Table Of Content
The first step to reserving your Greenland cruise is to contact our Travel Experience Team, who will be happy to help you with your itinerary and provide details about availability and pricing for your selected voyage. Optional kayaking, dog sledding, ice trekking, camping, and ice fishing are available on selected departures. Financial security is paramount for our clients, so all bookings made through North Pole Cruises include 100% financial protection. We also include supplier failure insurance free of charge for extra peace of mind. This ensures you have the very best protection on your booking. Please check the tour page of your chosen itinerary to see a complete list of inclusions.
Round Trip
April to June offer the best chance to undertake a genuine polar expedition deep into the sea ice of East Greenland on an icebreaker cruise. Greenland cruises typically occur during the summer between June and September when the temperature is at its mildest, and the seas around Greenland have less sea ice, making navigation possible. However, new icebreaker cruises now make visiting East Greenland much earlier in the season, during April and May, than possible on a conventional ship due to its unique icebreaking capabilities.
The unexpected link between imperiled whales and Greenland's melting ice
For any cruises listed, Cruise Critic does not guarantee any specific rates or prices. You might find yourself, as we did, on an excursion to a local café or home where you are served these traditional foods. We erred on the side of being polite, and did sample what was served to us; to do otherwise would have been considered rude to our Inuit host. But be aware that the cruise lines often don't label their excursions as serving native dishes.
Greenland airport expansion is fueling new expedition itinerary options - Travel Weekly
Greenland airport expansion is fueling new expedition itinerary options.
Posted: Sat, 13 Apr 2024 23:55:16 GMT [source]
Manage your nature viewing expectations
Be a guest at our planet’s most incredible night time light show; the Aurora Borealis, and be amazed as the sky is lit up with vivid green and purple hues; an utterly magical experience on your Greenland cruise. We recommend reserving your Greenland cruise a year in advance to ensure you get your preferred choice of ship and cabin. We usually have last-minute availability on select departures for late bookers.
Greenland Cruises & Luxury Expeditions
A perfectly elegant natural wonder of Greenland, this river cuts through the landscape of ice with its pure, bright blue trace. Created from the melting Petermann Glacier, the river is constantly changing in its shape, but always immeasurably stunning and is best explored close-up by kayaking through its waters. This 66-mile fjord is only accessible in the summer months, when the icy obstructions melt away, so check before you travel that you are able to visit. Take a flight tour over Kangerlussuaq to fully experience the grandeur of this landscape.
Day trip to Eqip Sermia
This will provide the opportunity to observe some of the greatest species of mammals in their natural habitat, including giant walrus, musk oxen, Arctic foxes and the mighty polar bear. Regular cruise ships -- those run by Carnival, Princess or Viking's ocean ships -- are not polar rated for ice. It's highly unlikely, unless all the weather gods are in your favor, that you'd be able to make a landing on Greenland's east coast on these ships. You might not even be able to dock in the western ports if it's too early in the season or the ice and weather conditions aren't right. Each expedition ship and voyage offers different activities in Greenland.
Cruise ship with 206 on board runs aground in Greenland - NBC News
Cruise ship with 206 on board runs aground in Greenland.
Posted: Tue, 12 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
June and July offer great months to explore the tranquil fjords of the West Coast of Greenland and the stunning ice formations of Disko Bay, with 24 hours of sunlight above the Arctic Circle and often mild weather. If there’s too much ice around the shore, there’s a chance you won’t be able to make landings. Because the ice rolls as it melts and the larger part of the mass is underwater, it’s dangerous to get too close, so some expedition leaders may scrap water-based activities entirely, too, if there’s excess ice. The Ocean Explorer and its 206 passengers and crew were rescued on Thursday by a Greenland research trawler after it was grounded within the Northeast Greenland National Park. A luxury cruise ship that has been stuck in the mud in Greenland since Monday has finally been pulled free. An officer has been on board the ship to carry out “initial investigative steps, which, among other things, involve questioning the crew and other relevant persons on board,” it said.
Greenlandic Inuit Culture Requires Sensitivity and Understanding
Generally, most ships will be able to offer scenic Zodiac cruising, where you can get a little closer to glaciers and icebergs. But even this can be limited if the conditions are dangerous for the vessel or passengers. While some cruises do go more north past Disko Bay, these tend to be on expedition vessels that are doing a Northwest Passage itinerary encompassing part of Arctic Canada. On these sailings, expect a mix of scenic Zodiac cruising and settlement visits. CP is almost identical to other PCL ships (Star, Sapphire, Emerald, etc.) It didn't seem crowded to me -- just the normal congestion of 2600 people.
Going into cultural exchanges with an open mind is always a good idea -- and doing so can positively enrich your Greenland cruise experience. You'll also see birds - perhaps not as rare as those in the Galapagos, but interesting nonetheless. An occasional seal spotting also took place on our Greenland cruise. Because the sightings can happen fast, you'll want to carry a pair of binoculars with you, even to dinner. On a Greenland cruise, you really want to hope for the best and expect the worst -- and be OK with your experience even if you never touch land.
Ours was the first time Princess did that itinerary out of New York, and hopefully they will tweak a few things for next year. On journeys with daily arrivals in towns and settlements you will often have the option of going on local tours both in town and with smaller boats in the area. Ilulissat Icefjord is an epic landscape filled with icebergs; some enormous, dwarfing ships below and some tiny, but all immensely beautiful. The area is UNESCO protected and is one of the most northern World Heritage Sites on Earth.
It was very challenging for some older people or people with mobility issues. Qaqortoq is a town of just over 3000 in population and a ship with ~3000 passengers, it was “Every Resident Gets a Tourist Day”. We met a young man in the seventh grade that just wanted to chat and his English was impeccable. And then we met Mike on his way home for lunch and chatted about the town and the amount of tourists in town. With the exception of the northernmost parts of Greenland, which are still hard to access because of sea ice, just about any inhabited place in Greenland can be reached in the peak season from June to October. It’s important to emphasize the need to respect the environment and local communities when traveling to Greenland.
There are several opportunities for private boating excursions. For the best views of the city, climb up to the lookout, where a statue of Hans Egede, the first Danish missionary to land here in 1721, stands. Take in this unique Arctic city, centred around the Lutheran Nuuk Cathedral with the formidable mountains rising in the background. In the Arctic capital of Greenland, Nuuk, traditional Inuit living integrates seamlessly into a modern, cosmopolitan city. Nuuk is a dynamic, up-and-coming Nordic capital and provides its visitors with gourmet restaurants and chic fashion boutiques, alongside rich history, steeped in Viking, Danish and Inuit influences.
The Ocean Explorer was built in 2021 and is owned by Copenhagen SunStone Ships, which is part of Denmark’s SunStone Group. It has 77 cabins, 151 passenger beds and 99 beds for crew, and several restaurants, according to the Sunstone Group website. Madsen, of Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command, said the passengers on the Ocean Explorer were “a mix” of tourists from Australia, New Zealand, Britain, the United States and South Korea.
Greenland cruises vary between 10 days for an icebreaker cruise to explore East Greenland during the spring and 28 days for an all-encompassing cruise to explore Greenland and the Northwest Passage. We have a variety of Greenland cruises available and can help you find one that matches your ideal length. For the best chances of seeing polar bears, we recommend a Greenland cruise that also visits Svalbard.
