This is a voyage filled with spectacular glaciers, fjords, mountains, and all the colors you can imagine therin. Our trip to Greenland is alive with natural beauty and wildlife from the Raudfjord fjord with it’s Ringed and Bearded Seals to the magnificents of the Kaiser Franz Joseph Fjord with its towering mountains on both sides, its inner reaches choked with huge icebergs. Organized zodiac cruising along one of the glacier fronts at Scoresby Sund offers an up-close and personal experience with your surroundings, and the viewing of the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) offers the perfect bookend of natural beauty to this 13 day voyage.
Northeast Greenland itinerary:
Day 1
Arrive in Longyearbyen, on Spitsbergen, the administrative capital of the Spitsbergen archipelago of which West Spitsbergen is the largest island. Before embarking there is an opportunity to visit this former mining village. The Parish Church and the Polar Museum are well worth visiting. In the early evening the ship will sail out of Isfjorden.
Day 2
We sail into Raudfjord on the north coast of West Spitsbergen, a beautiful fjord with spectacular glaciers. It is home to Ringed and Bearded Seals, seabird colonies and a surprisingly rich vegetation. We have good chances to see Polar Bears, for instance near Hamilton Glacier, or more to the head of the fjord. From there we continue to Moffen Island on which Walruses haul out.
Days 3 & 4
At sea, on our way to Greenland, we may see the edge of the East Greenland sea-ice. We keep watch for whales, and also for migrating seabirds.
Day 5
Approaching Greenland we will attempt to sail through the sea ice into Foster Bugt, making our first landing at Myggebugten. Beyond the old hunters’ hut (in the first half of last century Norwegian trappers hunted here for Polar Bears and Arctic Foxes) there is an extensive tundra populated by Musk Oxen. The small lakes are home to geese. We sail through Kaiser Franz Joseph Fjord, a magnificent fjord with towering mountains on both sides, its inner reaches choked with huge icebergs. An alternative is Sofia Sund, which is much narrower, and where we can see Musk Oxen from the ship.
Day 6
We will land at Blomster Bugt to view the beautiful geological formations. Arctic Hares are usually seen here, and there is a lake with Great Northern Divers and their young. In the afternoon we sail along Teufelschloss and Ella Ø and may land at a beautiful spot in the early evening.
Day 7
The first half of the day we spend in Antarcticahavn, a wide and extensive valley where we also could see groups of Musk Oxen. At this time of year the autumnal colours of the sparse vegetation make the landscapes even more beautiful.
Day 8
Today we reach the Scoresby Sund and sail in the morning along the ragged and glaciated Volquart Boons Here we may organise a zodiac cruise along one of the glacier fronts of this coast, and have our first landing near for instance Maane Glacier.
Later we land on Danmark,Ø where we find the remains of an Inuit settlement abandoned around 200 years ago. The circular ‘tent rings’ of stones indicate the summer houses, while the winter houses can be seen closer to a small cape. The sites are excellently preserved, allowing entrances and even bear-proof meat caches to be identified. There are also grave sites. In the evening we continue our sailing through the beautiful fjords to the west, choked with ice-bergs.
Day 9
We go ashore at Cape Hofmann Halvø, a reliable spot for viewing Musk Oxen. We may also spot Rock Ptarmigans and Great Northern Divers at sea. The landscape here is particularly beautiful, especially during autumn when the Dwarf Willow and Dwarf Birch change colour. Arctic Blueberry and Crowberry add their own colourful touch - the berries are tasty too! In the evening we sail through the fjord towards Scoresby Land, enjoying the contrast between the warm autumnal colours of the vegetation on shore, backed by huge dark mountains, and the cold blue of the icebergs.
Day 10
In Northwest fjord in Scoresby Land in the morning, we encounter huge icebergs, some over 100m high and more than a kilometre in length. Most of the bergs are grounded as the fjord is only about 400m deep here. We land near Sydkap to view the remains of the Thule culture winter houses. As many as 20 people lived in these tiny houses, hunting Greenland Whales and using their vertebrae to build the houses. We may also land at Gurreholm on Jameson Land. The landscape here is gently undulating.
Day 11
In the morning we land at Illoqqortoormiut, the biggest settlement in the Scoresby Sund with about 500 inhabitants. At the post office you can buy stamps for your postcards, or just wander around to see the sledge dogs and the drying skins of Seal, Musk Ox and Polar Bear. After dinner we will sail south passing the amazing landscape of the Blosseville Coast
Day 12
We will spend the whole day at sea and we will have splendid opportunities to see large whales and seabird migration and, in the night, the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights).
Day 13
In the morning we arrive in Akureyri and are taken by a chartered bus during a 6 hours drive through North Iceland to our hotels in Reykjavik.
Antarctic Dream
MV Antarctic Dream is a Dutch built ice-reinforced vessel and served under the name Piloto Pardo for the Chilean Navy. The vessel was rebuilt as an unrestricted, worldwide passenger vessel and was completely refurbished in July 2005. MV Antarctic Dream is registered in Belize. The vessel features a spacious dining room / observation lounge, bar, lecture room, fitness room plus sauna, boutique and passenger bridge.
The vessel offers accommodation for 84 passengers in 42 twin cabins with private toilet and shower. 4 Suites, 16 Superior cabins and 20 twin private cabins have portholes or windows and either two separate lower beds or queen beds. 2 Additional twin private cabins have no portholes / windows (inside cabins). All cabins have furthermore a desk, closed circuit TV, and inter-cabin phone service. Satellite email and phone service is available on the bridge.
The vessel is manned by 18 well-trained Chilean crew members. The on board staff consists of 1 expedition leader, 4 guides / lecturers, 1 hotel manager, 1 barman, 1 doctor, 4 chefs and 7 waitresses / cabin cleaners. The MV Antarctic Dream's expeditions offer you the ideal introduction to Spitsbergen and Greenland. Departing from and finishing most of the times in the port of Longyearbyen, we take in the most exciting sights Spitbergen. Our program is orientated to the viewing of wildlife and the breathtaking scenery of narrow waterways, glaciers and icebergs.
The Captain and the expedition leader will assess conditions daily with the intention of maximizing your time ashore. This means taking full advantage of opportunities to land passengers with our zodiacs and making best use of the light of the long summer days. On board lectures are offered by geologists, historians, naturalists and expedition leaders. Join the captain and the rest of our 36 crew and staff members for an awe-inspiring journey of discovery and adventure.
Ice class: The MV Antarctic Dream has a 1-inch thick steel ring which is 3 meters high surrounding the hull in the area closest to the ice. The frames have 300 mm of distance in between. The propeller has protection for working in ice. The vessel is not an icebreaker but can handle loose ice of about 300-500 mm in thickness. She was constructed under the following notation of Lloyd’s Register: + 100 A1 strengthened for navigation in ice.
Cabins:
MV Antarctic dream accommodates 42 twin passengers cabins all with lower beds and private toilet and shower, as follows:
Suite:
4 with large window
(3 with queen beds, 1 with two single beds)
Superior:
16 with large window
(6 with queen beds, 10 with two single beds)
Twin private:
20 with small porthole
(5 with queen beds, 15 with two single beds)
Twin private inside:
2 with no porthole or window
(2 with two single beds)
