Iceland & Greenland

Nov 24, 2015

As I flew out of Reykjavik, I thought to myself: what is the essence of what you have learned this last two weeks? Simple: Iceland is green and Greenland is ice. Not at all what I had expected. But then again, very little was.

First of all, we had a great trip even with its assortment of setbacks and surprises. I already was familiar with Iceland. I had previously sent a number of clients there and had studied it accordingly. I knew it would be beautiful and it did not disappoint. In fact, it exceeded my expectations. I loved the varied countryside: the mountains, fiords, glaciers!, and rocks.

Reykjavik is a great city. Shopping was excellent for our pre-cruise day. People were very helpful and friendly.

Our surprise was Greenland. Perhaps because I had never actually given it as much attention that everything was exciting and new. The landscape was stunning. Looking past a sea of ice floes at huge glaciers left us smiling and speechless. The sense of otherworldliness continued throughout our stay.

The few towns we were able to visit in Greenland were charming and clean. Anyone going to these remote locations has to be adventurous, resilient, and, above all, very patient. Because of the weather, plans can change in an instant. You can be all decked out in your life vest, lined up and waiting to board your zodiac when the captain announces there has been a change. Impending fog just canceled your excursion. You can go to bed expecting to be in a town the next day only to wake up and learn that ice rolled in and we are headed in the opposite direction.

In our case, we ended up at an unplanned port which proved fantastic. It had amazing Viking ruins and more than made up for the earlier disappointment.

Our original cruise itinerary had already changed even before we got on board. Suddenly we had more days at sea than planned. (I confess I’m not a sea-day fan.) Going from Iceland to Greenland and back opens the door for all sorts of the unexpected. In our case, that meant three days on the tail of a storm, rockin’ and a rollin’ back to Reykjavik.

Your best defense is to be on a fantastic, over the top ship with a staff with extensive experience in cruising these unpredictable destinations.

Iceland and Greenland are fantastic and I highly recommend adding them onto everyone’s bucket list if they have not already done so. And be careful of what you book (go for the best you can afford), with whom and temper your expectations.

Vana Carmona