Greenland and Iceland Adventure - the Adventure Begins

Well sadly not a lot of crafting has been going on in this neck of the woods for a wee while as I have just returned from a 17 day cruise to Greenland and Iceland and am now away on a narrowboat on the Lancaster Canal.

We had a fab time on our cruise despite only getting on to land for three and a half days out of seventeen due to the huge amount of polar ice in the area and getting hit by huge storms whilst in the Atlantic.  Thankfully we are both good sailors and the rough weather didn't bother us too much apart from making it difficult and dangerous at times to walk around the boat.

We were on Fred Olsen's Black Watch and having cruised on her before and her sister ship Boudicca, she is a favourite of ours.  Her full capacity is only 850 passengers so it never feels overwhelming like some of these ships that hold over 2,000 passengers and there is a quaint old fashioned feel to the cruise with proper formal black tie captain's dinners and strict dress code.  There are no shopping malls, theme parks, climbing walls or crazy golf courses onboard - instead there is an old fashioned promenade deck and traditional boating games of quoits and shuffleboard to take part in on the decks.  I think that is why we love it so much as there really is a feeling of stepping back into time when you go onboard and life truly slows down as you get away from the hurly burly of modern living.  There is an internet suite onboard but I find it nice to get away from emails and social networking for a little while.

Boarding the Black Watch

Once everyone is onboard, an emergency drill is conducted as the ship cannot depart port until a full drill and lessons in how to put on lifejackets have taken place.  Once that fun was over (and I always find it very reassuring that they conduct these drills properly and not just pay lip service to them) we were able to return to our cabin and start unpacking and settling in.  Originally we had booked a balcony suite but shortly before the cruise we were given a free upgrade to one of the huge balcony suites.  As part of our welcome package we had a bottle of champers in the room so Mum and Dad who had come with us came up to join us in a drink as we departed from Dover.

I will be back with more blog posts and pictures about our adventures on the high seas shortly.