We've added the rest of the photos from yesterday. They include photos of the sign and park bench that Crystal donated and also from the ceremony which included Captain Birger, Hotel Director Hubert, John Stoll Crystal Cruises Vice President of Land Programs and Port Operations and the Mayor. Also photos of the women who wrote out our names in the local language. Photos of the beautiful scenery. Before dinner there was a group photo taken on Decks 12 and 13 around and above the pool area. Those who participated were encouraged to wear their red Northwest Passage Jackets. After enjoying a pre-dinner drink at the Avenue Saloon we had dinner with Hotel Director Hubert at the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant. Food was delicious and we each had the additional entrée, which was sea bass. It was especially tasty and moist. Shortly after our meal began Serenity raised anchor so we could continue on our voyage. We then were captivated with beautiful views of the mountains that went on for the rest of dinner. They were just beautiful and the look enhanced as they were mostly covered in snow. Various views we saw today rank as some of the most spectacular views we have ever seen in all our years of cruising. The only bad news of the evening was that when we returned back to our room we had to forward the clock by one hour. We will do this again this evening in order to get on local Greenland time. It is hard to believe that we have left Canada and are now on route to Greenland. We have seen so very much since the Northwest Passage cruise began including the small towns of Alaska that receive far fewer tourist in comparison to the ones that many cruise ship go call on and of course the beauty of the Northwest Passage and the charm of each village that we visited. All that we have seen with respect to the Northwest Passage has clearly exceeded our expectations. We were fortunate that we did not encounter issues that would slow us up so that we could make all of those unexpected stops and that the weather cooperated nicely for us. As the lecturers indicated, each village differed from one another. There was so much diversity in the scenery as we transited to the Northwest Passage and it is so pristine and beautiful. Words cannot even describe how beautiful it is but hopefully the photos helped. Thankfully we didn’t encounter issues that some in the media had warned about. This is not to say that this is an easy route to navigate. A big mistake could be catastrophic. Of course that is key in some other passages around the world but this one definitely comes with many challenges. Nothing should be taken for granted and this type of voyage does require several years of planning. We also read that there would be protests. There we no protests. We can’t say that all of the people were happy that we arrived because we didn’t meet all of the people. What we can say is that we never met anyone who had anything negative to say and we found the people to be most friendly and wanting to share as much with us as they could. We were told that the intent by Crystal Cruises was to leave the each village better than we found them. We believe that was accomplished from the new signpost and benches that Crystal Cruises donated to the community of Pond Inlet to other donations that were made to the other two villages including that $2,000.00 cash donation. We believe that meetings that were held ahead of time with people in the village by Crystal and the Expedition Team build a solid foundation with each community and that our actual visit enhanced this relationship. We believe that the guests and the crew along with the expedition team that went ashore were kind and courteous and most importantly were also respectful. Many guests including ourselves went out of our way to make purchases and in some areas the prices were quite high. Even if we didn’t see something we cared for or thought the price was too high we looked at making a purchase as helping the community. While material donations are also nice which some people made we understand that money is likely the number one priority followed by some items that we could not help with as they include fuel and guns/ammunition. Crystal Cruises also provided training for some of the people who, in turn, were paid to be guides on the community visits. You can’t imagine the faces of those people who had the opportunity to visit Serenity. They had never seen anything like Serenity. Just like the guests they appreciated the food too. We know that there are many views on this trip and the environment and the impact on the local people. The reality is that the world continues to change. It started when brave explorers risked their lives on a hunt to discover the world. Think of even continents that would have very few people if not for discovery. Yes, something is going on that is causing the seas to rise and the ice to melt in several places including Alaska, Antarctica and Greenland. Speaking only for ourselves, we think that is the issue that needs the attention and should be of a much reater concern than a cruise ship going through the Northwest Passage. We also don’t believe that this area will get flooded with ships. Clearly it requires a rather lengthy voyage, which the vast majority of people cannot take between time off from work and the overall cost. While a voyage could be shorter in length than our own voyage it still would be quite long and costly. We don’t see many cruise lines being able to do a voyage of epic proportions as we have. With that said, we do hope that any cruise line thinking of doing such a voyage would model their approach after Crystal. This would include doing the work required to plan the voyage, being respectful of the environment and the Inuit, ensuring that they leave the local areas a better place. They need to make sure that safety is number one because the ramifications could be catastrophic from loss of life to pollution of the seas and the harm that such an event could have on the wildlife. The cost of this voyage on a per diem basis was the highest ever charged by Crystal Cruises. Normally one would say it all came down to supply and demand. While demand is certainly a factor the overhead cost for this voyage was the most ever for any voyage on a per diem level for Crystal Cruises. This included costs associated with all of the planning that went into this as well as the additional costs for the ice breaker and the 40+ personnel and all of the equipment. Then there are the other costs from getting entertainers on and off the ship to the enhancements made to Serenity in its dry dock to even the costs of getting food resupplied. The good news is that we still have time before this epic and historical voyage ends and that includes visiting some additional places that we have not visited before. We began today as we normally do. We had lost an hour last night when we moved the clocks forward. We will do this again this evening to get onto local time for Greenland. We had plenty of exercise this morning between multiple visits to the Fitness Center by Keith and a one-hour walk and Yoga for Anne Marie. Indoor cycling was not offered today. Keith had his own class though. LOL. Just Keith. He will be teaching a spin class a couple of days after we get home so he was working on a playlist and routine for the class. During the morning we sailed the Boffin Island Fjords. Unfortunately with limited visibiitly we could not see all the way up. We also spotted an expedition ship. From time to time we would see more icebergs The icebergs are from Greenland and in most instances run aground although we saw one that was in the middle of the water that looked like some type of mermaid or even cleopatra. We enjoyed two lectures. Margaret Bertulli from the Expedition Team whose lectures we have adored spoke about the Arctic wonderings along the Northwest Passage. She shared the major attractions of this beautiful area based on our own first-hand experiences. She spoke about animals, people and communities and the work that is being done in this area including archaeological and scientific work. Justin Hoffman who is also from the Expedition Team spoke about whaling and whalers. He spoke about the hunt for whales and the impact it had on both man and the whales. Today was also a nice day to just relax and enjoy the ship between the 50+ activities that were offered in and around the ship and just a day of no unexpected or expected tours. In spite of the overcast skies we enjoyed so many nice views today from various areas of the ship including the Lido Cafe during lunch. For us it was also a day to look at many of the photos we took and to reflect on our journey up to this point in time.
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