Our journey began two years ago when I noticed that Crystal had changed the itinerary of the Serenity for the late summer of 2016. A new cruise called the Northwest Passage had been added and it was long, 32 days. I immediately called Gary, my travel agent at Ambassador Tours, to inquire about the new event. Gary, as usual, was swift and to the point answering my query with a laugh and “fat chance” as the cruise had already been sold out. This only three weeks after it was announced. Talk about a big upper followed by an even bigger downer.

Fortunately just a couple of weeks later Gary phoned with news that someone had released a booking and had secured one cabin for me. I had hoped that another cabin would be made available over the course of the next two years but no one else was giving up what turned out to be prized reservations.

Without a second cabin our group of four would be only two. I convinced my sister to come along just about eight months prior so with two going and two jealous family members, the itinerary was finalized. 

The summer was longer than usual waiting for the big day of departure. Finally we headed to Anchorage with a stop in Seattle to change planes. On the plane from Seattle we noticed a lot of happy passengers and unbelievably found that all twenty passengers in the first five rows were booked on the Northwest Passage cruise. This was even though we flew up two days prior to boarding the Serenity just to be sure we were there in time. Not an original idea!

Once in Anchorage we had a day of sightseeing and anticipation of the three hour bus ride to Seward, about 100 miles to the south where our voyage would begin. Seward is a small with a deep water port that supports Anchorage and where the Serenity was waiting. I always love the first look when we arrive at a port for any cruise but this seemed just that more special than in the past. Crystals usual speedy processing got us on board just after noon where we went to the Bistro for the traditional first chocolate chip cookie (for me anyway) and then up to the Lido Grill for the first hamburger lunch, also a tradition (again for me).

For our first diner, we were seated in corner of the dining room just a bulkhead away from the Crystal Cove on a table with two other couples. We were a little hesitant when we found out we had a table for six but the two other couples turned out to be great fun. Crystal’s new all-inclusive policy included dining at the Prego Italian restaurant and the Silk Road Japanese restaurant. We were not much for Sushi or Japanese cuisine but Prego was a big hit and a very pleasant surprise as it has outstanding Italian fare. In fact everything was all inclusive including gratuities and wine and drinks. Hard not to like dining at sea.

Our first stop was Kodiak, Alaska. A small town southwest of Seward. Next was Dutch Harbor where the Deadliest Catch fishing boats are home ported. Many of the passengers tracked down their favorite boats and crews from the reality series so that was the talk of the next few dinners. Next was Nome where some of the passengers actually flew to and landed in Russia for the day. Another excursion was a flight into the future, where you could look across the International Date Line and see “tomorrow”. We spent the day touring the town and got to see the finish line of the famous Alaska Iditarod dog race. The next day, we sailed by Little Diomede Island which is the last U.S. possession, last U.S. Island and just east of the date line. Just behind Little Diomede was Big Diomede Island which belongs to Russia just west of the date line.

This provides us with an interesting trivia question: What is the one place in the world where from one vantage point one might see?

1. Two islands; Little Diomede and Big Diomede
2. Two oceans: Arctic and Pacific
3. Two seas: Chukchi and Bering
4. Two continents: North America and Eurasia
5. Two countries: USA and Russia
6. Two days: across the international Date Line

The Bering Strait!

Five days at sea brought us across the top of Alaska and North America and into Canadian waters. Our first stop was a little community of Ulukhaktok with about 450 Inuit locals. This was our first test at being an explorer as we met our support ship the HMS Ernest Shackleton and got our first chance at a wet landing. It took us twenty minutes to prepare getting our cold weather gear on for this our first community visit in the Northwest Passage. Things were a little slow in the morning as everyone was learning a new way of going to the beach, via Zodiac inflatable motor boats, instead of the usual tender. Didn’t take too long however as by afternoon the ships crews had ironed out some of the logistic issues and we ended up landing almost 900 passengers in the village during of the course of that day. Probably no more than about at a time to reduce the impact on such a small community. This is a very different way of living with basic housing, a community center, a grocery store and not much else. Cost of living here is extreme with a gallon of milk going for ten dollars and a can of coke over five.

The cruise director arranged to have a couple of groups from town come on board and perform dances and introduce us to their local culture. Very reminiscent of the American Indian or Australian Aborigines dances you may have seen. They were just as excited to see us as we were to see them. They were given lunch before the performance and snarfed down over 250 of those little tea sandwiches and ended up having a little burping fest going on backstage just before they went on stage. After the performance the cruise director offered them some food at the Lido Grill on deck twelve and it took about two seconds for the kids to discover that the ice cream bar “Scoops” was right next to the grill. Apparently all the kids left the ship with ice cream on their faces and very big smiles. This when it was all of thirty degrees Fahrenheit outside. Of course the Lido deck was a pleasant 60, maybe!

In spite of the extreme location, we had the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMPs) come on board for customs inspection. They seemed very happy to be on board and spent most of their time having their pictures taken with passengers even while they were trying to have lunch. The next several days were set up for opportunities to see the unknown. Crystal provided “Unexpected Adventure” excursions for whenever and wherever opportunities presented themselves in this part of the world. Passengers could sign up for four classes of adventures, Zodiacs, High Speed Inflatable Hull, Kayaks and Helicopters. As there where far more Zodiacs than anything else, they became the most popular. All excursions where on a first come first serve basis according to sign up lists provide at first on-line prior to the cruise and then on board at the excursion desk. They proved very popular as most everyone signed up for everything. Our first opportunity came on the first day after leaving Ulukhaktok with a sea of ice burgs and a backdrop of glaciers. On our way down to boarding a Zodiac, a returning passenger confided that there was a polar bear to be seen. Our Zodiac driver quickly brought us to earth as he heard the bear was moving and might not be visible by the time we got out there. Fortunately for all, the bear decided to stay on his berg instead of facing the fleet of Zodiacs surrounding his position. I never thought we would ever get a chance to see a Polar Bear in person, yet alone get as close as we did. About 250 yards was the minimum distance the drivers would dare as the bears swim better than us and if we lost power we might become lunch, as polar bears view humans as just another food source.

We spent about an hour circling the bear burg taking pictures and even getting some hot chocolate from the expedition crew from another zodiac. Later on board the ship we passed close aboard another ice burg with a mother and two cubs followed closely by another bear with a kill having his very own private dinner. Pretty fantastic day seeing six bears in all. Our next adventure was traveling around a glacier ice field. We had a geologist with us that day and it was very interesting and informative. As he liked to say, “Geology is much better than Marine Biology, all the stuff is here right in front of you to see, while the Marine Biologist can just hope you will see “something good”. We learned about Ice Burgs, Burgee Bits and Growlers (different sizes of floating ice). We even saw some seals and one thought our zodiac was an ice burg until he noticed our red jackets and made a quick escape before anyone hardly noticed. Too fast for me get my camera up let alone snap a picture.

Cambridge Bay and Pond Inlet where next on our list for wet landings and they were just as charming and void of anything you would call modern. They have a number of gas powered quadracycles, a few bicycles and some trucks for transportation but mostly transportation is by walking and dog sleds. The people loved seeing us and we had a great time admiring them and how tough life can be and marvel at these people that live it every day. We ended our expeditions with a helicopter excursion over Pond Inlet. Fantastic mountains, glaciers and fjords abound everywhere and we got to take off and land from a ship at sea. Pretty fantastic end to the “Unexpected Excursions” part of our cruise. We didn’t sign up for the Kayak events and never made it to the top of the helicopter or high speed hull excursions. No doubt this was because there were only two helicopters with six passengers each and one high speed hull with only twelve passengers. With about 1000 people vying for a few tours we didn’t make it to the top of those lists. Crystal did implement a prudent plan for these excursions however. The lists were first to sign up, first to get on an excursion but passengers weren’t allowed to decline an excursion thinking there might be something better the next day as they would go to the bottom of the list regardless of whether they went on the excursion or not.

All through the passage we were educated on all the hero’s that tried to find their way across these northern ice fields. Stories of Sir Ernest Shackleton (our support ships namesake), and Sir John Franklin as well others that spent many winters finding nothing but ice but never the less kept their pursuit for the magical passage. The first passage wasn’t made until 1903 and took three years to complete. Only about 230 or so ships have ever made the passage according to our guides. Our passage was only two weeks with exploration stops every day. Probably would have taken only six to eight days if we went straight through. We were also the biggest ship with the most people ever to make the passage.

As we had now finished the passage, we headed to Greenland but got “iced” out of our first port, Ilulissat. It was disappointing but still spectacular because of all the ice flows. The Captain opted not to go into the port as he feared the ice would block our passage out. Turned out to be a good call as the winds blew these magnificent burgs right into the port. We still had zodiacs so some got to charge around the flows, at least until lunch as the winds became too high for zodiac operations the rest of the day.

Next stop was Sisimiut where we said goodbye to our support ship, HMS Shackleton. Twin Zodiacs paced us as we pulled out and waved as we picked up a pace that they could not match and could no longer follow. The Shackleton carried 15 Zodiacs, one high speed inflatable hull, 20 kayaks and two helicopters not to mention fuel for everything and provided space for a crew of about 100 including 55 expedition experts. She also doubled as an ice breaker that we fortunately didn’t need and of course was the ultimate life boat in case of a worst case disaster. She even took on excess garbage from the Serenity as we took everything we brought in to artic out with us.

The northern communities of Canada gave us new places like the Beaufort Sea, Ulukhaktok, Nunavut, Cambridge Bay, King William Island and Queen Maud Gulf. Greenland gave us Ilulissat, Sisimiut, and Nuuk. They were totally unfamiliar and mostly unpronounceable to us just a month ago and are now ingrained into our minds with vivid memories of a lifetime. Still mostly unpronounceable.

The expedition crew were many and varied and all very knowledgeable about anything you might think off. And when you couldn’t think of anything, they provided you with information you didn’t know you wanted.

Our arrival in New York was on a beautiful morning with the sun rising in the east, a light wind and a nice 62 degrees Fahrenheit. Quite a difference from the 30 degrees we were experiencing only a week before. The cruise came to an end with the Manhattan skyline approaching ahead. We passed under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, slid by the Statue of Liberty with an NBC news helicopter in tow as we arrived at our pier, just across from the Aviation and Space museum aboard the World War II aircraft carrier U.S.S. Intrepid. Sailing into New York is very spectacular and a fitting end to what was undoubtedly the ultimate cruise.

- Hal Powell, Ambassador Client since 2002