Spitsbergen and North East Greenland cruises

Planet

With a maximum of only 52 passengers, our Arctic ships are smaller, less imposing on the Arctic landscape than the bigger 'cruise' ships. Group landings by zodiacs are more easily managed and a personalised ratio of leaders to passengers provides an added value experience. Your onboard natural history experts, through guided walks and evening talks, reveal the wonders of Artic scenery and wildlife and introduces some of the local and global conservation issues which this fragile habitat faces.

Our polar trips are made under full membership of the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) and as such abide by their strict codes of conduct in both the Antarctic and the Arctic. Encounters with polar bears, walruses and whales are controlled by strict responsible codes of conduct.

People

Some voyages we offer are so remote that there is no indigenous village / community – as is the case in Spitsbergen, outside of the main town Longyearbyen. In Greenland however, the Inuit have a rich and colourful culture. On our Greenland voyages we visit local museums and small shops, but where these do not exist we often radio the head of the village to check if a visit is welcome – which it invariably is. Most recently in Greenland, the head of the village (who spoke 5 languages) invited all 15 of us to tea and cake at his house – then we visited the local school, where our expedition leader was proud to point out 2 of the school books he had written on the shelves! Wonderful win-win scenarios for which language is no barrier.

Where opportunities exist, we encourage guests to purchase souvenirs – other than shells and polar bear related goods. In the Arctic and in particularly in Iceland, we advise strongly against the purchase of whale meat in the local restaurants, which showcases the whaling trade (by the tourist) when the local population do not themselves eat whale meat.

Our overall commitment to the environment is also reflected within our office environment. We source office supplies from local retailers, use recycled stationary where possible and recycle office waste.