Northwest Passage cruises in 2027: who sails it, fares and ice risk

We found nine expedition lines that will take passengers into the Northwest Passage in summer 2027, but only four ships are scheduled to sail all the way between Alaska and Greenland: Lindblad's National Geographic Resolution, HX's Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen, and Hapag-Lloyd's HANSEATIC spirit.¹²³⁴ The rest cover part of the route, some only the eastern entrance at Lancaster Sound and Beechey Island, others as far as Cambridge Bay or Kugluktuk, then turn back or fly out. Which kind you book decides most of the price, and the ice decides how much of the published route you actually see.

Which cruise lines sail the Northwest Passage in 2027?

These are every 2027 Northwest Passage departure we found on the operators' own sites, read on October 14 and 15, 2026, with the lowest fare open to book, per person with two sharing unless noted:

Hapag-Lloyd's euro fare showed as US$30,789 in its booking engine.⁵ Viking also sells the first Nuuk loop joined to a voyage from Toronto, 27 days from June 27 for $36,498.¹⁵ Two ships that readers ask about are not on the list: Viking's Viking Polaris starts Northwest Passage sailings in July 2028, and Ponant lists Le Boréal's next departure on August 26, 2028.¹⁵¹⁶

Should you do a full transit or a partial Northwest Passage cruise?

A full transit if crossing from the Atlantic side to the Pacific side is the point; a partial voyage if you mainly want Beechey Island, polar bears and Inuit communities for less time and money. The full transits run 24 to 29 days and end or start in Nome or Seward, Alaska.¹⁴ HX's two ships pass each other in opposite directions: Roald Amundsen sails east from Nome to Nuuk, Fridtjof Nansen west from Nuuk to Nome, and HX lists economy flights at each end, to or from New York and Seattle, as included.²³

The partial voyages split three ways:

• Through the middle: Adventure Canada, and Aurora on its published itinerary, sail between Greenland and Kugluktuk in western Nunavut, by way of Bellot Strait and the Kitikmeot region, and fly you in or out by charter.⁷⁹ You cross most of the Canadian section without the Beaufort Sea days.
• In and back out: Seabourn Venture turns at Cambridge Bay, and Ponant's L'Austral turns after Bellot Strait, Prescott Island and Peel Sound, both returning to West Greenland.¹¹¹⁰
• The eastern gate only: Quark's voyage reaches Lancaster Sound, Beechey Island and Prince Leopold Island, then works south along Baffin Island's fjords; it enters the passage but does not sail through it.¹⁷ HX's 19-day Circumnavigating Baffin Bay plans three days in Lancaster Sound, with Dundas Harbour, Beechey Island and Croker Bay among the possible stops.¹³ Viking's 13-day loop gives three days to "the Canadian High Arctic" after Pond Inlet, with Greenland at both ends.¹⁴

How much is a Northwest Passage cruise?

From $13,297 per person in a shared triple on Adventure Canada to $86,680 for the last open cabin on Lindblad's full transit.⁷⁶ For two people sharing, a full transit starts at $25,840 each on HX, and the cheapest partial voyage is Adventure Canada's Category 2 double at $15,747. Both Adventure Canada fares are 30% off until November 26, 2026, cover the berth only, and leave out the charter flights.³⁷

What is included changes the comparison:

• Flights: HX lists economy flights between New York and Nuuk and between Nome and Seattle as included on its transits, though its page also puts "International flights" under what is not included; Seabourn and Quark include charters from Reykjavík to Greenland.²¹¹¹⁷ Adventure Canada charges $1,650 for the charter from Toronto to Kangerlussuaq and $1,100 from Kugluktuk to Yellowknife.⁷ Lindblad's fares include no flights.¹ Ponant's fare includes flights from Paris and back.¹⁰
• Offers with deadlines: Adventure Canada's 30% saving ends November 26, 2026, Viking's Fall Sale October 31, 2026, Hapag-Lloyd's early-booking price October 31, 2026, and Seabourn adds a $500 shipboard credit per suite booked by November 16, 2026.⁷¹⁴⁵¹⁸ HX's extra anniversary discount applies to bookings made by November 9, 2026.³
• Promo codes: Quark's site shows $22,871 for the Explorer Suite, but only with the code 20PROMO; we list the $28,090 brochure fare, and its triple cabins were sold out.¹²
• Extras: Aurora's kayaking costs from $890, Adventure Canada's $995, and Quark sells kayaking for $1,795 and a helicopter landing for $995.⁹⁷¹²

Per day, the cheapest full transit (HX at about $1,034) costs less than most partial voyages, because the days are long and the flights are in; only Adventure Canada ($926 before its charters) and HX's Baffin Bay loop ($944) come in lower.³⁷¹³ For how these prices sit against the rest of the far north, see our Arctic cruises guide.

What happens if ice blocks the Northwest Passage?

The ship changes course, and in most contracts you get no refund for it. Ice is the normal risk here, not an exception. HX labels both of its transits an "Attempt" and says that "if weather, sea or ice conditions do not allow our planned navigation, our experienced crew will deliver an adapted itinerary"; its Bellot Strait transit "will be determined by ice and weather conditions", and heavier ice than average in the Beaufort Sea "will likely affect the speed we can sail through".³ Hapag-Lloyd describes the route as "often determined by weather and ice".⁴ Adventure Canada says its published itinerary "cannot be guaranteed" and names Cambridge Bay as an alternate place to disembark.⁷

The record shows why. Of the 465 complete transits made by the end of 2025, passenger vessels made 100; there were 9 passenger voyages in 2022, 11 in 2023, 8 in 2024 and 10 in 2025, but in 2018 only three vessels of any kind completed the passage and none was a passenger voyage.¹⁹ In August 2018 a Russian-flagged passenger ship with 162 people aboard ran aground in the passage.²⁰ Less ice overall has not meant an easier route: a 2024 study of the years 2007 to 2021 found that thick old ice flushed south keeps "choke points" in place, with Larsen and Peel Sounds the tightest on the southern route and parts of the northern route losing up to 14 weeks of season.²¹

Here is what the contracts we saved say, for you cancelling and for the ship changing course:

Lindblad warns that its cancellation terms for "certain longer voyages" may differ, so ask for the terms of the Northwest Passage departure in writing.²³ Both Lindblad and Quark recommend buying trip cancellation cover or a travel protection plan, and on these prices we would too.²³²⁵

What will you see on a Northwest Passage cruise?

Mostly history, Inuit communities and ice, with wildlife as a bonus rather than a promise. These are the stops that recur across the 2027 itineraries:

• Beechey Island: Franklin's expedition spent the winter of 1845 to 1846 here, and the graves of three of his crew are on the shore.³⁰ Adventure Canada adds the grave of Thomas Morgan of HMS Investigator, buried in 1854, and the ruins of Northumberland House, a stone supply depot.⁷
• Bellot Strait: about 15 nautical miles long, between Somerset Island and the northernmost tip of mainland North America; HX puts its narrowest point at just over half a mile, while Aurora and Adventure Canada say about 2 km (1.2 miles).³⁹ Adventure Canada says belugas, narwhals and seals might surface in its currents.⁷
• Lancaster Sound and Devon Island: the eastern entrance, where Quark's itinerary looks for walruses at Croker Bay and visits the seabird cliffs of Prince Leopold Island.¹⁷
• King William Island: Franklin's ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, were abandoned in the ice near here in 1848, and Inuit knowledge helped searchers find the wrecks in 2014 and 2016; they are now a protected National Historic Site.³¹ Aurora plans a landing on the island's west side.⁹
• Gjoa Haven and Cambridge Bay: the Inuit communities of the central passage. Amundsen made the first successful navigation of the passage between 1903 and 1906, and his later ship Maud stayed in Cambridge Bay's harbor for decades after it was trapped in ice and sank.³²⁹ HX sells hosted community visits in both towns.³
• The western Arctic: on the full transits, Herschel Island, the Smoking Hills and the Beaufort Sea toward Point Barrow, where HX says Pacific walruses may gather on the floes if there is ice.³⁴

Every eastern route also crosses Baffin Bay from West Greenland, so you see Ilulissat's icebergs or Disko Bay at one end, and many call at Pond Inlet on Baffin Island, where Ponant says passengers clear Canadian immigration and customs.¹⁰ Lindblad lists polar bears, ringed seals, Arctic foxes, musk oxen and walruses among the animals it searches for, and gives no odds.¹ Ponant states that landings and wildlife sightings "cannot be guaranteed".¹⁰ For the bear itself, see our polar bear page.

What is the Northwest Passage controversy?

It is a dispute over who controls the water. The US government views the part running through the Canadian archipelago as an international strait, while Canada considers it internal Canadian waters; after a US icebreaker's voyage caused a dispute in 1985, the two countries signed a 1988 agreement in which, observers say, they agreed to disagree.²⁰ For a passenger the practical result is that you enter Canada: the route by Pond Inlet is where Ponant's guests complete immigration and customs.¹⁰

Which Northwest Passage cruise should you choose?

Pick by how much of the passage you want and what you can spend:

Our pick for most first-timers is HX's westbound Fridtjof Nansen voyage: it is the cheapest full transit per day, includes the flights, and HX is frank that it is an attempt that depends on the ice.³ If you would rather see Beechey Island and Bellot Strait without four weeks away, Adventure Canada's 17-day voyages cost about 40% less, or about 30% less once its $2,750 of charters are added.⁷ Compare the HX and Quark fleets in HX vs Quark.