Svalbard Express - (Ocean Albatros)

Hei! Welcome to Oslo. Your adventure begins with an included flight from Oslo Airport to Longyearbyen, Svalbard – the northernmost city on Earth. Here in Longyearbyen, you’ll be greeted by warm Nordic hospitality, dramatic mountain scenery, crisp polar air and the occasional polar bear warning sign to remind you just how far from home you are. When you arrive at Svalbard Airport, you’ll be transferred to your ship, the Ocean Albatros. When you’ve boarded, you’ll settle into your cabin and have a safety and orientation meeting. Toast to the journey ahead as you set sail into the Arctic wilderness!

Today, you’ll explore the Northwest Spitsbergen National Park. Established in 1973, this region has a rich history of early Arctic exploration and whaling – it became a hub for Dutch and English whalers in the early 17th century. You'll see echoes of this history in the ruins of blubber ovens and graves of sailors at the Smeerenburg whaling station (AKA ‘Blubber Town’). This protected park is home to Arctic flowers such as the vibrant purple saxifrage and the Svalbard poppy. You’ll also spot wildlife like walruses, polar bears and seabirds.

This morning, travel into the polar desert of northeast Svalbard. Here, huge glaciers tower over landscapes full of wildlife and you may see Arctic foxes prowling the icy shores with hundreds of thousands of seabirds nesting on the cliffs above. The cold coastal waters here are full of shellfish, attracting walruses – a common sight in this area. Be prepared to be spontaneous, the weather conditions today will influence the kind of exploring on the agenda. This is all part of the thrill of true polar expedition travel!

Venture to some of the northernmost land on the planet. Weather permitting, you might reach the polar desert island of Nordaustlandet or the islands of Sjuoyane (AKA the ‘Seven Islands’). These islands sit around 1000 km further north than the popular Nordkapp (North Cape) on Norway’s mainland. When you arrive, explore these islands by foot. Here in the high Arctic, these rocky islands are almost completely lacking in vegetation – you’ll mostly find moss and lichen covering the rocks. However, the birdlife here is abundant. Have your binoculars handy to watch Atltantic puffins, flocks of grazing geese and nesting terns and skuas. Later today, you’ll start cruising towards the Arctic ice pack, which stretches from Svalbard to the North Pole and beyond.

Journey further into the Arctic ice pack. This vast wilderness is home to seabirds, seals, beluga whales, bowhead whales and polar bears – the region’s apex predator. As your ship navigates narrow ice channels, sharpen your wildlife photography skills and soak in the feeling of being immersed in this incredible ecosystem.

Sail to Kongsfjord – a historic fishing village set in a vast fjord system, framed by glaciers and the imposing Three Crowns mountain. Today, you'll visit Ny-Alesund, the northernmost settlement in the world. This settlement is made up of scientific research stations and was historically a base for polar explorers like Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen.

This morning, arrive back in Longyearbyen. You’ll bid farewell to the crew and have some time to explore Longyearbyen, then you’ll be transferred to Svalbard Airport for your included flight back to Oslo. Here, your Arctic adventure comes to an end. If you’d like to extend your stay in Oslo, just speak to your booking agent ahead of time.