Karen Hofstad, an independent traveler from Petersburg, recently spent a month on a cruise that sailed through the Northwest Passage.

Aboard the Crystal Serenity, Hofstad started a month-long expedition from Seward, Alaska, to New York.

Being a history buff, Hofstad was less concerned with the landscapes -- majestic, as advertised by Crystal Cruises -- and more prepared to learn from the experts onboard and local villagers along the way.

She was surprised by the Northwest Passage. It looked like a desert she said and was flat, brown and dry for most of the trip. She witnessed most of it...