Travelling the Arctic by ship has always been one of those special dream destinations, particularly in the Northern Polar Sea area, the icy world around the North Pole where little life exists. Our expedition begins in Longyearbyen on the island of Spitsbergen from where we are going to travel by cruise ship to the remotest locations of the Arctic.

Our ship, the Plancius, was originally the oceanographic research ship of the Dutch monarchy.

In Zodiacs - robust inflatable boats - we get our first real sense of the Arctic Ocean. We travel alongside the 14th of July Glacier while the boatman skilfully manoeuvres between fragments of floating icebergs.

At Ny Ålesund we reach the northernmost permanent settlement in the world. This area was mined until 1963 and a coal train once led to a loading station on the nearby shore.

The journey through the Liefdefjorden is part of every trip to the Arctic. Several glaciers form the typical landscape. Sixty per cent of the island is covered with ice, thick accumulations of both snow and ice that slowly move to the coast by their own weight.

Polar bears wait in ambush and surprise their prey. Seals and whales must surface in order to breathe: it is then that the white giants attack. We head south again, leaving the pack ice behind and now our next experience, the sight of Humpback Whales.

The voyage takes us past the Bråsvellbreen Glacier whose snow-white front impressively demonstrates the incredible power of this world of ice. Ice falls can create a dangerous current for ships, and the passage between the islands can be quite hazardous.

The icy world of the Arctic is a habitat for rare wildlife, bizarre landscapes and great explorers. A realm of ice and the largest wilderness on Earth!