Like sport utility vehicles, some ships have become crossovers, operating as expedition cruise ships but offering a quite plush and comfortable lifestyle.
Expedition cruising is poles apart from all other types of cruising. It is total immersion in nature, wildlife, and discovery, with a sense of pioneering thrown in. Passengers joining cruise expeditions become ‘participants’ and need to be more self-reliant and more interested in doing or learning than in being entertained. They become ‘participants’ and take very active roles in almost every aspect of a voyage.
Naturalists, historians, and lecturers (rather than entertainers) are aboard each ship to provide background information and observations about wildlife. Each participant receives a personal logbook, illustrated and written by the wildlife artists and writers who accompany each cruise – a fine souvenir.
My top expeditions
You can venture to the North Pole, walk on pack ice in the islands and land masses in the Arctic Ocean and Arctic Circle, explore a huge penguin rookery on an island in the Antarctic Peninsula, the Falkland Islands, or South Georgia, or search for ‘lost’ peoples in Melanesia. Or you can cruise close to the source of the Amazon, gaze at species of flora and fauna in the Galápagos Islands (Darwin’s laboratory), or watch a genuine dragon on the island of Komodo – from a comfortable distance, of course.
My 10 favorite destinations are: Aleutian-Pribiloff Islands, Amazon (Manaus-Iquitos), Antarctic Peninsula, Arctic (North Pole), Galápagos Islands, Islands of Micronesia, Northeast Passage, Northwest Passage, Papua New Guinea, and Ross Ice Shelf (Antarctica).
Silver Explorer in Antarctica.
Silversea Cruises
Explore in comfort
Briefings and lectures bring cultural and intellectual elements to expedition cruise vessels. There is no formal entertainment as such; participants enjoy this type of cruise more for the camaraderie and learning experience, and being close to nature. There is no cruise director, rather an experienced expedition leader who works closely with the ship’s captain and marine operations department. The ships are designed and equipped to sail in ice-laden waters, yet they have a shallow-enough draft to glide over coral reefs.
Despite being rugged, expedition cruise vessels can provide comfortable and even elegant surroundings for up to 200 participants, as well as offering good food and service. Without traditional cruise ports at which to stop, a ship must be self-sufficient, capable of long-range cruising, and totally environmentally friendly. Although there’s no professional entertainment, recaps of the day’s experiences usually take place each evening, and, if you’re not too tired (expedition cruising can be exhausting), board games and library books are always available.
However, the expedition experience itself really comes alive by the use ‘Zodiacs’ – inflatable but rigid craft that can seat up to a dozen participants. The feel of sea spray and wind on your face gives you a thrill, and the feeling that this really is something different from any cruising you may have done previously.
Wildlife migrations
Lars-Eric Lindblad pioneered expedition cruising in 1966. A Swedish-American, he turned travel into adventure by going to parts of the world tourists had not visited. After chartering several vessels for voyages to Antarctica, he organized the design and construction of a small ship capable of going almost anywhere in comfort and safety. In 1969, Lindblad Explorer was launched; it soon earned an enviable reputation in adventure travel. Others followed.
To put together cruise expeditions, companies turn to specialist advisers. Scientific institutions are consulted; experienced world explorers and naturalists provide up-to-date reports on wildlife sightings, migrations, and other natural phenomena. Sea days are usually spent preparing, and participants are kept physically and mentally active. Avoid such an adventure cruise if you are not completely ambulatory, because getting into and out of Zodiacs (inflatable shore landing craft) can be very tricky.
Adventure cruise companies provide expedition parkas and waterproof boots, but you will need to take waterproof trousers for Antarctica and the Arctic.
As global warming melts the ice, Polar bears are increasingly threatened.
Celebrity Cruises
Antarctica
See the ‘Frozen Planet’ for yourself. While Arctic ice is only a few feet thick, the ice of Antarctica is thousands of feet thick. The continent was first sighted in 1820 by the American sealer Nathaniel Palmer, British naval officer Edward Bransfield, and Russian captain Fabian Bellingshausen.
For most, it is just a windswept frozen wasteland – it has been calculated that the ice mass contains almost 90 percent of the world’s snow and ice, while its treeless land mass is twice the size of Australia. For others, it represents the last pristine place on earth, offering an abundance of marine and bird life.
As many as 36,000 people a year visit Antarctica, which has 24-hour sunshine during the austral summer but not a single native inhabitant. Its ice is as much as 2 miles (3km) thick, and its total land mass equals more than all the rivers and lakes on earth and exceeds that of China and India combined. Icebergs can easily be the size of Belgium. The region has a raw beauty.
There are two ways to go to the cold continent.
From Ushuaia in Argentina or Punta Arenas in Chile, across the Drake Passage, to the Antarctic Peninsula (the most popular route). The peninsula (sometimes together with South Georgia) is visited by the ‘soft’ expedition cruise ships and even normal-size cruise ships with ice-hardened hulls. From Ushuaia or Punta Arenas, it takes two days to reach the Antarctic Peninsula, to see the pristine Antarctic ice and observe the wildlife (the best time is mid-November, when penguins come ashore for courtship and nesting). South Georgia is famous because the explorer Ernest Shackleton is buried in Grytviken – a former Norwegian whaling station.
From Hobart (Australia) or Auckland (New Zealand) to the Ross Ice Shelf, it takes about seven days to reach the eastern side of the continent in the Ross Sea (hence it is more expensive than leaving from Argentina or Chile). This, the more remote ‘far side’ – the Oates and Scott coasts, McMurdo Sound, and the famous Ross Ice Shelf – can be visited only by genuine icebreakers, as the katabatic winds can easily reach more than 100mph (160kph). However, a highlight will be a visit to Scott’s well-preserved hut at Cape Evans on Ross Island. It has been frozen in time since 1912 (with over 8,000 items – including many tins of food), You can also visit Shackleton’s hut, at Cape Royds on Ross Island (it contains over 5,000 items), and Mawson’s huts at Cape Denison in the eastern sector (a replica of one of Mawson’s huts (built by the Mawson’s Huts Foundation) opened in December 2013. It sits on the dockside in Hobart, Australia.
The first ship carrying participants on a complete circumnavigation of Antarctica was the 114-passenger Kapitan Khlebnikov, operated by Quark Expeditions, in 1996–97.
Only 100 participants per ship are now allowed ashore at any given time, so if you sail aboard one of the larger ships that claim to include Antarctica on their itineraries, it will probably be to view it – but only from the ship. Indeed, since 2011 cruise ships with more than 500 participants have not been allowed to sail in Antarctic waters unless they use lighter-grade distillate fuel. Moreover, the chances of rescue in the event of pack ice crushing a normal cruise ship hull are virtually nil. For real expedition cruising, choose a ship that includes a flotilla of Zodiacs, proper boot washing stations, expedition equipment, experienced expedition leaders, and ice captains. Two companies that stand out from the crowd are Hapag-Lloyd Expedition Cruises and Quark Expeditions.
The nuclear-powered 50 Years of Victory at the North Pole.
Douglas Ward
Be aware that you can still get stuck even aboard these specialized expedition ships, as did Nordkapp, which ran aground near Deception Island in 2007. In the same year, Canadian company GAP Expeditions’ (now renamed G Adventures) Explorer hit an iceberg in Bransfield Strait off King George Island and sank; all 91 participants, nine expedition staff, and 54 crew members were rescued thanks to the coordination efforts of the British Coast Guard and the Hurtigruten cruise ship Nordnorge. In 2008 Antarpply Expeditions’ Ushuaia was grounded; all 89 participants were rescued by the Chilean navy vessel Achilles. In 2009, Quark Expeditions’ Ocean Nova was grounded, and in 2011 Polar Star grounded on an uncharted rock; fortunately there were no injuries to participants or crew.
Tip: Wear an ID bracelet or belt at all times while on an Antarctic expedition cruise, and take thermal underwear. Anyone on a special diet should advise the cruise operator as early as possible, so that any needed items can be obtained.
Wildlife you may see or come into contact with include orcas, dolphins, the six species of Antarctic seals, penguins, birds, and various species of lichen and flora, depending on the area visited.
Take plastic bags to cover your camera, so that condensation forms inside the bag and not on your camera when changing from the cold of the outside Antarctic air to the warmth of your expedition cruise vessel. Make sure you know how to operate your camera with gloves on – frostbite is a real danger.
Did you know?
In 2010, three bottles of Mackinlay scotch were found under the floorboards in a basic hut that Shackleton had used during his dramatic 1907 expedition, named Nimrod? The scotch was flown to Scotland to the distiller – Whyte and Mackay (who own the Mackinlay brand) via the Antarctic operations headquarters in Christchurch, New Zealand. The three bottles were returned to the desolate hut in 2013 by the Antarctic Heritage Trust (jointly sponsored by the UK and New Zealand).
Protecting sensitive environments
In the future, only ships capable of meeting new ‘zero discharge’ standards will be allowed to cross environmentally sensitive areas. Expedition cruise companies are concerned about the environment, and they spend much time and money in educating their crews and participants about safe procedures.
They observe the ‘Antarctic Traveler’s Code,’ based on 1978’s Antarctic Conservation Act, designed to protect the region’s ecosystem, flora, and fauna.
The Antarctic Treaty Meeting in Kyoto in 1994 made it unlawful, unless authorized by permit, to take native animals, birds, and certain native plants, introduce species, enter certain special protected areas (SPAs), or discharge or dispose of pollutants. The original Antarctic Treaty, signed in 1959 by 12 nations active in the region, defined Antarctica as all of the land and ice shelves south of 60 degrees South latitude. The signatories were Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the Soviet Union, the UK, and the US. There are now 28 countries comprising the Antarctic Treaty Consultative committee, and 39 research stations across the continent.
To ‘take’ means to remove, harass, molest, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, kill, trap, capture, restrain, or tag any native mammal or bird, or to attempt to do so. Violators face civil penalties, including a fine of up to $10,000 and one-year imprisonment for each violation. A copy of the Act can be found in the library of each adventure or expedition ship that visits the continent.
Ships carrying over 500 participants are not allowed to land and are restricted to ‘scenic’ cruising, so the likelihood of a single-hulled mega-ship zooming in on the penguins with 3,000-plus participants is unlikely. Nor would it be possible to rescue so many participants and crew in the event of an emergency. Also, the large resort ships burn heavy oil rather than the lighter oil used by the specialist expedition ships, which also have ice-strengthened hulls – so the danger of pollution arising from an accident is far greater.
The High Arctic
This is an ocean surrounded by continents, whereas Antarctica is an ice-covered continent surrounded by ocean. The Arctic Circle is located at 66 degrees, 33 minutes, 3 seconds North, although this really designates where 24-hour days and nights begin. The High Arctic is best defined as that region north of which no trees grow, and where water is the primary feature of the landscape.
Quark Expeditions, the Arctic expedition cruise specialist, operates under the strict guidelines of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO), the body committed to minimizing the impact of visit to the Far North. These expeditions to the North Pole (90 degrees North) are undertaken only at the height of the Arctic summer, in June and July, usually aboard the world’s most powerful icebreaker – the Russian nuclear-powered 50 Years of Victory. It can crush ice up to 10ft (3m) thick. An onboard helicopter whisks participants between the ship and the North Pole.
This really is a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Only 250 participants visited the North Pole in 2013, and some took the optional excursion in a tethered hot-air balloon.
The Northwest Passage
Passenger ships that have navigated the often dangerous Northwest Passage linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans include Lindblad Explorer (1984), World Discoverer (1985), Society Explorer (1988), Frontier Spirit (1992), Kapitan Khlebnikov (1994, 1995, 1998, 2006, 2007, 2008), Hanseatic (1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2007, 2010, 2012), and Bremen (2009, 2010), In 2013, an unusual double crossing took place; Hanseatic went east to west, while Bremen went west to east.
Exploring the Amazon by Zodiac.
Hapag-Lloyd Cruises
The Amazon
The River Amazon is huge – 4,080 miles (6,466km) from close to its source in the Peruvian Andes, to Belem on South America’s Atlantic coast – and contains one fifth of the earth’s water supply. Home to a tenth of the planet’s animal species and plant life, it has thousands of tributaries, and often is so wide you cannot see the riverbank on the opposite side.
Cruises usually start in the Caribbean from ports such as Barbados and end up in Manaus (or vice versa). Starting in Manaus, with its muddy red-brown water, and ending up in the clear blue waters of the Caribbean may be the more appealing option. Calls along the way may be made in Parintins, Alter do Chão, Santarém, and Belém. Few ships venture farther upriver from Manaus to Iquitos; Hapag-Lloyd Expedition Cruises’ Hanseatic is one that does.
The city of Manaus, 1,000 miles (1,600km) from the ocean, was built by barons of the rubber industry. Today, it really is a gaudy metropolis, but its opera house, built at the end of the 19th century, remains a much-visited icon and still stages concerts.
One must-do shore excursion is a rainforest walk with a knowledgeable Brazilian guide, which will give you an insight into the richest variety of life on the planet. But make sure you have plenty of insect repellent – more than 200 varieties of mosquito inhabit the Amazon Basin.
The Galápagos Islands
These islands, 600 miles (960km) off the coast of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean, are a microcosm of our planet. More than 100 islands, plus mineral-rich and lava outcroppings, make up the Galápagos, which are fed by the nutrient-rich Cromwell and Humboldt currents. The fertile waters can be cold, even on the equator.
The Ecuadorians jealously guard their islands and prohibit the movement of almost all non-Ecuador-registered cruise vessels within its boundaries. The best way to follow in the footsteps of Charles Darwin, who visited the islands in 1835 aboard the Beagle, is to fly to Quito and cruise aboard an Ecuadorian-registered vessel. Ecological fact: cruising leaves a smaller carbon footprint because it does not contribute to the building of hotels, restaurants, roads, and cars.
The government of Ecuador set aside most of the islands as a wildlife sanctuary in 1934, while uninhabited areas were declared national parks in 1959. The national park includes approximately 97 percent of the islands’ landmass, together with 20,000 sq miles (50,000 sq km) of ocean. The Charles Darwin Research Station was established in 1964, and the government created the Galápagos Marine Resources Reserve in 1986.
The Galápagos National Park tax is $100, plus $10 for an Immigration Control Card (this must be obtained before you travel). Smoking is prohibited on the islands, and no more than 50,000 visitors a year are admitted. In 2012 new rules stopped ships from visiting most islands more than once in a 14-day period. Some cruise lines require vaccinations for cruises that include Ecuador, although the World Health Organization does not.
The ships
It’s important to explain that few cruise operators, such as Hapag-Lloyd Cruises and Silversea Cruises, actually own their specialist expedition ships. Most of these vessels are owned by companies formed of investors who charter the ships to cruise operators. Also, ship management and operations may be unrelated to the catering company, the marketing company, or the expedition tour operator, making it difficult to guarantee consistency.