Finland Polar expeditions and cruise Trips

You take a big gamble on both weather and wildlife viewings on this trip but we were incredibly lucky with both. The scenery and polar bear sightings were out of this world. If you are willing to take a risk on both of these factors then this trip is an absolute must.

Everything was perfect -food, expedition leader, guides, hotel staff. Perfect weather too. 8 polar bears and 8 blue whales too and all these rest. The trip was excellent through and through.

What you see on a trip such as this is always dependent on being in the right place at the right time. However the hard work and depth of knowledge of the expedition guides made for a memorable experience. They were always up, (if they ever went to bed), scanning the land and sea and sea ice, out early in the morning in zodiacs looking for the best opportunities to see wildlife, and using their experience to take us to amazing places. As a result we had good encounters with five polar bears over three days, saw hundreds of Walrus, thousands of sea birds, whales, seals and dolphin. Although not seemingly planned, the captain and expedition leader decided a complete circumnavigation of Svalbard was possible, so that’s what we did. It felt like a true expedition and that we were in the hands of experts. If anyone tells me that we were lucky to see and do so much, I would reply that one definition of luck is preparation meeting opportunity and the efforts of the guides and leader ensured we were prepared to take advantage of every opportunity that arose.

We loved every moment of this trip - the ship (Ocean Adventurer) was extremely comfortable the food and service was second to none the guides were experts in their fields and passionate about the wildlife and the area. We were lucky enough to see Polar Bears in their own Enviroment as well as Puffins, Seals.Walrusss,Artic fox and other bird species. I would advise anyone thinking about this trip to go ahead and do it !!

More of an expedition around a remote arctic archipelago than a cruise. Everyday provided a different exciting element of wildlife and nature features, with plenty of time to relax and reflect. We were very lucky with the weather and we’re able to go twice a day on zodiacs. We saw incredible birds, walruses, seals, reindeer, arctic fox, and polar bear. In fact we saw 10 polar bears from different distances. Very clearly. Final we also saw a big chunk of glazier wall breaking up and falling in the sea with a loud noise and subsequent tsunami. The ship was very comfortable and the crew was fantastic and very patient. Food outstanding.

This expedition on Quark's ship the Ultramarine was delayed from July 2020, and the original booking was for another ship, but then this new one was available, and has dedicated single cabins. Because of the pandemic we had to take tests before flying to Oslo, and there another antigen test for Quark. All negative persons were allowed to board the charter flight up north, where we met our ship. Because of said pandemic the staff had their own bubble and would not mingle with the travellers,and inside masks were compulsory.So we met the staff only on the zodiac trips and when ashore.Meals were also a lonely affair, as distances were to be kept, buffets had personnel with masks and gloves put on your plate what you asked for and showed, all behind glass So only the outside, zodiac cruises and walks ashore, were really free, the nature is beautiful, animals free too and showed up to pose for picture, including a group of 3 polar bears who had their meals already caught, and were close to shore. So all zodiacs passed in silence close to the shore, and made rounds number of times, to give us a long and great view of them. We were the first trip where the ship could circumference Spitsbergen island, even though we had to break some ice and were in a long foggy day. but it all added to the special nature of that area. Lectures given in the evenings by the staff had different topics, from the animals we saw to their personal adventures(close contacts with bears, kayak circumference trip of Spitsbergen,)And history of course.