Witness the Wonders of Wildlife With an Arctic Cruise

Discover the incredible variety of wildlife on display during an Arctic cruise.

Cheap holidays in the sun are the dream for many, and cruise holidays are part and parcel of this dream – the vision of relaxing on the deck with a crossword and a cocktail before sampling the buffet and trying your luck in the ship’s casino is a powerful one.

However, the growth in eco-tourism over the past few decades has also brought with it a new kind of cruise, focusing on exploring less-charted areas and observing some of the wonderful wildlife that can be found there. Bird, seal or whale-watching is an especially popular pastime, and many holidaymakers incorporate trips to do this over the course of a normal, land-based holiday.

There are also dedicated cruise holidays which attract thousands of tourists worldwide every year, organised for the sole purpose of witnessing wonderful wildlife. A recent article in the online Cruise International magazine noted that sea cruises around the Arctic region are steadily growing in popularity, following an increased demand among holidaymakers for more original destinations and exciting experiences.

Editor Adam Coulter said that there is a real buzz of excitement about cheap holidays in the Arctic region, and the people who opt for it are aware that they’re getting a far different experience from the more traditional cruises that take place in the warmer climes of the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.

“If you put the adventure tag on it people get quite excited about that,” Mr Coulter pointed out, adding that “the Arctic is great if people have done the Mediterranean and the Caribbean and they want to do something different.”

As well as the opportunity to see the incredible sea life to be found in the Arctic, some cruises also stop at ice floes, where tourists can look for the land animals that inhabit them, such as polar bears and walruses.