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Arctic

The vast and spectacular Arctic region stretches from Russia's Far East to Spitsbergen to Arctic Norway. Covered in ice pack for most of the year, the short summer season (June - August) offers the opportunity to witness the diverse scenery, unusual wildlife and interesting cultures and people the Arctic has to offer.

Ther itineraries below cover the Arctic regions of the Canadian Arctic, Greenland, Spitsbergen, Alaska and the Russian Far East. Experience polar bears, walrus, seals, Arctic foxes and seabirds in their natural environments.

Whether it's for it's history, natural wonders, or rare and amazing cultures, Sunstone Tours & Cruises offers itineraries for everyone to explore the land of the midnight sun.

Small Ship Arctic Cruise Itineraries

Arctic Quest - In Search of Polar Bears, Narwhals & The Northwest Passage

Arctic Quest - In Search of Polar Bears, Narwhals & The Northwest Passage

This epic expedition focuses on West Greenland, Baffin Island and the Canadian High Arctic, one of the Arctic’s richest areas both in natural and human history. We seek the wildlife of the far north: whales, caribous, polar bears, walruses, seals, and the elusive narwhal, known for its single exceptionally long tusk—up to 10 feet! You’ll stand where Norsemen of ten centuries ago stood, follow in the wake of polar explorers like Franklin in their search for a Northwest Passage, and meet the Inuit people who call this place home. More...

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Land of the Ice Bears: An In-Depth Exploration of Arctic Svalbard

Land of the Ice Bears: An In-Depth Exploration of Arctic Svalbard

A remote archipelago situated just over 350 miles north of Norway's North Cape, Svalbard is a place of deep fjords, mountains and massive sheets of ice. During summer, when the sun never sets, the tundra experiences a warm awakening. It is carpeted with wildflowers. Ice-peppered fjords ring with the thunderous sound of glacial ice crashing to the sea. Walrus raise their sleepy heads to observe us. And everyone holds their breath as a polar bear is spotted and cameras click wildly. Experience nature in its purest form in the High Arctic. More...

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The North Pole

The North Pole

You'll board the nuclear-powered icebreaker in Murmansk, Russia. You'll join and leave the expedition in Helsinki, Finland. The return flight from Helsinki to Murmansk is included. Shore landings are planned in Franz Josef Land and at 90N, the top of the world. Sightseeing by helicopter provides an aerial view of the icebreaker crushing through the Arctic Ocean pack ice. More...

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Beyond the North Cape: Norway's Fjords & Arctic Svalbard

Beyond the North Cape: Norway's Fjords & Arctic Svalbard

Sail north among the thousands of islands and skerries of Norway, where the scenery suddenly becomes overpoweringly dramatic. This is the fjordlands—a region that stretches 1,000 miles. Then just 350 miles north of Norway's North Cape, lies the archipelago of Svalbard, a wilderness region that few Americans know: towering ice caps, deep fjords mountains and massive sheets of ice—and the masters of the Arctic, polar bears. More...

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Fire & Ice: Japan to Kamchatka

Beyond the North Cape: Norway's Fjords & Arctic Svalbard

Towering peaks form a dramatic backdrop to a landscape of dense forests, flowering tundra, and volcanoes emerging from the sea as we sail north from Hokkaido, Japan, along the Kuril Island chain to Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. Whales, seals, otters, and thousands of seabirds surround us, and the history of the Cold War and Arctic explorers will come to life as we trace the Ring of Fire through the North Pacific. More...

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Fire & Ice: Kamchatka to Alaska

Beyond the North Cape: Norway's Fjords & Arctic Svalbard

On this remarkable voyage, we'll explore some of the most remote places on Earth -Kamchatka, the Commander Islands, and the Chukotskiy Peninsula across the Arctic Circle - ending in a wild Alaska few travelers get to see. Impressive landscapes dominate as we trace the wild coastline, in the company of thousands of seabirds, in search of bears, walrus, and arctic foxes, stopping in charming traditional villages along the way. More...

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Spitsbergen Explorer

Spitsbergen Explorer

This 11 or 12-day active adventure begins and ends in Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen, one of Norway’s Arctic islands in the Svalbard archipelago. The aim of this expedition is to explore the coastline of the largest island in the group, Spitsbergen. The exact course depends on local weather and ice conditions. We expect to explore magnificent fjords, cruise in Zodiacs past towering sea cliffs and encounter polar bears and walrus in their natural habitat. More...

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Northeast Passage

Northeast Passage

During this 25-day icebreaker expedition from Anadyr, on Russia's Asian shore to Murmansk, near the Finnish border, we intend to explore the Chukotka Peninsula, Wrangel Island, the New Siberian Islands, Severnaya Zemlya and Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land. These remote islands are accessible for only a few short weeks annually. More...

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Fabled Lands of the North: Greenland, Baffen Island, Labrador & Newfoundland

Fabled Lands of the North: Greenland, Baffen Island, Labrador & Newfoundland

The ice fields of Western Greenland, the legendary whale-rich seas of Davis Strait, and magnificent Inuit art fill our first week. Wildlife viewing opportunities abound, including the icons of the Arctic: polar bear and walrus. Further south, we explore the deep fjords and remote villages of Labrador, and two of Newfoundland’s most special places: L’Anse aux Meadows, site of the earliest known Viking settlement in the New World, and Gros Morne National Park, a UNESCO site noted for it alpine scenery, waterfalls and pristine lakes. More...

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Icebergs & Ice Bears: From Baffin Island to Greenland

Icebergs & Ice Bears: From Baffin Island to Greenland

This exploration of Southern Baffin Island and West Greenland packs highlight experiences into just a week. On Baffin Island our focus is wildlife, especially polar bears, as well as walrus, seals and whales. In Davis Strait we view enormous tabular icebergs and arctic wildlife at the ice’s edge. Greenland’s west coast has dozens of long, deep fjords, many with glaciers fed by the Greenland Icecap that covers most of this country. More...

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Arctic Islands

Arctic Islands

During this 17-day icebreaker expedition we intend shore landings on Franz Josef Land, the most northerly group of islands in Europes, in Svalbard, an archipelago inhabited by only four species of land mammals and in a UNESCO international biosphere reserve, Northeast Greenland National Park. In true expedition-style, the daily adventures will unfold in response to local conditions, infusing this voyage with exhilarating surprise! More...

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The Ice's Edge: Arctic Svalbard & Iceland

The Ice's Edge: Arctic Svalbard & Iceland

Free AirMuch farther north than Alaska, Svalbard lies between Norway and the North Pole and offers the thrill of seeing magnificent ice bears in the wild. You’ll explore one of the wildest, most pristine and dramatic places on earth. Everything you do here—hike, kayak or Zodiac—feels fresh and adventurous. More...

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Arctic Quest: Canada and Greenland

Arctic Quest: Canada and Greenland

This 18-day icebreaker expedition traces the history of the northern peoples across 4,000 years, from Resolute to Iqaluit in Nunavut, Canada's easternmost territory in the North. Landings are intended on Ellesmere Island, Greenland and Baffin Island. An attempt will be made to sail the Lincoln Sea, covered in ice so thick even a polar-class icebreaker cannot crush its way through! More...

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Labrador Explorer

Labrador Explorer

This 13-day active adventure embarks in St. John’s, on the island of Newfoundland to follow the Labrador Coast to Ungava Bay. En route, you’ll visit L’Anse aux Meadows, where a Viking village predates the arrival of Columbus in North America by 500 years. Shore landings will be made in Torngat Mountains National Park Reserve, Canada’s newest national park. Our Expedition Team will contrast the cultures and languages of the indigenous people who live along the coast. We disembark on Baffin Island in the Nunavut capital, Iqaluit. More...

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Viking Saga: From Iceland to Greenland

Viking Saga: From Iceland to Greenland

Free AirNational Geographic Explorer follows in the wake of Eric the Red, from Iceland across the Denmark Strait to Greenland. While Iceland’s volcanic landscape is the world’s youngest and most dynamic, the rocks of Greenland are the oldest yet discovered on the planet. Southern Greenland has a dramatic coast with few inhabitants, innumerable fjords cut between the towering mountains and glaciers tumbling down from the gigantic icecap. More...

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Baffin & Greenland and Solar Eclipse

Baffin & Greenland and Solar Eclipse

During this 13-day active adventure from Iqaluit to Resolute, via Greenland, we intend to position the ship on August 1, to afford a view of a total solar eclipse. En route, optional kayaking will be available. We`ll cruise in Zodiacs along the base of bird cliffs and hike tundra carpeted hills. More...

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Spitsbergen Total Solar Eclipse

Baffin & Greenland and Solar Eclipse

This 11-day active adventure begins and ends in Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen, one of Norway’s Arctic islands in the Svalbard archipelago. The aim of this expedition is to explore the coastline of the largest island in the group, Spitsbergen, while positioning the ship to view a total solar eclipse, August 1, 2008. The exact course depends on local weather and ice conditions. We expect to explore magnificent fjords, cruise in Zodiacs past towering sea cliffs and encounter polar bears and walrus in their natural habitat. More...

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High Arctic: Ellesmere, Greenland, and Baffin

High Arctic: Ellesmere, Greenland, and Baffin

Travel aboard the powerful icebreaker, Kapitan Khlebnikov, to explore Ellesmere Island and Greenland. Along a coastline of towering mountains, glaciers, steep fjords, and pack ice, view magnetic wildlife such as polar bears and walrus as well as thick-billed murres, red-throated loons, and snowy owls. On a backdrop of tundra discover Arctic poppies and muskoxen; in protected fjords visit remote villages and take helicopter excursions to view the ice cap; and on deserted islands and harbors view archaeological sites and abandoned outposts. More...

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High Arctic Explorer

High Arctic Explorer

During this 12-day active adventure from Resolute to Resolute, we intend to explore in the Canadian Arctic: Lancaster Sound, Grise Fjord, Beechey Island, Cape Hay Migratory Bird Sanctuary, and Pond Inlet. In Greenland we plan to visit Qaanaaq and Cape York. When the conditions are right, optional kayaking will occur. More...

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Spitsbergen, Eastern Greenland & Iceland

Spitsbergen, Eastern Greenland & Iceland

During this 14-day active adventure from Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway, to Reykjavik, Iceland, we intend to explore the islands of Spitsbergen, Moffen, Greenland and Westmann. Optional kayaking adds adrenalin to an Adventure Ship expedition that includes Zodiac cruising and shore landings. More...

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Northwest Passage via Simpson Strait

Northwest Passage via Simpson Strait

During this 13-day Active Adventure through a portion of the Northwest Passage, we attempt to transit Simpson Strait. The shallow draft of the Adventure Ship may make it possible to recreate a portion of Amundsen’s route that ships with deeper drafts cannot. More...

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Baffin Island Explorer

Baffin Island Explorer

During this 10-day Active Adventure that follows the coast of Baffin Island, we explore deep fjords, nature reserves, and visit remote villages that can only be reached by ship or air. The shallow draft of the Adventure Ship makes it possible to explore bays and transit channels that larger ships cannot. More...

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All rates are per person, double occupancy. Port charges, Government taxes and fees are additional. Limited availability and based on minimum fares for select departure dates. Other dates may be higher. These rates are for new, individual bookings only. Not responsible for last minute changes of price or itinerary by cruise line, or any errors or omissions in the content of this site. Some restrictions and cancellation penalties may apply.

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