Northwest Passage and Northern Lights cruise

Once a WWII airbase at the head of Kangerlussuaq Fjord, Kangerlussuaq's history is told at the airport’s museum, showcasing Inuit artefacts. This ice-filled glacial area and tundra is a haven for wildlife, including reindeer, arctic foxes, arctic hare, gyrfalcons and around 10,000 muskoxen

Located just north of the Arctic Circle, Sisimiut is the northernmost town in Greenland where the port remains free of ice in the winter. Yet it is also the southernmost town where there is enough snow and ice to drive a dogsled in winter and spring. In Sisimiut, travelling by sled has been the primary means of winter transportation for centuries. In fact, the area has been inhabited for approximately 4,500 years. Modern Sisimiut is the largest business center in the north of Greenland, and is one of the fastest growing Greenlandic cities. Commercial fishing is the lead economy in the town‘s thriving industrial base.

Known for its Inuit culture, whales, and icebergs, Disko Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Western Greenland. The bay is also home to the Ilulissat Icefjord, one of the fastest-moving glaciers in the world. First visited by Europeans in 1596 in search of a Northwest Passage to Asia, the region has been inhabited by Inuit communities for centuries. The village of Qeqertarsuaq embodies thriving Inuit traditions, preserving a rich and evolving cultural legacy

Disko Bay is a large bay located on the western coast of Greenland, opening into the Baffin Bay. It is known for its dramatic Arctic landscapes, floating icebergs, and cold, clear waters. The bay is surrounded by glaciers and coastal settlements, with Ilulissat being one of the most well-known towns nearby. Disko Bay is famous for the Ilulissat Icefjord, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where massive icebergs calve from the Greenland Ice Sheet. It is also an important area for Arctic wildlife, including whales and seals, and is a popular destination for polar tourism and scientific research.

Sea days are rarely dull. Take the time to sit back and let the world go by. The ship’s observation decks provide stunning views of the passing ocean. A day at sea gives you the opportunity to mingle with other passengers and share your experiences of this incredible trip or head to our library which is stocked full of reference books. Get an expert’s view in one of our on-board lectures or perhaps perfect your photography skills with invaluable advice from our onboard professional photographers.

Located in northern Baffin Island, Pond Inlet is a small, predo¬minantly Inuit community, with a population of roughly 1,500 inhabitants. In 1818, the British explorer John Ross named a bay in the vicinity after the English astronomer John Pond. Today Pond Inlet is considered one of Canada's "jewels of the North" thanks to several picturesque glaciers and mountain ranges nearby. Many archaeological sites of ancient Dorset and Thule peoples can be found near Pond Inlet. The Inuit hunted caribou, ringed and harp seals, fish, polar bears, walrus, narwhals, geese, ptarmigans and Arctic hares, long before European and American whalers came here to harvest bowhead whales. Pond Inlet is also known as a major center of Inuit art, especially the printmaking and stone carving that are featured in the town’s art galleries.

Gracing the eastern high Arctic, Croker Bay, a mesmerising Arctic waterway, carves its way into Devon Island within the vibrant Qikiqtaaluk Region. This deep inlet, an extension of Lancaster Sound and Barrow Strait, unveils a landscape of captivating beauty. The Devon ice cap feeds the huge South Croker Bay Glacier that calves into the bay

Devon Island is Canada’s sixth largest island and was first seen by Europeans in the early 17th century. The Thule culture had already settled there many centuries before, and left behind qarmat homes, made of rocks, whale bones, rock and sod walls, and skins for roofs that tell a story of over 800 years of human habitation. Other striking finds in this area are the many fossils of corals, crinoids and nautiloids that can be seen. Just across Lancaster Sound is Prince Leopold Island, a Canadian Important Bird Area, a federally listed migratory bird sanctuary, and a Key Migratory Bird Terrestrial Habitat site with large numbers of Thick-billed Murres, Northern Fulmars and Black-legged Kittiwakes that breed there.

Beechey Island is a small island off the southwest coast of Devon Island, separated by a narrow waterway called the Barrow Strait. Captain William Edward Parry was the first European to visit the island in 1819. His lieutenant, Frederick William Beechey, named the island after his father, the artist William Beechey (1753–1839). Beechey Island played a significant role in the history of Arctic Exploration. During the winter of 1845-46, Sir John Franklin and his men camped on the island as part of their ill-fated quest to find the Northwest Passage. Mummified remains of three of Franklin’s crew were discovered, giving a better understanding of what happened before the disappearance of the expedition. In 1850 Edward Belcher used the island as a base while surveying the area. Later, in 1903, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen stopped at the island at the beginning of his successful voyage in search for the Northwest Passage. Subsequently, Beechey Island has been declared a "Territorial Historic Site" since 1975 by the Northwest Territories government

Prince Leopold Island is a remote and uninhabited island located in the Canadian Arctic, at the northeastern entrance of Prince Regent Inlet in Nunavut. Known for its dramatic cliffs and rich wildlife, it is one of the most important bird habitats in the Arctic.

The island is characterized by towering limestone cliffs rising straight from the sea, forming a striking and rugged landscape. These cliffs provide ideal nesting grounds for vast colonies of seabirds, making the island part of the protected Prince Leopold Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary.

Each summer, hundreds of thousands of birds—including murres, kittiwakes, and fulmars—gather here to breed, creating one of the densest seabird populations in the Canadian Arctic. The surrounding waters also support marine life such as seals, whales, and Arctic fish species.

Due to its ecological importance, access to the island is restricted, and it is rarely visited except by researchers or specialized Arctic expeditions.

Uninhabited Batty Bay, Nunavut, part of Prince Regent Inlet on Somerset Island, features dramatic cliffs and hills and is a historic Arctic site. It saw early explorers like Sir John Franklin and Captain John Ross, who left boats there in 1832. Batty Bay's history and pristine Arctic setting continues to attract explorers and researchers. While not a beluga hotspot, the wider region sees significant beluga migrations

The Bellot Strait, named in honour of the French explorer Joseph-René Bellot, is a narrow, 2.3-km-wide, and 25-km-long waterway. It separates Somerset Island to the north from the Boothia Peninsula to the south. This strait played a historical role during an expedition to locate Sir John Franklin's lost expedition, tragically marked by Bellot's death in the area in 1853

Strzelecki Harbour, on the east coast of uninhabited Prince of Wales Island, lies within Peel Sound opposite Bellot Strait. Its nutrient-rich waters attract arctic marine mammals like beluga whales and narwhal, while the surrounding low tundra offers occasional sightings of polar bears and muskoxen. This remote island was first encountered by Europeans in 1851 during Sir Francis McClintock's search for the lost Franklin Expedition

Cunningham Inlet, on the eastern side of Nunavut's Somerset Island, draws crowds of beluga whales each summer. Up to 2,000 whales gather around the Cunningham River estuary. The whales come to the inlet to mate, raise their young, socialise and shed their old, yellowed skin in the warm, shallow waters, revealing their snow-white epidermis beneath. Observers can witness these activities firsthand, often enjoying close-up views from the shore

Sea days are rarely dull. Take the time to sit back and let the world go by. The ship’s observation decks provide stunning views of the passing ocean. A day at sea gives you the opportunity to mingle with other passengers and share your experiences of this incredible trip or head to our library which is stocked full of reference books. Get an expert’s view in one of our on-board lectures or perhaps perfect your photography skills with invaluable advice from our onboard professional photographers

Buchan Gulf, a remote Arctic fjord on Baffin Island's northeastern coast, is one of the world’s most important nesting sites for northern fulmars, who roost on the towering cliffs and rocks. Polar bears roam the shores of Icy Arm, a narrow fjord with the relics of an ancient Thule semi-subterranean home sitting on the edge of the boggy tundra. Pods of narwhals are at home in the deep waters of this glacial fjord system on eastern Baffin Island

Sitting above the Arctic Circle, visit a land of wonderful extremes, where polar bears roam, and the vastness of scenery is all-encompassing. Taking its name from the Inuktitut word for Big Island - Qikiqtarjuaq, is a place of long, summer nights that feel eternal, and contrast with the inky depths of winter. These blackened nights are illuminated by the ethereal glow of the Northern lights dancing over huge mountain peaks. A small community resides in this remote and wonderful setting, on the sheltered western shore of Broughton Island, separated from Baffin Island by a relatively narrow channel. Across this gap, the majestic, staggeringly tall mountains of Auyuittuq National Park rise. These are some of the continent’s most spectacular peaks, of poetic form and grandeur. The icy waters surrounding Qikiqtarjuaq are strewn with icebergs beginning long journeys, earning the island its title as Nunavut’s ‘Iceberg Capital’. While ice floes drift serenely on the surface, giants move in the depths - and the waters are visited by wildlife such as narwhals, bowhead whales, seals, and orcas. The skies above, meanwhile, are often alive with seabirds, particularly the Northern Fulmar. Cruise along the beautiful shoreline and take to Zodiacs for a deeper level of exploration, seeking out the wonderful wildlife of the region with our expert team on hand to identify the animals and share their fascinating insights into this wonderful region.

Sea days are rarely dull. Take the time to sit back and let the world go by. The ship’s observation decks provide stunning views of the passing ocean. A day at sea gives you the opportunity to mingle with other passengers and share your experiences of this incredible trip or head to our library which is stocked full of reference books. Get an expert’s view in one of our on-board lectures or perhaps perfect your photography skills with invaluable advice from our onboard professional photographers

Once a WWII airbase at the head of Kangerlussuaq Fjord, Kangerlussuaq's history is told at the airport’s museum, showcasing Inuit artefacts. This ice-filled glacial area and tundra is a haven for wildlife, including reindeer, arctic foxes, arctic hare, gyrfalcons and around 10,000 muskoxen