Board a chartered flight bound for Kangerlussuaq. Upon arrival from Greenland, transfer to the small port located west of the airport, where the ship, Ocean Albatros, is anchored. Board a Zodiac to reach the ship, where you can check in to your cabin. After a safety drill, enjoy dinner as Ocean Atlantic sets sail through the 160-kilometer Kangerlussuaq fjord.

After breakfast, arrive in the colorful town of Sisimiut, where you can explore modern Greenland. With 5,400 inhabitants, it is considered Greenland’s second ‘city’. People have lived around Sisimiut on and off since 2,500 BCE.

In 1756, Count Johan Ludvig Holstein established a colony here and called it “Holsteinsborg”. The oldest part of Sisimiut’s historic quarter features townhouses from this “Holsteinsborg” era, and the oldest house in the town dates to 1756. One of the most culturally significant buildings is the Blue Church, built in 1775.
Today, Sisimiut is an important place for education and industry, and local factories process the bulk of Royal Greenland's fishing. The fish processing plant is one of the largest of its kind in Greenland, and one of the most modern in the world.

The city tour highlights include the historic colonial quarter, as well as the museum and the beautiful church. Additionally, make a visit to the busy city center for a glimpse of what daily life is like in 21st century Greenland. In the afternoon, the voyage continues north.

As evening falls, pass the Sisimiut Isortuat Fjord, the Nordre Strømfjord settlements of Attu and Ikerasaarsuk, and the small town of Kangaatsiaq. During the course of the bright night, you may pass Aasiaat and proceed into the southern waters of Disko Bay. Next, the ship sets course for Disko Island, known for its distinctive 1,000-meter (3,280 ft) layered crags.

At this point, the ship sails north of the Arctic Circle! Here, the nights are bright and early risers can enjoy the sight of the icebergs on Disko Bay as they drift out of the Ilulissat Icefjord and dance into the frigid ocean waters.

The next stop lies on the southern tip of Disko Island, where Ocean Atlantic docks in a protected natural harbor. Named Godhavn (‘Good Harbour’) in Danish, its Greenlandic name, Qeqertarsuaq, means ‘The Big Island’.
 
Although topographically quite different from mainland Greenland due to the basalt characteristics of Disko Island’s mountains, Qeqertarsuaq has a long, rich history and once served as one of the country’s important economic centers. From the 16th century, the community was relatively prosperous and, in fact, considered the most important town north of Nuuk until the mid-1900s, due in part to the area’s sizable whale hunting population.

During the visit, wander through town, paying a visit to the characteristic octagonal church, nicknamed “God’s Inkpot”, as well as to a local community center that is hosting a traditional Greenlandic “kaffemik”, which can be best described as a friendly gathering with coffee, cake and traditional dances and music.
Musicians from Greenland originally played on a drum (qilaat) made from an oval wooden frame covered with the bladder of a polar bear. Unlike other drums, the qilaat was played by hitting the frame with a stick, not the skin itself. This modest instrument was used for a variety of purposes, including entertainment, exorcism, and witchcraft.

After missionaries arrived, drum dancing was prohibited and later replaced by part-singing of psalms and choral works, which today are renowned for their particular Greenlandic sound. Today, drum dance is used as entertainment in cultural events and on festive occasions.

Greenlandic music is inspired and influenced by music from other cultures, like the Danish and Inuit cultures, and more specifically, Dutch and Scottish polka, American country and rock ‘n’ roll and even Hawaiian music, which inspired the so-called Vaigat-musicians in Greenland in the 1950s and 60s.

As the day draws to an end, Ocean Atlantic sets a north-easterly course bound for a magnificent natural highlight – the enormous Eqip Sermia Glacier.
Situated approximately 50 nautical miles north of Ilulissat, the Eqip Sermia Glacier is renowned for its jaw-dropping beauty. Legendary arctic explorers selected this location as a base for their studies. One such explorer, the acclaimed Swiss glaciologist, Alfred de Quervain, used the location as a base for his expeditions onto Greenland’s inland ice sheet over a century ago.

The ship sails as close as possible to the ice’s edge – but at a safe distance to avoid plunging blocks of ice and violent waves that often result from the calving glacier.

When you wake up this morning, you will find yourself almost 600km north of the Arctic Circle, and in one of Greenland’s most beautiful and sunny regions. The ship has reached Uummannaq, situated on a small island. The impressive 1,175m high heart-shaped mountain that has given the town its name dominates the view (Uummannaq means ‘place where the heart is’). There is time to explore the city before heading back to the ship for lunch. From the town, there is an extraordinary vista comprising the island’s 1,000-meter tall rock faces, the snow-covered peaks on Nuussuaq peninsula to the south, and out across the fiord. In the fiord, icebergs of all shapes and sizes majestically float by on a course set by wind and current. As many as 5 active glaciers at the bottom of the fiord ensure that we can observe plenty of icebergs.
 
Uummannaq was founded as a colony in 1758 on the Nuussuaq mainland, but shortly thereafter, in 1763, it was moved to the nearby island, as seal hunting was more bountiful here. On our walk along the town’s steep streets, we visit the historic train-oil building, built-in 1860. Inside its yellow walls, whale and seal blubber used to be stored. Because of the horrid stench, the blubber was not boiled here, but well outside town! Behind the train-oil storage, we will find a peat hut, which was still in use a few years ago.  
 
The dry and settled arctic climate has around 2,000 hours of sunshine and 100 millimeters of precipitation per year, giving Uummannaq the right to call itself the Greenlandic Riviera!

In the morning the cruise ship will have reached a magnificent natural highlight, the calving Eqip Sermia glacier. We enjoy lunch on the sun deck with this magnificent natural wonder in the background.
 
Situated approximately 50 nautical miles north of Ilulissat, the Eqip Sermia Glacier is renowned for its jaw-dropping beauty. Legendary arctic explorers selected this location as a base for their studies. One such explorer, the acclaimed Swiss glaciologist, Alfred de Quervain, used the location as a base for his expeditions onto Greenland’s inland ice sheet over a century ago. We will sail as close as possible to the ice’s edge – but at a safe distance to avoid plunging blocks of ice and violent waves that often result from the calving glacier.
 
In the afternoon we head for Ilulissat, where we berth in the evening and go for an evening walk to the Sermermiut plain.
 
If the sea ice is too dense between the Ataa fjord and the Eqi glacier the captain will have to select a different route today. In this case, the itinerary will be adjusted accordingly and we might, for example, pay a visit to the abandoned coal mine at Qullissat or visit the settlement of Saqqaq.

Ilulissat is possibly the most well-located town in Greenland. The name simply means ‘icebergs’ in Greenlandic, and the town’s nickname is right ‘the Iceberg Capital’.
 
In Disko Bay, which is located just off the coast of Ilulissat, gigantic icebergs linger in the freezing waters. These icebergs come from the Icefjord, which is located a half hour’s hike south of Ilulissat. These impressive frozen structures are born some 70km/43,5 miles deeper into the fjord by the enormous Sermeq Kujalleq glacier. This 10km/6 miles-wide glacier is the most productive glacier outside of Antarctica; Whereas most glaciers only calve at a rate of approximately a meter/three feet a day, the Ilulissat glacier calves at a rate of 25m/82 feet per day. The icebergs produced by the glacier represent more than 10% of all icebergs in Greenland, corresponding to 20 million tonnes/22 million us tons of ice per day!

The settlement of Sarfannguit, which translates into "the place of the little stream” is an appropriate name for a settlement nestled at the foothills of the mountains and glaciers in the distant backcountry. The settlement’s slightly more than 100 residents live off hunting, trapping and fishing, most often in pursuit of arctic char, reindeer and musk oxen.
 
Although Sarfannguit is quite remote, it lies within a few hours from Sisimiut, the second-largest town in Greenland. The accessibility to such a large town provides an indispensable economic benefit to a small community like Sarfannguit.
 
A stroll through the settlement offers insight into rural life in today’s Greenland, where modern conveniences and technological advancements, such as the internet and smartphones have become commonplace, yet locals still place great value on important customs and preserving their traditions and their Inuit heritage.

During the night, we will have completed our passage through the 160-kilometer/100-mile Kangerlussuaq Fjord. After breakfast aboard the ship, we will bid farewell to the ship's staff and the Zodiac boats will shuttle us to shore. Board a charter flight to  Iceland or Denmark and connect with your overnight flight home