 This
spring, Norwegian Coastal Voyage launches a new ship designed exclusively
for cruising in Greenland, the world’s largest island at least for
now. The ice cap that covers more than 80 percent of the island is melting,
and that’s a rallying call for those who want to see Greenland’s
icy realms before its glaciers vanish.
With all the climate changes and what’s happening in this world,
now is a very opportune time for this once-in-a-lifetime experience,”
says Hans Rood, president of Norwegian Coastal Voyage, whose company will
operate Greenland cruises May through September this year and beyond.
Greenland cruises are only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, for travelers
who desire to see some of the world’s most untrodden destinations.
While Norwegian Coastal Voyage operates year-round cruises along the rugged
and remote coast of Norway, the company also offers seasonal cruises to
Antarctica and the Arctic. These destinations require travelers to exert
considerably more effort to embark on their journeys at sea.
To cruise Spitzbergen, an island situated 500 miles from the North Pole,
for example, visitors land at Longyearbyen, the world’s northernmost
commercial airport. There, they board a 114-passenger ship that “plows
itself into the North Pole ice shelf, where you see polar bears and walruses
and other magnificent wildlife,” Rood says.
There is a compelling sense of urgency to see these destinations before
climatic changes alter their landscapes, Rood says. And that gives Norwegian
Coastal Voyage a unique call-to-action: “For anyone wanting to experience
these once-in-lifetime voyages,” Rood says, “the time is now.” |
