Murmansk to the North Pole

[1612]

Please

 

Does anyone knows the difference of going to the North Pole in June, July or August?

 

Any better, any worse, whatever?

 

Thank you very much for input

[1612]

on the 50 Let Pobedy / 50 Years of Victory,

 

any reviews, feedback, experience, comments, whatever,

 

also, anything about the rolling and pitching motion of the ship when crossing the Barents Sea ?

 

many thanks in advance

[TLCOhio]

Please. Does anyone knows the difference of going to the North Pole in June, July or August? Any better, any worse, whatever? Thank you very much for input

 

In preparing for and doing our "North Cape" cruise, I do not recall that any cruise line goes all of the way up to the North Pole. Some cruise lines will go to the Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen and Svalbard. That area is much above Honningsvåg, Norway's northernmost town, lying at a latitude of 71° north. It is from this town that you reach mainland Europe's most northerly point, the North Cape, a barren landscape that rises some 300 metres above the icy waters of the Barents Sea. This plateau on the North Cape cliff is only twenty miles away from Honningsvåg and is Europe's northernmost corner, at 71ºC 10' 21'' latitude. Did you mean the North Pole or North Cape?

 

Don't think it would be safe, time-efficient and/or feasible in trying to go all the way up to the North Pole for cruise ships. No place there to dock or stop at a port.

 

On weather, our experienced ship's Captain told us that generally July is the best month for weather in and around the North Cape and this far up. It's not impossible to do this area in June or August, but your weather "odds" are not as good as what July offers.

 

Below is my live/blog posting from sailing to the North Cape, Lofoten Islands, etc. This includes lots of wildlife pictures, etc. As you can see, things get pretty barren this far north. Let us know any added questions. THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For lots of interesting details, great visuals, etc., from our July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. Don’t be shy and feel free to ask any questions of interest. This posting is now over 38,520 views. Appreciate those who have “tuned in”.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

 

 

Here are two views of the North Cape as we approached and the clouds started to clear and the sun broke through showing a great blue sky.:

 

 

 

 

 

In the small fishing village of Gjesvaer near the North Cape, here was the harbor scene as we had our picnic at an open table before going on our charter boat to the bird rock areas. That tree trunk/limbs shown didn't actually grow there. It was brought in and placed there. This far north, nothing major grows and the land areas are very much a type of tundra. Extremely interesting and beautiful area!:

 

 

 

This is the first of many puffin visuals, showing their bright orange feet, plus their cute and unique beaks.:

 

 

 

On the way to Gjesvaer near the North Cape, here was a small part of the large herd of reindeer we discovered on the way to our boat charter. They believed that all of this territory, including the road, belong to them. The young baby reindeer were especially cute!:

 

 

 

This shows a huge colony of sea gulls along the rocks and deep into the large opening in the side of the mountain.:

 

[LauraBK]

The Russian nuclear powered ice breaker "50 Years of Victory" cruises to the North Pole from Murmansk. It looks absolutely amazing, but also very expensive. It includes zodiac and helicopter excursions, as well as meals...even has a pool!

 

Take a look at this site:

http://www.travelwild.com/shipd/50%20Years%20of%20Victory/10015/ShipDetails.aspx

 

I would love to hear a trip report on this one!!

[TLCOhio]

The Russian nuclear powered ice breaker "50 Years of Victory" cruises to the North Pole from Murmansk. It looks absolutely amazing, but also very expensive. It includes zodiac and helicopter excursions, as well as meals...even has a pool!

Take a look at this site:

http://www.travelwild.com/shipd/50%20Years%20of%20Victory/10015/ShipDetails.aspx

I would love to hear a trip report on this one!!

 

I would love to do such a trip report, but my banker won't cooperate. On the website, it notes these dates: Jun 23, 2011 - Jul 7, 2011, with a starting cost from $22,690. I assume that's per person. Don't want to rob a bank and do prison time for that cost level. Sounds interesting! Any rich sponsor willing to loan me their credit card?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For lots of interesting details, great visuals, etc., from our July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. Don’t be shy and feel free to ask any questions of interest. This posting is now over 38,550 views. Appreciate those who have “tuned in”.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[kaisatsu]

Quark Expeditions runs the same trip on the same ship. If you recall, that's the trip that I had my heart set on and was trying to win earlier this year. Sadly, I did not win. Oh, how I wanted to!

 

I don't really know the differences between the months. The summer solstice is in late June, so if you go any time in June or July, you're bound to have a lot of sunlight. Pretty much no sunsets the whole trip! It could be exciting to go during the summer solstice, since you'd probably be experiencing the single longest day that any of us will ever see in our lifetimes!

 

If you happen to be on Facebook, you might take do a search for Quark Expedition groups. I saw that they had a small community there, and you might have better luck finding someone who's actually done the North Pole trip (or at least find some people who've sailed more of the truly-Arctic waters).

 

I am supremely jealous, by the way, as this trip is the top of my "dream" wishlist. Oh, how I wish I'd won that contest!

[guacamole]

The same trip you can find here:

http://www.northpolevoyages.com/

[Lirio]

I also tried to win this trip. Not luck, but maybe I will be able to do it, never know what future will bring!

[0bnxshs]

In preparing for and doing our "North Cape" cruise, I do not recall that any cruise line goes all of the way up to the North Pole. Some cruise lines will go to the Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen and Svalbard. That area is much above Honningsvåg, Norway's northernmost town, lying at a latitude of 71° north. It is from this town that you reach mainland Europe's most northerly point, the North Cape, a barren landscape that rises some 300 metres above the icy waters of the Barents Sea. This plateau on the North Cape cliff is only twenty miles away from Honningsvåg and is Europe's northernmost corner, at 71ºC 10' 21'' latitude. Did you mean the North Pole or North Cape?

 

Don't think it would be safe, time-efficient and/or feasible in trying to go all the way up to the North Pole for cruise ships. No place there to dock or stop at a port.

 

On weather, our experienced ship's Captain told us that generally July is the best month for weather in and around the North Cape and this far up. It's not impossible to do this area in June or August, but your weather "odds" are not as good as what July offers.

 

Below is my live/blog posting from sailing to the North Cape, Lofoten Islands, etc. This includes lots of wildlife pictures, etc. As you can see, things get pretty barren this far north. Let us know any added questions. THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For lots of interesting details, great visuals, etc., from our July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. Don’t be shy and feel free to ask any questions of interest. This posting is now over 38,520 views. Appreciate those who have “tuned in”.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

 

Terry, great pictures! We are on the Ocean Princess in Jun '12 on the "Land of the Midnight Sun" cruise. With whom did you organize your tour of this area?

[TLCOhio]

Terry, great pictures! We are on the Ocean Princess in Jun '12 on the "Land of the Midnight Sun" cruise. With whom did you organize your tour of this area?

 

Appreciate the kind comments on my pictures. Glad to know you're a person of such class, great taste and wonderful judgment to make such comments.

 

On organizing our trip, tours, etc., I must plead "GUILTY" as the party responsible and properly charged with these "crimes". Did lots of checking on these Cruise Critic boards, web searching, booking reading, asking questions via e-mails, etc. It was fun to research and plan, BUT, even more excitement to do the trip, enjoy the food and people, etc.

 

Below are a few added pictures. What other questions can I answer or where I can provide help? Assume you've glanced through the trip live/blog, right?

 

We sailed out of Dover in 2008 to do our Baltics/Russia cruise. Did five great days in southern England, Kent, Royal Tunbridge Wells, etc. before that cruise. I see your Princess cruise will be in Bergen, Hellesylt, Geiranger, Tromsø, Honningsvag/NorthCape and Flam that we visited.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 63,133 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 58,073 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

 

 

This is the super scenic view from immediately above Geiranger that shows the Silver Cloud and Costa ships tendered. A little before this picture, we were to go to Mt. Dalsnibba as a photo stop from this 4,920-foot vantage for the snow-covered surrounding mountains, icy glaciers, crystalline lakes and Geirangerfjord far below. Here is this view, at a lower level, that provided a wonderful vista.:

 

 

 

After being tendered from Geiranger, we sailed out and passed by two super famous waterfalls. YES, yes, we saw lots and lots of waterfalls on this trip, but these two were among the “best of the best”. First is the “Seven Sisters”. Directly opposite in this narrow fjord, it is called several names, including “The Suitor”. The majesty for these feats of nature is pretty amazing.:

 

 

 

This is the dramatic overview of Tromso along the Norway Coast. The Arctic Cathedral is shown bottom right in this picture.:

 

 

 

You go on these Norway Coast cruises for the spectacular fjords. From the journey to Flam, Gudvangen and Sognerfjord, here is one picture giving you a sampling of the skies and views for these beautiful internal coastlines of the fjords.

 

 

 

Arriving at Flam, the Captain is right there directing this process. You can see here some of the fjord mountains, waterfalls in the background. Below are more pictures and highlights from this day in the Sognerfjord that is rated as the best in all of Norway for these views. This includes a spectacular train ride up the mountain, seeing the valleys, waterfalls, etc.: