2025 London and TA Day 16: Cruise Day 10 - Nuuk, Greenland

Cruise Compass
Dinner Menu: A Taste of Asia
Today’s Weather
Location at Start of Day
View From the Port Webcam
Location at End of Day

One of the biggest challenges of trying to figure out a plan in Nuuk turned out to be the total inscrutability of the bus system, which seemed to be the only viable self-service option for getting out of the cruise port (outside of walking). The bus system website offered maps and schedules that were close to useless. After hours of work I managed to find the actual location of several bus stops – but the majority didn’t show up on Google Maps or street-view (where most photos were from 2014, at a time when it seems like most of Nuuk was undergoing massive road construction). From that I got an idea of where bus route #1, which was the route generally mentioned online as being the right one for cruise passengers to use, could be accessed – but even that was filled with a lot of what-ifs. Finally, as it seemed like the only way to pay for the bus was to have local currency, that idea went out the window!

In April 2025 I tried to find us a bus-based tour, but the only one I could find that could accept both of us started at 7:45AM and that was earlier than I wanted. So that really left us only with walking our way through town, which looked like it would be in the neighborhood of 2 ½ to 3 miles roundtrip. Clearly, whether we did something at this port was going to be a game-time decision. While it would be nice to say that we “saw” Nuuk, I’m wasn’t sold on the idea that there was really much of great interest to see there – so if we DIDN’T get onshore it wouldn’t be the worst thing. I did manage to find a couple of potential geocaches that would involve very little walking, so there was the possibility of just a “quick walkabout” if that’s what we decided.

After getting onboard, we discovered (via a letter left in our stateroom) that Royal was offering fee-based shuttle bus service from the port.  I don't recall the price, but I think it was in the range of $20 per person.  So with that option available we purchased tickets.  Also, by the time the cruise happened, we had found a REASON for going ashore.  See below.

Neither of us had a great night’s sleep last night. We had purchased tickets to the 1015A shuttle, which was comprised of a number of city buses Royal had chartered. We were delivered to the Cultural Center by 1030A and took a leisurely walk to the National Museum of Greenland, where they have a lot of clothing (animal furs), kayaks, and small artifacts spread over 3 buildings, which occupied us for about an hour.  This kind of display was, to me, much like visiting the Rosicrucian Musuem, with old cold-weather artifacts replacing old Egyptian artifacts.  Ho hum.

Lined up waiting to board the next available shuttle bus.  It was wet and chilly out.

The shuttles were regular city buses that Royal had chartered for their passengers.  The buses dropped us off just outside the Nuuk Cultural Center.  From there, we were able to walk to our destinations.

About to head down the hill on our way to the National Museum

The sculpture "Inussuk", a Greenlandic word that means "cairn" or "something that looks like human beings".

Actual mummies from the 15th C at the National Museum.

We then walked across the street to Kittat, a place where they use native techniques to create clothing/costumes. Amusingly, we’d gotten a PM on Facebook from Hallie Feldman, saying she had a pen pal in Nuuk(!) who she’d been communicating with for about 20 years, but she’d never met and hoped we could meet up with her. Well, we did meet with Louise Ottosen at Kittat. She had a number of native tattoos and we had a nice visit.

Hallie's penpal, Lousie - she's got native tattoos on hands, arms, and face

Given that Louise had tattoos that evoked the imagery of the mythic Mother of the Sea (something discussed in the museum) it was quite appropriate to try for the Earthcache Mother of the Sea. On the way down rain-slicked rocks to get closer my feet went out from under me and I took a hard fall, catching my back, elbow and shoulder and giving myself a good scare. Fortunately, just bruised - and I do mean fortunately. I was lucky not to bounce my head off the granite. But this prevented me from getting as close as I hoped, and I logged the find without answering the questions since I never got close enough. It appears the cache owner allowed my claim based on my selfie, however.

The Mother of the Sea sculpture, which is actually located in the water.

The rest of the day was the usual mix of Schooner time and post-dinner live music, followed by the ship’s Production Show by the RC Singers and Dancers. There were several “interesting” moments in the show, including

1. I believe that one of the male leads was sick and they had male #2 sing his solo number while he mostly marked his group numbers.
2. Male #2 was late for a solo entrance – sang a couple of lines offstage, or perhaps they were stabbing buttons to get his vocal track running?
3. One male dancer took a spill on a move.
4. An obvious “someone’s behind that curtain” moment breaking an illusion.
5. An actual show stop – about 16 minutes long - due to tech issues. While two female singers were starting an ABBA number in front of the curtain (closed to hide a scene change), there was obvious noise behind curtain – sounded like a set piece had hit the floor. They kept singing, but at the point where they would have opened the curtain a recorded voice, triggered by the Stage Manager, told us they had to stop the show. The band stopped and the two women immediately turned US and exited through the curtain (which wasn't a fabric drape, but rather a "tinsel" curtain – with mics still live. So, we heard whispers of “I heard that out there [i.e. when they were standing DS of the closed curtain]” and other confusion before the board op killed their mics. We heard lots of squeaking and hammering etc US of the curtain before they finally brought the orchestra pit back up (having dropped the band below eyesight about 8 minutes into the stop) and then they finally restarted by playing the instrumentals of the duet again, and then opening the curtain to reveal things and allowing the vocalists to pick up from where they’d left off. My best guess is that one of the rolling stairways they used had lost a caster and they needed to fix it to make the stairs safe again. (Later during the cruise the CD confirmed that a flying element had come out of its track, making an unsafe situation. In correcting the problem it sounds like they may have bumped another element out of its track!)

Anyway, the show continued – and turned out that this was the finale number anyway. Interesting experience! From theater we were tired, so went back to cabin to veg for about 60 minutes before bed. Turned the clock back another hour again.

Tonight’s Taste of Aisa MDR menu was excellent – perhaps the best menu we’ve experienced in the MDR.  Sadly, the quality of the food has been sub-par the entire cruise compared to other ships we've been on.  On a later cruise, aboard Quantum, I will retry a couple of dishes that were absolutely AWFUL on Brilliance...and they will be MUCH better.  This may have been a case where the Executive Chef aboard Brilliance simply wasn't good enough to get decent performance from his staff.