North West Passage 2022- Le Boreal

[highplanesdrifters]

@gogo65looking forward to more of your reports!

[gogo65]

13th Sep, Fury Inlet: A hike was planned today along a canyon, again the hikes were graded poorly and the long hike ended up being longer, easier and more picturesque than the medium hike. Tim did the long hike and I did the medium hike. The medium hike ended up having us walk up a very steep hill, that had very loose stones, and many had a few slips and trips. The longer hike, walked half way up then walked down into the canyon before heading back up and over the hills. If I had known the long hike was going to be less difficult I most certainly would have done it. A few more unhappy passengers again requesting that the hikes were graded on difficulty.

The expedition leader really seemed very arrogant and refused to provide the details that people were asking for. Not just the passengers but many of the expedition team voiced their frustrations to us. The information communicated to the English passengers was very different than that communicated to the French passengers (although the French were also not happy)

[gogo65]

Next up Fort Ross: The site of one of the first Hudson Bay company store fronts built in 1937.

It sits on the start of the Bellot strait. The buildings are in pretty good condition although we were advised there has been some significant damage to the polar bears.

We did a short hike up to a Cairn which also had some good views. Again the hike was on a very rocky ground and their was boulder climbing to get to the peak and quite a few were unable to complete it.

[gogo65]

Conningham Bay: today we had a 2 hour zodiac ride and were fortunate to see 3 polar bears around the bay, we also saw a snowy owl and two Arctic foxes. It was an enjoyable zodiac ride.

Some zodiacs went back early because complained they were cold, luckily this wasn’t our zodiac, but I would have been very annoyed if our time was cut short due to someone not dressing appropriately. There was also a comment from a passenger who wanted to go back early asking “why everyone wants to keep taking photos of polar bears”, it is beyond belief that one would come on an expedition cruise and not want to enjoy every minute of the amazing wildlife!

[AussieBoyTX]

8 minutes ago, gogo65 said:

Some zodiacs went back early because complained they were cold.

This would infuriate me, but we also saw in Seychelles -- our naturalists arranged a Zodiac for experienced swimmers / snorkelers and IMO, they were very clear about this -- unfortunately, a non-swimmer selected themselves for this Zodiac and we had to cut this trip short. 🤦‍♂️

[gogo65]

OK so no photos of the snowy owl, cause who wants to look at a photo of a white dot 😂

[gogo65]

4 minutes ago, AussieBoyTX said:

This would infuriate me, but we also saw in Seychelles -- our naturalists arranged a Zodiac for experienced swimmers / snorkelers and IMO, they were very clear about this -- unfortunately, a non-swimmer selected themselves for this Zodiac and we had to cut this trip short. 🤦‍♂️

Yes there were a few unhappy campers (rightly so..), it does make me wonder what some people expect from an expedition..

[gogo65]

Gjoa Haven: Another poorly planned stop thanks to Ponant. We arrived at Gjoa Haven and the community were not expecting us, we had been advised their would be a sewing demonstration, a cooking demonstration and some performances from locals. On arrival we were told that there would be a delay in the performances for 90 minutes, so Tim and I went for a walk to the Gjoa Haven Cairn, where Amundsen had set up camp for 2 years, this was a 60 minute round trip walk (we managed to see it as we were wandering around town) but there had been no information given to passengers about the Cairn and the historical significance. We mentioned it the expedition leader that we had done the walk and he just said he didn’t say anything because there wouldn’t be time. Well we obviously had plenty of time while waiting for the entertainment!

Many of the passenger waited in the community centre for the 90 minutes, as the town was not pretty at all. We wandered back there at the given time of 4pm and waited, it was clear there was no organisation and finally two kids sang two songs (similar to what we saw in Pond Inlet) and then they asked for patience as another singer was coming. At this time I started getting a headache so we headed back to the ship, however others advised the singer refused to sing as she wasn’t prepared, so everyone wandered back to the ship. 

To say it was a wasted day would be an understatement. 

[AussieBoyTX]

I have to say, if that Hudson Bay Company building is authentic, I'd more-or-less go just for that! I'd hope for no single supplement, as @AussieGirlTXwould absolutely not be up for this.

 

[gogo65]

Edinburgh Island: Another hike today, unfortunately the long hike was cancelled due to heavy fog, and so it was just the medium hike or many just wandered around the shoreline.

This hike was on a marshy swamp, many a twisted ankle! Nothing really much to see but nice to get out for a walk.

Tonight we had a wake up call at 3am for more northern lights!

[gogo65]

18th September Ulukhaktok:

This was by far the best village we saw in Canada, whether it was due to the light dusting of snow that made it more beautiful, to just the fact we were welcomed by the locals, who seemed genuinely happy to see us and very proud of their town. They showed up in traditional dress and took us on a walking tour of the town. The locals advised the weather was about 4 weeks late, normally they would be completely covered in snow by mid September but their summer had been much warmer than usual.

There was some very overpriced art/craft for sale. We were advised they would accept credit card but when we arrived into the local community centre we were advised cash only. However things like a little simple felt Christmas decoration was being sold for $20 or a coffee mug with a sticker of their town for $30. I sort of felt sorry for them as most didn’t buy anything, I bought a Christmas decoration just in order to support the locals.

Edited October 6, 2022 by gogo65

[gogo65]

20th September: Smoking Hills

Another 2 hour zodiac ride today along the smoking hills, a really interesting place. A natural phenomenon caused by a mixture of pyrite and clay shale that ignites when in contact with the air.

We were lucky our guide saw a seal as we were heading back to the ship and played around our zodiac for a few minutes

 

[jpalbny]

5 hours ago, gogo65 said:

There was also a comment from a passenger who wanted to go back early asking “why everyone wants to keep taking photos of polar bears”, it is beyond belief that one would come on an expedition cruise and not want to enjoy every minute of the amazing wildlife!

 

Great polar bear pictures! Your fellow passenger? Feed him/her to the bears...

[gogo65]

21st September

Pack Ice: By far the best day on the ship, unfortunately only a few hours spent up in the ice. Was meant to be Franklin Bay but this was substituted. Originally we expected this would have been the view for most of the cruise, unfortunately besides ice bergs there was no pack ice except for this day. I think the captain really knew there was many disgruntled passengers and really wanted to make the day special. Fortunately one of the expedition staff managed to spot two polar bears on the ice in the distance and  the captain expertly manoeuvred the ship so we could all get an amazing view of them playing, we stayed and watched for probably close to an hour, as we were heading through more ice, another bear was spotted, he was a little shyer so we only watched for a short period. 

Following this they were able to find an ice floe that we could land on, so the champagne was set up and we all managed to set foot on ice. While it was definitely memorable the time on ice was only 5-6 minutes. While we were all on high, it was noticed by the English speakers that the French had significantly longer. Not sure why but they disembarked the English first and we went on a zodiac cruise for 45 minutes, while the French all got to spend 20 minutes per zodiac on the ice, when it came to our turn, things were quickened up (due to weather?) and so our time was cut short.

 

Unfortunately the afternoon ended in a little drama, the expedition leader yelled at me to hurry up very rudely (we had to put our champagne down and leave immediately), when we got on the zodiac there were staff also getting on, the lovely zodiac driver was trying to get the staff off, saying she needed to take her ten passengers back, who by this stage were lined up to get on, the expedition leader was getting cranky that staff were on and things were being delayed. One of the staff was the hotel manager who saw and heard everything, he kept apologising to me about the way I was spoken to and what transpired and said we could go back to the ice as our time was cut short and there were plenty of zodiacs, of course that didn’t happen and we just headed back to the ship, other passengers were stranded on the ice floe (OK they were lucky they were stranded as they ended up having more time), the poor zodiac driver was worried as she didnt return with her passengers. Later that night the hotel manager came and again apologised about the incident and agreed it was inappropriate, he then explained he put a formal complaint in about the incident to the captain, well needless to say the expedition leader wouldn’t even look at us again for the rest of the cruise!

Despite the drama it was still the best day of the cruise!

Photos to follow, cant seem to upload via my iPad..

 

Edited October 17, 2022 by gogo65

[gogo65]

[gogo65]

[gogo65]

Herschel Island: Well another stuff up by Ponant and surprise surprise another sea day was substituted. Why? Because Herschel Island closed two weeks previously (it is only open in summer months) and as it is a national park, we were unable to land, as there was no ranger on site. Not sure why Ponant would put this on the itinerary when it was never possible. I was really disappointed to miss Herschel as there were possibilities that we could of seen the Bowhead and Beluga whales as they migrate at that time of the year. Polar bears are in abundance and live on pack ice surrounding the island. Herschel is also one of only a few places on earth we here polar, black and grizzly bears and known to share the same habitat.

The additional sea day was added onto the following 3 expected sea days in the Beaufort sea, we only had one more opportunity to get off the ship and that was a zodiac cruise around King Island Alaska. Now a week or so previously apparently the French were advised that the expected zodiac ride was not happening, but we had to wait a week to be told by the captain it wasn’t going ahead. The French were fuming…The reason?? Apparently the Jones act, we were told they couldn’t do it because the zodiacs had to be made in America and they had them on Le Austral but not Le Boreal. Now I don’t know much about the Jones act except what I’ve read here on cruise critic, but it didn’t make sense, so our 3 sea days ended up being 5.

Again I think what Ponant lacked the most here was organising activities for the passengers on these unexpected sea days. One day there was 4 dance classes (which was fine for the 10 or so that enjoyed them), one day they made book marks and another a knotted friendship bracelet. They tried to throw some additional lectures together but they really needed to go above and beyond, maybe some trivia or a games afternoon, i don’t know anything, but when you’ve got grumpy passengers sitting around bored then it is just going to cause more unhappiness. 

We had dinner with the entertainment director on the second last night, he advised this was his first time with Ponant and he had previously had positions on a Spanish cruise line, so I doubt he had any idea of what activities would normally be provided.

 

We were able to see the northern lights again and we also enjoyed a few nice sunrises and sunsets.

[gogo65]

[highplanesdrifters]

Thanks again for posting.  Really enjoying. So glad you scored some polar bears, pack ice, and more Auroras.  Sorry about Ponants less than stellar performance. 

[HeadNorth]

Thank you Gogo65 for such a comprehensive and helpful report, and for the beautiful pictures.

 

You kept an amazingly upbeat attitude given all the issues with Ponant. We are heading on a NW passage trip with Hurtigruten in 2024. I know it's a bigger ship, which has some disadvantages, but hopefully we'll have the same positive wildlife experiences as you and a few less of the negative cruise company experiences. 

 

Am I being silly in missing the N-10 thread? Is there a separate link to that you could post?

 

Many thanks again!

[cgirardin]

This was such a great thread! Thanks for all your insightful observations and I certainly hope 2023 went better than 2022. I hope someone post soon to let us know.!