I see they start their visit near the southern tip of Greenland and then proceed up along the coast for some 400 kilometers until they reach the capital town of Nuuk.
The weather along the south-east coast of Greenland is pretty mild this time of year, so ice shouldn't be a concern.
But as many of the hamlets or located deep inside fjords rough weather may make it difficult to manouvre, so we must expect at least one visit to be cancelled.
Flying in with the light Lynx helicopters onboard the navy ships would be too risky in bad weather.
Summary of two articles in Billed Bladet #31, 2014.
Written by Annelise Weimann and the Ulrik Ulriksen.
Dannebrog is now awaiting the arrival of M&F, (if they are not already there) off the coast of Greenland.
Before the departure from DK, Annelise Weimann interviewed the captain and second in command of Dannebrog and they told about the preparations for this five week cruise.
After having taken in the last supplies at Thorshavn at the Faeroe Islands she went straight to Greenland, escorted by the arctic patrol frigate Triton:
Inspektionsskibe af THETIS-klassen
M&F and their children visited Dannebrog some time ago, so that they could try out their survival suits and also have a look at the ship.
While Christian and Bella have been onboard Dannebrog before it will be the first time the twins will stay onboard a ship. That may be interesting because Dannebrog can be "lively" in rough weather.
No one who has no business there is allowed on deck in bad weather, period! And whenever the twins in particular will be on the decks there will be someone to keep an eye on them, M&F themselves or one of the two nannies. Apart from that the crew have been told to keep an extra eye on the children.
When the family visited the ship the captain noted that it will probably be a lively trip and the crew looks forward, the captain says, to have children onboard. - (And they are likely to go exploring, certainly the older ones, so they'll be all over the ship).
Dannebrog has a crew of around 60, of which 40 are conscripts. (*)
There is however room for around 100 people in total on the ship.
Apart from M&F and their children, there will be two nannies, a valet, a maid, a LiW, the chief of court and others... (i.e. PET officers) Lene Balleby is not mentioned in the article. Perhaps she'll sail on Triton, with the press?
The yacht captain (**) explains: "We have three cooks onboard who are all conscripts. One of them is a court-cook whenever the royals sail along and he has been talking to the CP-couple's court about what wishes and preferences the family has. We hope it will be a really good and succesful trip for all".
It will be some transition for M&F and children. Going directly from some 28 degrees C here in DK to an expected 5-10 degrees C at Greenland, and frost may occour.
Ice isn't the biggest concern at this time of year though. But westerly wind is. Inside the fjords, no problem, but off the coast a westerly wind will generate waves!
M&F themselves are not prone to seasickness, but there is of course a doctor onboard to help the children, should they become sea sick
M&F can expect a huge turnout in Greenland, not least because of the children. It is expected that the children at least once will wear national costumes.
Bella and Christian will accompany their parents most of the time. As for Vincent and Josephine that's a more open question, it depends on their mood and practical concerns.
M&F will have a day and a half to themselves during the visit. It is not known what they will do, but a dogsleigh ride seems likely.
M&F will fly back to DK next Saturday.
- I'll add a map of the hamlets they will visit later.
(*) They are all volunteer conscripts. In fact there is long waiting list to serve as a conscript onboard Dannebrog.
(**) The captain of Dannebrog is the only yacht-captain in the navy. It's the most distinguished command a captain can hold and traditionally it's also the last command for a captain before retirering.
Being the Monarch's personal captain, the captain of Dannebrog also doubles as adjutant. The highest ranking adjutant BTW.