Greenland Passage

Once ashore in Halifax Monday I sought in vain to replenish my cigar supply, and pick up a Cuban or two to enjoy at sea. But it was Canadian Thanksgiving, and all stores selling decent stogies shut. Still, I wanted to enjoy a relaxing cigar after walking up and down the Spring Garden Road shopping district. I found as bench in the sun in front of the Halifax Memorial Library and lit up. Then I turned around to find Winston Churchill gazing upon me, undoubtedly as upset as when Yousef Karsh took away the PM's  cigar to make his iconic photograph. I did my best to imitate the Churchillian scowl. A traveling companion from Glasgow thinks I nailed it. Smithsonian Magazine has an interesting account of the story behind the photo. The downtown shopping district of this city of about 400,000 was filled with people -- most of them tourists off the four cruise ships tied up a 15-minute walk away in the harbor, though some locals were taking advantage of the warm if overcast weath...

God damn them all! I was told We'd cruise the seas for American gold We'd fire no guns, shed no tears But I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier The last of Barrett's Privateers I, too, found myself on a Halifax pier, but not in the same manner as described in Stan Roger's now-classic sea shanty . We were even greeted by a piper. Approaching Halifax we slowed for the pilot to board the Fram and lead us into what is billed as the world's second largest natural harbor behind Sydney. But we were just one of three or four vessels waiting to be guided to the quay: Mein Schiff 6, with berths for more than 2,500 passengers; Holland-America's Rotterdam, just over 1,400; and Ocean's Insignia can carry more than 800. By comparison the MV Fram's maximum capacity is about 250, but only 84 passengers are aboard for this trip. We squeezed our way into the narrow channel between Pier 24 and the adjacent grain pier, seemingly inches away from the Insignia, and ...

Fram  crew washes Panorama Lounge  windows This repositioning cruise of the Fram from Arctic to Antarctic comprises different segments, each of them bookable. My trip from Greenland to Halifax is the first of the repositioning segments, followed by New York; Miami; Puerto Limon, Costa Rica; then via the Panama Canal to Callao, Peru, and Valparaiso, Chile, before heading to Antartica. The problem for Hurtigruten, the operator of the MV Fram, is that these repositioning cruises do not draw full boats. Even on this first segment from Greenland, the 240-passenger vessel is barely half full. The two segments along the U.S. East Coast are even lighter. Only 84 souls are booked from Halifax to New York. Including me. I planned to end my journey in Halifax, but when I heard so few were traveling south to New York I asked the purser if he could make a deal. He said he'd get back to me in a couple hours "with an offer you can't refuse". He did. I didn't. So ...