Greenland cruises

Is anyone going on the Silver Explorer cruise to Greenland on July 28? Would love to hear from you. Does anyone have any advice or experiences to share about last year's cruises to Greenland on Silver Sea or any other cruise line?

BigV. Welcome to the SS boards :)

Can't answer your question ..... but why SO LONG for your first post!?

Spill the beans!

:D

We were on this cruise last year. Here is the link to my day by day report:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1903333&highlight=greenland

Be prepared for the strong possibility of rain. Waterproof layers are key. Also there can be a lot of wind. We had a wonderful time, but be aware that landings may/ probably will be cancelled at the last minute due to inclement weather. Weather can change on a dime in this part of the world.

Definitely do try the different foods offered. I ate shark soup (good and I would eat it again), dried caribou (ok-like jerky), whale and whale blubber (cannot recommend either but needed to say I had done it. Also pick some of the wild blueberries and try--delicious.

Jeff, I guess I'm just not comfortable with social media. My husband and I have been on seven small ship cruises on seven different cruise lines and found the reviews and forums on Cruise Critic valuable in choosing which cruises/lines to book or to justify our choices already. Greenland is such a special case that I really wanted to hear from others who have been on one of these cruises so I finally posted.

Big V.

Rachel - thank you for your information. I haven't had time to read all of it yet so I may have questions after I have. This Greenland cruise is the trip of a lifetime for us too. We spent a few days in South Greenland several years ago and found it to be a magical place. We've been waiting for the right cruise combination of Vikings and ice to come along and hope this is it!

BigV

We've cruised Greenland three times with Captain Alexander. August 3, 2013 in Scorsby Sund was magical. Would do it again in a heart beat.

Jack and Ann

I was also on last year's cruise Iceland to Churchill via Greenland with Jacko.Loved it.I also did a cruise report-

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1887835&highlight=in+search+of+a+walrus

Thank you for the encouraging words. Is Captain Alexander with Silver Sea? Would like to hear more.

Big V.

We have thoroughly enjoyed reading these posts. We are new to Silver Seas, our first trip is in September 2015, Greenland to St John's, Newfoundland via the Canadian Arctic and Labrador. We are very excited. In one of the posts it was mentioned that mosquito nets were needed. My question is should we add them to our packing list? Any other hints/suggestions would be most appreciated.

With many thanks

Midge

I bought the mosquito nets. Actually had to go way out of my way to find them, and did not use them a single time!

Thanks Rachel. I thought that might be the case but wanted to make sure.

I have encountered Mosquitos in Canada, really bad ones, but there were none on our trip. I think it was perhaps a bit late in the summer. It was late August, and we were snowed on more than once.

Just finished reading your travel posts. Thank you so much for the inside information. Makes me a little nervous about the high seas, but loved hearing about the food, the onshore trips, the weather. We are not on the same voyage since we will be only in Iceland and Greenland but may try northern Canada sometime in the future. Information on Greenland is hard to find - just check the price on Lonely Planet's 2005 Greenland guide.

Thank you for the free insight!

Big V.

Re mosquito nets. We didn't think we would need them in Greenland since we were covered by very strong insect repellent - so strong that it made your lips numb if you touched them. The repellent makes the mosquitos bounce off your face. After I swallowed a couple, I bought a mosquito net.

My husband has a picture on the wall of his office of a very large mosquito trying to bite through my tennis shoe.

Granted, they were a problem only when we were inland and the weather was good, but the nets don't cost much and don't take up much room in the suitcase. Maybe they will have them for sale on the ship?

Big V

Thank you so much for the information. The pictures are fantastic! Thank you for sharing them and the information.

Big V