Have you ever done a complete 180 on a belief so fast it made a breeze? That was Zoe Macfarlane during her first expedition cruise this year. Formerly ‘not a cruise person’, she couldn’t help but compare her previous FIT Arctic travels with life aboard HX Expeditions. Read on to discover how the two stack up.
I’d always liked the idea of expedition cruising, in theory – someone else sorting itineraries, excursions, meals – but I’ve also always prided myself on researching, planning, and mastering a destination independently. ‘Solo traveller’ is the badge I wear with utmost pride.
People often said you ‘need’ an expedition ship to see the Arctic properly. I’ve pushed back: I self-drove Iceland, created an action-packed Northern Sweden adventure, rented a remote Norwegian cabin for a Midnight Sun experiment, and painstakingly pieced together an eight-day Greenland adventure.
I can ‘do’ the Arctic independently, thank you very much.
Just because you can doesn’t make it the best way, though. As I found out this August when I boarded HX’s’ MS Fram in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. It proved the perfect test: Does FIT travel beat expedition cruising?
Booking
Booking Greenland by myself took far more time than my 8-day adventure there. Over two months, and fifty-plus emails, I jigsawed flights with Visit Greenland, glacier glamping and ice-camping in Kangerlussuaq, and adventure activities around Ilulissat’s famous Disko Bay.
One tweak here triggered a domino effect there. By departure, I had spent so much time coordinating that I arrived frazzled and (embarrassingly) underdressed and frazzled.
With HX? Three emails and one form, and my nine-day Summer in Svalbard itinerary was locked and loaded, leaving me with ample time to ensure I didn’t show up in my mum’s fuddy-duddy coat.
Travel to & from
Greenland and Svalbard’s scenery is so spectacular, you’re not going to be disappointed even if you do spend months planning.
But the ease of experiencing the destination fully? That’s where HX wins this round.
For Greenland, I flew from Copenhagen to Kangerlussuaq, connected to Ilulissat for Disko Bay, and spent the week confirming and reconfirming every bed, bus, and boat.
Which was fine – until it wasn’t. Departure day, my Kangerlussuaq flight slid from a two-hour delay to ten in a tiny airport with scant food and even less information.
Svalbard, however, was friction-free. HX took care of return Oslo flights, transfers, accommodation, meals, and a half-day Longyearbyen tour. The sense that ‘someone has this’ and it’s not being me is priceless in a destination where wild weather and ice can disrupt plans.
Accommodation
Spoiler alert: expedition cruising beats FIT. I knew it within hours of boarding MS Fram. In Greenland, I bounced from the lows of a youth hostel to the highs of Ilimanaq’s gorgeous A-frame bungalows with whales out front. The pack-unpack shuffle was real.
To trade that for a newly refurbished cabin on MS Fram was heaven. The benefit of ever-changing scenery with consistent comfort cannot be understated. The bed was bliss, the bathroom toasty (thanks to underfloor heating), and always-included food and drinks were steps away.
Read my full MS Fram review here.
Touring
In destinations as remote as Greenland and Svalbard, you want to see it all – and understand it.
In Greenland, I was the very first guest at a glacier glamping camp, kayaked around icebergs, and flew over the UNESCO-listed Ilulissat Icefjord. Guides and pilots were excellent at sharing their knowledge – from musk ox breeding to ice dynamics and whale spotting – but without a trip leader tying it all together, it was like doing a jigsaw without the edges.
Aboard MS Fram, the expedition leaders, crew, and guest scientists provide that frame – on hikes, in lectures, while witnessing wildlife – inviting endless curious questions.
I probed the geologist-guide about mountains and the cloud scientist about von Kármán vortices. Access to specialists changed my perception of the Arctic in ways that my other polar travels never did.
Flexibility and accessibility are simply greater from a ship. With fewer than 50 kilometres of paved roads in Greenland and Svalbard, summer movement is mainly by boat.
MS Fram sailed us to rare-to-reach places, where we could hike, kayak alongside brilliant blue glaciers, and pause for belugas and walruses. Someone’s eyes were always on the horizon, but the attentive crew meant they didn’t need to be mine.
Flying solo
I love my own company and making travel friends. With FIT trips, you have fun with like-minded people, but post-day tour, everyone scatters.
On HX, I found my trip bestie on day one (hi, Connie), bonded over meals and hikes, and even joined HX’s solo traveller meet-up.
Being welcomed at a meal, lecture, or briefing sure beats the anxious gauge of whether anyone is open to company.
Dining
Food in Greenland vs aboard MS Fram is the equivalent of trail snacks vs a Michelin-starred meal. In fact, I ate more freeze-dried camping meals than anything resembling a vegetable during my Greenland stay.
With HX, finding a nutritious meal is not your concern. Everything’s made from scratch, locally sourced, and surprisingly elegant for such remote travel. I didn’t want for anything, especially as a suite guestwith access to fine dining at Lindstrøm.
From tender reindeer to creamy fish pies and decadent desserts, the food was as far apart from my Greenland dining experience as the distance between Svalbard and Greenland itself (1,760 km).
Post-trip
After a DIY trip, you share your highlights, post your pics, and move on.
HX extends your trip glow (and humblebrags), sending a voyage log with professional images, video montage, route map, and science report.
Our sailing logged 350 observations of 67 species on iNaturalist, contributed to eBirds, and removed kilos of beach debris. The trip stats were like catnip to this self-confessed nerd!
The verdict
A DIY Arctic trip is the equivalent of organising a wedding solo – making bouquets, baking the cake, pouring the champers, and DJing the reception. You’ll pull it off (probably), but you’ll spend your energy on logistics, not joy.
I’m not swearing off FIT forever; I’ll always love a self-made adventure and the thrills it brings. But for hard-to-reach, wildlife-rich places where you want depth, range, and context, expedition cruising is in another league.
Set against Greenland, it’s clear expedition cruising amplifies access, expertise, and ease. It’s my new favourite way to see the Arctic.
Zoe travelled for Karryon as a guest of HX Expeditions.
