition cruise vessels have started to sail on Norway’s Svalbard archipelago in recent years. Also other areas of the Arctic are now attracting cruise liners as the polar sea ice melts away.

Next August, the Hong Kong based Crystal Cruises will sail their 900-passanger “Crystal Serenity” on a voyage along the Nortwest Passage. Also starting in Anchorage, the vessel will make port-call to New York 32-days later.

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