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90° North · from Longyearbyen aboard Le Commandant Charcot

The Geographic North Pole

One passenger ship in the world can take you to the top of the planet, and she sails from Svalbard. Three days through the pack ice, two days on it, every direction south, and nothing else like it on any ship.

Highlights

Why the Pole

There is no land at the North Pole, only two to three metres of drifting ice over four kilometres of ocean, and until 2021 only nuclear icebreakers could reach it with guests. Le Commandant Charcot changed that: a Polar Class 2 hull, hybrid electric and LNG, 123 suites, two helicopters and a route north from Longyearbyen through the ice of the Arctic Ocean. The voyage is the ice itself, the bears that hunt on it, the silence when the engines stop, and the hour on the floe where every step is south.

Close-up of the reinforced bow of Ponant's Le Commandant Charcot pressed into broken pack ice in white-out conditions, Antarctica

The bow in the pack ice

Helicopter aerial view of Ponant's Le Commandant Charcot in loose sea ice off Greenland, bathed in golden haze, on a Ponant Reykjavik round-trip Arctic expedition cruise

Helicopter flights over the floes

High aerial view of a polar bear, tiny against vast bands of blue sea ice off East Greenland, photographed on a Swan Hellenic Greenland expedition cruise

Bears on the ice at 85° North

Couple on the private terrace of a Duplex Suite aboard Ponant's Le Commandant Charcot, with the French flag flying over open sea

A terrace at the top of the world

Indoor pool with loungers lit beneath a glass roof in the evening aboard Ponant's Le Commandant Charcot, on a Ponant polar expedition cruise

The pool under the midnight sun

Signature locations

Where the voyage goes

Seven stages between Longyearbyen and 90° North. The ice sets the days and the captain sets the route.

Panoramic view of snowy mountain peaks in Svalbard

Longyearbyen

Embarkation at 78° North after the charter from Paris, with a night in Svalbard for those who want to arrive early. The last town before the Pole.

When to go

July to September, and the difference

The ship sails to the Pole from July to mid-September, when the ice is thin enough to pass and thick enough to stand on. This is how we read it.

The sun at its highest, the ice at its whitest and the bears still hunting close to Svalbard. The longest days on the floe, and the sailings that sell first.

Wildlife

Who you meet, and when

The Arctic Ocean above 85° is one of the emptiest places on earth, which makes every sighting an event. Sightings are never promised. These are the odds as we know them.

Most voyages see them on the ice between Svalbard and 85° North, hunting seals along the leads. Rare beyond that, and unforgettable when it happens.

Things to do

How the days are spent

A voyage of days at sea in the ice, with the bridge open, the helicopters flying when the weather clears and the science lab at work. Everything below is included in the fare.

Charcot-Bridge-Cindy-Miller-Hopkins_PONANT_Photo-Ambassador

The open bridge in the ice

Helicopter flightseeing over a Greenland fjord from the Quark Expeditions ship Ultramarine

Helicopter flights over the pack

A group of travellers from a Ponant cruise hiking or snowshoeing in Antarctica

Walks and snowshoeing on the floe

Guest setting up a telescope and camera on the deck of SH Vega before the solar eclipse off East Greenland, on a Swan Hellenic eclipse cruise

The science laboratory and lectures

PONANT Le Commandant Charcot in the ice

Field notes

What the brochures leave out

The Pole is a voyage of sea days, and that is the point. There are no landings between Spitsbergen and the floe at 90° North, so the ship has to carry the week: the restaurants under Alain Ducasse, the indoor pool and the spa, the bridge that is open to guests through the ice, the science laboratory with researchers aboard, the helicopters when the weather clears. Le Commandant Charcot was built for exactly this, and the suites that face forward over the bow are the ones we book first. Tell us how you travel and we tell you which deck.

The practical things. Ponant includes the charter flights from Paris to Longyearbyen and back, so the journey from Australia is Sydney to Paris and a night there. At the Pole every time zone meets, and the ship stays on Svalbard time, eight hours behind Sydney. Temperatures on the ice sit around zero in July and August, colder in the wind, and the ship’s parka and boots are warmer than anything you pack. There is no mobile coverage north of Svalbard; the satellite Wi-Fi works most of the way. The ship reaches the Pole on almost every sailing, but the ice has the last word, and we say so.

  • 4,000 m of ocean below
  • 2 to 3 m of ice
  • 1 ship in the world

How we plan it

Four decisions, in the right order

A Pole voyage is decided a year out, because the suites go first. This is the order we work in with every guest.

Four sailings in 2027, six in 2028, July to September. We tell you which has the suite you want and which month suits the way you travel.

What a North Pole voyage costs

From A$53,610 per person for twelve nights aboard Le Commandant Charcot in 2028, and from A$58,090 in 2027, with the Paris charter flights both ways.

From A$71,770 for seventeen nights between Longyearbyen and Reykjavík in September 2027, the Pole and the fjords of the Blosseville Coast in one voyage, and A$84,430 for the July departure.

Flights from Australia to Paris, the hotel nights there, spa treatments and travel insurance are the usual additions. Many of these departures carry offers we hold for Arctic Cruise guests and do not publish. Call us and we quote the whole journey with them, in Australian dollars, on one proposal.


Expeditions

Expeditions to the North Pole and the high ice

The Pole itself, the Pole with East Greenland, and the other voyages Le Commandant Charcot makes into the ice of Svalbard, Greenland and Baffin Bay. Tell us the year and we tell you which sailing, which suite and what we can do on the fare.

All expeditions
12 Nights
Ponant
From A$53,610

The Geographic North Pole

Longyearbyen to Longyearbyen, through the pack ice to 90° North. Four sailings in 2027, six in 2028, with 2029 to follow. Return charter flights Paris to Longyearbyen included. From A$53,610 per person, planned with you by Arctic Cruise.

16 Nights
Ponant
From A$53,550

In the Ice of the Arctic: Svalbard and Greenland

Reykjavík to Longyearbyen in June, or Longyearbyen to Reykjavík. Sailings in 2027, with 2028 to follow. Paris charter flight included. From A$53,550 per person, planned with you by Arctic Cruise.

12 Nights
Ponant
From A$29,280

Encounter with the Last Guardians of the North Pole

Nuuk to Nuuk, 4 to 16 April 2027, with 2028 to follow. From A$29,280 per person, Paris charter flights included, planned with you by Arctic Cruise.

12 Nights
Ponant
From A$34,910

Beyond the Inhabited World

Nuuk to Nuuk, 16 to 28 April 2027, with 2028 to follow. From A$34,910 per person, Paris charter flights included, planned with you by Arctic Cruise.

7 Nights
Ponant
From A$15,770

Unexplored Svalbard

Longyearbyen to Longyearbyen aboard Le Lyrial, around the north of Spitsbergen to the nature reserves of Nordaustlandet and Edgeøya. Five departures from 30 June to 28 July 2028, return charter flights from Paris included. From A$15,770 per person, planned with you by Arctic Cruise.

7 Nights
Ponant
From A$15,660

Fjords and Glaciers of Spitsbergen

Longyearbyen to Longyearbyen aboard Le Lyrial: Hornsund, the edge of the pack ice, Liefdefjorden, Raudfjorden and Ny-Ålesund in a single week. Six departures in 2027 and four in June 2028, return charter flights from Paris included. From A$15,660 per person, planned with you by Arctic Cruise.

Go further

Pair the Pole with the rest of the Arctic

Most of our Pole guests add a week in Svalbard before or after, or sail on to Greenland. These are the routes that join them.

All expeditions

Svalbard

Nine islands halfway between Norway and the Pole, where the bears outnumber the people and the sun does not set for four months. We have sailed every coast of it.

East Greenland

The longest fjord system on earth, the largest national park on earth and a coast with one settlement in a thousand kilometres. September brings the aurora. Ten days here changes what you think a fjord is.

West Greenland and Disko Bay

The coast where the ice sheet reaches the sea. The fastest glacier in the northern hemisphere, the icebergs it sends into Disko Bay, towns of coloured houses on the rock and, in September, the aurora over the ice. The easiest Arctic to reach, and the one with the most icebergs.

Close-up of a polar bear standing on the sea ice at 82 degrees north, photographed from PONANT's Le Commandant Charcot on an Arctic cruise

Questions

The Geographic North Pole, your questions answered

The ice, the ship, the odds and getting there from Australia. If your question is not here, we are a call away.

On almost every sailing since 2021, yes, but the ice has the last word and Ponant says so in its conditions. The captain can spend extra days in the ice if the route is slow. We tell you how each season went before you book.

Fly to Paris, around 23 hours with one stop, and join the charter to Longyearbyen that the fare includes. We book the long-haul flights, a night in Paris and the hotel on the way home, so it is one booking with one specialist.

Watch the ice from the bow deck and the open bridge, fly over it in the helicopters, walk on it at the Pole, swim in it if you dare, eat under Alain Ducasse, follow the scientists in the laboratory and sleep in a suite with a balcony on the Arctic Ocean. The days go fast.

Most voyages do, on the ice between Svalbard and 85° North. Beyond that the ocean is almost empty of life. No one can promise a sighting, and we never do.

Around zero on the ice in July and August, with wind chill below that, and milder along the Svalbard coast. The ship provides the parka and boots. Bring thermal layers, a windproof outer, gloves and sunglasses: the glare off the ice is the real hazard.

No. The ship is in ice for most of the voyage, which flattens the sea completely, and the open-water days along Svalbard are sheltered. The hull vibrates and rumbles in thick ice, which most guests come to love.

It depends on how you travel. Prestige for value, Privilege for the forward view in the ice, Grand and Duplex for space, the Owner’s Suite for the terrace at the top of the world. We have sailed the ship and we say which suits you.

We have sailed Le Commandant Charcot, we know every suite category, and we hold offers on many of her departures that are only available by talking to us. One Australian specialist plans the whole journey and stays with you until you are home.

Made to measure

Tell us your Arctic, we build the rest

Every guest sails differently. Tell us what you are hoping for, the ice, the wildlife, the light, who you are travelling with, and we match it to the right sailing, the right stateroom and the right year, with flights from Australia and our own offers included. One Arctic Cruise specialist stays with you from the first call until you are home.

The Arctic, by destination

Other Arctic destinations

Seven coasts, each with its own season, its own ships and its own page. Tell us which one you are drawn to and we tell you how it fits with the others.

All expeditions

Svalbard

Nine islands halfway between Norway and the Pole, where the bears outnumber the people and the sun does not set for four months. We have sailed every coast of it.

East Greenland

The longest fjord system on earth, the largest national park on earth and a coast with one settlement in a thousand kilometres. September brings the aurora. Ten days here changes what you think a fjord is.

Northwest Passage and the Canadian Arctic

The sea route that Franklin died looking for and Amundsen took three winters to sail. Today it opens for six weeks a year, and the ships that go in come back with stories no other coast gives. Ice decides the route, every year, every morning.

Labrador and Newfoundland

The autumn coast, where the polar bears come down to a shore of red tundra, the Vikings built the first European houses in the Americas and a piece of France waits at the end. September, when the colour is on the tundra and the bears are on the shore.

West Greenland and Disko Bay

The coast where the ice sheet reaches the sea. The fastest glacier in the northern hemisphere, the icebergs it sends into Disko Bay, towns of coloured houses on the rock and, in September, the aurora over the ice. The easiest Arctic to reach, and the one with the most icebergs.

Iceland and Jan Mayen

Where most Arctic voyages begin or end, and where the best of them linger: the Westfjords, the whales of Húsavík and the volcano that rises alone out of the Greenland Sea. Two nights in Reykjavík either side, and the whole of the North Atlantic between.