Second Stop: Halifax, Nova Scotia

 I cannot say enough good things about Halifax!  I truly enjoyed this stop.  In Halifax, I knew I wanted to see Peggy's Cove and see the sites, so I booked the Halifax Sightseeing, Peggy's Cove, and Citadel Hill shore excursion. We arrived at Peggy's Cove, and it was rainy and windy.But still worth seeing.  There is a store there where you can get your passport stamped and mail a postcard or letter.  I sent one to my kids, which arrived within the week.  Next, we took a quick stop at Citadel Hill, which had some great views of the city and a guard who was fun to take a picture with.  Lastly, we went to downtown and had 45 minutes to explore, then we met our guide for a tour of the Victorian gardens.  The gardens were breathtaking!! The gates are only open with the British royals are in town, but there are plenty of places to enter and sightsee.  This shore excursion was worth the money, and I would give it a 5 out of 5.  It was a 7-hour excursion!

Nanortalik, Greenland

Nanortalik was our first stop in Greenland.  Nanortalik is a very small seaside town with a population of 3,000 people.  This port was not my favorite.  The highlight for me of this trip was my excursion and the kids' school.  The kids invited us into their school, where they were selling goods for a trip they wanted to go on.  The school was the nicest building in the entire town; it was simple, clean, and felt very Nordic.  Then I went to the tiny local hotel that had a bar, enjoyed a yummy coffee for $2 USD,  and had a nice chat with some fellow cruisers who were two traveling nurses.  I learned that the town runs on a diesel generator and that some people are fortunate enough to have solar power for their electricity, although the sun does not shine a lot in winter there.  I learned about the town from the captain of the ship that took us to see Icebergs. It was a nice ship with room inside and out to hang out.  The captain served us some Irish whiskey with used some iceberg ice.  It was a nice treat to warm us when it was so cold!

Qaqortoq, Greenland

Our second Greenland stop was the town of Qaqortoq.  This town is much bigger and nicer.  I took a walk around town where there was a neat fountain, a fishery, a babbling brook that ran through the town, and several stores. I did the Royal Caribbean Shore Excursion "The Greenlanders".  I met my tour guide, Viviana near the cruise ship port.  This was such a great experience!  Viviana walked us through the town to Ms Cristina's house.  There were some stairs and some great views along the way of Qaqortoq.  Then we arrived at Cristina's house.  She had put out an assortment of sweet treats for us to enjoy with tea and coffee.  She told us about her life, their traditions while we enjoyed our desserts.  Her home was beautiful and had great views of the harbor.  I would highly recommend this excursion if you want to experience a Greenlandic home.

Nuuk Greenland

This was one of my favorite stops on the cruise.  I started my day by taking a Royal Caribbean shuttle to the cultural center. There I met Q from Q's Greenland.  She was a genuine person and very kind.  I was happy to meet her.  Then I took a walk to the waterfront, where I saw statues, homes, and beautiful views before arriving at the Greenland Museum and National Archives.  I spent $8 USD to get into the museum and learn about the history of Greenland.  They had original toys that were dolls that looked like the Inuit people. This was well worth the money and had clean bathrooms.  Then I took a walk back to the cultural center.  The cultural center has a restaurant in it where you can get Snow Crab or small plates.  I tried the small plate sampler, which allowed me to try some Greenlandic delicacies like MuskOx, Reindeer, Crab, Scallops, and more.  The chef came out and told us about the food we were eating.  This was a great experience.  Then I walked around the shops, went to their grocery store, which had this fabulous bakery at the entrance, and all sorts of goodies to bring home to my family. Lastly I went back to the shuttle by the cultural center and returned to the ship.  There is an adorable store right outside the cruise port that is in a container and has multiple vendors.

St John's, Newfoundland 

This was my favorite stop!  My neighbor, who was on the ship, spent the day with me.  We started with an Uber to Signal Hill, followed by a museum which was right next door.  The museum was built into the granite, and the walls downstairs were carved from granite.  After these two stops, we went to get Screeched In at Christian's Pub.  This is a MUST-Do experience if you are in Newfoundland.  The owner of the bar, Brian, is a great storyteller and has a trick where he remembers everyone's names.  There were probably 40 people at the bar, and by the end of the hour, he had said all of our names.  We enjoyed their traditions, some jokes, some food, drink, and most of all, you felt like you knew them by the end of the experience.  We also have a certificate where we are now honorary New Foundlanders.  After the screech in we went to St John's Basilica, which was a gorgeous church, and then to the Rooms.  Neat museum which anyone would enjoy.  There are some great views on the top floor.  Then we went back and got our eyebrows waxed before doing some souvenir shopping.  It was the perfect day in St John's!

Boston!

On day 16, we returned to Boston, where I had a hiccup during de-embarkation.  I could not find my passport!  I went to guest services and asked for their help.  They contacted security, which took 45 minutes to get there.  I had an 8 am excursion to see Boston, and this started at 6:40 am.  After taking me back to my room, where they demanded I sit down while they searched the room with me on video camera, they could not find the passport.  They said the next step was to go back to guest services to figure out what to do about the passport.  Guest services did not know what to do and finally said they and security would escort me to my luggage to see if it was there, and back on the ship to go to the theater to meet my shore excursion group.  I go to customs on the ship, and when I finish, they (security and guest services personnel) are nowhere to be found.  I asked a Royal Caribbean employee if he could call guest services and figure out what to do, but he said he could not.  I asked a second employee twice before he finally called and held for 10 minutes.  A third employee showed up and asked what was wrong, and I explained again.  I decided to just leave and find my luggage.  I was able to meet the shore excursion group outside, and they accepted me with no sticker from the original meeting point (thankfully).  The point of the story is do not go to Royal Caribbean when you have a problem.  They are useless!  

I heard a story of someone who had COVID on the ship and was charged over USD 600 to be told she did not have it, then she tested positive, and then she had to quarantine in her room on her own for 7 days! She missed half the trip.  She was a nurse and said this was much longer than the US guidelines.  Again, do not let Royal know if you think you are sick unless it is truly sick and need medical attention.  They will make things much more difficult.