NW passage 2022 - mid cruise review

[highplanesdrifters]

@10987654321Thank you so very much for all the details. Immensely helpful.  We did two trips back into the arctic this year and loved both. One on SS Cloud, and one on the new Seabourn Venture. We were pondering the NW passage on Venture next year as friends are going but were reluctant. Final decision made thanks to your help. Back to the southern polar regions it is!

[10987654321]

12 hours ago, AussieBoyTX said:

 

It looks like the 2023 version on Boreal is down to 24 nights from 29

This cruise was 29 nights as it was supposed to leave from Tromsø, but with the last minute change in route I guess it was easier for Ponant to keep it departing from there rather than start from Iceland, so we picked up 5 additional days at no cost to us.

[10987654321]

@highplanesdrifters I would say this is a good decision. I’d be happy to do Antarctica again, with or without Ponant.

I would advise knowing whom our expedition leader was and avoiding a cruise with him but. When the expedition guides are complaining about the expedition leader without prompting there’s an issue.

[highplanesdrifters]

14 hours ago, 10987654321 said:

@highplanesdrifters I would say this is a good decision. I’d be happy to do Antarctica again, with or without Ponant.

I would advise knowing whom our expedition leader was and avoiding a cruise with him but. When the expedition guides are complaining about the expedition leader without prompting there’s an issue.

I agree. We had two great expedition leaders this summer. Also important is their relationship with the Captian so they can actually make a Plan B or C instead of another sea day.

Thanks again for taking the time to report and answer my queries. 

[sfvoyage]

On 9/30/2022 at 6:12 AM, highplanesdrifters said:

@10987654321We were pondering the NW passage on Venture next year as friends are going but were reluctant.

 

Thanks to the OP for the very helpful trip details.

 

We, too, are considering NW Passage on Seabourn Venture but are now not so interested.

 

I was wondering if the timing was a factor - if sailing in September may be too late for the NW Passage, but then Seabourn's NW Passage for 2023 is scheduled for first half of September as well.  

Edited October 1, 2022 by sfvoyage

[highplanesdrifters]

18 hours ago, sfvoyage said:

I was wondering if the timing was a factor - if sailing in September may be too late for the NW Passage, but then Seabourn's NW Passage for 2023 is scheduled for first half of September as well.  

After sailing on Venture this summer we thought it was such a fabulous ship, how bad could the NW passage be on it. Esentially it's a repositioning cruise. A substitute for the transatlantic crossing. Only with ice, maybe a polar bear, and at tripple the price tag. Others we have asked have echoed the OPs excellent reporting. Like you, I think we will use those travel bullets elsewhere.

[gogo65]

On 10/2/2022 at 6:27 AM, sfvoyage said:

 

Thanks to the OP for the very helpful trip details.

 

We, too, are considering NW Passage on Seabourn Venture but are now not so interested.

 

I was wondering if the timing was a factor - if sailing in September may be too late for the NW Passage, but then Seabourn's NW Passage for 2023 is scheduled for first half of September as well.  

Sfvoyage, I do believe the timing of the trip could impact the outcome.

The problem is the later you go, the less chance of wildlife (as most have migrated), but the more chance of ice and snow (and also an iced over passage that means you cant get through) I would have been very happy to sit back and watch the landscape go by if it was ice and snow. If it was earlier in the season, potentially more wildlife but less chance of ice and snow (and the more baron dirty, muddy landscape that we saw).

Regardless of the landscape/wildlife the expedition leader is crucial to a successful voyage.

[PACruiser5]

Thanks all for the information. From the Seabourn threat it sounds like the  Venture NW passage trip was also plagued by some of the same paperwork issues and weather cancellations. But it sounded from the Facebook and CC posts that service at least held up. 

 

We are on Boreal Nov 22nd for the Great Austral Loop and hopeful that Ponant will be back on their game by then. 

[gogo65]

15 hours ago, PACruiser5 said:

Thanks all for the information. From the Seabourn threat it sounds like the  Venture NW passage trip was also plagued by some of the same paperwork issues and weather cancellations. But it sounded from the Facebook and CC posts that service at least held up. 

 

We are on Boreal Nov 22nd for the Great Austral Loop and hopeful that Ponant will be back on their game by then. 

Im sure when its back downs in Antartica doing its usual cruise it will be fine.

You will be very fortunate to have Dan and Rachel as naturalists on your cruise. A passionate English couple (that live in Scotland), they and their enthusiasm made the trip for us! They board again on the 4th November I believe.