This was to be a "cruise of a lifetime." I hope it is, because I never want to experience something so bad again, ever.

The cruise was to be Nome to Nome, up to Wrangell Island, and along the Russian Arctic coast. 19 days of "nobody else gets here" cruising. The itinerary was changed a few days before we were to leave, for reasons of "fuel supplier restrictions" but the new itinerary was as cool as the old, so fine.

What we got was ice blocking us from three quarters of our destinations. The ice conditions were known by Silversea before we left Nome. We never made it to Wrangell Island. The ship got to 8 nautical miles away, we got to six nm away, in zodiacs. Read more