quark expeditions

Take Holiday Gifts to the Next Level With a North Pole Arctic Expedition Cruise

Have you ever wanted to visit the North Pole? Thanks to Quark Expeditions, now you can gift this experience to yourself and a friend for a cool $48,760. To celebrate the company's 20th anniversary of their first Arctic voyage, they're offering up to 128 guests the chance to enjoy a cruise to the top of the world that begins June 23, 2011 in Helsinki, Finland.

Travelers will cruise to the North Pole in the most-sophisticated icebreaker on the planet – 50 Years of Victory. The Russian ship can cruise at 21 knots in open water and crush through ice 10 feet thick.

Each of the 128 guests will enjoy an exterior-view cabin and access to two bars, a library, gym, saunas and a swimming pool. When Victory is not acting as a passenger vessel, the ship escorts merchant vessels through the treacherous Northeast Passage.

In addition to the twin cabin category, the ship has mini-suites, suites, one Victory suite and five Arkitka suites that cost $70,160 per cabin. An Arkitka suite has a spacious bedroom with a single bed and a sitting room with a sofa bed. The private facilities have a bathtub. Amenities include a TV/DVD combination, coffee maker, and safe.

All meals, accommodation and activities are included in the cost, as is the charter air transportation between Helsinki and Murmansk, Russia, the embarkation and disembarkation point. The champagne toast and barbecue on the ice is a highlight of the adventure.

Helicopter sight-seeing as the ship crushes through the Arctic Ocean pack ice is also part of the package price. Southbound shore landings will be made in Franz Josef Land, remote islands just 10 degrees from the North Pole. Polar bear and walrus inhabit the Arctic paradise.

Travelers can book online or toll free via 1.888.892.0171.

Tags: adventure travel, arctic adventure, cruise, luxury travel, north pole, quark expeditions

Pricey Cruise To Peep At Penguins

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Think 'luxury cruise' and visions of hot sun and warm blue water probably come to mind, but that couldn't be farther from reality on the latest cruise from Quark Expeditions called "Emperors & Kings: Snow Hill and South Georgia." Leave the sun hat at home and instead grab your ice cleats and arctic gear to sail to Snow Hill Island and South Georgia to see two of the largest and most elusive penguin species, the Emperor Penguins and King Penguins, living in the wild.

The cruise ship, complete with on-board helicopter for shuttling guests to and from the penguin rookery sites, sets sail in November of next year. Prices start at $21,890.

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Tags: cruise, cruises, penguin, penguins, quark, quark expeditions, QuarkExpeditions