Tomorrow, the 2010 Arctic cruise season for Quark Expeditions will be coming to an end, and the company will prepare for their 20th anniversary in business.

Since 1991, Quark has operated two different expeditions: one goes to the North Pole and the other is the first ever passenger transit of the Northeast Passage – a shipping route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific along the Russian Arctic coast.

How’s this for an idea on how to spend some cool, hard cash?

From June 23 through July 7, 2011, Quark will take vacationers to the North Pole. Trips through the Northeast Passage will take place from July 10 to September 13, 2011 and is a part of a rare circumnavigation of the Arctic.

Quark’s first expedition cruise to the North Pole was aboard a nuclear-powered icebreaker, the Sovetsky Soyuz. Next year, Quark will use the ship 50 Years of Victory to take passengers to the icy north. The new ship is the most powerful and most advanced nuclear-powered icebreaker on the planet.

Foreign visitors weren’t allowed to sail the freight route through the Russian Arctic until 30 years ago. The economic crisis following the end of the Soviet Union allowed Quark to get the only ship capable of going through the North Pole in a good amount of time.

Travelers can go on one of three segments of this cruise which won’t be repeated. Full circumnavigation is about 66-days long. Other segments range from 21 days to 28 days. Expeditions cost anywhere from £1,600 to £75,000. Brochures and more information can be found at their website (www.quarkexpeditions.com).