Qaqortoq, Greenland

[ColdCruise]

We went to Greenland, so my info might be outdated, but I don’t think the towns grew or changed much. That was on a smallish 800 pax ship (CMV Marco Polo). We are going back next August on a mainstream cruise line (Carnaval Legend). I expect that trip to be much less than the first due to size but it’s sailing from my backyard, so to speak, so I couldn’t turn it down!

 

Since the port visits are to semi-isolated communities, as others said, there isn’t a robust tourist infrastructure esp re excursions. If your ship offers something of interest, book it asap! Because we didn’t have status with CMV, by the time we could prebook excursions all the interesting ones were full, leaving us with the choice of very strenuous hikes or very expensive plane/heli rides (2017 $3-600 pp). However, walking was mostly good enough to see most things and I did book a separate iceberg excursion in one town, but couldn’t get one in Illilisat, which would have been superb! Even the $4-500 planes were fully booked there, until after our ship’s departure!

 

Qaqortoq 

tendered

-Definitely not wheelchair friendly, probably a challenge with a cane or walker. Irregular paths and elevation change. We walked around the lake - the town provided more exercise than expected.

-Most needed the mossie nets here, in fact I think our ship bought out the local supply.

Visit the grocery store - it’s definitely a different selection & a one stop shop. Bear in mind the residents only gave the one store and perhaps look but think twice what you buy.

- The little museum was pretty interesting and good souvenirs

- There’s a sealskin museum and store to the right of the pier in the manufacturers. The skins are supposedly by -product of indigenous food harvesting. 

** for both the sealskins and a lot of souvenirs, while it may be legal in Greenland to own harvest sell & export various animal based items, the US May view it differently in view of the animals listing as threatened or endangered under CITES & US law. I did not research the position of all other countries, just the US which was stricter than the other countries I would travel through before arriving home. 
 

Narsarsuaq

tendered

- Beautiful scenery to/from and there

- We did a cruise to the glacier (booked separately on older, slower boat but we spent twice as long AT the glacier than the faster boats the cruise ship filled. Found the boat owner online. Surreal. Lots of good sized photogenic icebergs down to bergy bits. The boat should cut its engines so you can hear the icebergs crackling as they release eons old gases? Do the glacier cruise if you can!

- nothing to do near the tender point, just small boat tie ups and warehouses 

- If I recall, some people walked into the settlement. Google maps shows a museum

 

Nuuk

Docked
- The most wheelchair friendly town of the ports listed in this thread (it IS the capital after all), one you get from the docks up to the town. Not sure how you’d do that, we walked up hill, but I think ships excursions used local school buses.

- Excellent ethnographic museum

 

All you lucky people going to Greenland this year - enjoy yourselves, it’s a memorable destination 

Edited July 18, 2022 by ColdCruise

[geoherb]

On 7/6/2022 at 11:10 AM, mpk said:

 

Is August a good time (bug wise) to visit Greenland?  Sounds like Alaska, where bugs are gone by August or September, from what I've read.

 

I'm back from my cruise on the Caribbean Princess. We missed Nuuk due to rough seas between us and the port. They announced it a couple of days in advance. Nanortalik had the tendering problem others have mentioned. I was lucky to make the first tender. I made it to the island before the museum opened. I walked around the town and hiked up the hill to get a great view of the ship. When I made it back to the ship around 11, people were still waiting for tenders. Some had been waiting for several hours. The worst I heard was a 3-hour wait for a tender off the ship and a 2-hour wait for the tender back to the ship.

 

The tendering went much smoother in Qaqortoq. I hiked halfway around the Great Lake. I passed one of the organized Princess excursions and took a detour to see a waterfall. I got back to place where the organized group was about to ford a stream. The guide was explaining that the other side was longer and more strenuous. Several people turned around at that point, including me.

[windsor26]

@ColdCruise please could you give me the name of the company you did the slow cruise with in Narsarsuaq   Thank you

[ColdCruise]

On 9/2/2022 at 3:35 AM, windsor26 said:

@ColdCruise please could you give me the name of the company you did the slow cruise with in Narsarsuaq   Thank you

Blue something, I’m traveling now but will see if I remember to check when I get home. I just found him by web searching, no spectacular sleuthing on my part, but that may/not work as the web changes a lot in 4-5 years!

[mpk]

On 9/1/2022 at 6:16 AM, geoherb said:

I'm back from my cruise on the Caribbean Princess.

 

Any problems with biting bugs in Greenland?

[Turtles06]

5 hours ago, mpk said:

 

Any problems with biting bugs in Greenland?

 

I guess if you want to bite a bug you're allowed to.  🤣

 

Seriously, we had no bug problems on our two port calls in early September 2018.  Can't speak to other times of the year.

[geoherb]

8 hours ago, mpk said:

 

Any problems with biting bugs in Greenland?

 

They weren't biting, but they were a nuisance. I wish I had purchased an inexpensive head net. I saw several people wearing them around the lake.

[Giantfan13]

Ok just got back from an Artic Crossing, stopping in this particular port. We were also suppose to stop in Nuuk but it was cancelled, another port supposed to replace that, but it also never happened.

 

So, just OUR experience in Qaqortoq. We were on the RCCL Voyager and tendering was very easy. That was the good part. We did not book any excursions as there were only a couple and very expensive, so just decided to go off, do our own thing, as we  do in many ports.

To be honest, we found this port about as boring as any port we have ever been to. Maybe I was a bit naive, but I expected a cute little village with nice people and what we found, was a basically a  run  down town with whatever was open, extremely expensive. The best thing here was the local grocery store. And we didn't find the Greenlanders that friendly. Sorry.

We encountered some guys cutting up what we were told was a whale and they basically wouldn't even look at us. We wandered around and saw more junk laying around. 

Sorry, for us, it was just not a nice cruise destination. We wandered around for maybe 2 hours, saw whatever there was to see and couldn't wait to get back to the ship.

Sorry for being so 'cruel' but again, this was nothing as to what we expected.

But there were no bugs--Hooray. 

 

Cheers

Len

[CruiserBruce]

On 9/7/2022 at 2:33 AM, mpk said:

 

Any problems with biting bugs in Greenland?

They were pretty annoying, but not biting, in both Greenland and Iceland in July. Bug spray was fairly, but not totally effective. A number of people were wearing nets.

[edinburgher]

Sorry for being so 'cruel' but again, this was nothing as to what we expected.

 

Giantfan 13.  Was sorry to read about your disappointing experience in Q.  We visited twice and although we would not be enthusiastic about  a third visit, we enjoyed both our visits. 

 

Greenlandic ports will always be  lower key destinations, but both our days were reasonably warm, sunny and with many flowers in bloom and together with the coloured houses they made for pretty pics.  We followed the Stone and Man route the first time and enjoyed looking for the carvings and just walking around including up to the very  top of the town. Second time we walked part way around the lake.  Only spoke with a couple of mothers and children at the fountain area when we stopped for a rest and a snack,  but they were pleasant enough, especially when, instead of eating them ourselves,   we gave the kids the two apples we had taken from the ship as fresh fruit is especially expensive there and in short supply.  Only other person we spoke with was the librarian in the library, a really nice lady who was happy to chat about life there, especially as she was going to visit our home city (Edinburgh) the following summer during her Scotland trip. The world is indeed smaller than one might think! When we returned two years later we sought her out again and not only did she remember us,  we had even more to talk about as she had by then visited Scotland. and was keen to give us her impressions.

 

I suspect that "the guys cutting up the whale" would have been reluctant  to engage with you in any way (even with only eye contact) as the killing of whales has become even more controversial in recent years and they would have been wary of your reactions. Whaling has been a part of their culture for many generations and I think they are allowed a certain quota each year (but am happy to be corrected should others be better informed) You saw the place.  Few work opportunities, probably very  low incomes combined with high imported food costs, so the whale meat would have been an important food source for them and others , but not every tourist would understand that.

Edited October 9, 2022 by edinburgher

[NancyIL]

On 10/7/2022 at 7:31 PM, Giantfan13 said:

Ok just got back from an Artic Crossing, stopping in this particular port. We were also suppose to stop in Nuuk but it was cancelled, another port supposed to replace that, but it also never happened.

 

So, just OUR experience in Qaqortoq. We were on the RCCL Voyager and tendering was very easy. That was the good part. We did not book any excursions as there were only a couple and very expensive, so just decided to go off, do our own thing, as we  do in many ports.

To be honest, we found this port about as boring as any port we have ever been to. Maybe I was a bit naive, but I expected a cute little village with nice people and what we found, was a basically a  run  down town with whatever was open, extremely expensive. The best thing here was the local grocery store. And we didn't find the Greenlanders that friendly. Sorry.

We encountered some guys cutting up what we were told was a whale and they basically wouldn't even look at us. We wandered around and saw more junk laying around. 

Sorry, for us, it was just not a nice cruise destination. We wandered around for maybe 2 hours, saw whatever there was to see and couldn't wait to get back to the ship.

Sorry for being so 'cruel' but again, this was nothing as to what we expected.

But there were no bugs--Hooray. 

 

Cheers

Len

 

I was on your cruise, and there were plenty of gnatty bugs in Qaqortoq!

 

I understand your sentiments, although I enjoyed the time I spent walking around Qaqortoq.  It reminded me of some Inuit villages I visited in Alaska, and based on the limited shore excursions -  I wasn't expecting to be entertained.

 

There's a lot of natural beauty in Greenland, and I'm really glad we were able to sail through the gorgeous Prins Christian Sund.  The captain made the best decision to choose that scenic sailing  instead of the scheduled port stop in Nanortalik.

[bearette]

We are doing Greenland next year with two kids (both will be 11). Anything particularly interesting for them? I am sure they would love playing with local kids if there is a park in the towns. Is the lake walk dangerous, such as cliffs or just a lot of work? 

[CruiserBruce]

27 minutes ago, bearette said:

We are doing Greenland next year with two kids (both will be 11). Anything particularly interesting for them? I am sure they would love playing with local kids if there is a park in the towns. Is the lake walk dangerous, such as cliffs or just a lot of work? 

They will love the icebergs, if there is anywhere near as many as we saw this July.

[edinburgher]

I am sure they would love playing with local kids if there is a park in the towns.

 

Didn't see any playparks or even parks  but we did not explore the more modern part of town, only walking up the steep hillly road until we reached the top before returning down again.  Your kids might enjoy looking for the Stone and Man carvings by following the trail, again, references to this on earlier postings to this thread, but otherwise you could maybe contact a local tourist info office  to ask about any child friendly activities.

 

Is the lake walk dangerous, such as cliffs or just a lot of work? 

 

No cliffs but more of a strenuous hike. Can I suggest you read this thread from page #1 onwards as there are several references  to the walk around the lake scattered throughout  and the degree of difficulty involved even when it is passable. 

Edited November 13, 2022 by edinburgher

[Taconix]

On 2/28/2022 at 6:52 AM, edinburgher said:

 

You could simply search the internet for "mosquito (or insect) head nets" or similar and you should get a fair few results as they are popular with campers, caravaners and folks walking in the countryside. Or try an outdoor or camping store if you have one near your home.

 

I am reading this after following a link from a summer Iceland cruise thread about flies or midges. I looked on Amazon (in US) and saw “Premium Mesh Mosquito Head Net Outdoor Pack of 4 Face Neck Fly Netting Hood” for $6.99 plus tax.  Not sure how premium they will be for less than 2 dollars each, but I just ordered them. I think they’ll be worth the limited space they’ll take up in a suitcase, and the small cost.  Thanks, I would never have thought of these!

I started a Word document cruise packing list on my phone (in addition to the port-specific information documents 😉), and I am jotting anything I order now so I remember to actually pack it next summer. 

[DonnaMarieNJ]

I just came back from Greenland last week.  No mosquitoes around.  I did, however, bring a head covering.

[edinburgher]

15 hours ago, Taconix said:

after following a link from a summer Iceland cruise thread about flies or midges

The link was maybe the one I also  read.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2966684-ncl-star-icelandgreenland-review-july-2023/#comment-66196820 Having visited both Iceland and Greenland,  I found it very interesting and the author also mentioned the flies and the head nets they took with them(I think chapter 6 in the table of contents).  They are inexpensive, weigh next to nothing and take up almost no space, all good reasons to pack them even if they are unused as not everyone experiences them.

 

(in addition to the port-specific information documents 😉)

 

We really do find these invaluable especially as we are DIYers and cannot hold that amount of specific info for multiple ports in our heads! I hope you find they also work well for you.

 

Edited October 7, 2023 by edinburgher

[edinburgher]

14 hours ago, DonnaMarieNJ said:

No mosquitoes around.  I did, however, bring a head covering.

Better to have than not have if they are needed. I think you were lucky not to experience the pesky flies.  By the way, they are flies not mosquitoes and they don't bite but they are a nuisance.

See my other post directly above this one.