The Passage, Abridged
Adventure Canada's 2028 collection adds a 13-day Northwest Passage from US$14,995. It is the High Arctic sold to clients who could never spare 17 days.
The Northwest Passage has always been a hard thing to sell. It means two and a half weeks away, charter flights at both ends and a fare that starts near US$19,000. Adventure Canada‘s 2028 collection, announced 6 October, offers a smaller version. The new Northwest Passage: Eastern Gateway runs 13 days from US$14,995 per person, US$4,000 below the company’s full Passage voyages. That gives advisors a High Arctic product for clients who could never spare 17 days.
The eastern door
The Eastern Gateway sails on Ocean Victory, which carries up to 175 guests, according to Adventure Canada. The 24 July to 5 August departure starts on Greenland’s west coast, including the UNESCO-listed Ilulissat Icefjord. It then spends five days in Tallurutiup Imanga (Lancaster Sound), with calls at Ikpiarjuk (Arctic Bay) and Beechey Island, and ends in Qausuittuq (Resolute), Nunavut. The 5 to 17 August sailing runs the same route in reverse.
Lancaster Sound is the Passage’s eastern entrance. In 2017, Ottawa and the Qikiqtani Inuit Association agreed a boundary of about 108,000 km² for the national marine conservation area, and an Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreement followed in August 2019. Beechey Island holds the graves of three men from Franklin’s lost expedition. Advisors should be precise about what they are selling: this voyage covers the Passage’s most storied waters, not a full transit.
The calendar shows how tight the inventory is. Ocean Victory runs a relay all summer. The second Eastern Gateway ends on 17 August, the same day Into the Northwest Passage begins. That voyage ends on 2 September, when Out of the Northwest Passage sails. Four High Arctic departures on a 175-guest ship give about 700 berths for the whole season.
Access to the Greenland end is also changing. Air Greenland says it will launch direct Ilulissat–Copenhagen flights on 29 October 2026, when Greenland Airports opens the town’s new airport. Adventure Canada has not said how guests will reach or leave the Eastern Gateway, so confirm the flight arrangements before quoting a total price.
A centenary aboard
Out of the Northwest Passage (2 to 18 September, from US$18,995) marks 100 years since the launch of the St. Roch. The RCMP built the wooden schooner for Arctic patrol and supply and launched it in North Vancouver in April 1928. Under Sergeant Henry Larsen it left Vancouver in June 1940, spent two winters locked in ice and reached Halifax in October 1942. That made it the first vessel to cross the Passage west to east, and only the second to cross it at all, after Amundsen’s Gjøa. In 1944 it sailed back west through Lancaster Sound in 86 days, the first ship to make the crossing in both directions. It has been a national historic site since 1962 and sits at the Vancouver Maritime Museum.
Read next · Trade DeskHX Extends Its Greenland Promise to 20282 min →The museum’s executive director, David Jordan, will sail with guests. Adventure Canada says the program will cover the Inuit knowledge behind the ship’s voyages and the Panipakuttuk family. Historian Kenn Harper has written that Joe Panipakuttuk, a Pond Inlet hunter, came aboard in 1944 with seven relatives. He hunted for the crew and helped guide the ship through the ice. For history buyers, it is a voyage with a clear purpose.
Beyond the Passage
Two more new voyages extend the season. Iceland & the Faroe Islands, 11 days round trip from Reykjavík on Ocean Victory, calls at the Westfjords, Grímsey, Húsavík, Heimaey and Tórshavn. Antarctic Peninsula: An Explorer’s Expedition crosses the Drake from Ushuaia for 11 days.
Six favourites return: Greenland and Labrador’s Torngat Mountains; a Newfoundland circumnavigation from St. John’s; Sable Island, with three planned days ashore in collaboration with Parks Canada; Scotland, the Faroes and Iceland; the High Arctic with the McMichael Canadian Art Collection; and Ellesmere Island and North Greenland, which reaches Tartupaluk (Hans Island) when conditions allow.
| 2028 voyage | Length | Dates | From (pp) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antarctic Peninsula: An Explorer’s Expedition (new) | 11 days | 4–14 Jan | US$12,795 |
| Iceland & the Faroe Islands (new) | 11 days | 26 May–5 Jun | US$10,295 |
| Northwest Passage: Eastern Gateway (new) | 13 days | 24 Jul–5 Aug | US$14,995 |
| Northwest Passage: Eastern Gateway, reverse (new) | 13 days | 5–17 Aug | US$14,995 |
| Into the Northwest Passage | 17 days | 17 Aug–2 Sep | US$18,995 |
| Out of the Northwest Passage (St. Roch centenary) | 17 days | 2–18 Sep | US$18,995 |
Where it sits
The price gap matters. Quark Expeditions‘ 17-day Northwest Passage on Ultramarine lists August 2027 departures from US$26,790. HX‘s 2028/29 season adds a 19-day Baffin Island circumnavigation. Since 2025, Svalbard has capped ships in its protected areas at 200 passengers, and operators there now sell two seasons out. The Canadian Arctic is the obvious alternative for clients who want polar bears, sea ice and history, and its supply is just as limited.
Adventure Canada’s case to advisors rests on people as well as places. The company says the Eastern Gateway travels through Inuit homelands with Inuit cultural educators and knowledge holders, and spends time in local communities. “Whether guests are drawn to the Canadian Arctic, Antarctica, or the cultural coastlines of Northern Europe, this expanded collection offers more choice,” said Cedar Swan, Adventure Canada’s chief executive.
For advisors
- Who to pitch: executives and working professionals who have ruled out a 17-day Passage, and past Antarctic clients looking for a polar second act.
- What to book: Eastern Gateway as a first Arctic trip, and the St. Roch centenary for maritime and Canadian history buyers. With four High Arctic sailings on one 175-guest ship, hold space now.
- How to sell it: as the Passage’s eastern gateway, not a full transit. Confirm flight and charter costs before quoting a total.
- What to watch: how the new Ilulissat airport and its Copenhagen flights change pre- and post-voyage options from Europe.
Sources
- Open Jaw, 7 Oct 2026, 2028 dates and fares
- Cruise Industry News, 8 Oct 2026
- Adventure Canada, Into and Out of the Northwest Passage 2028 dates and fares
- Adventure Canada, Ocean Victory capacity
- CruiseMapper, 2027 Northwest Passage fares
- The Canadian Encyclopedia, St. Roch
- Nunatsiaq News, Kenn Harper, Joe Panipakuttuk on the St. Roch
- Tallurutiup Imanga boundary and IIBA
- Air Greenland, Ilulissat–Copenhagen from 29 Oct 2026
- Quark Expeditions, Northwest Passage
- Seatrade Cruise News, HX 2028/29
- Atlas Ocean Voyages, 2028 Arctic season
