Arctic Cruise for Polar Bears Traveller Reviews

We saw lots of wildlife, everything was well organised, safety was top priority and our guides were knowledgable, friendly and enthusiastic.

I used Wildlife Trails to organise the trip. They set up the connection to Oceanwide Expeditions. Wildlife Trails gives very personal service, which is much appreciated.

The holiday (Around Spitsbergen - In the realm of Polar Bear & Ice) was operated by Oceanwide Expeditions and recommended by, booked through and customised by Wildlife Trails. All the arrangements worked perfectly. Oceanwide’s organisation was amazing and they are very well set up for wildlife lovers and photographers, frequently launching the Zodiacs for wildlife sightings whenever weather conditions allowed. Our twin window, two person cabin was very comfortable and cleaned daily. One night stopovers at Oslo Airport and Longyearbyen worked well and the hotels were well chosen and very convenient. The expedition guides were friendly, approachable and knowledgeable and they always tried hard to satisfy client aspirations, in our case to provide the best photographic opportunities. We were fortunate to see four polar bears and the scenery was even more spectacular than we had imagined. In spite of some prior misgivings, my wife enjoyed the holiday very much; nine nights was the perfect length of cruise for us.

Wildlife Trails is a small family firm that specialises in tailor-made wildlife holidays. We had travelled with them on three previous bespoke safaris to some of the world’s best wildlife watching countries. Their description of this holiday as an Arctic Cruise for those looking to maximise their encounters with polar bears, but also to keep an eye on the budget summed it up perfectly

8 night Svalbard "Polar Bear Special" cruise aboard Oceanwide Adventures' MV Plancius. Spectacularly successful holiday which took us above 81 degrees N into the pack ice, as well as around Spitsbergen. So many highlights - 22 (twenty two) Polar Bears, Bowhead Whale, Blue Whales (breaching!), Beluga, Arctic Fox, Ivory Gulls, glaciers, seabird cliffs and much more. MV Plancius is very comfortable, great colleagues to share the trip with from around the world, resident guides largely excellent.

The holiday was booked at the last minute and Wildlife Trails again pulled out the stops to find flights that worked, to get me to and from Longyearbyen. I'd have no hesitation in using Wildlife Trails again. Top service.

Stunning scenery and wildlife. Great crew with extensive experience of the flora and fauna . Nice cabin on a comfortable boat. Excellent trips out on the zodiacs . Saw polar bears, whales, seals, walrus, arctic foxes, various birds,. Food good and the while dining experience friendly and informal. Loved every minute of it .

Friendly , helpful. Excellent standard .

A tailor-made holiday made up of a three night stopover in Oslo, a 24 hour stopover in Longyearbyen and a ten day expedition cruise around Spitzbergen with connecting flights to and from Manchester. Our central hotel in Oslo allowed easy access to museums, tours, eateries and transport links. It was an excellent "taster visit" to an interesting and fascinating city. There was easily enough to do in Longyearbyen for the time spent there without leaving the town itself. The highlight of the holiday was the ten day expedition cruise around Spitzbergen aboard Oceanwide's ice-breaker, 105 passenger, ship Ortelius, which was well organised and extremely efficiently run. During the trip we were lucky with both the weather and wildlife sightings - we had landings using the Zodiacs, daily briefings, professional advice, experience and knowledge from the multi-lingual guides, plus excellent and friendly service from the ship's crew. The cruise managed to cover all aspects and interests, including several polar bear sightings especially amongst the drift ice (one even walked up to the ship's side), walrus haul-outs, various bird colonies, whale and seal sightings, local fauna, glaciers and moraines plus the remains of various projects since arctic exploration began. All in all an amazing trip.

The holiday was arranged with personal phone calls and e-mails direct to the same person all the time, who therefore knew the background to the holiday. Having given them the outline of 'We would like to see polar bears', we had feedback from Allan of Wildlife Trails followed with discussions on the best way to achieve it. Calling on the experience of a cruise taken earlier by Allan, an expedition cruise was decided on, rather than the "Churchill Tundra Buggy" option. We then discussed the best time of the year to take the cruise, and the amount of time to spend in Longyearbyen, I then decided on adding a stopover in Oslo, so using their experience a central hotel was found for the stay, and the airport hotel for the trip back. As an added problem Allan also managed to arrange for a friend to join us on the holiday with just a couple of months prior to departure date!! We had a couple of minor problems whilst we were away, both of which were immediately dealt with and Allan got back to confirm actions within fifteen minutes. Wildlife Trails offer a very personal and efficient service which we have now used three times for holidays in different continents and have been extremely satisfied each time.