The Trip is Just the Tip of the Iceberg

Adventure Life Voyages is offering an expedition cruise to the North Pole on the world’s largest, most sophisticated icebreaker—“50 Years of Victory”. This more than $81 million, 128-passenger ship took 18 years to complete and is a product of Soviet-era Russia.

The Ship, twenty years in the making, the recently completed “50 Years of Victory” was built by the Russian government and is driven by 2 nuclear reactors that produce 75,000 horsepower. In open water, top speed can be as much as 21.4 knots. It weighs 25,000 tons and is 522 feet long. Designed with a stainless steel ice belt hull 5 meters (18 feet) wide, the ship can break through ice up to 2.5 meters (9.2 feet) thick.

The Trip: Your choice of 16 or 17-day expeditions. You’ll board the nuclear-powered icebreaker in Murmansk, Russia. You’ll join and leave the expedition in Helsinki, Finland. The return flight from Helsinki to Murmansk is included. Shore landings are planned in Franz Josef Land and at 90N, the top of the world. Sightseeing by helicopter provides an aerial view of the icebreaker crushing through the Arctic Ocean pack ice. Here is a link to the full itinerary. http://www.alvoyages.com/ships/50-years-of-victory/160/1092/

Cost: $22,900-31,900 www.alvoyages.com