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2019 Highlights: 40 Photos from a Prime Polar Year

If you overhear someone say, "It's been a good year," they're probably a farmer or financier or maybe even a wine producer. But we think polar tour operator should be added to that list, because 2019 was one of Oceanwide's best years for many reasons.

Seizing the Season: Spitsbergen’s Late Spring, Early Summer

Most Arctic expedition cruises fall into two camps: those that sail during the autumn and winter and focus primarily on the northern lights, and those that sail during the high season (middle to late summer) and focus on everything else.

Antarctica by Air: Two Highly Uplifting Helicopter Cruises

Taking a polar expedition cruise delivers no shortage of show-stopping highlights, but one of the most exhilarating is lifting off from the ship in a helicopter and taking flight over the incomparable Antarctic wilderness.

How St. Nick Became Santa Claus and Moved to the North Pole

In the Netherlands, where we’re based, Sinterklaas is technically a celebration of the St. Nicholas feast day on December 6, while Christmas, as its name indicates, is intended to observe Christ’s supposed birth on December 25.

Better Than Medicine: Interview with Dr. Veronique Verhoeven

Even if she’s only slipping you a few extra seasickness meds, your ship doctor can mean the difference between a comfortable expedition cruise and one where you spend most of your time clinging to the toilet and wondering why waves exist.

15 Features, Figures, and Facts About Ortelius

Here are 15 additional features, figures, and facts about our faithful expedition cruise vessel Ortelius. For example, dd you know Ortelius has an average cruising speed of 10.5 knots?

Penguins, Petrels, and Prions: Top Antarctica Bird Tour Spots

If anyone ever tells you Antarctica is for the birds, they’re right.

A Veteran Guide: Interview with Arjen Drost

Arjen Drost has been a guide for Oceanwide Expeditions for nearly twenty years. And as any polar traveler can tell you, that’s a lot of water under the bridge.

Seven Frightfully Fun Polar Ghost Stories

As a breeding ground for ghost stories, the polar regions are tough to beat. After all, few places on the planet have claimed the lives of so many historic explorers, entrepreneurs, and adventurers as the Arctic and Antarctica.

The Impact of Small vs. Large Cruise Ships

The generalization that larger ships impact the environment more than smaller ships seems like such a no-brainer that if someone said it to you, you’d be easily forgiven for thinking you were being tricked.

Conservation Connection: Oceanwide and Happywhale

According to Happywhale, conserving the oceans starts with the whales.

Eight Facts About the Rowdy, Resilient Musk Ox

Given how violent their lives can be, it may come as some surprise that musk oxen live as long as they do. Twenty years, after all, is a long time when you’re regularly charging, kicking, and head-butting the fellow members of your herd.

The Most Enchanting Antarctica Cruise Islands

Whether it’s Greenland in the Arctic or Snow Hill Island in Antarctica, the bulk of our polar expeditions take place around, between, and upon islands.

From Teacher to Travel Guide: Interview with Ali Liddle

Being a good expedition leader isn’t just about making plans, giving briefings, and enduring the occasional sleepless night spent praying for wildlife sightings.

Taking the Polar Plunge

There are some human activities that for many people simply defy understanding: We juggle chainsaws, we breathe fire, we fling ourselves out of perfectly good airplanes.

Guide Tips, Testimonials, and Highlights from North Norway

Falling just inside the Arctic Circle, North Norway is a wildlife-rich span of majestic fjords, enchanting islands, and deep-forested Nordic coastline comprising roughly 35% of the mainland and encompassing its three northernmost counties: Finnmark, Troms, and Nordland.

Seven Tips to Get the Most out of Your Expedition Cruise

An expedition cruise you consider bland, poor, even disastrous, might be one another traveler calls the trip of a lifetime. And your appraisal may have been completely different with a little more planning, preparation, or slightly better boots.

Top 10 Tips for Packing Your Polar Photography Equipment

One of the most common questions I get asked before a cruise is, “What photography equipment should I bring?” It’s a broad question, and answers vary based on the individual. There are, however, a few key pointers that apply to almost everyone.

Five Sites, Attractions, and Activities of Puerto Madryn

Puerto Madryn is the bustling Argentinian setting that serves as the embarkation point for our 20-night Antarctic extravaganzas. Book-ended by the equally fetching disembarkation town of Ushuaia (for which we’ve already written a thorough traveler’s guide), it provides a welcome wealth of activities and avenues to explore before setting out for the polar regions.

Birds of the South: 33 Antarctic Birds and Seabirds

Even if you don’t throw penguins into the mix, these wildlife-rich Antarctic regions offer some of the best hotspots for birdwatching on the planet, supporting a kaleidoscope of endemic birds and a vibrantly diverse cast of non-native species.

A Day on m/v Plancius

Stepping aboard Oceanwide’s longest-running expedition vessel, it’s easy to forget she’s been making voyages to the polar regions since “Afternoon Delight” by Starland Vocal Band was on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Best Arctic and Antarctic Trips for Families

Polar expedition cruises are commonly taken by couples and a growing number of solo travelers, but that doesn’t mean the buck stops there. And if you have bucks enough for the whole family, there’s a variety of polar trips that’ll get your loved ones equally ice-happy.