Glacial Expeditions — Your Experts in Adventure Travel

Journal

Expedition Travel Journal

We write one of these after every voyage. Ships we were aboard, places we landed, and what actually happened.

Chris and Erika Commisso write a journal entry after every expedition they sail. Each entry names the ship, the region, and the operator, and records what the voyage was actually like — the landings that worked, the weather that changed the plan, and what we'd tell someone considering the same trip. We also write up the custom land expeditions we plan — Churchill, the Canadian Rockies, and others — which follow the same principle: we've been there.

  • Green northern lights arcing over black spruce on the tundra near Churchill, Manitoba.
    Land expedition

    The Churchill Trifecta: Belugas, Bears and Northern Lights in One Day

    August 14–22, 2026 · Churchill, Manitoba

    Discover Churchill

    In August 2026 we spent three days in Winnipeg, then five days in Churchill, Manitoba, with Discover Churchill. We watched belugas from Zodiacs and from the shore, and found polar bears on the rocks, at Ithaca Point and along Polar Bear Alley, including a mother with two cubs. On August 19 we had all three: belugas, bears and a two-and-a-half-hour aurora display.

  • Blue icebergs floating in a Southeast Greenland fjord under a clear sky.

    Ten Days in Southeast Greenland Aboard the National Geographic Resolution

    5–14 July 2026 · Greenland

    National Geographic Resolution · Lindblad Expeditions

    In July 2026 we sailed Lindblad's National Geographic Resolution round trip from Reykjavík on a new itinerary into the fjords of Southeast Greenland, some of them mapped as we sailed. We saw three polar bears, four sperm whales and about thirty pilot whales. A guest's medical emergency sent us north to Kulusuk, and gave us an unplanned day in Tasiilaq.

  • Erika Commisso on the blue ice of the Athabasca Glacier at the Columbia Icefield.
    Land expedition

    Banff and Jasper: A Custom Land Expedition

    1–6 June 2026 · Canadian Rockies

    In June 2026 we took the train from Seattle to Vancouver and overnight to Jasper, spent two nights in Jasper and two in Banff, and flew home from Calgary. We took a food tour and a gondola ride in Jasper, cruised Maligne Lake, went looking for wildlife, stopped at the Columbia Icefield on the drive south, and hiked at Lake Louise and Moraine Lake.

  • Pinnacle Rock rising above the volcanic shoreline and turquoise water of Bartolomé Island in the Galápagos.

    The Galápagos aboard the Santa Cruz II

    12–16 January 2026 · Galápagos

    Santa Cruz II · HX

    In January 2026 we sailed HX's Santa Cruz II on a five-day Northern Route round trip from Baltra, after two days in Quito and the Mindo cloud forest. We snorkeled with sharks and a manta ray at Buccaneer Cove, hiked Rábida's red sand and the 372 steps up Bartolomé, walked Genovesa's seabird colonies and finished with giant tortoises in the Santa Cruz highlands.

  • Sunset over a Tikehau lagoon with thatched overwater bungalows and coconut palms silhouetted against an orange sky.
    Cruise and land

    Two Weeks in French Polynesia: The Paul Gauguin and Tikehau

    6–20 November 2025 · French Polynesia

    Paul Gauguin Cruises

    In November 2025 we spent two weeks in French Polynesia: a few days in Tahiti, then the Paul Gauguin to Huahine, Taha'a, Bora Bora and Moorea, then a land stay on Tikehau. We snorkeled with manta rays at Bora Bora and Tikehau, watched hundreds of spinner dolphins follow our boat, and lost two outings to rain and high waves.

  • The colorful buildings of Longyearbyen below a flat-topped, snow-streaked mountain across the fjord.
    Ship tour

    Six Expedition Ships in Four Days: The CLIA Summit in Svalbard

    16–20 July 2025 · The Arctic & Svalbard

    Sylvia Earle · SH Diana · Ocean Albatros · Le Lyrial · Ocean Explorer · World Voyager

    Four days in Longyearbyen at the CLIA Expedition Summit, touring six expedition ships back to back. Three of them share a hull and a shipbuilder, which made the differences between operators unusually clear — the same vessel laid out three ways. Belugas, a walrus and a great many puffins in between.

  • The rugged green coastline of the Scottish Hebrides under spring skies, seen from the Spitsbergen.

    The Scottish Hebrides aboard the Spitsbergen

    28 April–8 May 2025 · Scottish Hebrides

    Spitsbergen · HX

    From April 28 to May 8, 2025, we sailed HX's Spitsbergen round trip from Fairlie through the Scottish Hebrides. We e-biked Islay's Three Distilleries Pathway, walked the abandoned village on St Kilda, stood among the Callanish Stones and took a Zodiac to Fingal's Cave on Staffa, with red squirrels, gannets and puffins along the way.

  • Gentoo penguins standing along the top of a blue-white iceberg in Antarctic water, with more penguins swimming alongside.

    Ten Days to Antarctica Aboard the Greg Mortimer

    7–19 December 2024 · Antarctica

    Greg Mortimer · Aurora Expeditions

    In December 2024 we sailed Aurora Expeditions' Greg Mortimer round trip from Ushuaia to the Antarctic Peninsula. We Zodiac cruised the Melchior Islands and Paradise Harbour, landed at Port Lockroy and among nesting gentoos on Danco Island, watched whales in the bay all day, walked Deception Island, and sent five whale-tail photos to a citizen science project. Three were identified.

  • A polar bear walking through driving snow on the tundra outside Churchill, Manitoba.
    Land expedition

    Eighty-Three Polar Bears: Nine Days in Churchill

    16–25 November 2024 · Churchill, Manitoba

    Nine days in Manitoba with Discover Churchill, timed for the polar bear gathering on Hudson Bay. Eighty-three bears in six days on the tundra, including one that walked past us at arm's length, plus foxes, ptarmigan, Arctic hare and owls. We arrived to open water and left as the bears were walking out onto new ice.

  • A polar bear walking across broken ice in front of a blue glacier face near Longyearbyen, Svalbard.

    The Svalbard Express: Longyearbyen to Bergen Aboard the Trollfjord

    11–22 September 2024 · Norway · The Arctic & Svalbard

    Trollfjord · Hurtigruten

    Eleven days from Oslo to Longyearbyen and then the full length of the Norwegian coast to Bergen aboard Hurtigruten's Trollfjord. A polar bear at a glacier before we even boarded, a walrus, reindeer at Ny-Ålesund, and more rainbows than we could photograph. Working ports rather than tourist stops, and the transition from high Arctic to temperate over a single voyage.

  • Gentoo penguins on the shore in front of the World Navigator, a glacier and snow-covered Antarctic mountains.

    Antarctica Aboard the World Navigator: Our Journey to the White Continent

    24 February–6 March 2024 · Antarctica

    World Navigator · Atlas Ocean Voyages

    Eleven days from Buenos Aires to the Antarctic Peninsula aboard Atlas Ocean Voyages' World Navigator. Humpbacks spyhopping around the Zodiacs in Fournier Bay, leopard seals hunting chinstraps at Duroch Island, and a night camping ashore at Eckener Point — nine hours, twenty-five minutes and forty-seven seconds off the ship, listening to glaciers crack.

  • Quasar Expeditions' Evolution at anchor in the Galápagos, with her dark blue hull and yellow funnel under a blue sky.

    The Galápagos Aboard the Evolution

    23 November–3 December 2023 · Galápagos

    Evolution · Quasar Expeditions

    Ten days in the Galápagos aboard Quasar Expeditions' Evolution, a 32-guest yacht. Marine iguanas, blue-footed boobies and sea lions before we even boarded. Snorkelling with sea lions, white-tipped sharks and green turtles. Flamingos at Espumilla, giant tortoises at El Chato, and a marine iguana swimming past the panga on the final morning.

  • Three humpback whales surfacing and blowing in front of a forested shoreline near Juneau, Alaska.

    Alaska Aboard Seabourn Odyssey: Juneau to Vancouver

    2–11 August 2023 · Alaska

    Seabourn Odyssey · Seabourn

    In August 2023 we spent two days in Juneau, then sailed Seabourn Odyssey, a luxury expedition ship, to Vancouver from August 4 to 11. Juneau gave us bubble-feeding humpbacks, Mendenhall Glacier and the Mount Roberts Tramway. Aboard, the Ventures Team took us Zodiac cruising at Dawes Glacier and kayaking in Misty Fjords. Weather cancelled one outing. This is what it was actually like.

  • Goðafoss in April, pouring in a horseshoe over dark rock, with snow on the banks and snow-covered hills behind.
    Land expedition

    Iceland Ring Road: Fire, Ice & the Freedom to Stop

    8–19 April 2023 · Iceland

    We drove Iceland's full Ring Road over twelve days in April 2023, starting on the Reykjanes Peninsula and circling counter-clockwise through the south coast, the eastfjords, Lake Mývatn and Snæfellsnes. Early spring meant full waterfalls, almost no crowds, and one genuine blizzard. We'd do it again in the same season.

  • The white superstructure of HX's Roald Amundsen, with her name and 'Hybrid Powered' on the side and red lifeboats below, against a blue Boston sky.
    Ship tour

    Getting to Know the Roald Amundsen: A Boston Ship Visit

    23–25 September 2022

    Roald Amundsen · HX

    Two days aboard HX's Roald Amundsen alongside in Boston — no penguins, no Zodiac rides, no ice. Just the chance to walk a 530-guest expedition ship from the mudroom to the Science Center and work out how she actually functions, before ever seeing her in the places she was built for.

  • Goðafoss waterfall pouring over dark basalt cliffs in north Iceland, with a visitor photographing it from the rocks.

    Circumnavigating Iceland aboard the Ocean Diamond

    May 24 – June 5, 2022 · Iceland

    Ocean Diamond · Iceland ProCruises

    Ten days sailing all the way around Iceland in early summer, with two days of land touring first — puffin colonies, a glacier in a blizzard, the Arctic Circle, and a dozen ports most visitors never reach.

  • A row of red and orange expedition kayaks pulled up on a muddy shore below a spruce forest in Southeast Alaska.

    Wild Alaska: Orcas, Icebergs and a Very Cold Baptism

    25–30 June 2021 · Alaska

    National Geographic Sea Lion · Lindblad Expeditions

    In June 2021 we sailed Lindblad's National Geographic Sea Lion out of Ketchikan for five nights in Southeast Alaska. Orcas met us on the first evening and came back to interrupt dinner two nights later. We kayaked Misty Fjords, watched a brown bear in Walker Cove, and finished among hundreds of seal mothers and pups at a calving glacier.

  • A double rainbow arching over a palm-covered island and turquoise lagoon in French Polynesia.
    Land expedition

    French Polynesia: An Island-Hopping Adventure

    10–21 November 2020 · French Polynesia

    Two weeks island-hopping through French Polynesia by air and boat — Tahiti, Tikehau, Taha'a and Bora Bora. Reef sharks outside the bungalow, a lemon shark on a motu snorkel, a drift channel we swam ten times in a day, and a guide who took us to the spot he brings his own family.

Written by your expedition advisor

Chris Commisso standing beside a glacial lagoon in Iceland, with icebergs and a snow-covered mountain behind him.

Chris Commisso · Expedition Expert

Signature Travel Expert

Chris and Erika have sailed ten expedition voyages and toured seven more expedition ships. Favorite explorations so far: Antarctica, Svalbard, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Alaska, the Galápagos, the Scottish Hebrides, Churchill and French Polynesia.

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