Expectations are everything
I’d just stepped ashore in Nanortalik, Greenland this summer when a gruff passenger, walking the other direction, spoke up.
“Might as well just go back,” he scoffed. “Nothing to see here anyway!”
This was about 30 minutes into our tender operations from the ship, which was anchored a few kilometres out in the bay. We’d spent multiple days at sea sailing from the Canadian Maritimes to Greenland, and here was this passenger already heading back to the ship in a fit of piqué.
This interesting sentiment was echoed by passengers in the Skywalker Lounge aboard the Caribbean Princess, many of whom looked disdainfully at the small Greenlandic town. Remarks were made about how it wasn’t very big, didn’t have any shopping, and didn’t look like it would have souvenirs.
Most went back to their card games or their books, and congratulated themselves on having not gone ashore.
To me, this was an odd stance. To take a 16-day cruise where the primary destination would be Greenland — exotic Greenland! — and not step ashore because there wasn’t a Margaritaville visible from five kilometres out seemed weird. (Nanortalik is absolutely lovely, by the way.)
Over the course of 16 days, my fellow guests grated on my nerves. They hated the ports. They hated the food. They hated the weather, which admittedly was soupy and rainy most of the time.
Complaints were made about the ports (“No one told me we’d be tendering ashore!”), the weather (“Why didn’t they tell us it was going to rain?”) and the facilities onshore (“There’s nothing to do here!”)
Most of my fellow guests seemingly wanted a beach break to the Bahamas but ended up going to Greenland, for some inexplicable reason. It’s not that the cruise was inexpensive; it was actually rather pricey. But it did present a dilemma I’d never thought about until then: the importance of research, and of knowing what you really want out of your holiday.
Anyone with a quick command of Google could have seen that most ports in Greenland are small, lack docking infrastructure, and offer little in the way of wacky onshore staples like
Margaritaville. Thus, you could conclude that if those things were important to you, it would be a good cruise to avoid.
When I pick my cruises, I pick them primarily for the ship, followed by the destination. After all, I need to be happy with the ship I’m taking, at a bare minimum. Ports of call are never guaranteed, and you should never, ever pick a cruise because it goes to one specific port. Murphy’s Law dictates that’s the port that will get cancelled for some reason.
But it is also important to be happy with the overall destination when you choose a cruise. If you’re not interested in the Caribbean, don’t take a Caribbean cruise just because it’s cheap. If you absolutely want to see wildlife up-close and personal in Alaska, book a smaller ship where wildlife sightings are more likely thanks to the ship’s intimate scale. And if ports with lots of shopping experiences are of importance, don’t head for remote destinations that are unlikely to have this.
When it comes to travelling and cruising, expectations are everything.
This is why it is so important to make an informed choice when you book any cruise vacation. Grab some brochures, talk to your travel agent, and don’t be afraid to ask friends and family for recommendations.
Most importantly, go with a sense of adventure. Staying onboard and vocalizing incorrect assumptions might only serve as fodder for the travel writer sitting next to you.
Happy cruising. Visit portsandbows.com, sponsored by Expedia Cruiseshipcenters, 1-800-707-7327, www.cruiseshipcenters.com, for daily updates on the latest cruise news, best deals and behind-the-scenes stories from the industry. You can also sign up for an email newsletter on the site for even more cruise information. Aaron Saunders may be contacted directly at portsandbowsaaron@gmail.com.