Visiting Greenland on a cruise tips

 I have just visited two ports out of the three scheduled on Caribbean Princess.  We were supposed to visit Nuuk the capital but the captain said the weather getting into port was too windy and high seas.  This tip sheet is for Nanortalik and Qaqortoq. 

Greenland in August :

Expect to miss port(S) due to weather 

Expect mosquitoes - bring netting for your head and spray 

Expect fog , overcast sky’s and rain.  I was lucky just rained a bit 

Weather will be about 9 or 10 Celsius 

Expect it to be very expensive- T-shirt is about $35 to $40 dollars and very limited supply of all souvenirs. If you like it buy it 

You can use danish krone or US dollars. They will covert for you.

Expect lovely happy people who love where they live

expect limited tours to be available  via your ship or in ports

Don’t expect wifi to work free or otherwise

Nanortalik :

My favourite port

Easily walkable 

Just the tourist Center for a shop and to book tours

Beautiful scenery

Outdoor museum worth a visit including old houses, hospital,

 museum with artifacts pictures, you can buy books and postcards 

Go beyond the open air museum for the true neighborhoods where people say hello

Best port for seeing icebergs floating, called bergy bits

Supermarket best place to get a pastry and coffee or the Greenland hot dog 

The only disappointment was the church .  They only let you in when they do a concert and it is $15 US dollars 

No wifi

Qaqortok:

Biggest town in south Greenland 

Easily walkable but lots of mosquitoes 

10 minutes to walk to the lake.  Very serene and beautiful 

Huge mountain so walking up and down hills

Picturesque houses all Color

Fish market has Minke whale meat for sale

Museum is good and you get the red church and Norse museum included fo 10 usd

Not as many bergy bits

You may see whales in the harbour

Only place with wifi is the cafe

Again tourist Center has souvenirs but they are expensive 

The handmade crafts are on stands by the tourist Center.  

Overall Greenland is beautiful with friendly happy people and worth a visit 

Hope this helps

Marcia

Sydney Nova Scotia port review

 I just visited and took the historical walking tour of Sydney.  While the guide was good and informative, you can easily at no cost except a few donations see the historic churches and the two houses - Jost and Cossette on your own.  All are directly located a couple of streets up from the ships dock. Get a map from the tourist office at the port and visit these on your own. 

The downtown is a 10 minute walk from the pier, but is very economically depressed.  Just a couple of tourist shops and a few restaurants. 

Top things to do

Take the Cabot trail tour to Baddeck- beautiful scenery and the Alexander graham bell museum is worth the visit

Get a walking map oF Sydney and walk on your own.

Overall the people are friendly, many of the crafts homemade so visit the two craft markets - on the pier as you get off the ship and in town. 

Hope this helps

Marcia

Halifax cruise port review updated for June 2024

 Due to Covid I hadn’t been back to the Halifax port for about 5 years.  The years have not been kind to the waterfront.  There are less shops and restaurants to choose from and more condos and construction 

Now in 2024 the shops are still limited, but more kiosks are open. They continue to build more condos on the waterfront

In 2022, I went on a port excursion to Peggy’s cove via greyline highland tours.  I do not recommend them. They allow you only 45 to 50 minutes in the cove even though they say you have an hour.  The guide said the hour starts at the outskirts of the village and it takes the bus about 10 minutes to park.  She was a drill Sargent of a guide not following the tour description.  

Halifax is easy to see on your own walking everywhere. But the hills might be a challenge . I recommend 

The craft market right in the cruise terminal. The prices were the same or cheaper than in town

The art gallery  $9 for seniors 

The citadel has the great views 

The casino is a 20 minute walk from the ship

The public gardens are free and pretty

The port walk is about 30 minutes one way from the ship to the casino if your sauntering and people watching. The fishermen are catching mackerel during the transition to high tide 

It’s an easy port with lovely people 

Hope this helps

Marcia

Good and Bad and mixed sentiments on Caribbean Princess

 Well I have been on Caribbean Princess for 11 days. Below are my good and Bad list for you to watch out for before you book. And some mixed reviews.

Good

Palm dining room food is delicious and hot dishes are served hot. They are good about special requests.

I prefer the small portions so it works for me. You can ask for double helpings as I ask for more clams and scallops and they brought them.

Omelette ordering can only be done in planks but they give you a ticket you put it on the table and they will go get it for you.

cabin is clean, comfortable and I feel safe.

Ship is very clean but they ave have had a covid breakout 

Lots of free movies and shows to watch in your cabin.

Staff are friendly and helpful 

Bad

It was over two hour wait at LGA for shuttle pickup and had to go to reception to get my money back

Medallion and it’s internet.  They know but won’t tell you the satellite is down half the time and always at night when you are out at sea. Tip at about 4 to 5 days into the cruise go to the Internet manager and ask for a 50% credit. This one was honest and said it would be like this the whole cruse. Also it will be extremely slow to download books etc.  I only got the internet when close to Canada and the us

They stopped following any COVID protocols except that the crew must wear masks. When the outbreak occurred, captain asked everyone to wear mask indoors. 

Nuuk visit canceled by Captain due to weather and high seas so we sat out in the Arctic Ocean for two days 

Food is repetitive in Market Grill

Most outdone areas closed especially back of ship 

Tender shuttling back to ship was over 2 hours in Nanortalik and no apologies from Captain 

Mixed Sentiments 

Guest Service was good 4 times and bad info once. It really depends on the rep.

Guest profile is very old so the entertainment is geared to 70 plus aged people .  I haven’t found anything to stay and watch in the theatre. 

shore excursions are mixed.  For the price the Peggy cove excursion was cut short only 45 minutes in the cove .  The walking tour of Sydney was good.

No shore excursions available in Greenland so book really early

Hope this helps

Marcia

First impressions of Caribbean Princess

 My first impression of Princess cruises was at the LGA airport.  There were  hundreds of passengers waiting for the shuttle bus to the ship which was docked in the container port of red hook in Brooklyn. Ugliest port ever. The wait was over an hour for me but many had been waiting hours.  I went down a level and by chance the first bus had arrived.  No communication and just chaos.  

At the port the terminal was empty so I checked in quickly and got on board.  The first impression from the outside view is rust bucket.  An equal amount of rust and white paint chipped.  On the inside it’s very old like it’s passengers.  Wow I forgot that the Princess passenger profile is old ,  not newly retired but nearly dead.

However my obstructed view cabin is lovely, clean and decent view out the window.  The outside of the window has quite a few very dead bugs.  I called guest services and someone will clean it when we are in port. 

The buffet was fine but much smaller than Ncl , Rccl or Holland America.  Dinner in the Palm restaurant was good, and service reasonable with about an hour to get thru dinner. 

I have yet to see entertainment but the port consultant is so boring 

Hope this helps

Marcia

Air Canada and Pearson airport are not as bad as portrayed

 First let me say I had anxiety for weeks tracking my upcoming flight and used flight aware.com. I highly recommend this site.  As was the average delay for my outgoing flight was 40 minutes delayed.  

Here’s what was great about Air Canada

They communicated constantly about the status of the flight

The checked bag was there on arrival and the pilot communicated that the passengers bags who didn’t make it were being taken off

I highly recommend apple AirTag as I saw my bag was in LGA upon arrival 

Here’s the need to know about Toronto Pearson airport 

for USA flights arrive 3 hours ahead. It only took minutes to Check-in as I did it online the day before. The automated kiosks gave me the boarding pass and bag tag and then you drop the bag thru the automatic handler. Easy Peasy.

The security line took about 35; minutes and USA customs another 35 minutes.  The longest wait was Tim Hortons at about 40 minutes. They are beyond slow.

I had time for tea . 

Overall I liked air Canada and the efficiency of the way the security and customs was set up.  It’s not there fault that there are so many travellers.

Hope this helps

Marcia

Last minute details to take care of before your cruise

 I am on a Princess cruise in 9 days and Princess keeps sending reminders to do the following:

- Because my cruise is longer - 16 nights - you must have at least one covid booster - this is new so be aware on longer cruises the cruise lines are upping the requirement

- I have to have an antigen or PCR test no longer than 2 days before the cruise (mine is booked)

- take a carry on with at least 2 days clothes as the airports are still having baggage issues and make sure the apple itag is in the luggage to be checked 

- re-check your excursions - mine requires mosquito spray for Greenland and a coat as it has a high of 10 degrees celcius in summer

- check to see if the cruiseline upgraded you - no such luck on my part

- pack (and then take less) than what you planned

- wear your heavy shoes on the plane/1st day and pack the lighter ones in your carry on

- print out an extra copy of the flight and cruise details for those at home 

- start to get excited (even if your worried re covid, the airline issues etc)

Hope this helps 

Marcia