The Northwest Passage, a 900-mile sea route beginning near Baffin Island off Canada’s northeastern coast, crossing the Arctic Ocean, and terminating in the west in the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska, has fascinated humans for millennia. As far back as 150 A.D., when Greco-Roman geographer Ptolemy introduced the idea of a frigid ocean near the earth’s North Pole, explorers and colonizers have vowed to traverse it, with the hopes of reducing travel time and finding a more direct trade route between Europe and Asia.
As dozens would discover over the ensuing centuries, the Arctic Ocean is impassable for most of the year. Climate change is extending the navigation season, but even when it isn’t completely frozen over, the waterway can get choked with icebergs up to 300 feet high and dense, mobile sea ice that can ensnare ships. Remote and treacherous, the Northwest Passage has been transited less than 500 times in recorded history.
In August, one of the two months of the year during which the ice has thawed enough for safe voyages, London-based expedition cruise line HX debuted “Northwest Passage—Through the Arctic Labyrinth,” a three-week sailing along the famed route. In addition to showcasing the Arctic’s raw, austere beauty and wildlife encounters such as sightings of polar bears, walruses, wolves, giant musk ox, narwhal, and snowy owls, the voyage shines a spotlight on the Indigenous people who have stewarded the region’s unusual ecosystems for 5,000 years.
Passengers sailing the Northwest Passage will be treated to striking landscapes in the far northern reaches of Canada, such as in Nunavut.
Photo by Isaac Demeester/Unsplash
The journey
The “Arctic Labyrinth” cruise debut coincided with the first-ever direct flight, via United Airlines, between Newark, New Jersey, and Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, where the journey begins. In another first, HX collaborated with some of Arctic Canada’s 53 Inuit communities to develop land-based excursions and activities—some included in the cruise fee, some that come at an additional cost.
“For us, it’s not just about following the European ‘heroic’ view of the Northwest Passage—it’s about recognizing it’s a privilege to be here, and ensuring the stories, knowledge, and lived experience of Inuit communities are central to the journey,” says Alex McNeil, HX’s chief expedition officer.
Cruise guests can visit four communities along the route: Pond Inlet, on Baffin Island, the largest island in Canada; Gjoa Haven and Cambridge Bay, both in Nunavut, the northernmost and most recently incorporated (in 1999) territory in the country; and Ulukhaktok, in the Northwest Territories, which borders the remote Yukon. All proceeds from the excursions, which can tick upwards of $200,000 per year, go to communities in Nunavut.
Passengers learn traditional crafts in Gjoa Haven in Arctic Canada.
Photo by Greg Funnell.
Experiences run the gamut from scenic flyovers to arctic char fishing. Cruisers visit Dundas Harbour, an abandoned, early-20th-century Canadian government outpost, and the archaeologically rich Beechey Island, where shipwreck remains and the graves of several mid-1800s sailors are located. They also sail the Bellot Strait, a narrow and challenging channel. Some experiences, like sports demonstrations, bingo games (a massively popular community activity), and concerts, are intended for larger groups; others, such as making traditional crafts and taking storytelling hikes, are more intimate outings.
Still others bridge the personal and spectacular. These include a Nunavut man’s firsthand account of discovering the wreck of the HMS Terror, one of British Captain John Franklin’s two doomed mid-19th-century expedition ships, which became trapped in ice before sinking off the southwest coast of King William Island. (Get an unnerving look at the voyage via AMC’s 2018 thriller series The Terror.)
“What’s powerful is the ripple effect—when one entrepreneur succeeds, it inspires others to consider starting their own tourism-related initiatives,” says Mariah Erkloo, an Inuk product planner for HX who was heavily involved in developing the excursions and local partnerships. “The Arctic cruise season is short, but ambition isn’t. There’s so much possibility here.”
The vessel
HX’s hybrid-powered, 500-passenger MS Fridtjof Nansen serves as the floating home base for the Inuit-led Northwest Passage journey (technically, the ship can carry up to 530 passengers, but the company intentionally limits the capacity on its polar sailings). Featuring battery packs that help power the ship; heat-recovery systems, which convert engine-generated heat into warmth for the galley and ventilation systems; and a cutting-edge hull design for breaching ice, the ship emits 20 percent less carbon dioxide than other cruise ships of the same size. HX hasn’t used heavy fuel oil in more than a decade—the Nansen uses diesel fuel and battery power—and has advocated for a worldwide ban.
All cabins on the ship, which has a minimalist Scandinavian design, face outside. Half boast private balconies. A handful of aft suites have private outdoor hot tubs. MS Fridtjof Nansen is home to three Nordic-inflected restaurants; a science center with high-tech equipment such as stereo microscopes and iPads that control aspects of Citizen Science projects; and a fitness room, a spa with sauna, and outdoor hot tubs and a heated infinity pool.
The journey begins in Nuuk, Greenland, a starting point that is now much easier to reach thanks to a new United flight from Newark to Nuuk.
Photo by Arnau Ferrer/Courtesy of HX
The experience for both passengers and local communities
Carol Anne Laramée, a Montreal-based traveler who just completed the “Arctic Labyrinth"—her fifth cruise with HX—relates the difficulty in choosing highlights of a journey to the “end of the world.” Among them, she recalls tiptoeing onto her balcony one morning. During sunrise, the ship was surrounded by pink-tinged clouds and ice. A polar bear, on a rounded sheet of pancake ice perhaps a few dozen feet from the ship, lazily munched on a breakfast of freshly caught seal.
For Laramée, who has also sailed aboard the Nansen in Antarctica and the Falkland Islands, the vessel “is like being home.” The atmosphere is “friendly, relaxed, joyful,” she explains. “Everybody on the ship is interested in not only discovering the North, but in learning.”
On board, Inuit ambassadors provide additional insight into the landscape, the wildlife, and the human face of what appears to be an inhospitable region. The exchange of cultures and ideas is crucial for going “beyond landscape and wildlife,” as McNeil puts it. “Meeting people, hearing their stories, and being invited into daily life creates richer memories than any brochure could promise,” he says.
The benefits have potentially far-reaching implications for the local communities as well. Erkloo shares, “Economically, there’s income, but equally important is the opportunity to represent themselves. Cruise visitors learn from the people who actually live here, rather than filtered narratives. That respect and recognition matter, because it strengthens pride in culture and provides momentum for new opportunities.”
The next 26-day “Northwest Passage—Through the Arctic Labyrinth” sailing from Greenland to Alaska will depart on August 14, 2026, with prices starting at $24,055 per person.
