Northwest Passage 2017!

Sail in was at 6:30 and I was actually up to see it! They played our Northwest Passage theme song as we passed the Statue of Liberty, it was very emotional. There is nothing like sailing into NY harbor! We were off the ship at about 9:30. We called an Uber since the subway was quite far from the pier. It was my first, it was pretty efficient! We had him drop us at St Patrick's Cathedral. It has just been renovated so I wanted to see it. Last year it was covered with scaffolding. This year it was beautiful. We then walked up 5th Avenue toward the park. We stopped at the Cartier store. We both have Cartier glasses so wanted to check out the new models. Of course we looked at everything else also. The diamonds had an amazing sparkle. I found an emerald cut one that was what I had thought I wanted when we got married. This one was a bit larger though, at 4 kts. The gal asked if I wanted to try it on, why not. It was $375,000!!! She asked if we had been in since the renovation. I had fo...

We made no plans for this port because some good friends were going to come onboard. I did look to see places of interest other than the mansions and discovered that the oldest synagogue in the USA is there. It was within walking distance of the port so figured that would be an interesting place to visit. It is a National Historic Site.  We were off the ship at 10 on the first tender. We met up with Kathie and Steve shortly after we arrived. We took some things to their car, which we are going to ship home next week from their house, then headed to the synagogue. They had a small visitor center with lots to read. We had to wait about 25 minutes for a tour. The tour lasted 30 minutes. It was a small synagogue but in almost pristine condition. That was amazing since it was built in the 1760's! They do not have the oldest congregation but do have the oldest synagogue. It was an interesting visit. After, we walked up the hill to a small cemetery where the first rabbi was buried. We the...

We really did not have any specific plans for Boston. We were just here last year so had done the Freedom Trail and a few other touristy things. I decided that it would be nice to go in the opposite direction from where we had gone last year, toward Boston Common. We got on the shuttle at about 9:45. A man was there to help with directions. He suggested where to find the original Boston Creme Pie. He also told us where the bronze duck statues were so that is where we headed.  The shuttle dropped us at Quincey Market. From there we just followed the Freedom Trail toward the Common. We stopped for the pie then continued on. We stopped at a table in the park to eat it. It was good but kind of early for dessert! We continued on to the gardens across the street where the ducks were. A short story was written called Make Way For Ducklings", about ducks in Boston, the city commemorated the author, Robert McCloskey, for making Boston Public Gardens familiar to kids all over. The statues a...

Back in the USA! We were just in Bar Harbor last summer so had no special plans. We got off the ship at about 9:30. We wanted to go to the National Park Visitor's Center in town to look into their free shuttle. The sidewalks were packed with people. There were 3 ships in port, it was pretty crazy. After so many ports where there were more people on the ship than in town, it was pretty overwhelming. The ranger told us which bus to take and recommended an easy 2 mi hike.  The bus was full when we got to the stop across the street. They let 15 people stand, the driver was carefully counting everyone to be sure there were no more than that, but wanting fill the bus. We were standing and had to keep squeezing together to get those 15 on. We got off at Sand Beach. We looked at the beach then started the walk. It was fairly easy but right next to the road so not very in tune with nature! And there were a lot of people walking both directions. It was beautiful, we were walking along the to...

Since this has been a special expedition cruise, Crystal hired a company called Arctic Kingdom to provide expert lecturers, zodiac support and help in general like Inuit guides to help spot wildlife. There was a special camera set up on the mast with a man running the controls from the 12th floor lounge. He had screens up there so everyone could see what he was seeing. The day we saw all the polar bears, they actually showed the sightings on screens in the showroom, during the show! It was an excellent singer that night and while she sang, down came the screens and there was a bear eating a seal. It was unique to say the least! This cruise has been pretty controversial because of how it could affect the fragile ecosystem in the Arctic, especially if there were an accident. Last year some of Canada's top lecturer's declined the invitation to speak because of it. I have not heard if that happened again this year, but they sure had some experts onboard. And experts in a wide varie...

Nuuk is Greenland's largest city and it's capital. We were actually docked which was a great change after so many tender ports as well as zodiac excursions. They provided a shuttle into town which continued on to their old harbor and museum. This is the third museum we have seen in Greenland that uses old buildings to show displays. They have all been very nice, this one was no exception. Unfortunately most people did not realize that there were more than one building so missed most of the displays. One building held transportation exhibits. There were many old kayaks, including several small ones for children. I can't imagine putting a small child in one of those things, especially in this climate! They also had a dog sled with the hunters attire. There was a ful outfit made of polar bear fur. Mel was very happy to see a skull of a narwhal with 2 tusks! He had heard they exist, cool to see one in person. Too bad we never saw one alive.  Rather than take the shuttle back we...

Sisimiut is Greenland's second largest city. It is north of the Arctic Circle but the harbor stays ice free in the winter, their northern most harbor to do so. We took the tender into the pier. It was in a very tight location, they had to go in backwards. And we walked thru another small boat to get to the dock. Right across from the dock was an Arts and Crafts store. We went there first. There were about 10 different people set up inside with a workroom in the back. They had some beautiful things at good prices. Prices would have been even better if they had given us a proper exchange rate. We were paying with US dollars. They have to pay a high fee to change the money so try to get what they can. It was hard to decide what to buy, they had so many nice things. We made 2 purchases then went back to the pier to get the shuttle.  We were again given tickets to the museum so we got off there. They created the museum with old buildings from their old harbor. There was a church, sod ho...

We were not the first ones off the ship for a change. We had breakfast then bundled up again. The temp was 34. We had to tender in then catch a shuttle into town. Everything was open so we went into the few stores there. Ilulisat is the third largest town in Greenland so much larger than the tiny villages we visited last year. There was a workshop where we could see a few carvers. The carvings in Greenland are very different from the ones in Canada. They carve mostly caribou antlers and make gruesome faces. I had bought a piece last year so wanted something totally different.  I found a seal carving with the greuesme head, very unusual. There were several small shops which all had nice pieces. I also found a polar bear top similar to the one I found last year, but a different color. It was a successful shopping day.  After shopping we went to the museum. It was in Knud Rasmussen's former home. He explored and studied the Inuit in the northwest passage. They had a lot of ancien...

Pond Inlet was our last port in the Canadian Arctic. As usual, I had signed up for the first community visit so we were off the ship at 8:30. We had to take a bus up the hill to the community center after arriving on shore. They told us that the Co-op opened early for us, nice! It was amazing that in other ports they did nothing special.  In the community center they had refreshments and some demonstrations. One lady was cleaning a seal skin, pretty gross. Another was sewing. There was nothing for sale. We headed from there to the Coo-op which was almost across the street. Just inside the doors were a number of tables set up for selling. Most were empty. We asked if they had any art for sale in the store, they had a few pieces but nothing great. They did have a few souvenir items like shot glasses. They also had a rack w hoodies. There was a nice one that said Pond Inlet with a narwhal on it. They had one purple one, one orange and 2 yellow, that was it!!! Fortunately the purple wa...

The Capt anchored fairly close to a glacier in Crocker Bay. From the ship it did not look that large. Up close and personal it was massive! The Shackleton put out all their equipment and we were ready to go. The weather was beautiful, with sunny skies and little wind. We had tickets for the zodiac and fast boat but since they were doing almost the exact same thing, we turned in the fast boat.  The zodiac took us fairly close to the face of the glacier. There were a few birds as well as one seal. We have not seen a lot of wildlife this trip. We traveled past 2 small iceburgs then got the hot chocolate zodiac to serve us. One man, who cannot be called a gentleman, decided to get on his knees in the front of the zodiac with his special giant camera lense so was in everyone's pictures. Seems like there is always one person who spoils it for the rest. I told Mel to get a pic I had wanted because that ass.....person, was in my way. Whoops, I said it out loud! The lady next to him, not cl...

Graves on Beechy We have been so far north, and in between mountains to boot, that we have been without Internet for 3 days. It would come back when we move in the evenings but barely. I was never able to upload my blog until today, finally! Now I need to do catch up.  When I read about the Unexpected Adventures from last year, it sounded like it was done by lottery and everyone got at least one. It was the luck of the draw if you got a great one or not. After traveling amongst the ice for our first one they announced there would be more the next day. It turns out that they were trying to get anyone on the excursions who showed interest in going. We received tickets to the zodiac and fast boat. In the morning they announced that the helicopters and fast boat would be canceled due to wind. They also canceled the first 2 zodiac groups for the same reason. We were rescheduled for 10 am.  When we opened the curtains in the morning everything was white. Beechy Island was covered wi...

Two Ice Breakrs Off the Side of the Bow A few days ago the Capt announced that we were headed into quite a bit of ice, a lot more than they had experienced last year. He requested a Canadian Coast Guard ship to accompany us thru the area. With that ship and our Shackleton ice breaker, they would be able to crush a larger path for us. A German expedition ship, with 150 passengers, requested to join us so we were a convoy of 4 ships going thru the ice. At about 10 am the Capt made the first bear announcement, which I already wrote about. There was another a couple of hours later, then another after that. With each announcement I added clothes that I put on before going out, it was cold! Unfortunately we were quite a ways away from the bears so no more great shots.  Polar Bear on Ice We were sitting at dinner and I mentioned that they were probably announcing bear sightings but not in the dining room. Our table mate said that she had seen the ice breakers break thru a lot of ice in th...

I have tried for 3 days now to get my next post out. Internet in the far north is challenging! We were 840 miles from the North Pole today!!! I will keep trying.