06-Jun-2026 -- Aboard adventure cruise ship Atlas World Navigator. Last year in November we were on a similar cruise on this exact ship in the Antarctic. That cruise involved a journey across Drakes Passage from Ushuaia, Argentina down to the Antarctic Peninsula. The typical itinerary included 1 or 2 expeditions off the ship in Zodiac boats to either motor around a bay or go ashore to explore. We saw many penguins, seals, whales and birds up close. The crew does a wonderful job of explaining the science in 2 or 3 talks in the auditorium each day.

So we wanted to try the Arctic as well. Coincidentally, we chose a trip to Svalbard, Norway on the same ship. In short, the routine was very similar. Key differences: we went much further north than we did south (we never crossed the Antarctic Circle); there was much more wildlife to see in the Antarctic (polar bears and walruses from afar in the Arctic); there was more snow in the south. Many of our shore excursions in the north were on rocky islands and even a little tundra.

The ship allows a lot of "open bridge" time so it's easy to talk with the captain and navigation crew. As a result, in Antarctica, I was able to educate the crew about DCP. The navigation officer, Francisco Camara, in particular, was really engaged and we were able to document 1 point in the south. In the north, we had a different captain but we were happy to meet up with Francisco again. In both cases, the captains gave the navigation officer much freedom to direct the ship where they liked within broad parameters. As a result, we logged 3 first-time visits to points at sea around the Svalbard archipelago. See the attached map for a general orientation of Svalbard and our 3 points in order: 79N 9E, 80N 11E and then 78N 12E on our way back into the fjord and our home port of Longyearbyen.