Longyearbyen Disembarkation
The voyage came to a close in Longyearbyen. Bags were packed, and farewells were exchanged — with crew, with fellow guests, and with MS Fram. What guests carried home went well beyond luggage: eight days at the edge of the Arctic leave a particular kind of impression. We look forward to welcoming th...
Ny-Ålesund
Ny-Ålesund carries a distinction few places can match: it is the northernmost permanent settlement in the world. The Expedition Team led guests through the town on a guided tour — a considered and fitting way to draw the voyage's historical and scientific threads together. Clear skies and warm tempe...
Ice Edge
The furthest north any of us had ever been. The night before, [Luciano] had delivered his evening talk on Nansen and the Fram — and as MS Fram pushed northward, the sea ice rose to meet us. The North Pole lay approximately 1,200 km beyond. The day arrived overcast, the pack ice shifting in slow, eve...
Alicehamna
The morning landing at Alicehamna offered a landscape similar in character to those that had come before — broad geography, glaciers receding into the distance — but the weather had shifted. Low cloud and a cooler light brought the more austere face of Svalbard into view. Guests explored a trappers'...
Gravneset
The morning brought guests to a Dutch whaling station from the 17th century. While the history spoke for itself, it was the setting that commanded attention: dramatic cliffs fell away to a fjord whose surface caught the light with rare clarity, and loose glacier ice lay at the waterline. After lunch...
Bamsebu
The morning landing brought guests to Bamsebu — and to a small hut that holds an outsized place in Svalbard's history. Trappers sheltered here, miners passed through, and most recently the site became the base for the first two female scientists to overwinter in Svalbard, devoting months in isolatio...
Gnålodden
The morning was given over to preparing guests for the days ahead. The Expedition Team took guests through a briefing on AECO guidelines, and [Lara] introduced the kayaking programme for those who had signed up. After lunch, guests went ashore for the first landing of the voyage — and Gnålodden made...
Longyearbyen
Guests boarded MS Fram in Longyearbyen on the first morning of the voyage — stepping aboard the storied expedition ship that would carry them deep into the realm of the polar bear. The ship proved comfortable and well-appointed, and the crew brought genuine warmth to every arrival. Once guests had s...