Diane

A long day today with lots of waiting. The ship moved during the night and we were in Nuuk when we woke up.

I was very glad I checked with guest services yesterday to verify our flights because the disembarkation timings showed a very tight connection to make our original flight home. Found out that our flight had been changed- we depart New York City 3 hours later than originally scheduled. The good news is that we arrive in SFO at almost the exact same time as originally scheduled since we are now on a direct flight from New York to San Francisco.

We had to leave our cabin by 8am. Luckily we were able to have breakfast while waiting for our 9:50am meeting time for our bus to the Nuuk airport. An hour later than planned we actually left the ship; and then went thru more lines and boarded our bus for a 10 minute ride to the airport. Got to the airport about 11:45am. The security machine was broken so there was quite a line and some waiting before we got to the Viking lounge where we had coffee, cookies and apples. After a short wait, we lined up to go thru passport control and boarded the plane at 1:45pm.

Almost as soon as we boarded, they were offering mimosas! That made the hour+ long wait for takeoff quite a bit more enjoyable. We finally left Nuuk a little after 3pm for our 3 hour 48 minute flight to New York. Smooth flight- Tibor had a window seat and it was fun to see New York from the air.

We landed at 7:06pm and with the 3 hour time change, the local time was 4:06pm. Tibor and I were the very last ones off the plane (except for the crew). We waited on the bus to the terminal for the crew join us.

There was absolutely no line thru passport control and at 5:06 we were at the baggage carousel where all the rest of the passengers from our flight were waiting for their luggage.

After the luggage arrived and we got our bags, there were no lines for customs and we took the AirTrain over to our gate. We hung out at the gate since all the lounges we have access to were in other terminals. Getting to a terminal with a lounge, required an AirTrain trip and a pass thru a security check. To get back would require another AirTrain trip and another security check. I didn’t want to chance the lines for the security checks so we stayed at the gate. It was pretty quiet at the gate until shortly before boarding time.

It was smooth traveling the rest of the way. Eric picked us up at the San Francisco airport about midnight. We were very happy to be home.

Today Tibor went on a hike and left the ship as soon as he was able to and got back on the last tender.

I walked around town to see if I could purchase a sweater but they were either very expensive or but they were either very expensive or made in China instead of Greenland. I did find an headband made from muskox wool. It goes with my muskox wool hand-sleeve that I got earlier in the trip. Both were made by local women. The excursion staff noticed them right away and were excited I got them.

In the afternoon I went on a boat ride to Nipisat Island (a UNESCO site).

When we got back it was time to pack, have a last dinner at ‘The Restaurant’ and get ready to leave our cabin by 8am tomorrow morning. “The Restaurant” is a specialty restaurant on board that has “a daily rotating menu of regional and destination-inspired cuisine”. We have gone a couple of times and enjoyed it each time.

Today we are on the ship all day- no excursions but there are lots of opportunities to explore the ship and to eat.

They offered tours of the gallery, bridge and hanger. And they put out an amazing dessert spread for lunch- complete with food art. Lunch included a cheese and wine tasting buffet.

We also enjoyed the calm seas and flying/soaring birds.

Today we went on another zodiac landing and Special Operations Boat(SOB) ride. There are two types of zodiac excursions- a zodiac landing and a zodiac cruise. On the landing you take a zodiac to land/shore and get off the zodiac and explore the area on foot. When you are finished you take the next zodiac back to the ship. On the cruise you get on the zodiac and cruise around the area and then it takes you back to the ship where you get off.

The SOB is very similar to the zodiac cruise but the SOB goes further and faster and has individual seats.

It was another beautiful day.

It was quite cloudy in the morning so our excursions were delayed by a hour because of the poor visibility- it’s difficult to see the polar bears in the fog & clouds. Today we went on a zodiac landing and were allowed to walk around a bit of the island. We also went on a Special Operations Boat for a short cruise around the area.

It was our first wet landing where we got to wear the provided water boots. The boots were way warmer than my tennis shoes!

There were some historical artifacts on the island and a polar bear was sighted on the island but wasn’t around when we were ashore but later in the day, they had to evacuate the island because the polar bear came back. It was the first time they have had to evacuate a landing- it went very smoothly and quickly. Tibor and I never did see this polar bear.

Today we were scheduled to go to Dundas Harbour but because of weather and sea conditions we went to Croker Bay instead. We didn’t get a chance to go kayaking but did get to go on a zodiac ride.

Today we saw our first polar bear. It was quite a far distance away but we did see it. They look for a beige bit of ice that’s moving- that’s how they find it. Later in the day we saw a different polar bear with her two cubs.

While on the zodiac ride we saw more fun icebergs and for the first time we saw sea ice where the sea is starting to freeze. By the middle of the winter, the ice will be around 6 feet deep!

Today we are in Canada or more properly in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. It is a territory created in 1999 from the Northwest territory to provide a land and self-government for the Inuit people.

It’s a clear and sunny day but still cold. We looked for animals from the deck this morning. Tibor saw harp seals but they were too far for me to see them.

The interesting thing for me was the ship was by an iceberg that kept getting closer and closer. The ship moved out of it’s way and later in the afternoon I saw that same iceberg had moved quite a distance.

We took the zodiac to land and went to a cultural show in town. It was quite fun.

I went back to the ship right after the show and Tibor walked around. He was quite cold when he returned and I suggested he give the spa a try- he did and said he feels nice and warm now. The spa has a heated pool, sauna, steam room, a snow grotto and a hot tub. I had tried the heated pool a few days ago and it was nice and you couldn’t beat the view.

We didn’t go kayaking today. Many of the folks onboard want to kayak and there isn’t enough time or kayaks for everyone to go so the staff rotates who can go to give everyone a chance to kayak. The same thing happens to a lesser extent with the Special Operations Boat excursions and to an even lesser extent to the Zodiac landing excursions. There appear to be many more options to go on the zodiacs as they usually just drop folks off on land and go back to get the next batch.

Today was a sea day and we didn’t do much of anything. I slept in and Tibor ate. Tibor went to a presentation on knots and we both attended the daily briefing in the Aula presentation room. It has large windows that can be covered if it’s too sunny.

Cloudy day and we have a little bit of waves but otherwise a nice day.

I got up about midnight to see if I could see an Aurora and just as I went out, there was a very faint aurora that lasted a few minutes- then nothing else. I also got to see the full moon rise and watch the icebergs go by the mountains lite by moonlight.

We were super happy to find out we could go Kayaking today. Plus we got to go on a ride on the Special Operations Boat(SOB) where we took the boat out into the harbor for a little ride.

We went on the SOB about 10am; it was a quick ride but we did get to see a Fin Whale for a few seconds. And we got to go around an iceberg with a arch.

Tibor made a quick trip into town to photograph their soccer field with a view and got back in time for the kayak excursion.

At noon we went on our kayak trip- again we were happy we weren’t on the first trip of the day- they got choppy water and wind. We had rolling water and a slight breeze.