The Northwest Passage’s cruise season is short and determined by an ice-free window during the Arctic summertime. The earliest cruises depart late July, and the season runs into September, with August being the optimal month to sail. For comfort and adventure’s sake in what will at times be perishingly cold temperatures, the way to travel is by an expedition cruise vessel. A word of caution though. Despite the dire warnings of climatologists about the melting Arctic, this does not guarantee an ice-free therefore successful passage completion. Back in 2021 the sea-ice was unexpectedly impassable so only 5 vessels made the transit during the season. If your vessel cannot forge a passage, the expedition crew will revert to Plan B to explore the wondrous Nunavut landscapes and wildlife in greater depth.

The weather when traversing the passage is a reminder how extreme elements have shaped the landscapes and affected bygone explorers during hazardous quests to explore it. A typical temperature range for a summer transit might be -5ºC to +5ºC. It’s rarely warm. Yet I have encountered both gorgeous sunshine days when the sea and distant glaciers have sparkled and then scything cold winds that have driven me from my vessel’s observation deck indoors for a hot cup of coffee. The weather is as unpredictable as the sea-ice conditions.

Should we be sailing down the Northwest Passage given well-documented science about the decline of Arctic Sea ice as ocean temperatures rise? I looked at the most up-to-date data I could find from the National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) for early 2024. In February 2024 the extent of Arctic sea-ice was 14.61million square kilometres. This equates to 690 square kilometres (just less than three-times the size of the UK) below the average ice extent than what was recorded between 1981-2010. This is a significant decline, yet sea-ice remains highly unpredictable, with several recent summer seasons seeing the passage unpassable.  

I have also heard locally that increased shipping through the Northwest Passage is disruptive to Inuit community activities, namely hunting. A local elder, Joshua Idlout, from Pond Inlet, once told me cruise vessels disturbed the migration patterns of narwhals, making it harder for them to fill their quota to hunt. I probably breathed a sigh of relief at that. But it’s a real issue to them.

Probably closer to reality is your presence on a small expedition vessel is unlikely to be harmful environmentally and will offer positive outcomes to the local communities. A polar shipping expert and historian who lectured on my last voyage, Robert Headland of the Scott Polar Research Institute, told me since Amundsen’s traverse in 1906 there had only been 324 transits by ships up until 2021. This is not a busy highway.  And I visited a community a few years ago near the mouth of the passage called Qikiqtarjuaq. The town’s mayor, Mary Killiktee, told me they’d only had 4 ships all summer. Some had been cancelled because their bay was blocked by an iceberg. She told me the cruise ships brought positive benefits in the form of fees for cultural performances and the sale of handicrafts. There is simply no definitive argument against sailing the Northwest Passage. 

In August 2016, Crystal Serenity, made history by becoming the largest passenger vessel to transit the Northwest Passage. It bore over 1,000 passengers on a 253m-long ship. Personally speaking, this feels like the antithesis of the pioneering frontier spirit this region demands. I would choose a smaller more manoeuvrable ship, with far fewer passengers, which allows you to disembark via zodiac excursions to land-based explorations to see wildlife and meet Inuit communities, rather than simply ticking the Northwest Passage off your bucket list via a sightseeing cruise. 

Off-ship activities will be varied and usually twice daily. It could be a mini zodiac cruise navigating below the cliffs of King Leopold Island to experience the cacophonous din of thousands of seabirds or a hike. I once trekked to find wild caribou. Historical excursions feature prominently too. I’ve visited the palaeolithic Thule people’s archaeological sites and more recent constructions such as Dundas Harbour, an abandoned 1920s Canadian police settlement. Back onboard, besides the Olympian task of eating three meals per day, there will be multiple lectures on all aspects of the passage and chances to get involved with citizen science projects - bird surveys and the like. This is a good opportunity to make a positive difference during your voyage by collecting data helpful to Arctic scientists.