Stunning Greenland Passages Compensate for Missed Iced-In Ports

Days 12-14, 2025 European Odyssey

Saturday-Monday, July 12-14, 2025; At Sea (Greenland and Labrador Seas, Prins Christian Sund).

Greenland is the world’s largest island, at 836,330 square miles. On most maps it looks much larger than it is, due to the distortion of Mercator maps. (If you want to go further down that rabbit hole, start here.) Regardless, Greenland is huge, and most of it is beyond the reach of humans not on polar expeditions or sailing on ice-rated expedition cruise ships.

Four ports of call in Greenland – three new to me – drew me initially to this cruise. Alas, it isn’t to be. A record-setting heat wave in the spring melted the Greenland ice cap faster than normal, releasing too many icebergs into the sea for our ship to safely navigate to Nanortalik, Ilulissat, Sisimiut and the capital, Nuuk. Instead, we will stop in Paamiut (new for me) and Qaqortoq.

Of course, everyone is disappointed, but most people seem to be taking it in stride. And our captain (and the powers-that-be at headquarters) delighted us instead by an all-day cruise through Prins Christian Sund, a beautiful sound cutting through the islands of the southern tip of Greenland.

Even though this was my fourth cruise through the narrow channel lined with glaciers, it was still amazing. Better yet, it takes us hours to transit, so there is plenty of opportunity to take pictures and soak in the beauty.

When I arrived in the Crow’s Nest on Sunday morning, I immediately noticed that dozens of extra chairs filled the empty spaces in preparation for our all-day scenic cruising through Prins Christian Sund. Passengers quickly found seats in anticipation of our passage — despite the fact that you couldn’t see anything but fog beyond the ship’s bow.

And just like magic, to everyone’s delight the fog dissipated as we entered the narrow channel. Granite mountains and bluffs surrounded us as we sailed past icebergs, with patches of snow hiding from the sun.

Before too much time had passed, we approached our first glacier sighting. As the ship slowly turned to starboard, Cruise and Travel Director Tjalling said, “I believe the captain is going to do a donut!” Everyone with an outside view – from the Crow’s Nest, the Sky View deck aft, verandahs on both sides and even the open bow on deck 5 – had a close view of the giant glacier.

It wasn’t really all that cold, especially when I just slipped outside for a few minutes to photograph the glacier – and the crowd.

We did another 360-degree turn a bit later at another glacier and then resumed our leisurely passage over the next few hours.

The crowd in the Crow’s Nest abated as lunch beckoned. In the afternoon we passed the one small community on the banks of the sound, and by late afternoon emerged back into the sea and the fog.

As this is my fourth time in Prins Christian Sund, it’s hard to find new words to describe the experience. For a deeper dive, check out my first passage, later after a big storm and our interesting half-passage.

Today we had another unexpected treat. Capt. Draper took us up the Arsuk Fjord to view an abandoned mining village of Ivittuut and the nearby settlement of Kangilinnguit, home of a small naval station. The latter would not allow us a close approach, but from the ship we could see a road along the shore connecting the two communities.

At 2.8 miles, this road is the longest (and only) paved road between communities in Greenland. I had a hard time believing this bit of trivia, but given the rugged mountains that extend to the shores, I guess there aren’t roads between towns. Travel is by necessity via boat or plane.

With 20-plus hours of daylight, it was hard to draw myself away from the coastal cruising past another stunning iceberg every few minutes.

Tonight, I indulged in another culinary treat, this time in the Tamarind restaurant on Deck 10 aft. Only the largest Holland America ships have a Tamarind restaurant, which specializes in pan-Asian cuisine. Smaller ships offer a “pop-up” Tamarind experience, but tonight I experienced the full effect, and it was fun and delicious.

I wasn’t sure whether I would enjoy eating alone, as I hadn’t found a companion to join me from the half-dozen people I’ve gotten to know. But I enjoyed the dinner and will venture out alone on future cruises – although I’ll be a bit more diligent in seeking out others to join me.