Crystal Serenity Ship Attracts Tourists To The Arctic

The once forbidding Arctic region, home to polar bears and ice-covered seas, has melted enough that this summer it’s open not only for shipping but high-end tourism.

The proof lies in the Crystal Serenity cruise, a luxury tour of the Arctic that promises to carry passengers through the storied Northwest Passage and across the roof of the world. The controversial cruise set sail Tuesday from Seward, Alaska, and was to dock 32 days later in New York City.

Scientists have long predicted this moment, although as recently as last year, a scientific study found the Northwest Passage would remain too unpredictable for regular shipping for some time to come. But that hasn’t stopped some commercial shipping vessels from already making the journey. Nor did it stop the planning for the Arctic’s inaugural cruise - a journey that will mark the first case of mega-scale tourism in one of last virtually untouched landscapes left in the world.

As many as 1,700 passengers and crew were expected to be on board the Crystal Serenity, which will transit the Bering Strait and visit Greenland. Tickets for the historic journey started at about US$22,000 and went into the six figures. That price doesn’t include extras that guests can book, such as a helicopter ride or side excursion to a Greenland glacier.

Despite the cost, the trip sold out quickly, and the company behind it said a second journey is already in the planning.

The location might be the Arctic, but the Crystal Serenity’s 1,100 guests aren’t exactly roughing it. The US$350 million ship is 248 metres long and has 13 decks and 535 state rooms. It has a driving range and putting green, a casino, a movie theatre, half a dozen restaurants, multiple pools and a library with thousands of books, games and DVDs. There’s also a spa, fitness centre, hair salon and 24-hour complimentary room service.

More than anything, the cruise is a symbol, a harbinger of the tourism and commercial traffic that is likely to fill the once-isolated, ice-choked waters of the Arctic. Many scientists have projected that the ocean could become virtually free of ice during summers at some point, perhaps as soon as the next few decades.