Guest Post by Willis Eschenbach
While working on finishing the story of my sea voyage last week down from Canada to Oregon, I was surprised to see that there is a new market in the world of marine “eco-tourism”. This one involves burning thousands and thousands of gallons of eeevil fossil 
fuels so that rich folks can make a futile attempt to traverse the Northwest Passage, over the top of the US from Anchorage to New York. In a giant cruise ship. Not this year, not next year, but in the year 2016. Polar cruises of all kinds seem to be hot right now. As a seaman, I think that there are places where no cruise ship should go. Here’s a picture of an Antarctic cruise that went wrong …
Now, as others have commented, I’ll believe CO2 is a problem when the folks who claim it’s a problem act like it’s a problem. But what intrigued me was, how was the Crystal Cruise line going to deal with the fact that there’s a good chance they won’t be able to make it all the way through the Northwest Passage in 2016? Would they issue refunds if they couldn’t complete the trip? Do you get half the money back if they only make it half way?
So I did some research on the Crystal Cruises site, and found a couple of oddities. First, since the cost of the cruise alone starts at $20,000 per person and goes up from there, we’re gonna assume that most contestants will be well past fifty years old … and as a result, subject to a variety of weaknesses of the flesh, including but not limited to dropping dead without prior notice. So on their “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQ) page, the cruise ship operators put the following restriction on potential cruisees …
Due to the remote locations, emergency medical evacuation by plane from the Arctic regions can reach costs of $50,000 or more. Therefore, proof of a minimum of $50,000 per person in Emergency Evacuation Repatriation insurance is required to participate in this cruise.
Well, that’ll keep out the feather merchants. However, on either the page advertising the 2016 Northwest Passage cruise or their FAQ page, I couldn’t find one word about too much ice. So I dug deeper, and here’s what I found in their fine print that applies to all cruises:
9. Itinerary/Right To Change/Detention: Crystal Cruises reserves the right at its sole option and discretion and that of the Captain of the Ship without liability for damages or refund of any kind, to deviate from the Ship’s advertised or ordinary itinerary or route, to delay, advance or cancel any sailing, to omit or change ports of call, to arrange for substantially equivalent transportation by another vessel and/or by other means of transportation, to cause the Guest to disembark from the Ship temporarily or permanently, to tow or to be towed or assist other vessels or to perform any similar act which, in its sole judgment and discretion, is justified for any reason. SOURCE
Holy moly, talk about signing your life away. Once you’re on their ship, they can do anything they damn well please, including saying they’re going to Tenerife and taking you to Texas instead, or tossing your poor benighted corpus off the ship if they don’t like the cut of your jib.
Oh, if the cruise is cancelled before it starts they’ll refund the ticket, but otherwise? Once the ship sails, they’ve got your money, and if there’s too much ice … tough. They’ll just shorten the cruise, go to Vladivostok instead, and call it good enough. And if you get sick? Pay for it yourself.
Clearly, we’re all in the wrong business …
Best to everyone,
w.
PS—Care to sign up? Do you have $20,000 to spare? Their web site is here, a news story on their crazy-like-a-fox plan is here. To their credit, the journalists do note the irony of burning fossil fuels in order to save the planet from fossil fuels.
I had this over on Tips and Notes last week:
Follow the pea under the shell, folks:
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/08/09/rise_in_arctic_tourism_may_benefit_search_for_lost_franklin_ships.html
Headline: “Rise in Arctic tourism may benefit search for lost Franklin ships”
In the article: “According to one study, the number of Arctic cruise itineraries doubled between 2005 and 2013. Last year, there were 23 voyages planned by eight ships.”
Got that? “Itineraries” and “planned”.
Anyone know were we can find out how many of those 8 actually made it?
rovingbroker says:
August 16, 2014 at 3:59 pm
“I think that flying from JFK to Delhi and return on Air India for about $1,100 is a better deal.”
I’ve flown 3 trips to China from Toronto. They fly over the east coast of Greenland across Siberia and down to Beijing. Wow what a spectacular view of the Arctic. Business class, but I’m glad I wasn’t paying for it.
Will – Timmy’s coffee used to be made with day-old, used grounds from the local Big Mac outlets, but both they and McD now make excellent java, with McCafe being best, IMO.
Jack H Barnes (August 16, 2014 at 11:29 am) “When was the last time the Northwest passage was open for traffic? 2012?”
My godmother made the voyage in a French cruise ship last summer (2013). It was stormy at the beginning near Greenland and a little dicey getting past Someset Island, but no problem after that (they took the southern route).
The French boat is reinforced for a little light icebreaking. I think the cruise cost about $10k. Part of the money went towards paying for some light weight scientists to lecture them along the way.
Why not offer a virtual cruise through the Northwest Passage? If computer models can predict ice-free conditions, they certainly can whip up an imaginary voyage.
“…I’ll believe CO2 is a problem when the folks who claim it’s a problem act like it’s a problem.”
Um, I’ll believe CO2 might be a problem when the folks who claim it is a problem act like it is a problem.
But, that’s just me.
I wish potential passengers luck in getting $50,0000 insurance for emergency evacuation. Most policies don’t cover pre-existing conditions. Would ice be a pre-existing condition? Travel insurance policies are some of the most complained. They have so many ‘out’ clauses as to be almost useless. A bit like the warranty for damage on a suit-case we almost bought, it didn’t cover damage caused during carriage on any form of commercial transportation!
Andrew,
I can almost see the minute print, “the use of this product invalidates it’s guarantee”…
Andy.
On their FAQ page, way down the page under the heading “Safety”, Item # 3 reads:
“…over the top of the US from Anchorage to New York. ”
I think you’ll find the bit of land you’d be going “over the top of” is called Canada. Last time I heard it was not part of the US.
“But what intrigued me was, how was the Crystal Cruise line going to deal with the fact that there’s a good chance they won’t be able to make it all the way through the Northwest Passage in 2016?”
Hey Willis, you have not been paying attention. The Arctic will be ice free in the summer of 2016. That’s been known since 2007. 😉
Google earth. Zero in on Cambridge Bay at 105 degrees. Street maps will show a small cruise ship anchored in the harbor on its way through the passage in 2012. That has been going on for years. Sometimes these ships have had close encounters with the ocean bottom and often there has been ice breaker assistance. Commercial shipping to resupply arctic coastal communities now flows from east to west but in ice strengthened vessels and often with ice breakers leading. Guys like Willis would understand; sometimes conditions are good; sometimes not so much.
“In addition, an escort vessel will accompany Crystal Serenity. The escort vessel will have ice breaking capabilities and would be able to assist in the extremely unlikely event that the ice concentration becomes a challenge for Crystal Serenity. ”
Hey man, that is a bog standard cruise ship. Not even a reinforced hull to cope with a bit of ice. No [responsible] captain would have the intention of taking a vessel like that through the NW passage.
They’ll cruise up north of Alaska, wave at the wild life then decide it too dangerous, call it off and head back. Why waste fuel and take risks when the money’s in the bank.
Anyone that signs up for that will get suckered ( and rightly so ).
Zek202 says:
August 16, 2014 at 12:42 pm
Ah yes, I was thinking it was about time to hunt it down this year, especially since my wife and I just got back from a 25th wedding anniversary trip to Nova Scotia.
The main entry point is http://northwestpassage2014.blogspot.com/ It’s a busy blog already this season.
http://northwestpassage2014.blogspot.com/2014/08/sv-suilven-to-go-or-not-to-go-stops.html reports one boat that is turning around:
Also,
Looks like the golden age of cruising the “ice free” Arctic may be rather short lived.
http://www.ijis.iarc.uaf.edu/seaice/extent/Sea_Ice_Extent_v2_L.png
opps, that the JAXA data which is invalid for backwards comparison since the redefined how they calculate it last year. Note that they avoid putting last years data which the obvious glitch last year.
http://ocean.dmi.dk/arctic/plots/icecover/icecover_current_new.png
Alan Watt, Climate Denialist Level 7 says:
“Sounds like the perfect venue for an IPCC meeting. Guest speakers to include Algore and Chris Turney.”
I presume you are referring to Dr Christ (mas) Turkey of University of NSW: went to the Antarctic and got stuffed.
Ensuing disruption of genuine Antarctic research, not much appreciate by real scientists working on the continent.
In 2010, the Clipper Adventurer,(now MV Sea Adventurer) ran aground near Coppermine (Kugluktuk).Originally they said the rock was uncharted, but that was wrong. They made it through in both 2009 and 2010.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Sea_Adventurer
The NW passage opened up during the last peak of the warming/cooling cycle. About sixty years ago. For a few years. I give it less than even odds that it will be passable in the summer of 2016.
Latitude says:
August 16, 2014 at 2:05 pm Re. Open Northwest passage map 1418.
That map neiter I nor any of my friends at NEARA discussed looking at old maps. It might be a copied version of the map delivered in Norway to the King in 1364 at the same time as Ivar Bardson delivered the tithes from Gardar See’s dioceses in NA and Greenland. The later well documented. The former documented in two contemporary sources…
norah4you says:
“It might be a copied version of the map delivered in Norway to the King in 1364 at the same time as Ivar Bardson delivered the tithes from Gardar See’s dioceses in NA and Greenland. The later well documented. The former documented in two contemporary sources…”
Sorry but no. I happen to have read Ivar Bardsons account. In the original language. It is one of our most important sources of information on the Norse settlement in Greenland. However itt makes NO mention of any map and it does NOT mention any tithe or “diocese” in NA. It is exclusively concerned with Greenland.
I’ve been on a number of ”eco-cruises” both in Arctic and Antarctic waters and I agree with Willy. It is insane taking one of these huge cruise ships with thousands of people aboard into such treacherous waters where rescue capabilities are minimal. Also meaningless, because you can’t go anywhere really interesting with such a monster, and if you could, you can’t get the passengers ashore (or back aboard), not in a reasonable amount of time anyhow. I’ve seen these big cruise ships up at Svalbard (Spitzbergen) a few times, and there is only two places they can go to there: Longyearbyen and Ny Ålesund. Personally I wouldn’t go on such a trip for free.
The best ships for such ventures are small and handy but seaworthy and carry less than 100 passengers. The Russian “Akademik” and “Professor” class ex-research vessels are pretty ideal, though they are no icebreakers as the “ship of fools” expedition found out.
And yes, if you go you should have first-class travel insurance. There is insurance that will cover expensive evacuations, though it is not cheap. And carry in mind that from many areas quick evacuation is quite literally impossible. No airfields and too far away for helicopters. So check that the ship has good medical facilities.
Incidentally the first cruise ship ever that went through the Northwest passage was “Lindblad Explorer” in 1984. This is same ship that is shown sinking after hitting a growler in Bransfield Passage at the top of the post. One of the few good things about the NW passage is that there are no icebergs to collide with, except at the beginning/end in Baffins Bay. The land is too low and the climate too dry for glaciers to form in the Parry Archipelago, so no icebergs. Sea-ice is not nearly so hard and dangerous to collide with as growlers or bergy bits.
Another thing. I’ve often wondered what ordinary passengers do on such cruises. If you are a bird-watcher (like me) or interested in marine mammals there is always something interesting to look at (or at least look for), but otherwise watching the sea for days on end in transit must be extremely dull.
Cruisin’ for a bruisin’.
Andrew N says:
August 16, 2014 at 6:03 pm
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Ice in the Arctic is not a pre-existing condition, just like snow on a skiing trip is not a preexisting condition, nor for that matter is the ocean on a sea voyage.
One simply has to make full disclosure, so that the underwriters can assess the risk, and hence the premium.
I have little doubt that insurance will be quite expensive, after all insurance companies run at considerable profit and they can’t do this unless they charge large premiums which more than compensate for the risk involved..
The concentration of ice in the Arctic is higher this year than in 2012 and 2013 Ice it will be faster accumulate fast-, as was particularly in northern Canada.
http://ocean.dmi.dk/arctic/icedrift_anim/plots/satcon.arc.d-00.png
http://ocean.dmi.dk/arctic/satellite/plots/satsst.arc.d-00.png