At Sea

What a drippy, cold day we woke up to! It is raining with a bitter wind. I think this will follow us tomorrow to St. John, Newfoundland. It is in the mid 70’s by afternoon here today but will drop to the mid 50’s tomorrow. I guess we will need to go home to get warm! Today I have a manicure. Stuart spent the morning outlining some talks for futures speaking engagements. The manicure was very nice and after that Stuart and I went to Izumi for an ala carte lunch. It was delicious. The food is served hot and the flavors are tantalizing. After lunch we went to the crew talent show. It is good that someone wants to get up and sing and do other things because there were at least, some entertaining moments. After that it was Phase 10 until we took a break from that, had a café latte with Kahlua and spent time on the computers until dinner. Stuart enjoyed the Hot and Sour soup and I liked the sweet and sour pork the most. There were some entertaining moments in the Centrum, then off to bed. 

At Sea

We are sleeping in everyday because we subject ourselves to cold late nights stay up so late to see Northern Lights. We had lunch and then back to the cabin to update things on our computers and Stuart did a little laundry. He took care of the new forms we need for our stop in Canada. He does so much of the paperwork, I am really getting spoiled and grateful for his assistance.

For dinner we went to the dining room. We mostly try to look at the menu ahead of time so we can decide where we might want to eat. Tonight, we both had the lasagna. While loaded with meat, barely warm, and it had very little flavor. The arancini was barely warm and lacked flavor as well. The best thing about the meal was the minestrone soup and of course, the Belle Glos wine. I did get a decent discount with 20% off having the Deluxe Beverage Package and another 20% off at Diamond level on RCCL. We went to the Schooner Bar but again that loud, obnoxious guy was there so we didn’t stay. They were having 70’s music in the Centrum on deck 4. Since the atrium is open on several decks, we went up to Vintages on deck 6 and played Rummikub and enjoyed the music from there. After finishing the Belle Glos we had an espresso martini. The music stopped and we decided to skip the try at Northern Lights and it was off to bed for us.

Nuuk, Greenland

We were excited about this port stop in Nuuk because we will not be tendered but docked. The lines getting on and off the ship when tendered are grueling. We got all dressed and ready making our way to Windjammer for a bite to eat. We were not sure what we would find in the town. It was time now to inquire about the shuttle into town. I chose not to walk because it is a 30 minute (probably 45 for me), uphill walk into the town. The ship does not have a complementary shuttle, they charge $19.99 for the shuttle. Have I said I am not impressed with RCCL so far this trip? Ok, so let’s get a shuttle ticket, because one must have it before getting off the ship. While in process for this we noticed the extremely long line getting back on the ship. We watched that for a while and it barely moved. Maybe it was a fluke, we will observe for a while and decide what to do. Needless to say, it was not a fluke. Seems they would let about 20 people get on then stop the line and wait a while for the next batch. We collectively decided we enjoyed Qaqortoq enough yesterday and we are not getting off. I am glad we decided that. I asked fellow passengers what was in town and they said, “not much but a couple of souvenir shops” so I think we made a wise decision. 

We enjoyed playing Rummikub until dinner time. There was a beautiful sunset at dinner. After dinner it was Schooner bar and Emma singing. When the obnoxious man came in about 10:45p we left for Vortex and the Northern Lights party. Not sure what that was supposed to be but it was just the DJ and dancing, which was fine. When we left there, we were going to take a quick look for the Northern Lights. As we did, someone said hurry to the aft as they are out. We rushed there, but to no avail. We missed them. We found a somewhat sheltered place to stand and waited 20-30 minutes. Since we weren’t dressed for this, we couldn’t last any longer. Off to bed. Not sure I will ever get to see this phenomenon!

At Sea

Today we are at sea for a much-needed rest! We slept in and then did various things to catch up on our computers, house work, games, etc. There were many nice views of icebergs. We really looked forward to dinner with BBQ pork ribs… BUT when we went to dinner, we were told they did not have them. I was a lot more disappointed than Stuart. All I ate today was a piece of cold pizza for breakfast, ugh. I had eggplant parmesan and a side of spaghetti marinara. Stuart had just the spaghetti. It was disappointing. Oh well, we certainly won’t go hungry! After dinner we went to the show which was Kuba. He played 2 rare instruments, but honestly the one we heard was like a xylophone. We didn’t stay for the second one. Instead, we went to the casino. Despite the fact that they allow smoking in there, it wasn’t too bad. We played for quite a while. I lost my allotted funds but Stuart broke even. We were doing pretty well until that last dealer came and he broke the bank. However, it was fun! Off to hopefully see the Northern Lights. Maybe a tiny glimpse but I can’t be certain until I can magnify the photos. 

Qaqortoq, Greenland

Today we have a tour called Town Walk with a local Chef. The line for the tender was huge once again. Finally, they called everyone with an excursion to come to the head of the line. If not for that, it would have taken over an hour in line just to get to the tender. Anyway, we made it. While our guide was a very nice young man, he was not a local chef as indicated on the tour discreption. 

He did give us a lot of information about living here in Greenland and the use of various plants to eat, not just as greens, but to make jam and even pesto! Angelica is a weed looking plant brought here by the Vikings to make these delights. We had the opportunity to taste both the jam and pesto at the small meal that followed the walk, and both were impressively tasty! The lunch was pretty small but it was a lovely presentation. Stuart’s favorite was the Caribou (reindeer). It had a good flavor and looked a bit like steak medallions, just a tiny bit chewy. The greens were my favorite, we both liked the beer. I skipped eating the whale blubber (salsa?) and the melted blubber like oil was not to my liking. I guess one has to grow up with these flavors to appreciate them! It was a walk on our own and a short wait in line for the tender back to port. They truly need better organization on their tender stops. I am glad we will be docked in Nuuk!

 

Angelica: Angelica is an ancient cultivated plant in Greenland. After the ice age it spread in Europe, the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland. The Norsemen and Vikings knew and used the plant and they brought it with them when they went to Greenland, where it became a vital source of vitamin C which prevents scurvy and other ailments in people as well as animals. According to tradition angelica was given to man by an angel – the archangel Gabriel himself, who reputedly planted it with his own hands and used it as a weapon against plague. This is why the plant’s Latin name is angelica archangelica.

About the greens: They have an experimental trial location by the sheep farming area because it is warmer there. They grew all the greens we ate today; lettuce, cabbage, arugula, and another green I did not recognize, along with red onion, cucumber, and tomatoes. In Nuuk, where we will be tomorrow, they have experimental trials going on there is shipping containers which they fill with soil, sprinkling systems, and the hydropower to operate them. Our guide was unsure of the results. I plan to look into that and read about it later. Here is the website: https://www.norden.org/en/nominee/greenlandic-greenhouse-greenland

Once back to the ship we peeled off our extra layers and went to the Vintage Bar to play Phase 10 and have a drink. We are very tired this evening. There is a show that sounds good but honestly, we are just too tired. Stuart took 2 drinks back to the cabin for us and I went up to Windjammer café and got us a tiny cheese plate. They do have a few different and tasty cheeses on this cruise most days. We decided an early bedtime was in order. Stuart was not hungry but I decided I needed just a bit more and ordered a room service pizza, he did have on piece of that. Then off to bed, the cold weather and my aching legs put me to sleep quite quickly.

Nanortalik, Greenland

Since there isn’t much to see or do in port, we decided to take the tender later after the tender tickets stopped. Like so many things on this ship, there seems to be such poor planning. Yes, they stopped issuing tickets but the lines were huge. We waited over 30 minutes for the 6-minute tender ride into town. Such poor organization! Anyway, we finally got there and enjoyed a walk around the area. Even WhatsInPort had it wrong – there was no tourist office set up at the pier and no maps of the small area. That would have been nice since the ship didn’t have any maps either. We had a brisk walk around with a constant, light sprinkle of rain. It really wasn’t bad and we were comfortably warm as we are dressed in 32˚ Heat clothing. The one café I read about was closed. I did manage to find a postcard at a souvenir shop, and a stamp at the little grocery store, so a postcard is on its way to Sierra! After walking all around we headed back to the tender spot, only to wait in line once again. But we got back safe and sound without waiting too long. We freshened up and went for a bite of lunch at the Windjammer Buffet, the played cards and games. After that it was back to the cabin to catch up on some computer photos and blog. 

There are certainly some beautiful icebergs here! The fog goes in and out rapidly so getting photos can be a bit of a challenge. Dinner was ok in the Tides Dining room. I couldn’t even eat one third of my prime rib, my baked potato was barely warm. Stuart’s Osso Buco was okay, he wasn’t very hungry and it was dry. The food is not a special perk on this ship. I will say the wait staff is warm, friendly, and for the most part pretty fast. There was a beautiful sunset but the windows are so clouded and spotty (understandably so) that the photo is not great. We dropped into the Safari Lounge and listened to the Wave Benders for a while, they were good. Then up to the Vortex to see what is going on up there. Stuart had this Rusty Nail drink with Johnnie Walker Black, which smells and tastes a bit smokey. On to bed since we have a port stop tomorrow and a tour! Looking forward to that.

At Sea

We had a nice day at sea playing games and enjoying different views from the decks. For dinner we decided to go back to Izumi for an ala carte dinner. It ended up costing less than one regular priced menu! I wasn’t very hungry today since I overate yesterday. I had a delicious soup with shrimp/pork wantons in it. Stuart had the Izumi Ryu Futomaki Roll. After dinner we went to listen to Emma sing. However, some guy has become her groupie and talks and talks between songs. It gets old fast. We saw that Vortex Bar was playing Abba Music so we left Schooner’s and went up there. It is a DJ but loved the music and they have a very entertaining bar tender named Feri (he says call him Freddie). We left just before closing to get some sleep for Nanortalik tomorrow! Excited to finally set foot on Greenland!