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Spitsbergen CruiseAn Arctic adventure cruise with Hurtigruten's MS Nordstjernen
A
2020 update: MS Nordstjernen has been modernized to meet current international standards, and it remains in Hurtigruten's fleet as a charter vessel. However, the company's scheduled Svalbard or Spitsbergen cruises are now mostly aboard newer ships. For current cruise listings, visit the Hurtigruten Web site.
Spitsbergen
is the largest island in Svalbard, an archipelago that lies directly
between Norway and the North Pole.
Longyearbyen, the
administrative center of the territory, is closer to the Pole than to the Arctic
Circle--and the northernmost reaches of Svalbard lie above the 80th parallel,
the last tiny circle before the dot on the top of your world globe.
Svalbard
is the last frontier of Europe. It's a mountainous region covered in glaciers
(60% of the land mass is beneath an icecap), with more polar bears than people
and a profusion of other wildlife such as whales, seals, walruses, Svalbard reindeer,
seabirds of various kinds, and Arctic foxes. It's so wild that the law requires locals and visitors to
carry weapons for self-defense against polar bears when venturing beyond the
handful of human settlements. Unless you're a wilderness trekker or snowmobiler, the easiest way to explore
Svalbard--and Spitsbergen--is by cruise ship. And while large ships such as the
QE2 and Deutschland often pay brief visits to Spitsbergen during Norwegian North
Cape itineraries, passengers on such cruises get only the tiniest taste of the
Svalbard experience. A far better option is an Arctic adventure cruise
on a small expedition ship with an ice-rated hull and boats that can land in
remote fjords.
The
main operator of such cruises in Svalbard is
Hurtigruten (formerly Norwegian
Coastal Voyage in the U.S. market), which
operates two ships in Spitsbergen during the summer: the vintage coastal steamer
MS Nordstjernen, with 3- and 4-night adventure cruises, and the modern expedition
ship MV Polar Star, which offers 7-day expedition cruises. Both ships
provide an "up
close and personal" view of Spitsbergen. When ice conditions permit, they'll
also take you north of the 80th Parallel where there's nothing between you and the
North Pole but the Arctic Ocean. In June, 2006, I sampled a three-night Spitsbergen adventure cruise aboard the
MS Nordstjernen.
This article, which is accompanied by a day-by-day photo diary, shows what you're likely to
experience if you take your own adventure cruise amid the
fjords, glaciers, and mountains of Svalbard. Next page: The ship - MS Nordstjernen
About the author: Durant Imboden is a professional travel writer, book author, and editor who focuses on Europe. After 4-1/2 years of covering European travel for About.com, Durant and Cheryl Imboden co-founded Europe for Visitors (including Europe for Cruisers) in 2001. The site has earned "Best of the Web" honors from Forbes and The Washington Post. For more information, see About Europe for Visitors, press clippings, and reader testimonials. |
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