This Northwest Passage cruise review comes from my time on the Northwest Passage Expedition aboard 132-guest Greg Mortimer. Read on to learn about the highlights from my trip, along with added insight from our other experts who’ve been to the Arctic.
Overall standout – So much variety & exceptional guides
What sets this trip apart – No full transit but more time off ship
Don’t miss – Devon Island
Best wildlife moment – Musk ox, polar bears & narwhals
Look out for – Your wildlife expectations & the timing of Northwest Passage trips
If I booked again – I’d bring high-quality optics
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ANDREW BROWNING
• AdventureSmith Specialist since 2007
• This trip marked his third in the Arctic
• Condé Nast Traveler Top Travel Specialist
• Experience aboard dozens of expedition ships & polar operators
Overall Highlight – So much variety & exceptional guides
Compared to other Arctic destinations (with many of the trips being wildlife and scenery focused), there is so much more overall variety in the Western High Arctic: ice landscapes, the culture of West Greenland and Canada/Nunavut, the wildlife of Canada, the history of Northwest Passage exploration and the Inuit history.
Another big standout was the guiding, staff and presentations on this ship. After having traveled with multiple other Arctic operators, I thought the team was exceptional: excellent education but they also made it interesting and fun. We had an expedition team of 23 that also included two cultural ambassadors from the Nunavut community, Geela and Helene. Overall, it was a very high guide to passenger ratio.
What Sets This Trip Apart – No full transit but more time off ship
The itinerary I was on doesn’t do a full Northwest Passage transit, but it includes many of West Greenland and Eastern Canada’s best areas for off-ship activities, wildlife and historical and cultural sites. We still covered approximately 2,300 nautical miles (2,394 exactly) and got as far north as 75 degrees. And because of not transiting the full Passage, we had more time to explore West Greenland (more ice and settlements) as well as more time in some of the best wildlife areas of Canada.
Keep in mind that because of the one-way nature of the trip and goal of exploring some of the Northwest Passage, there is a bit less flexibility in the expedition sense due to the ship needing to cover so many nautical miles. The ship is not only on a schedule for this but also for various permits needed for site visits in Canada. There is a little more flexibility in the Greenland portion.
Don’t Miss – Devon Island
Devon Island was truly a highlight of the trip for me. It has excellent wildlife opportunities, history and ice/glaciers. We spent two days exploring here, and some of the sites we visited were new for the expedition team since they had to shift sides of the island due to high winds forecasted.
At Bethune Inlet we were able to see the Devon Ice Cap and some massive tidewater glaciers coming into the inlet along with seals and walrus. Cunningham West Glacier was an interesting site too, and we were able to hike up onto a glacial moraine to a viewpoint where you could see glaciers on both sides of the moraine as well as views out to the sea with the ship in the distance.
When the ship was repositioning to the island’s Croker Bay for the afternoon, we encountered a group of approx. 10 musk ox fairly close to the shore/waterline. The ship stopped and we spent some time observing them from aboard.
Croker Bay is also where we saw the majority of the polars bears spotted on the route (5 of the 7 we saw, including a mother bear with 2 cubs). And we were also able to observe a large calving event at the glacier before going back aboard the ship. Aboard, the crew had prepared an outdoor BBQ for dinner. We all really enjoyed that out on the top deck with views of glaciers and Croker Bay surrounding us.
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Best Wildlife Moment – Musk ox, polar bears & narwhals
Seeing the musk ox in the morning and then polar bears in the afternoon on Devon Island was an incredible day that’s hard to beat. But for uniqueness among all my Arctic expeditions it was seeing a pod (called a blessing) of narwhals in Flexure Bay on the east coast of Prince of Whales Island. We were able to see these some 15 narwhals from the Zodiacs here.
Overall, there are a lot of areas to possibly see wildlife, but it is also incredibly vast here and the wildlife viewing is intermittent. Sightings can often be distant or short in duration. And we weren’t seeing it all the time or around every corner like it feels in places like Antarctica, the Galapagos Islands or Alaska.
But when I look back on the entire trip, we actually did see a lot (polar bears, musk ox, walrus, arctic hares, arctic fox, belugas, narwhals and a variety of sea birds and other whale species), but it was over the course of 13 days and not all passengers spotted every animal. Part of what makes seeing arctic wildlife so rewarding is that it is not easy to locate, so the sightings you do get are extra special.
Many guides enjoy guiding more in the Arctic than in Antarctica because there is a lot more variety, surprise encounters, exploring new areas compared to Antarctica, where most of the sites are well known and explored often. For example, seeing a narwhal at all is exceptional. So to see around 15 of them from a Zodiac made a lifetime wildlife sighting for me.
Look Out For – Your wildlife expectations & the timing of Northwest Passage trips
The timing of this trip (late August/early September) is intentional. The main one being less sea ice, which means better access to areas, landings and more possibilities for different routes through the Northwest Passage. But this means polar bears are harder to find. Regardless, we still saw 7 polar bears on my trip. And while it was still a little early for Northern Lights, some were visible in Greenland. But once we got farther north on our expedition, the daylight hours were too long for any visibility. Keep in mind that this voyage is about a larger picture of the Arctic that includes wildlife, age of exploration history, iconic locations in Northwest Passage navigation, arctic scenery, ice/glaciers and Inuit culture.
If I Booked Again – I’d bring high-quality optics
Wildlife can be far away in the Arctic, so binoculars or a long lens is critical for wildlife viewing/photos. I didn’t bring binoculars and wish I did. I got by with my long lens but having binoculars would have been nice. They did have scopes onboard for guests to use in the observation lounge.
View over 80 additional photos from my expedition in my online Facebook album on AdventureSmith Explorations’ Facebook page.
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