In the wake of the vikings, while dodging Hurricane Dorian

After a wonderful Viking river cruise during which we were impressed with Viking's handling of weather (low river waters) related issues and because my husband wanted to see Greenland, we opted for this ocean cruise, knowing full well that the North Atlantic can be a challenge any time of year, especially fall/winter.

Dorian required us to leave Bergen a day early & bypass Shetlands & Faroes, but those are all places we can get to another time. Two additional stops were added in Iceland as we "sheltered" from Dorian on the island's north coast, thereby crossing the Arctic Circle -- complete w/ceremony & certificate. Only issue: my husband kept me away from the yarn shops!

Also spent a day slowly cruising through Greenland's Prince Christian Sound in places so narrow that one could barely see the tops of the mountains.

Didn't go to any of the evening shows because the classically-trained pianist "Alexsandra" on Steinway concert grand in Atrium most evenings was not to be missed

Trio of excellent historians + one of BBC's top naturalists each did a series of talks throughout the voyage -- if you missed any, they were available on stateroom flat-screen

Wall-mounted flat-screens throughout the ship w/updated menus, schedules, and news

Self-serve (free including detergent) laundry facilities on each floor or one could send out one's laundry

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Dining: World Cafe had more variety than expected (tip: check both sides) including two theme dinners (one Greek & one Indian); if you didn't like the obvious options, order a custom omelette for breakfast or grilled steak or mahi for dinner; choices included many vegetarian dishes & even pizza available gluten-free. Specialty wines easily available.

Only dined at specialty restaurants a few times -- Mandredit's veal very tender -- and the more formal restaurant once -- glad everything could be ordered half-portion; never tried Mamsen's waffles

Unlike river cruises where, if you don't show up on time, no dinner, all dining areas open for long periods of times & had lots of smaller (2-4 people) tables -- room service also available at no extra charge -- This flexibility was very much appreciated given variety of shore excursions and enrichment lectures.

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L'Anse-aux-meadows is much more interesting than we thought it would be -- the 20th c reconstruction is on par w/Williamsburg (albeit smaller & obviously not the original structures themselves) -- including an 11th c. style ship that actually made the crossing from Greenland to Canada.