Thursday and Friday, August 13 and 14, were both “at sea” days sailing toward Greenland from Grundarfjordur, Iceland. However, Thursday was a cruising day where we returned to southern Greenland’s Prins Christian Sund (Prince Christian Sound) and cruised slowly to the end just to enjoy the scenery.
The sound seems a lot like a fjord to me. There are steep mountains on both shores and the water between is very clear and cold–and deep enough for a large ship to navigate. The water is much calmer than it is out in the open sea, thanks to the sheltering mountains.
Of course, the fog-shrouded snow-capped mountains and many glacial waterfalls make for some stunning scenery.
But it’s the glaciers and icebergs all along the sound that really grab your attention. While the glacier tops are ragged and craggy and look other-worldly, the icebergs come in all shapes and sizes. Some are smooth and rounded, while others have sharp edges and angles. The oldest part of the ice is always a striking blue color because of the weight that has pressed the oxygen out of it for thousands of years.
At the very end of the sound is a very large glacier, which our ship comes incredibly near. Our captain must be very adept at guiding the ship because we draw close to the glacier and he turns the ship in a tight circle so that passengers on both sides of the ship can photograph the glacier from their balconies.
While in the sound, the ship also has to navigate around the larger icebergs, which just float around looking beautiful—but can be very dangerous. The captain explained that some of the icebergs that include permafrost are so sharp and strong that they can cut into the side of a ship as if it were a Coke can.
We stayed in the sound longer than they had originally planned, hoping to wait until the seas had settled a bit in the North Atlantic. But all was well and our next day at sea was relaxing and quiet. We enjoyed the onboard entertainment and great meals and looked forward to the next stop—Qaqortoq, Greenland.