Greenland has a lot of superlatives—it’s the biggest island, the least densely populated country, AND home to the northernmost landmass in the world. Despite all of its impressive titles, though, it remains a bit of a mystery—while tourism is certainly exploding in the country right now, it’s still a remote and largely untouched part of our planet.
There are really no roads to get around the country, so the best way to explore it is by sea. My husband, Justin, and I recently spent 12 days sailing from Reykjavik, Iceland to and along the northeastern coast of Greenland with National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions to immerse ourselves in this raw and wildly beautiful place. If you’re considering doing the same, here’s our honest review of our experience on our National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions Greenland cruise, from what kind of activities we got up to every day to what to expect from the onboard staff.
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Thanks to National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions for hosting us. All opinions are our own.
Exploring Greenland: Cruise vs. Land-based Travel
Before we dive into our experience onboard the National Geographic Endurance, let’s back up and address why you’d be cruising around Greenland in the first place.
Greenland is known for many things—a rich Indigenous culture, massive icebergs, Arctic wildlife, and stunning landscapes.
What it isn’t known for is developed road infrastructure to get between towns. To get between the most popular attractions in Greenland (for example, between the capital city of Nuuk and Disko Bay), you’ll generally have to fly, take a boat, or a combination of both. Most of these options are quite costly, with marine transportation being pretty expensive and time consuming and flights being SUPER pricey.
A cruise, on the other hand, takes all of these logistical headaches out for you. You can fly into a highly trafficked airport, like Keflavik International Airport near Reykjavik, Iceland, board your ship, and simply sail from one Greenlandic point of interest to the next. And, better yet, you’ll be living in a floating hotel—you just wake up every morning in a uniquely beautiful place, ready to explore.
Accordingly, unless you’re really just interested in exploring one particular place in Greenland with its own airport, like Nuuk or Ilulissat, going on a cruise will ensure you get to see and experience as much as possible in this incredible country.
West Greenland vs. East Greenland
Another question that’s worth considering is what you want to see and experience in Greenland.
Basically, if you’re looking to explore larger towns and experience the people and culture of Greenland, you should prioritize visiting the western side of the island, where over 90% of the country’s population is concentrated.
On the other hand, if you’re primarily interested in seeing epic landscapes and Arctic wildlife, you should focus on the eastern side, specifically around Northeast Greenland National Park (in true Greenlandic superlative fashion, the largest national park on the planet!).
As mentioned above, the cruise we went on focused most of its time on the northeastern side of Greenland, which was right up our alley—we saw SO much wildlife, from polar bears and muskoxen to whales and puffins, and got to sail past some of the most unique and jaw-dropping scenery that we’ve ever experienced.
There’s only one town in all of northeastern Greenland, Ittoqqortoormiit, a town of about 350 residents that we got to briefly stop in and explore. While I would love to explore the western side of Greenland and dive deeper into this country’s history and culture a bit more, our experience in Ittoqqortoormiit gave us decent context into what it’s like living and thriving in this beautiful yet harsh environment.
What is National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions?
If visiting Greenland is your first foray into expedition cruising, you may not be familiar with National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions.
Lindblad has long been considered a leader in the expedition cruising industry. They’re actually the first company to bring private tourists to the Galapagos Islands AND Antarctica, with the objective of bringing others to these remote corners of the planet and inspiring them to advocate and protect these fragile places. Since then, Lindblad has grown to have a fleet of over 20 ships, with expeditions in over 70 countries, taking guests on adventures to some of the farthest reaches of Earth.
And, for over 20 years now, they’ve partnered with National Geographic to offer a more immersive and comprehensive experience for guests.
For example, a photographer who had been working with National Geographic for more than 30 years was on our expedition, teaching us about photography, sharing her experiences all over the world, and just having lunch or cocktails with us. Additionally, experts are onboard each of the voyages to offer different perspectives of the places you’re sailing to—for example, our expedition had guides from both Iceland and Greenland, who shared their experiences growing up in these more remote places, as well as naturalists, historians, and glaciologists.
Together, National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions have created a unique expedition cruise line, which perfectly balances adventure travel; understanding of the culture, history, and environment of the place you’re traveling to; and a bit of luxury.
They manage to do all of this while still being laser-focused on being as sustainable as possible, both in big and small ways.
For example, all guests are provided a reusable water bottle at the beginning of the voyage and are encouraged to preselect their dinner entrees to cut down on food waste. And, impressively, Lindblad is one of the only cruise operators to actually be completely carbon neutral—something that’s incredibly important to us and, from speaking with other passengers, a lot of other loyal Lindblad customers as well.
What kind of Greenland cruises does National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions have?
National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions has a number of Greenland itineraries to choose from, which vary by destination, pricepoint, and area of focus.
For example, at the time I’m writing this, here are a few itinerary options to choose from that either focus on or have several stops in Greenland:
- Southeast Greenland (10 days)
- High Arctic Archipelago: Canada and Greenland (24 days)
- Iceland’s Wild West Coast to East Greenland (12 days)—this is the itinerary we did!
- Iceland and Greenland: Edge of the Arctic (18 days)
There’s also a handful of unique cruises around Greenland for special events or interest groups. For example, there’s a sailing of the itinerary we did for the 2026 solar eclipse, which you’ll be able to see in totality around Iceland (if the skies cooperate, of course!).
Each of these expeditions are hosted on one of the company’s polar expedition ships:
- The National Geographic Endurance, a 408 foot expedition ship that holds 138 guests and is one of the newest polar expedition ships at sea. This was the (GORGEOUS) ship we sailed on.
- The National Geographic Resolution, the sister ship of the Endurance, so it’s also a 408 foot expedition ship that holds 138 guests
- The National Geographic Explorer, a 367 foot expedition ship that holds 148 guests. This ship was originally built in the early 1980s for the Norwegian Coastal Express, but was rebuilt and redesigned by Lindblad in 2009. This ship definitely doesn’t show its age, but it also doesn’t have as many luxuries as the other National Geographic ships sailing around Greenland—so this option is best reserved for travelers that are there first and foremost for the adventure of it all.
National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions Greenland Cruise Review
Overview of our experience on a National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions Greenland cruise
Want the TLDR on our experience onboard the National Geographic Endurance?
Lindblad is the perfect choice for travelers that are looking for an adventurous and immersive experience in Greenland, while still having an extremely comfortable and bougie onboard experience.
The captain and expedition staff demonstrated time and time again that they’re extremely knowledgeable and expertly skilled at navigating the unpredictable Arctic environment to deliver an incredible adventure for guests.
For example, we deviated slightly off-course to watch a mass amalgamation of whales and dolphins feeding while sailing through the Denmark Strait, cruised through a narrow uncharted channel to explore Greenland’s stunning fjords, and rode Zodiacs to shore, despite some gnarly and intimidating waves. It feels like a true expedition, not just a rote, big-box cruise.
And, while it was clear that the staff was dedicated to ensuring that we were having the adventure of a lifetime while we were offboard the ship, our time onboard really made the experience that much more unique.
There were several features of our time on the Endurance that made it stand out from other expedition cruises we’ve been on—for example, onboard igloos that you can reserve to spend the night under the Midnight Sun (or, depending on your sailing, maybe even the Northern Lights!) or Charlie’s Table, an invite-only seven course tasting menu of unique and creative dishes.
Lindblad does not brand itself as a luxury operator, but there’s many aspects of our time onboard that definitely feel decidedly upscale.
The ship itself feels extremely luxurious, with two infinity hot tubs, two saunas, and outdoor firepits, and many of the staff members had learned our names by the second or third day. We also loved that the experience was largely all-inclusive—your experience includes alcoholic beverages (although you can opt for more premium spirit and wine offerings for incremental fees) and activities that some operators charge for, like kayaking.
We also love that Lindblad makes the experience as immersive as possible, weaving elements like local food and alcohol offerings into the daily menus and selling wares from local artisans in the onboard store.
Other than some minor nitpicky things (like, the curtains in the cabin were not totally impenetrable to the Midnight Sun and I would have preferred more modern offerings on the onboard entertainment system), I have nothing but glowing things to say about our experience onboard.
Want to hear a more in-depth review of our time on this Greenland cruise? You can watch our YouTube video about our experience onboard here:
Or, if you’d prefer to keep on reading, I’m going to break it down into offboard experience (i.e., the excursions) and our onboard experience (i.e., the ship).
Offboard experience
Okay, if you’ve made it this far into the article, I assume you prioritize having immersive experiences in the places you’ve traveled so far to, so let’s start with our time out exploring Greenland.
Itinerary
National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions host expedition cruises—meaning there’s really no set itinerary, other than “exploring northeastern Greenland.”
Instead, your expedition leader works alongside the captain to evaluate weather, waves, ice conditions, wildlife sightings, and landing opportunities to determine where you’re headed and what activity you’re doing every day.
Our itinerary during our Greenland cruise was DEFINITELY jam-packed.
Generally, we did two excursions per day, which ranged from hikes and Zodiac cruises to the polar plunge or onboard wildlife spotting. Typically, these excursions happened in the morning, from around 8:30 AM to 11:30 AM, and in the afternoon, around 2:30 PM-5:30 PM. However, it wasn’t unusual for there to be a post-dinner activity—there were times we got back to the ship around 10 PM!
We are BIG fans of adventure-packed expedition cruises and loved that Lindblad doesn’t shy away from adjusting the schedule to ensure you can get out to explore Greenland as much as possible (remember, you don’t ever HAVE to get off the ship if an evening expedition doesn’t sound fun to you!).
I just wouldn’t expect the trip to be super relaxing if you take advantage of as many of the excursions, lectures, and activities as possible. I tried to pace myself a bit better on this trip as compared to our experience sailing with National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions to the Galapagos Islands and still definitely went home being properly pooped (the sign of a good trip, in my book)!
The expedition team
We’ve been lucky enough to go on a handful of expedition cruises and, based on our experience, have definitely learned that an expedition leader can definitely make or break a voyage.
Luckily, Lindblad absolutely kills it in this respect. Our expedition leader, John, was clearly an expert in the polar regions (he studied glaciology!) and crafted a diverse itinerary that highlighted the best of Northeastern Greenland, from incredibly remote villages and the dense pack ice to fjords that are lined with the most striking geological features I’ve ever seen.
The other 12 expedition staff (i.e., which means there’s basically one expedition staff member for every 10 guests!) were equally impressive, from history lovers that clearly geek out about polar explorers to National Geographic photographers and naturalists that specialize in polar bears. We had an onboard lecture from one of these experts pretty much every day and, if our schedule was too busy to accommodate one, we always got little bite-sized presentations by the expedition team at our daily recap and briefing.
They were also SO impressive at spotting wildlife, which can be pretty tough in the Arctic. We saw a polar bear literally within an hour of arriving in Greenland and even saw a pod of narwhal (our captain had been sailing around Greenland since 2012 and it was his first sighting of the unicorns of the ocean ever!).
Considering how often we hear how hard it is to see wildlife in the Arctic, we made out like bandits on this trip—13 polar bears, about a dozen muskox, all different kinds of seals, Arctic hares, tons of whales (including the aforementioned narwhals), and a wide array of birds, ranging from puffins to snowy owls.
I also appreciate that the expedition staff doesn’t shy away from talking about climate change, a topic that’s obviously incredibly important in the Arctic.
During our expedition, there was a panel discussion about climate change. And, during a lecture on polar bears, one of the staff members went out of her way to highlight both our measurable impact on the planet by sailing on our expedition, as well as real actionable steps that we can take as consumers and citizens to help decrease our footprint on Earth.
It can certainly be an uncomfortable topic at times, but I truly appreciate that Lindblad goes beyond the niceties of just saying they’re sustainable and, instead, encourages guests to deeply think about their impact on these special places.
Activities
Outside of the times where meals were served, there was almost always some kind of activity going on.
In terms of offboard excursions, there were usually hikes that were broken up into the following groups: long hikers, medium hikers, beach combers, and photowalks. If certain areas were particularly challenging to get into and out of a Zodiac, a Zodiac cruise was typically offered in lieu of a beach combing option.
I really loved how mindful Lindblad was about offering options for travelers of all physical abilities. The long hikers definitely got a SOLID workout in or you could have a more relaxed experience onshore, walking around and taking photos with a National Geographic-certified photographer. There was a wide range of ages onboard, literally from 9 to 93, and every single guest, regardless of their ages, got to totally immerse themselves in exploring Greenland.
Our second most common type of excursion was a Zodiac cruise, typically if we were navigating around sea ice, glaciers, or icebergs. We saw some of the most epic icebergs that were so magical to zip around—if you love ice as much as we do, you GOTTA go to Greenland!
There was also a smattering of other types of activities offered, like a polar plunge, kayaking outing, and scenic tour through an iceberg-laden fjord.
In between these activities, there are the aforementioned onboard lectures by the expedition staff, as well as lots of wildlife spotting.
One of my favorite parts about Lindblad is that they have an open bridge policy, meaning you can stop by the bridge literally 24/7 and learn about how they navigate around icebergs or through narrow shallow channels. However, it’s also THE place you want to be if you care about seeing wildlife—there was pretty much always a spotter on-duty here and you’ll have the best chance of seeing wildlife that isn’t called out over the loudspeaker, like polar bears that might be swimming by (of which, our ship saw four!) or animals that disappear pretty quickly, like seals.
There’s literally something for you to do onboard from the second you wake up to the second you go to sleep.
Guests
It’s always a bit intimidating to board a ship with 130 other people. Will the other guests be nice? Will we make friends and meaningful connections onboard? Will we have someone to sit with at dinner?!?
Thankfully, Lindblad seems to attract a certain clientele—open-minded, adventurous, and keen to dive into the environment they’re traveling to, with the onboard luxuries being second to the offboard experience. I also find it SO impressive how many repeat customers we met onboard—some of the other passengers had sailed on over 15 Lindblad expeditions!
Most of the passengers were senior or retired couples, although there was also a healthy mix of multigenerational families, solo travelers, younger couples, and groups of friends of all ages. So regardless of what kind of traveler you are, you should feel right at home on one of Lindblad’s Greenland cruises.
Onboard the National Geographic Endurance
Okay, let’s turn now to our experience onboard the National Geographic Endurance.
The cabin
The National Geographic Endurance has 69 cabins, 12 of which are for solo travelers and the rest which are double occupancy. Most of them come with a balcony, complete with two chairs, a table, and a hammock (so cool, right?!).
We had a category five bridge deck room, which came with a desk, sofabed, queen size bed, and MASSIVE balcony. Everything felt extremely premium and well-designed—really soft sheets and blankets, thick black-out curtains, and plenty of electrical outlets (which, as people who have about a dozen different electrical devices we use for our jobs, is incredibly important).
The bathroom was on the smaller side but has everything you’d need in it, including a waterfall shower and TONS of storage for all your toiletries.
The only real nitpicky drawback I have about our room is that, as a sensitive sleeper, I wish the curtains did a better job of blocking out the Midnight Sun—there was light seepage from the sides of the curtains that often woke me up in the middle of the night. If you’re a bad sleeper like me, I’d just recommend bringing along a decent eye mask.
One other thing that’s worth mentioning is the really cool locking system on the door. It’s my understanding that many Lindblad’s ships have an open door policy, meaning the guests’ cabin doors are generally not locked from the outside (although you’re always free to lock the cabin from the inside).
On our Galapagos Lindblad cruise, I was slightly nervous about this policy at first, but grew to kind of enjoy being able to freely come and go from our cabin without having to worry about accidentally forgetting the key.
The National Geographic Endurance was slightly different. You can lock it when you leave your cabin by tapping your keycard to the door, but it doesn’t lock automatically. It was actually the perfect system—if you’re a person who prefers locking the door, you can totally do so or if you’d prefer to not have to worry about your keycard, your door remains automatically unlocked. Best of both worlds!
We had gotten used to the unlocked system on our Galapagos trip, so opted to stick with that on this voyage. It was great not having to always remember to bring our keycard every time we ran out of the room to go spot wildlife or to run to grab a coffee.
Dining rooms and food
There are two dining rooms on the ship.
270 Degrees is the main dining room, named after the panoramic windows on all sides. All three meals are served here, with breakfast being buffet-style and lunch and dinner being an a la carte three course meal.
C. Green’s, named after the chef of Antarctic explorer, Ernest Shackleton, is a much smaller and more casual dining room, which typically offers a lighter breakfast and lunch, as well as a daily afternoon tea service.
Meal times were occasionally adjusted to accommodate our activities schedule, but you always have a solid hour or two to eat.
The food on the ship was absolutely fantastic—seriously the best I’ve ever had on a cruise ship, with lots of nods to Nordic cuisine woven into the dishes and fun themed nights, like Filipino, to honor the mostly Filipino kitchen and dining staff.
One of my favorite experiences onboard was dining at Charlie’s Table, a seven course tasting menu of unique and creative dishes hosted for a small group of passengers in C. Green’s.
During our voyage, the menu highlighted different aspects of climate change and used local, sustainably sourced ingredients to create thoughtful dishes. These kinds of unique touches really make sailing with Lindblad feel like a once-in-a-lifetime experience and so much more than any ol’ cruise line.
As mentioned above, wine, beer, and cocktails with house spirits are all included in your cruise fare. We really enjoyed having a cocktail with our daily recap and briefing and were pretty impressed by the staff’s mixology skills.
The only thing that I didn’t love about the dining experience was that, like most expedition ships, the dining rooms are designed to be social, primarily with large tables to foster conversation and connection amongst guests. In fact, there were only about six two-top tables in the main dining room that always seemed to be highly coveted real estate at every meal time.
I really do love getting to know other guests on the ship, but, if you’re an introvert like me (and, from chatting with other guests, a decent portion of the passengers onboard), having constant social interactions with other people for pushing two weeks at a time can be on the more draining side. I’d love it if they could incorporate a few more two tops into the dining rooms, so that the introverts onboard get a chance to recharge their social batteries a bit.
Lounge
The Endurance features the Ice Lounge, a large room with a mixture of tables, chairs, couches, and high top tables where lectures, briefings, and recaps are held. There were also a handful of special events held here, like a movie night and band night, where the ship’s talented staff and crew bust out their electric guitars to entertain you for the evening (seriously, if Juan Miguel is serving you onboard, you’re in for a real treat!).
There’s plenty of screens sprinkled throughout the room so that, regardless of where you’re sitting, you can easily see the display, as well as a massive marble bar, fully stocked fridge, and refreshment area (with a coffee maker, tea, and REALLY good cookies!) on offer at all times.
The nightly recap and briefings are accompanied by light passed hors d’œuvre and servers coming around to ensure you have whatever beverage you’d prefer. We’ve been on a few expedition ships that have their recaps in a lecture hall-esque auditorium and we MUCH prefer the Endurance’s setup—it feels a lot more interactive, engaging, and social.
Igloos
One of the most unique features onboard are two glass igloos on the aft of the top deck.
During the day, anyone is free to hang out in them, but, at night, guests can reserve one to actually sleep in.
The part of the igloo that faces the surrounding landscape is all glass, while the portion of the dome facing the ship is frosted for privacy. During the night we stayed in one of the igloos, we were lucky enough to see a polar bear(!!) through the glass, and it was so magical to wake up to views of the mountains of Greenland off in the distance.
There’s no central heating in the igloos, but there are plenty of features to keep you warm, including LOTS of blankets, a hot water bottle, a heated floor, a cape that you can wear if you need to run to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and fluffy robes. Justin and I stayed the night here and were a bit concerned that we’d freeze overnight, but we actually wound up stripping off layers, due to how toasty the igloos stayed!
Additionally, each igloo happens to be next to one of the infinity hot tubs onboard and you’re just a short walk away from the sauna.
There’s other thoughtful touches in the igloo, like an eye mask to keep out the Midnight Sun and a delivery of hot coffee or tea in the morning.
Our night staying in the igloo was definitely one of the most memorable experiences onboard and, amidst a voyage full of polar bear sightings and polar plunging into the Greenland Sea, that’s REALLY saying something!
Amenites
Saying the National Geographic Endurance is well-equipped is the understatement of the century. The ship is UNBELIEVABLY beautiful and seemingly has every bell and whistle you could possibly need whilst on a polar expedition.
Here are some of the features you can expect onboard:
- Library with panoramic windows and even a fireplace
- Two infinity hot tubs
- Two saunas (one that’s humid and slightly cooler and a Nordic sauna that’s HOT and dry)
- Yoga studio
- Impressively large gym
- Outdoor firepits with wraparound couches
- Spa with massage and facial services
- Doctor’s office, with complimentary consultations, if needed
- Tons of lounge furniture on the outer decks to take in the scenery
Other than a heated pool, I really can’t think of anything else they could possibly add to the ship that would possibly improve our time onboard.
Service
We were generally SO impressed with the service onboard.
For example, the dining room staff largely learns your name and preferences (“one Svalbard IPA for lunch, please!”) by the second or third day. Additionally, the stewards keep the ship looking absolutely spotless—every surface is shiny and polished and every pillow is perfectly fluffed and arranged just so.
It’s also worth mentioning that the staff seemed to actually like working on the ship.
It happened to be my birthday during our trip and I accidentally walked in on (surprise!) two stewards decorating our cabin with festive decorations, all while giggling and looking legitimately happy. Additionally, staff members occasionally joined guests on certain outings. I had a lovely Zodiac ride while chatting with a steward from the Philippines, who happily cited all of the many exciting destinations she’s been and gotten to see on the ship.
I’ve heard some pretty crazy horror stories about how the staff and crew are treated on some cruiselines, so I’m DEFINITELY happy to be onboard with ones that are content and well-treated!
Wifi
Wifi is available throughout the ship and comes in a variety of tiers, from a complimentary service to a more premium offering with higher speeds that costs about $300 USD per person for a 12 day voyage.
The internet service is sufficient to check your email and social media accounts, but I definitely wouldn’t plan to do anything that requires a lot of data while onboard, even with the most premium service. After all, it’s pretty amazing that you can check TikTok whilst floating in the middle of the Greenland Sea!
One nitpick that I have with Lindblad’s Wifi is that you can only have it on one device at a time.
While this is totally fine, you have to log off of one device before logging in to another. So let’s say you’re connected to the Wifi service on your laptop in your cabin but you head down to the Ice Lounge for recap and want to check something on your phone—you won’t be able to connect because your laptop is still the device that’s connected.
This is DEFINITELY a champagne problem and, again, it’s wild that you can even get internet in the first place in these incredibly remote places, but I’d definitely love to see an Internet offering that logs off another connected device for you.
Would we recommend a National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions Greenland cruise?
If you’re an adventure lover that’s looking to totally immerse yourself in this remote and beautiful place, I’d absolutely recommend taking a Greenland cruise with National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions—we had a near flawless experience during our voyage with them. This is especially true if you’re looking to have an action-packed offboard experience, while still being able to enjoy a more luxurious onboard experience, complete with seven course meals, infinity hot tubs, and nightly igloo stays.
The only type of traveler that I wouldn’t recommend going on this type of cruise is if you’re primarily interested in staying onboard to relax, have a cocktail or two, and just drink in the beautiful scenery. While you absolutely can do that on a Lindblad expedition, there are definitely other operators and destinations that may offer a bit more bang-for-your-buck if you’re not looking to have an adventure-filled experience—Greenland deserves to be explored!
I hope you have a better idea of what to expect on a National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions Greenland cruise. Do you have any questions about our experience? Let us know in the comments below!
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