Fram Review

The Fram is well suited as an expedition vessel to visit Gorgeous Greenland

Review for the Arctic Cruise on Fram
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Holy Innocent
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Jun 2016
MS Fram in the harbour at Ilulissat, Greenland - taken from the small 8 pax
A view of the MS Fram taken through a huge multi-level iceberg, while on on
A small 10-pax boat used to explore stationary icebergs from MS Fram in sou
One pax enjoys a natural warm water spa at Uunartoq, south Greenland as 2 e

The main reason for taking this cruise was to see exotic Greenland and Iceland at the same time. This cruise only offered 1 stop in Iceland after leaving Reykjavik but I spent a full week in Iceland on my own using a rented car to appreciate that wonderful and scenic island. We were lucky to have smooth sailing the whole trip, slightly bumpier going across to Greenland but still pretty smooth considering. Weather was also in our favour 90% of the time, with fog lifting when appropriate. All of the stops on this itinerary where worthwhile and Hurtigruten does a great job of getting everyone off and back on with their small tender boats (max. 8 people). Generally, the stops were interesting enough on their own but most stops had excursion options if you wished, like escorted hikes, glacial boat rides, kayaking, etc. Two stops included a guided hike without charge. The first stop in Greenland included a natural warm water spa which was fun to partake with a small changing hut nearby.

The regular cabins are done well while the suites (which I had) are that much better in the bedding, amenities, wine & beer at lunch/dinner, espresso/cappuccino at breakfast, 2 bottles of water and chocolate each evening and housecoats to keep. The vast majority of the crew and staff are friendly and helpful. The front desk staff stood out for me. Most of the expedition team are interesting, friendly and approachable. Among 14 expedition team members, there were only 2 natural English speakers and the rest were mostly from Germany originally (although 1 was from Netherlands, another from Poland, 2 from Greenland and 1 other from Iceland). All lectures, information sessions and excursions were in 2 languages: English and German. I am sure the Germans had it easy with so many German native speakers in the team, but the lectures in English were often difficult to follow or at least awkward to listen and understand, except when the very interesting and knowledgeable Canadian guy lead a session or a group/excursion ashore. Of the 12 European expedition team members, I would say 2 of them had great English (as a second language) and 2 more were pretty good, while the rest ranged from OK to terrible English.

Food was EXCELLENT overall with a good variety and different menus such as Norwegian (of course), Greenlandic, Filipino, sea food and lots of great lamb.

Cabin Review

Cabin Suite

My cabin was a little smaller in size than others in the same category, but it was the last available which was mid-ship when I booked (although others in the stern were still available). Being a bit smaller, this cabin had 2 comfy chairs instead of 1 comfy chair and a love seat, plus 1 smallish round coffee table instead of a larger oblong coffee table. Also, the HDTV was placed on the wall above one of the night tables. This meant you either watched TV from the comfy chairs OR from the bed with one's head at the foot of the bed. That was a little awkward but workable. The desk was a good size and there was plenty of closet space and shelves. The shower was rather nice with a semi-circular sliding glass door. The bedding was excellent ... very comfy. There was a large picture window and a fully stocked bar fridge included: 1 red wine, 1 white wine, 2 beer cans, 2 pop cans, 5 airplane size liquors (Cognac, Baileys and scotch), 4 bottles of water and cream for coffee. The welcome gifts included 2 MS Fram mugs to keep, 2 housecoats to keep, 2 pairs of slippers, lots of fruit, 2 small chocolate bars and 1 LARGE bag of potato chips or crisps (where we enjoyed over several days as a snack).

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