Seabourn has announced a new lineup of voyages for summer 2023 aboard its new expedition ships Seabourn Venture and Seabourn Pursuit.
The program includes the line’s first-ever cruises to the Northeast and Northwest Passages in the Arctic, where guests will discover two of the world’s most remote and fascinating regions.
Northeast Passage
On July 29, 2023, Seabourn Venture is scheduled to embark on a 26-day journey across the Northeast Passage. A remote and sparsely inhabited area, the passage is a voyage of discovery that very few have ever taken.
Highlights that guests may experience include:
- Navigate across the top of Norway and Arctic Russia.
- Learn about the dichotomy of microscopic delicate flora surviving in huge frozen landscapes.
- Learn about sea ice and understand how its presence has shaped the history of the region.
- Search for marine wildlife in the water and seabirds nesting on cliffs or tundra slopes on shore.
- Explore the transformative nature of the area and the impacts of climate change there.
The vessel will visit a number of destinations throughout the voyage, including:
- Storstappen Island, a hotspot for breeding seabirds
- Mumansk, Russia, with activities including a visit to the Nuclear Icebreaker Lenin
- Sailing the Barents Sea, where nutrient-rich waters host a bevy of migratory sea birds and marine mammals
- Novaya Zemlya, Russia, where guests can explore the islands in the remote Russian High Arctic via hike, kayak, and Zodiac
- Franz Joseph Land, an archipelago of 192 islands in the Russian Arctic National Park where polar bears, Atlantic walruses, bowhead whales, and ivory gulls are among its protected species
- Wrangel Island, Russia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located well above the Arctic Circle that is often referred to as a polar bear “nursery”
- Provideniya, Russia, the former Soviet military port where a tour will take in a stunning local museum and a visit to the Cultural Center for tea, music, and dance
Northwest Passage
Seabourn Pursuit will offer the opportunity to travel one of the most infamous and storied passages in the world from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Notable experiences include:
- Navigate through the most infamous passages in the world, whose history of exploration is more fascinating than any other region.
- Discover the lonely resting sites of the Franklin Expedition on the world and stark Beechy Island.
- Explore small Inuit towns such as Cambridge Bay and see how modern life has transformed the people of the Arctic.
- View the ice situation in Bellot Strait, where the ship will need to navigate through a narrow and challenging geographical gap.
- Search for marine wildlife both in the water and on any sea ice that may be encountered.
The ship will also visit a number of destinations, including:
- Sisimiut, Greenland’s second-largest city with the best-preserved historic church in the country
- Ilulissat, which in Greenlandic means “iceberg,” located at the terminus of the Jakobshavn Glacier, which calves spectacularly into the sea
- Pond Inlet in Nunavut, Canada, where local Inuit residents will guide a walk through town
- Croker Bay at Devon Island, the world’s largest uninhabited island in Baffin Bay off the coast of Nunavut
- Nine days tracing the Northwest Passage, where the expedition team will deploy the kayaks, Zodiacs, and submarines for naturalist-led experiences set on a flexible schedule that’s guided by ice
- Five days sailing along Canada’s Northwest and Yukon Territories via the Beaufort Sea, with the expedition team on the lookout for seabirds and marine mammals en route to the journey’s end in Nome, a town born from the discovery of gold in 1898
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Seabourn Pursuit‘s Maiden Season
Scheduled to launch in March 2023, Seabourn Pursuit will explore the Arctic, Greenland, Iceland, and the Canadian Arctic during its maiden season. The series of voyages will start with a 12-day Wild & Ancient Scotland & Iceland pre-inaugural voyage departing on March 23, 2023 from Amsterdam to Reykjavik, Iceland.
The ship will then operate a 14-day Lands of Fire & Ice inaugural voyage departing April 4, 2023 roundtrip from Reykjavik. It will wind its way along the coast of Greenland and Iceland, where it’s filled with snow-swept landscapes (the “Ice”), and have a late night in Akureyri — a wonderland providing access to waterfalls, hot springs, and the lava fields of Dimmuborgir and Leirhnjukur (the “Fire”).
Following the inaugural cruise, Pursuit will offer a 14-day Lands of Fire & Ice in Greenland and Iceland followed by a series of explorations of the Arctic Circle from Norway, most with Seabourn’s Svalbard Experience.
A series of 14 and 15-day voyages between Greenland and Iceland will follow, as well as a 12-day Bering Sea & Inside Passage cruise visiting destinations in Alaska and British Columbia.
Seabourn Venture‘s Second Season
Seabourn’s first expedition ship will embark on its second year of operation in 2023, exploring the Arctic, Scotland, Norway, and the Russian Arctic.
The vessel will begin its summer season on May 12, 2023, with a 10-day Wild Isles of Scotland and Iceland voyage from London to Reykjavik.
The ship will then offer a 12-day Fjords of the Norwegian Sea cruise, followed by a series of 11 and 12-day expeditions exploring Arctic Svalbard from Norway.
In mid-July, Venture will sail a 14-day Norway, Novaya Zemlya & Franz Joseph Land expedition.
After the Northeast Passage journey, the vessel will explore the Russian Far East with a 14-day Wild Coasts of Kamchatka expedition in August and 14-day Volcanoes & Wildlife of the Kuril Islands voyage in September 2023.
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