While cruising the polar regions with Quark Expeditions, passengers rely on Ultramarine’s well-stocked shop for all the stuff they should have brought from home. I bought several things myself during a recent Arctic cruise, despite doing some of my best pre-trip preparation. This Arctic packing list comes from my experience and the greater wisdom of Anna Mitieva, store manager aboard Ultramarine. She shared with me the top things people forget to pack and wind up buying on the ship.
Mitieva, a Ukrainian refugee, has run the shop since Quark hired her in early 2022. “I arrived destroyed, shocked, wrecked, exhausted. So they adopted me.” While Mitieva already spoke English, she had to learn lots of new vocab, like musk ox, narwhal, and carabiner. Quark took care of Mitieva, and now Mitieva cares for the shop and the needs of the passengers.
