Has Anyone Made it to Greenland?

[Dennis Kelly Almond]

We just got back from the Viking Iceland, Greenland Canada cruise. We missed all ports in Greenland and L’Anse aux Meadows because of ice.

I have since learned that the ship before us and after us had the same fate. The Captain himself told us that if we want to see Greenland, we should have come in August.

I believe that this is totally false advertising and deceptive on the part of Viking. They keep  selling this trip even though they know they know the chances are not good to see Greenland. Ibeleive they owe me a rebate,

Does anyone else feel this way ?

[CCWineLover]

1 hour ago, Dennis Kelly Almond said:

We just got back from the Viking Iceland, Greenland Canada cruise. We missed all ports in Greenland and L’Anse aux Meadows because of ice.

I have since learned that the ship before us and after us had the same fate. The Captain himself told us that if we want to see Greenland, we should have come in August.

I believe that this is totally false advertising and deceptive on the part of Viking. They keep  selling this trip even though they know they know the chances are not good to see Greenland. Ibeleive they owe me a rebate,

Does anyone else feel this way ?

How much do you want?

 

We missed all 3 ports last June.  At least you got to get a port, albeit new, in Greenland, and got to step on the land.

[Peregrina651]

My sister returned Saturday.  They did get to set foot in Greenland, at the port of Pamiuut (sp?).  It was not safe to enter the two scheduled ports.  They did not get to Newfoundland, again a matter of safety. 

 

My sister knew the risks but she said she preferred the uncertainty of June to the summer crowds.  Said it was her favorite cruise so far.   

 

Rebate? Those are the risks you face when you cruise the North Atlantic.  

[dreamercruise]

As much as we love cruising Viking ships, we take an exception when it comes to the poles.  We are taking this Greenland cruise in late August.  Hope that the late August sail date, expedition ship, and an itinerary full of Greenland ports (plus Prins Christiansunn) will increase our chance of successfully visit this region. (The two stops in Iceland are added bonus.) We’ll try Viking ocean again for Northern Lights (ocean ship) and Chilean/Patagonia Fjords (expedition ship) with Easter Islands extension..

[SJD117]

We made it to Qarqatoq in September 2019, but missed another scheduled Greenland port whose name escapes me right now. We also landed in Newfie for our second visit to that fair province. (The first was a DIY.) On the other hand, we missed Shetland on the same 2019 cruise and the island of Madeira on a 2022 TA.

 

But life goes on, doesn’t it? Worrying about what we could have/should have/might have seen, on any trip, is time not well spent IMO. 
 

 

Edited Wednesday at 08:23 PM by SJD117

[Mike07]

8 hours ago, Dennis Kelly Almond said:

We just got back from the Viking Iceland, Greenland Canada cruise. We missed all ports in Greenland and L’Anse aux Meadows because of ice.

I have since learned that the ship before us and after us had the same fate. The Captain himself told us that if we want to see Greenland, we should have come in August.

I believe that this is totally false advertising and deceptive on the part of Viking. They keep  selling this trip even though they know they know the chances are not good to see Greenland. Ibeleive they owe me a rebate,

Does anyone else feel this way ?

 

 

Greenland is a historically challenging place to navigate and travel to even for expedition ships. The same goes for Iceland.

 

I've told this story several times on CC... I did Norway with HAL last May/June and in Bergen, the Sky Princess was behind us in port. I remember chatting with some of the PCL passengers who were all excited about going to Iceland for their next stop at the big lookout over Bergen. I then monitored how that exact ship, the Sky, proceeded to Iceland and had horrible seas getting there, and then horrible weather at each port to the point PCL was scrambling to find somewhere in Iceland to dock/tender. The weather the Sky had made all of the cruise news sites and YT personalities channels about the challenges they had. I have no idea what PCL ended up settling on compensation, but they did something.

 

Iceland and Greenland are traditionally challenging to cruise to. If you really, really want to explore either, it's best to do it through a land tour.

 

Yes, I realize this is CC. Yes, I realize this community large loves cruising. But, no, you can't say cruising is the absolute best way to do every vacation/exploration.

[PasadenaDave]

My father was at Thule in 1951 when the Fleet arrived.  He arrived by plane on the dirt strip to perform survey and other pre-construction activities to construct the Air Base there.  A Dutch friend of his, both are now deceased arrived by ship with pre-cast concrete structures.  He told me that the trip from Europe was rough until they rounded the southern tip of Greenland and joined the fleet.  His journey was somewhat less than a "cruise" but it was better than hiding from Germans and his time in the forced work camp after he was captured.

[AroundWithMAPTravels]

Ironically, I missed Eastern Greenland in 2021 due to lack of ice.

we were on a Lindblad/NatGeo ship that was supposed to spend most time offshore/on ice in eastern Greenland after leaving Reykjavik.   It was when things were starting to open up after Covid shutdown, so we were not yet allowed to land on Greenland proper but could go amongst the ice.   However, that was the year that the ice receded so fast and far that it would take many days to reach even the edge.  Therefore the Greenland portion of the trip got scrapped and we spent the time in Iceland, going to new (to Lindblad/NatGeo) and exciting places.

Funny how different the reasons for missing ports can be….

We are attempting another Greenland trip (on HX) in a few weeks.   Hope to make it this time…. Fingers crossed.

[oskidunker]

I wish there was aGreenland cruise without iceland

[AroundWithMAPTravels]

Looks like Mars is headed there now…

[Ready to Sail!]

1 hour ago, oskidunker said:

I wish there was aGreenland cruise without iceland

Look at the Expedition itineraries. 

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, AroundWithMAPTravels said:

Looks like Mars is headed there now…

 

Looks like they are heading to Pamiuut.  I think the two ports on the itinerary are still icebound.  

[island lady]

13 hours ago, Ready to Sail! said:

Look at the Expedition itineraries. 

 

Indeed, I am on one.  Paid off and ready to go.   B2B on Octantis out of Milwaukee on July 8, 2025.  Great Lakes, St. Lawrence Seaway, several bounces along Greenland, and the NW passage.  🙂 

[deec]

You will love the Expedition ship! 

I will have to adjust my expectations for our Bergen to NYC next summer we leave late June but at least we will have a nice way back, ship vs plane, from Europe!

[island lady]

1 hour ago, deec said:

You will love the Expedition ship! 

I will have to adjust my expectations for our Bergen to NYC next summer we leave late June but at least we will have a nice way back, ship vs plane, from Europe!

 

Thanks...indeed looking forward to it.  Also loved, loved our 3 week river cruise with you last year.  Really sold me on Viking.  🥰

[deec]

that was a great cruise...and then we flew to join the Douro!  I really do hate flying those long flights so try to experience  as much as we can with with one flight! Your signature of past cruises makes me think you would enjoy a World Cruise!

Edited Friday at 07:08 PM by deec

[island lady]

18 hours ago, deec said:

that was a great cruise...and then we flew to join the Douro!  I really do hate flying those long flights so try to experience  as much as we can with with one flight! Your signature of past cruises makes me think you would enjoy a World Cruise!

 

Totally agree there!  Make the most of that long flight.  Yikes!   

 

We are leaving to rejoin the RCI world cruise on the 8th.  Spent the first quarter with them (63 nights) and then hopped off for a few months, back on in Barcelona to finish last quarter (62 nights).  We are slowly moving away from RCI, having 5 Viking cruises booked now.  Tossing in some Celebrity, due to loyalty perk matching and local embarkation ports.   

 

[PRH]

We are on the Star right now.  Captain reported that the two scheduled Greenland ports are still iced in.  We are headed to Paamuit, Greenland, for tomorrow.  The weather is nice today and apparently the ice flows that prevented the Mars from anchoring there two days ago is moving away.  We’ll see.  We ended up having a lovely day yesterday in L’Anse aux Meadows.  Rain and wind were forecasted but we had partly cloudy, a little wind and in the 40’s.  

[BluebonnetTexan]

@PRH happy to hear you made L’Anse aux Meadows! All the sailings last year missed for various reasons, including ours. But we did make the two scheduled Greenland ports.

[PRH]

Captain just announced we will not make it into Paamuit due to heavy fog and ice.  So no Greenland for us.

[uktog]

1 hour ago, PRH said:

Captain just announced we will not make it into Paamuit due to heavy fog and ice.  So no Greenland for us.

Sorry to hear this. Sadly it was inevitable these ports are typically ice impacted until mid August. It’s unfortunate the marketing didn’t highlight this risk. Some other lines (eg Azamara) don’t sail there until later August recognising this

[island lady]

I am now even more happy that our NW passage on Octantis to Greenland will not be until August.  🙂 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 2 hours ago by island lady