In search of polar bear and pack ice
by mick woodford
Departure in June 2023
by mick woodford
Departure in June 2023
Been on one of our voyages?
Leave your own reviewFull Spitsbergen Circumnavigation
OTL08-24 Take a cruise around Spitsbergen and explore the icy waters of the North Atlantic. This special expedition offers you the chance to catch sight of whales, reindeer, Arctic foxes, walruses, seals, and the star attraction, the polar bear.
m/v Ortelius
Cruise date:
28 Jul - 6 Aug, 2024
Berths start from:
7700 USD
Full Spitsbergen Circumnavigation with a visit to Kvitøya
HDS10-24 This cruise around Spitsbergen gives you a great chance to see whales, foxes, reindeer, seals, and polar bears. The expedition will make a landing on the island of Kvitøya, a site of historical significance, and home of a large walrus population.
m/v Hondius
Cruise date:
8 Aug - 17 Aug, 2024
Berths start from:
on request
PLA10d24 When you join two outstanding Arctic cruises into one, you get powerhouse polar adventures like this. After edging the pack ice of the planet’s most stunning polar bear habitat, you head to scenically surreal northeast Greenland for views of the magical...
m/v Plancius
Cruise date:
9 Aug - 31 Aug, 2024
Berths start from:
9920 USD
Full Spitsbergen Circumnavigation with a visit to Kvitøya
PLA10-24 This cruise around Spitsbergen gives you a great chance to see whales, foxes, reindeer, seals, and polar bears. The expedition will make a landing on the island of Kvitøya, a site of historical significance, and home of a large walrus population.
m/v Plancius
Cruise date:
9 Aug - 18 Aug, 2024
Berths start from:
on request
A classic three island voyage: Ice, Inuit and Remoteness
PLA11-24 The Spitsbergen and Northeast Greenland cruise sails waters filled with breath-taking scenery. The expedition passes through areas that are home to seals, seabirds, whales, and polar bears, topped off with nighttime viewing of the Northern Lights.
m/v Plancius
Cruise date:
18 Aug - 31 Aug, 2024
Berths start from:
10800 USD
Comment from Oceanwide Expeditions
Thank you for your review. We value any feedback that helps us improve our voyages.
In this case, however, we can only reiterate what we state frequently in our itineraries and other content: wildlife sightings are not guaranteed and are determined entirely by the animals, not by us. Their presence or absence, like that of pack ice, is beyond our control.
While it is a shame we did not see bears any closer, there are strict guidelines governing how close we are able to get to bears when there are other vessels in the vicinity. The vessel did, however, navigate the fringes of pack ice that had begun to break into smaller floes.
Our trip titles reflect our goals and the general way each trip is meant to go, but nature is under no obligation to agree. Sometimes it has other plans, making it more difficult for us to deliver a trip the way we intend. This is the variable nature of expedition travel. It is the risk we all take when embarking into such remote regions.
Nonetheless, we hope your voyage afforded you some pleasure and memorable moments, and we are pleased you chose to sail with us.