Polar Bears & Puffins

Overview

Seabourn Pursuit

Seabourn Pursuit is the second Seabourn expedition ship slated to launch in February 2023. Both Seabourn Pursuit and sister ship Seabourn Venture are designed and built for diverse environments to PC6 Polar Class standards and include modern hardware and technology that will extend the ships’ global deployment and capabilities. Each will carry two custom-built submarines, 24 Zodiacs, kayaks, and a 26-person expert expedition team whose role is to engage guests throughout each voyage. 

The ship then continues onward by exploring the waters and landscapes of Greenland, Iceland and Norway throughout the spring and early summer, in some instances retracing the path of the Vikings to the frontier town of Tromsø while carving its way through the inside passage of the Norwegian fjords along the way. A sure highlight for August 2023 is the ship’s Northwest Passage journey through some of the most remote areas in the Northern Hemisphere from Kangerlussuaq, Greenland to Nome, Alaska.

Expedition Cruising with Seabourn

Seabourn Expeditions are curated by Mother Nature and our 26-person expedition team of wildlife experts, scientists, historians and naturalists who share a passion for creating unforgettable wildlife and destination experiences for our guests. Experience luxury and adventure as you sail through the northern and southern polar regions and become an active participant in the natural world around you. 

• Cruise by Zodiac under teeming bird cliffs and along jungle rivers as you spot whales, polar bears and walruses up close.
• Kayak among stately icebergs and tropical coral islands.
• Hike through Viking ruins, ancient Incan sites and indigenous Amazon villages. 
• In our state-of-the-art submarines, adventure beneath the surface past vivid reef walls and towering underwater ice-cliffs and experience sea life in a way few will ever know.

Inclusions

• 14 day expedition cruise aboard Seabourn Pursuit
• Included Shore Excursions led by hand-selected tour operators and joined by our Expedition Team, in almost every port.
• Included Expedition Experiences led by the onboard Expedition Team. Experiences include hiking, Zodiac® cruises/landings & more 
• Intuitive, personalized service provided by staff passionate about exceeding guests’ expectations
• Each suite includes a Personal Suite Host and Suite Attendant who ensures everything is perfect
• Complimentary premium spirits and fine wines available on board at all times
• Welcome Champagne and complimentary in-suite bar stocked with your preferences
• Tipping is neither required, nor expected
• A choice of dining venues to suit every taste

Itinerary

Tromso, Norway

• MAY 21, 2023
• DEPARTS 05:00 PM

Tromsø is the largest city in northern Norway and the ninth most populous municipality in the country. It surprises visitors with its sophisticated art scene, its contrasting modern and historical architecture, international cuisine, multicultural events, and festivals throughout the year.

Storstappen Island, Norway

• MAY 22, 2023
• ARRIVES 07:00 AM
• DEPARTS 12:00 PM

Just west of the North Cape lies the Gjesvaestappen island chain, a designated nature reserve and birdwatcher’s paradise. These hilly, grass-covered islands – of which Storstappen is the largest — are home to some of Norway’s largest colonies of cliff-breeding seabirds, including 100,000 puffins, 10,000 black-legged kittiwakes, and 5,000 razorbills. While visitors are not allowed to set foot on Storstappen, your Zodiac excursion will take you up close to its puffin-covered cliffs. 

Hornvika, Norway

• MAY 22, 2023
• ARRIVES 01:00 PM
• DEPARTS 02:00 PM
• CRUISING ONLY

Until the middle of the 20^th century, the only way to reach the North Cape was to arrive by sea. The tall plateau looming over the Arctic Ocean is scalloped on the east side by a sheltered cove called the Hornvika. To reach it, you will board a stable, rigid inflatable watercraft at the fishing village of Skarsvåg. On the way to the Hornvika, your boat will pass the free-standing rock feature called the Horn (Hornet in Norwegian), a place sacred to the Sami people, who sacrificed offerings there for good fortune. From the cove, a stairway and trail leads up just over a thousand steps to the plateau 307 meters (over a thousand feet) above and thus to the North Cape Monument. Once there enjoy the views and the informational visitors center. And relax, you’ll go back to your ship overland by road! Others can sail to Skarsvåg and drive to the Cape.

Skarsvag, Norway

• MAY 22, 2023
• ARRIVES 03:00 PM
• DEPARTS 08:00 PM

The tall plateau looming over the Arctic Ocean is scalloped on the east side by a sheltered cove called the Hornvika. To reach it, you will board a stable, rigid inflatable watercraft at Norway’s northernmost fishing village of Skarsvåg. On the way to the Hornvika, your boat will pass the free-standing rock feature called the Horn (Hornet in Norwegian), a place sacred to the Sami people, who sacrificed offerings there for good fortune. From the cove, a stairway and trail leads up just over a thousand steps to the plateau 307 meters (over a thousand feet) above and thus to the North Cape Monument. Once there enjoy the views and the informational visitors center. And relax, you’ll go back to your ship overland by road! Others can drive to the Cape from Skarsvåg.

Scenic Cruising North Cape

• MAY 22, 2023
• CRUISING ONLY

The looming cliffs of Norway’s North Cape rise directly from the sea 1007 ft/307m to a plateau as flat as a table. This impressive headland has been selected to represent the northernmost point of Europe, even though it is technically located on an island, Magerøya, connected to the mainland by a bridge. At 71° 10’ 20” N latitude, it is just 1,306 mi/2012 km from the North Pole. At this point, the Norwegian Sea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean, meets the Barents Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean. Further north, the mountainous archipelagoes of Franz Josef Land and Svalbard are the last lands before the Polar Ice Pack. The Midnight Sun does not dip below the horizon here at any time between May 14 and July 31 each year. Sheer and formidable, the North Cape pays its role to the hilt, emphatically declaring itself the end of Europe’s landmass.

Days At Sea

• MAY 23, 2023

Bjornoya (Bear Island), Norway

• MAY 24, 2023
• ARRIVES 07:00 AM
• DEPARTS 06:00 PM

Halfway between Europe’s North Cape and the Svalbard Archipelago, isolated Bjørnøya also sits along the line between the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea. Its fortress-like cliffs and sea stacks greet your arrival with the white-noise of uncountable nesting seabirds coming and going from the rock walls. They circle overhead as you explore the sea caves and narrow channels between the stacks and the cliff in Zodiacs. Conditions permitting, the flat, lunar terrain of the opposite shore at Herwighamna may allow you to land and meet the small crew of the weather station.

Svalbard Experience

• MAY 25 - MAY 29, 2023
• ARRIVES 07:00 AM
• DEPARTS 05:00 PM

The islands of Svalbard rise dramatically from the Arctic Ocean halfway between Norway’s North Cape and the North Pole. They give eloquent evidence of Nature’s slow but ceaseless industry, scored and corrugated by glaciers that still cover 60 percent of their mass. Stony, sentinel peaks soar above deeply carved fjords and sparkling bays. In summer, the sparse tundra vegetation erupts under the endless encouragement of the Midnight Sun. Migratory birds in their millions arrive from more southerly realms, to nest and breed and nurture their young on steep, striated cliffs, shingle beaches and tundra meadows. Elaborately-antlered reindeer graze the slopes. Arctic foxes and predatory gulls haunt the nursery edges, alert for opportunity. Seals and walruses haul out to join the breeding season, and patient polar bears patrol the rocky shorelines and floating ice, while whales roll and breach offshore, feeding on the sea’s summer abundance.  Here and there, bleached testaments to past human endeavors endure: whalebones and weathered trypots from medieval whaling stations; the wind-sanded timbers of an expedition’s launching site; a hut where someone whiled away a long-ago, dark winter. Riding in Zodiacs and paddling kayaks, observing from the decks and trekking on the islands themselves, we will experience and explore this isolated, unspoiled and breathtakingly beautiful place, as it revels in the endless days of its short, exuberant summer. 

Days At Sea

• MAY 30, 2023

Jan Mayen Island, Norway

• MAY 31, 2023
• ARRIVES 08:00 AM
• DEPARTS 05:00 PM

Remote and isolated, Jan Mayen is dominated by 2,277 meter (7,470’) high Beerenberg Volcano and its large ice cap. The island has two parts: larger northeast Nord-Jan and smaller southwest Sør-Jan, linked by a 2.5 kilometer (1.6 mile) wide isthmus. The League of Nations gave jurisdiction of Jan Mayen to the Kingdom of Norway in 1921. Except for being used as a meteorological, radio and navigation aid for shipping in the Atlantic, the island has remained untouched, its only inhabitants are 18 military personnel.

In 2010 Jan Mayen was declared a nature reserve for the protection of its wildlife and is recognized as one of the most important breeding sites for over 250,000 seabirds in the North Atlantic. It supports large colonies of northern fulmars, little auks  and thick-billed guillemots. Polar bears found here are genetically distinguishable from those found elsewhere. 

Although ‘officially’ discovered by the Dutch whaling captain Fopp Gerritsz in 1614, it may have been sighted by exploring Irish monks as early as A.D. 400.

Days At Sea

• JUN 1, 2023

Grimsey, Iceland

• JUN 2, 2023
• ARRIVES 07:00 AM
• DEPARTS 10:30 AM

Siglufjorour, Iceland

• JUN 2, 2023
• ARRIVES 01:00 PM
• DEPARTS 07:00 PM

Siglufjörður is the northernmost town on the Icelandic mainland, a small fishing village of some 1,200 people. Founded in 1918, it was in the past the capital of the North Atlantic herring fishing industry. The Síldarminjasafnið Herring Era Museum, one of Iceland's largest seafaring and industrial museums, houses three different areas where one can learn about both the traditional and the modern herring industry.  A collection of many historic fishing vessels and artifacts is proudly displayed by the people of Siglufjörður, detailing how herring was salted, processed and collected. The small harbor with its colorful fishing boats and the red-roofed steeple of the Lutheran church dominate the village-scape.

The natural beauty of the area includes high mountains that rim the fjord, freshwater lakes, the Hólsá river, black sand beaches, and a wealth of birdlife all around. This northernmost region of Iceland is renowned for some of the largest and most dramatic waterfalls in the country.

Vigur, Iceland

• JUN 3, 2023
• ARRIVES 07:00 AM
• DEPARTS 12:00 PM

The Westfjords in northwest Iceland is a remote and sparsely populated peninsula of steep, tall mountains cut by dozens of fjords. The lack of flat lowlands suitable for farming played a key role in keeping this region wild and sparsely populated. The raw and untamed natural landscape around Ísafjörður is characterized by a subarctic environment. A colorful show of blooming tundra wildflowers carpets the mountain slopes and valleys during the short, cool summer.

Vigur Island, second largest island in the Westfjords region, is one of the most renowned areas in Iceland for viewing nesting birds en masse. The area’s cliffs host an astonishing wealth of nesting birdlife, while the occasional arctic fox can be spotted patrolling the edges of the bird colonies in hope of an easy meal.

According to Icelandic history, Ísafjörður was first settled in the 9th century by a man called Helgi Magri Hrólfsson. The oldest house in Iceland, built in 1734, can be found in Ísafjörður and is now a part of a local museum. 

Isafjordur, Iceland

• JUN 3, 2023
• ARRIVES 01:00 PM
• DEPARTS 05:00 PM

The Westfjords in northwest Iceland is a remote and sparsely populated peninsula of steep, tall mountains cut by dozens of fjords. The lack of flat lowlands suitable for farming played a key role in keeping this region wild and sparsely populated. The raw and untamed natural landscape around Ísafjörður is characterized by a subarctic environment. A colorful show of blooming tundra wildflowers carpets the mountain slopes and valleys during the short, cool summer.

Vigur Island, second largest island in the Westfjords region, is one of the most renowned areas in Iceland for viewing nesting birds en masse. The area’s cliffs host an astonishing wealth of nesting birdlife, while the occasional arctic fox can be spotted patrolling the edges of the bird colonies in hope of an easy meal.

According to Icelandic history, Ísafjörður was first settled in the 9th century by a man called Helgi Magri Hrólfsson. The oldest house in Iceland, built in 1734, can be found in Ísafjörður and is now a part of a local museum. 

Reykjavik, Iceland

• JUN 4, 2023
• ARRIVES 07:00 AM

Reykjavík, established by Viking settler Ingólfur Arnarson around 870 C.E, is the location of the first permanent settlement in Iceland. The census of 1703 recorded that Reykjavík had 69 residents and consisted of a farm and a church. The impressive statue of Leif Erikson, in the center of town, reminds all of Iceland’s Viking heritage. Its name translates to ‘smoky bay’, due to the geothermal nature of the surrounding area.

Today about 200.000 people live in the Icelandic capital, roughly 60% of the country’s population. It has evolved into a sophisticated city. The northernmost national capital in the world is also one of the cleanest, greenest, and safest on Earth.  Walking Reykjavik streets one will find rich culture, history, music, shopping and in the late hours vibrant night-life. Colorful rooftops and the elegant spire of Hallgrímskirkja Church dominate Reykjavik’s skyline. Known for its arts, Reykjavik hosts a number of internationally recognized festivals, notably the Iceland Air music festival, Reykjavik Arts Festival and the Reykjavik International Film Festival.

Dates/Prices

*Advertised price is based on per person twin share