This was an Abercrombie & Kent trip on the Ponant ship Le Boreal through the Northwest Passage, from Kangerlussuaq on the west coast of Greenland to Nome, Alaska. The trip was very expensive, and extremely disappointing. Though I had few, and those relatively minor, complaints about the ship and its crew, it soon became apparent that A&K had oversold the trip. Its literature highlighted close-up photos of polar bears, musk oxen, etc. and emphasized that there would be a focus on the history of Northwest Passage exploration and the individual explorers who attempted its passage. We saw very few large animals within the range of even very good binoculars (the animals are hunted by the indigenous population, and are nowhere to be seen when the yellow-jacketed “bear guards” go ashore to establish a wide perimeter before the passengers are ferried by zodiacs to the shoreline); had virtually no lectures about the several mariners who eventually treaded a path through the islands of the Canadian Archipelago and found the Northwest Passage (the "history" lecturer, apparently a last minute substitute, was terrible), missed about two and a half days when we should have been sailing along the northwest coast of Greenland because of a snafu in provisioning the ship, which caused us to have to retrace our steps and sail far south of the planned itinerary (for that significant omission, after much passenger protest, we were eventually given a credit of 200 euros per cabin, or about 3/10th of 1% of the $68,490 cost for the cruise). Furthermore, the 174 passengers were completely cut off from contact with the outside world for nearly two weeks – from Pond Inlet, Canada until we docked in Nome, Alaska – because the ship did not have sufficient band width to connect to the satellite (this during the period when hurricanes were devastating coastal areas of Texas and Florida, where a number of the passengers lived). Finally, and though this was much less significant than the above, the ship ran short of liquor (which was to be complimentary and included in the price) within just a few days. When I returned home, I wrote almost immediately to the President of A&K U.S. Even after three letters and e-mails, my correspondence (except for a very brief form response stating only that A&K had received my initial letter and was researching my points) was ignored until Dec. 20th, nearly three months after the date of my initial letter. Ultimately, when I did finally get a substantive response, I was told that A&K had no responsibility for anything that happened and referred to the various, small-print disclaimers and releases buried in the sales literature, which state that “this itinerary is subject to change based on weather, wildlife, ice and other conditions beyond A&K’s control. The final itinerary will be determined at the sole discretion of the Captain and Expedition Leader.” On balance, if someone wants to see the villages in which the Intuit people live in the remote regions of the Canadian Archipelago, this trip will fit that bill. But if your interest is, as mine was, to see the glaciers and fjords of western Greenland, to witness animal life close up (as you do in the Antarctic and Galapagos), and to learn first-hand what many intrepid mariners experienced as they sought the illusive Northwest Passage, you might want to rethink whether you want to spend a lot of money on this A&K expedition. As an alternative, if you are determined to sail the Northwest Passage on a comfortable ship, you could travel the same exact itinerary, and stay on the same ship and in the same cabin class, by booking directly from Ponant for about 22% ($7695 per person) less.