November 27, 2007
Love Letter From our Bering Sea Cruise
Cruise West’s Spirit of Oceanus Exploration Leader, Alastair Newton, Speaks from the Heart About Our Cruise: Voyage to the Bering Sea
July 22, 2007
Hello All from the Bering Sea.
Tonight, we will be leaving the Bering Sea as we continue our voyage back towards Whittier. It has been a hard trip in the Bering Sea because we have had such a wonderful time here yet again and there have been many long faces in the communities regarding the fact that we are only doing visiting twice this year. I know that our itineraries are constantly being evaluated and I wanted to pass on some information regarding this itinerary and my experiences of doing it over the last 3 years.
When I am off the Spirit of Oceanus, back home in England, I spend some of my time visiting Travel Agents on behalf of Cruise West. When I visit them, I talk about our company and show them pictures that I have taken on voyages with the company. I often get the question "what one trip should a client take to Alaska?" I always recommend a one of the Inside Passage cruises: the Coastal Odyssey, Alaska Whales & Wilderness, or the Alaska Inside Passage Itinerary. This is classic Alaska. It is what people expect, mountains and glaciers and towns like Skagway. They then ask me which is my favorite Itinerary in Alaska and I always answer "The Voyage to the Bering Sea".
To me, this itinerary is truly aimed at those that want to go beyond what all the other visitors will see, who want to go somewhere special that is so far off the beaten path that almost no-one else visits. Last year I was in Grytviken, South Georgia and they had 56 visits from Cruise Ships! Compare that with the number of ships heading into the Bering Sea this year. This is less visited than Antarctica and more special in many ways. What does the Bering Sea have that Antarctica doesn't? The people! This itinerary gives our guests the opportunity to visit fragile communities that are thousands of years old. To see cultures that are in danger of disappearing, and to be warmly welcomed into communities whose existence hangs in the balance. Maybe Little Diomede will soon be abandoned and join King Island on the list of the Most Endangered Historic Places in the USA, or maybe it will be St. George that loses its struggle to survive as a community. But our guests have been able to visit these places and meet the people and to experience a way of life that has continued in this area for up to 10,000 years, by some estimates.
I always ask guests, at the beginning of a voyage here, what they are expecting to see. Most don't know. They were looking for something different. Maybe they have been everywhere else, or maybe they wanted to see the other face of Alaska, the Yup'ik, Inupiaq, Alutiiq and Aleut face...to have the opportunity to meet the people least impacted by Western Culture. Some guests come for the birding, or the bears or the whales. But I think no matter how good the wildlife is, it is the people of the Bering Sea that leave the lasting impression. Many guests describe this as a spiritual journey, completely to their surprise. But of course, one of the greatest highlights is the visit to Providenya and New Chaplino.
I will be honest, this year I did miss visiting some of the other sites in Russia that we have visited in the past. But the visit to Providenya and New Chaplino has always been the most important component. To have the tour of the bleak city, it gives such a fantastic backdrop to the people. There is such contrast - The remnants of Stalin and Lenin, the people struggling on the edge of a once-great empire. But then we move into the theatre. Guests are often confused by the theatre, surprisingly well appointed inside a building that is such desperate need of a coat of paint. (Could we provide that, perhaps?) And then the confusion melts away as the performance begins. It is touching, the cheering at the youngest of kids. Guests moved almost to tears by what they have seen. Guests bursting to tell them that this was the greatest ballet performance they had ever seen (this from a guest who had seen the Bolshoi, and declared the Providenya performance as the far more powerful).
This experience is then followed by the great adventure of driving to New Chaplino. The giant transports bouncing their way through the mountains. It is a journey that is not soon forgotten and is seen by some as unfortunately necessary, and by others as a a fun adventure but it is a journey that is seen by all as a small price to pay for the wonders of New Chaplino. Guests always comment on the warm welcome, the interest in seeing a native community in Russia and the interesting comparison of it to the Alaskan side. But the performance at the end is an incredible highlight...the best singing and dancing anywhere in my mind, and in many of theirs. But there is nothing that matches the power of being able to perform a dance for our hosts. With this current group of guests, we must have had over 50 of them dancing for our local hosts...all keen to show what they had learned from Jack Dalton.
The rest of the cruise honestly pales in comparison to the two days spent in Russia. For many of our well-traveled guests, they state this has been the most incredible period of travel they have experienced.
It is, of course, the southern portion of this cruise is where the majority of wildlife is seen. Ranging from the incredible bird life of the haystacks, the brown bears of Geographic Harbor. Usually by the end of the cruise, our guests have had the most incredible wildlife experiences of their lives and the most incredible cultural experiences of their lives as well. Not bad for 13 days at sea!
This is a wonderful...and I hope that someday we offer four departures in the Bering Sea, if not more. We are a part of something special up here. We are much loved by the communities we visit. If we continue visiting St. George, maybe the community will survive...and if we cease coming, maybe that will be the final nail in their coffin. "Cruise West, helping fragile communities survive." You can't beat having the only image of any kind in Providenya being an image of the Spirit of Oceanus taking up the entire end of a building...representing the fact that Providenya is the gateway to the Russian arctic...and we are depicted as. I think we set ourselves apart from all other companies in Alaska while we can still demonstrate an intent of visiting the smaller places, the harder places, and not just visiting, but 'being' in Alaska. I think this itinerary also acts as a 'Halo' product that demonstrates our commitment to Alaska. Why pick Cruise West over the competition? Because we have demonstrated the depth of our experience in Alaska by the fact that you can cruise Southeast, Southcentral, visit Denali Park and do the Bering Sea all with Cruise West. If we were to stop doing the Bering Sea, the depth of our involvement, knowledge and experience of all things Alaskan would no longer be immediately evident.
I know there are many people waiting for our swift return to their villages. Not just because we bring money, but also because they genuinely enjoy our visits. I equally know that there are many potential guests looking for the incredible experience that we can provide.
Posted by Alastair on November 27, 2007 1:00 AM
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» We are so looking forward to our Voyage to the Bering Sea (southbound) cruise next July. Thank you so much for your comments. Is it common for Cruise West cruisers to bring small gifts to give to the people in the communities we will visit?
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