We have already talked to her about a future trip to Antarctica, on the same ship. On board the ship, everything was pretty much letter-perfect. The guides were knowledgeable and friendly, and the service was terrific. Overall, the trip exceeded our very high expectations!

We don't have much to compare to, since we have not done cruises before; but the service onboard the ship compares favorably to that of a top-notch hotel, and it's hard to ask for more than that.

For some years, we had talked about getting to Greenland. We had seen pictures of the icebergs at Disko Bay and thought it would be an amazing place to go. We thought we would eventually do it by flying in, but last spring we were struck by your email offering 50% off on the cruise. The entire trip was memorable, but the time in Disko Bay -- particularly at Ilulisat -- was tops. Apparently we got very lucky, as we were in a zodiac that got to see a major chunk of a very large iceberg fall off, at the mouth of the ice fjord!

(Friendly, outgoing service at all times, great communications, and talking with several office staff members who have particular expertise in things we were asking about.)

After 2 trips to Antarctica, we wanted to experience Greenland. The dates, the pricing, and knowing we'd be with Aussies sealed the deal for us.

The Polar Pioneer was more comfortably refurbished than similar ships in its class run by other companies that we've been on. The lounge was most comfortable, and almost all cabins (at least those with private baths; I didn't really study the shared-bath cabins) have two berths on the floor, rather than an upper and lower bunk. This set-up is much more comfortable in general, but particularly if the boat rolls due to the seas.

There were several nationalities on board, but dominated by Aussies; if you love Aussies as we do, that was great. Not boisterous Aussies, just neat. The best of all was having Greg Mortimer as our expedition leader; he's quite a guy. Really adventurous. Took the ship into several places it hadn't been before, just because 'we've never been there, have seen it from afar, and always wondered what landing there would be like'. Neat. He's, of course, incredibly accomplished, and you just got an aura of great confidence and interest being around him. Didn't see a polar bear, but that's nobody's fault. From a lot of the comments from passengers, from Greg, and from the other really great naturalist on board, we now know that we need to do a Spitzbergen trip.

Speaking of auroras, we saw two beauts, the first time we'd ever seen it except once from an airplane. Not terribly colorful, all pale green, but great curtains and a full sky show. We're also hooked on spending some time in aurora areas during the winter, so that's in our future as well.