August 6^th, 2026

We had an early morning. We had to leave our suitcases outside our hotel room door by 6:00 AM. I demanded that they be left outside way before 6:00 as I didn’t want them to miss the boat. The next time we will see them is in our cabin, but by that time we will probably be out to sea, so if they are not there it will be too late for them to accompany us on this adventure. Brian is a good man, he had the suitcases in the corridor in good time.

After breakfast we gathered our belongings, checked out of the hotel, and walked through the rain to the bus which was waiting to take us to the airport.

Iceland had looked ethereal and mystical yesterday, today the rain soaked landscape just looked very dull as we drove past the commuting traffic on our way to the airport. It was a very different scenario indeed.

On arrival at the airport we went through immigration and security and were soon in the seating area waiting for the location of our gate to be announced. When we went to Antarctica our charter flight from Santiago never involved dealing with the international airport, and we left from a hangar at the end of the runway. We felt very much like we were part of the rich and famous. They even had a red carpet welcoming us. No such thing here, we were just part of the throng of masses waiting not so patiently to be directed to our gate.

Finally our gate showed on the big screen and we headed over to the gate and waited patiently until we finally got to board. We are off to Greenland!

The plane was a 737 chartered from Titan Airways and/or Air Seven. It was hard to say which airline as our boarding passes said Titan, but the planes definitely said Air Seven. The important thing is that I don’t think we will get any Alaska Airlines points for the flight. Anyway, the flight was about 2 hours. They didn’t serve Coke, only Pepsi, which I see as a failing, but I managed. We seemed to spend most of the time flying over icefields. No sign of mountains out there.

Our destination was Kangerlussuak, This is a small hamlet situated at the end of a 100 mile long fjord. It used to be a US military base, and the airport here was one of Greenland’s major airports until 2024 when the airport at Nuuk was expanded.

On arrival we boarded buses which took us to the ship, about a 20 minute drive away. The bus had great difficulty getting us over the hills, and I was expecting to have to get out and push at any minute.

But suddenly there was Venture waiting for us. Yay!

At the end of our bus journey we joined a long queue waiting to go through immigration.

This felt quite surreal – here we are in the wilds of Greenland waiting to be seen by a couple of immigration officials, who because there didn’t seem to be much in the way of connectivity in this post-apocalyptic harbor of sorts, were using their cell phones to take photos of our passports and welcoming us to Greenland.

The port was kind of weird, like it had been abandoned years ago, and the graffiti on the hillside was strange.

There were landing craft there, but luckily there were also Zodiacs which is how we got to the ship.

Our large suitcases were making their own way to the ship, so all we had were our backpacks and carry on bags. I must admit I had some trepidation about negotiating the Zodiacs with all of that clutter, but no worries, the friendly crew got us fitted out with life vests and helped us onto the Zodiac, and off we went!

Embarking at the landing area on deck 2 of the Venture isn’t quite like arriving in the Grand Lobby on Queen Mary 2, being serenaded by heavenly harp music, but at least we were on board, and someone carried my carry on bag up the stairs.

We were greeted by Coral who we had really liked from the Sojourn, and Chef Christoph who I had had to do battle with menu planning on the Quest (but that is another matter). One of the things we had talked about is that never having been on the Venture before all of the staff would be new to us. Seeing 2 familiar, welcoming folks was a real treat.

We were directed to the Discovery Lounge where we easily completed the check in formalities, and armed with a glass of champagne we made our way to our cabin.

The verandah cabins on Venture are quite similar to those on Quest or Ovation. The bathroom has one less storage closet, and instead of 2 sinks, one larger double sink (why one must ask), but the bathtub and shower remain the same which is the important part.

Instead of having the little desk where you could do your hair and make-up there is a drying cabinet for your expedition clothing. I’m OK with that,

The closet is very similar, but the cabin itself, seems smaller, with less storage space. But hey! We are on a 3 week expedition cruise, not a world cruise (which I would very much like to be on).

Although we had had lunch on the plane we were still a bit peckish, so we went to the Colonnade to grab a bite. The area at the back was open, and the weather was good, so we sat out there and had a wonderful meal.

We had a briefing from the expedition staff on what to expect during the cruise, and then it was time for dinner.

Our suitcases had arrived (phew) but we hadn’t had time to unpack yet, so we went to dinner in our travel clothes.

Well, we clearly didn’t get the memo. Although the majority of folks were dressed in “elegant casual” (as were we in reality), a fair number of the ladies were wearing cocktail dresses and the gents had jackets, some with ties. I do love dressing up, but I made a point of not packing any dresses for this trip, and Brain doesn’t have a jacket or tie with him. So what you see is what you get with us. This is an expedition cruise, and our clothes certainly match the theme.

Luckily the majority seem to be as elegantly casual as we are, but I can’t help thinking I wish a had brought a dress or two. And another string of pearls. But you can’t have everything.

No show tonight, so instead we went up to the Constellation Lounge for a nightcap.

Their chocolate martinis were excellent.

We sat watching us make our way up the fjord to the open sea.

The passing scenery was spectacular, and it was hard to believe that it was nearly midnight – it was so bright outside.

Finally we decided to call it a day and retreat to our cabin. So far I am not sure I am in love with this ship, but it does already feel like home. A good start to our transit through the Northwest Passage.