perrysburg

On 2/22/2024 at 9:29 AM, 0106 said:

The experience in the Santiago airport was not the nightmare that I had anticipated.  From what I could find out, the International terminal was renovated in 2021 and appears very modern.  We waited in a restaurant for 2 hours before we were able to check our bags for our 11:55 American flight.  There is very little other seating available. We were able to check our bags 4 hours before our flight.  After dropping our bags, we proceeded through the security doors. It took about 10 minutes to get through the passport check and another 10 minutes to get through the airport security scanner.  After a long walk to our gate, there was plenty of seating in what appeared to be a new space.  Yes, it was a 6 hour wait for our flight but I felt safe the entire time.  One weird thing was an additional baggage check before boarding the plane.  No water was allowed through this additional security check.  Our flights were on time and we are now home.

 

This cruise was exceeded my expectations.  If this cruise is on your bucket list, book it!  Please feel free to ask any questions and I will help you if I can.  

The cruise exceeded my expectations as well!  Great captain, great itinerary and great service onboard.

Thank you Tina for all your work in advance and on this thread. 

Eat a crabcake for me!

Perry

On 2/22/2024 at 10:56 AM, Cathygh said:

Thank you, we have booked this for 2025.

 

Can I please ask, is there anything you wish you had done and you didn't? Or anything you think is not worth doing?

Thanks

My sister-in-law did Bluff's Cove at the Falklands and said it was AMAZING. I wish I had done that. (official HAL tour)  Like 106, I was unhappy with the HAL excursions generally because they were all large buses going to the most obvious accessible locations.

Another note for Future Travelers:

In Ushuaia:  English speaking cab driver Diego Joel Giles. The price for 3 hours in the National Park was $140. We booked him and he waited at the cruise port gate for us with a sign. He took us exactly to the places we wanted in the Tierra Del Fuego National Park and could talk to us easily. We spent 4 hours with him and were very pleased. Diego can be reached at +54 290 146 4119  or diegojoelgiles@yahoo.com

11 hours ago, 0106 said:

Regardless of the $300 HIA credit,  ship’s tour not for me.

That is exactly how I felt after the HAL "Food & Wine" tour in Montevideo!  (3 or 4 large buses of tourists arriving to what felt like a wedding banquet.)

For future travelers:  We had an EXCELLENT excursion with independent tour company

We saw many beautiful places, we had a delicious lunch, and there were no more than 24 people. EnPatagoniaTours : https://www.enpatagoniatours.com/ 

The tour guide was also excellent (and can be hired independently for a private tour- Jorge Lepio: jlepio8@gmail.com, +5698416088)

Thanks for the info on Mario Miraglia. We wrote to the email provided and received a reply from his daughter, Anto:   antomiraglia17@gmail.com

We tried to book Mario for a 3 hour tour of the National Park (price quoted for 3 hours at $140). Unfortunately for us, Mario was already booked on the day we needed him.

We then checked out getting a Remis ( a driver reserved in advance).   It was easy to make a reservation by email and the price quoted for 3 hours was 59,000 AR pesos (~$60). www.remiscar.com.ar | transfers@remiscar.com.ar 

But then we heard from Mario's daughter again who referred us to cab driver Diego Joel Giles, who speaks English. The price for 3 hours in the National Park was $140. We booked him and he waited at the cruise port gate for us with a sign. He took us exactly to the places we wanted and could talk to us easily. We spent 4 hours with him and were very pleased. Diego can be reached at +54 290 146 4119  or diegojoelgiles@yahoo.com

2 hours ago, 0106 said:

At another lecture by Mr Sanson on Shakleton.  Although I read several books about the Endurance prior to the cruise, it was interesting.

BTW, no lectures are broadcast into the cabins.  A question was asked about why during the Captain’s presentation.  Ed the cruise director answered, we were told they needed us out of our rooms so they could be serviced.🤔 I will definitely be mentioning this on my post cruise survey.  Many people are having difficulty moving around the ship.  Some suffering from mal de mer are missing out because they remain in their cabin.  

 

And in my customer survey I will add that the talks should be broadcast in the rooms for 2 additional reasons: 1. It is unsafe to have people sitting on staircases and aisles from a fire code point of view, and 2. With both respiratory and internal viruses on the ship, they would be smart to allow people to watch from their rooms. (We know they can do it technically because they did it last cruise). I am very disappointed in that decision, and the cruise director Ed could not articulate a good reason why!

Attention cruisers who love Penguins! (which is everyone, right?)

The University of Canterbury in Christchurch New Zealand has a fund raising campaign underway for their Penguin Research,  which uses cutting edge technology to assess and conserve penguin populations.

Info here:  https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/about-uc/donating-to-uc/focus-your-support/support-our-research/penguin-research-fund-support

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

Once we got thru this we got into bus to take us to embark and check in port.  Maybe 5 miles, worst part was  it was not far from hotel.  Even worse, some people were coming in off street with bags.  Wish we had known this.  Another line and up the stairs for check in and then across and down more stairs for the bus to ship.  And of drama

Regarding "of the street",  do you think it is possible we can skip building #1 and just arrive with our suitcases at the #2  check in ? Any tips for those of us coming in three future would be helpful. Thanks! 

5 hours ago, TravelBluebird said:

The ship is SO quiet tonight. Window seats available at Ocean Bar. No line for MDR. Quiet Lido.

 

Has a 6am day then 2 port days and another 6am day made everyone exhausted?

That is my guess. I can’t imagine a few 9 foot swells took out all these experienced cruisers!

 

We had another lovely dinner at Caneletto’s. The rack of lamb was divine; I had an appetizer serving of the clam spaghetti—al dente pasta and good clam flavor in the sauce. Well done—I loved it!  This can be such a disappointing dish if not done right. My husband had the veal meatball appetizer and raved about it (with sage).

 

Finished with a simple bacio gelato for me and pistachio gelatto for DH.  

 

Photos tomorrow; they are on my phone which is out of battery for the moment.

 

We have joined all the tired cruisers and have hopped into bed in PJs and are looking for a movie to watch, and its only 8pm!

Regarding watching movies in the cabin, I was wondering if there was an Hdmi hookup on the tv ? Or bluetooth on the tv? ( To watch a show downloaded on my computer on the TV screen). Thank you!

15 hours ago, TravelBluebird said:

I FINALLY got another video up. Don’t ask. So many internet problems, so I’m behind. Have taped the next one in the series and will tape installment 3 (4 if you count the “late departure” video) tomorrow or Monday.

 

Videos are always behind the LIVE blog!

 

 

Thank you for all this info on blog and vlog.... I am looking forward to your cabin tour video... Was pleased to hear you say there was plenty of storage space! 

1 hour ago, 0106 said:

@Btimmer I have been enjoying your blog in addition to your posts here.  I am unable to make comments on your blog so I am posting here.  You stated that you are missing the lecturers on sea days.  I was very much looking forward to them too.  @NorbertsNiece on the previous cruise said they were spectacular.  I wonder what happened to them.  I appreciate a naturalist giving commentary, not a ship’s employee reading a script.  I hope a lecturer joins the ship for the remainder of your journey .  

Where do I find the blog? Thx

I found that my "ad blocker" software was causing problems, so you might look to disable yours to allow all cookies,  if you use one. 

I love following your blog!!

Questions:

1. Any special offers on laundry or anything to know about laundry?

2. Did you find a good use for magnetic hooks in your cabin?

3. Anything you wish you had packed but didn't?

4. How fancy is that camera which is taking the gorgeous photos?

Thanks in advance! 

On 12/27/2023 at 1:28 PM, g-murd said:

I'm on Feb 20 cruise.  Unable to get any tour at Port Stanley.  Please comment about availability of taxis, buses etc, at port. Thanks.  I'm enjoying your posts.

@g-murd The Stanley Tourist office is helpful and fast to reply by email--they sent the contact on 2 taxi companies, I don't know about buses. They also have a map of Stanley with businesses noted on their website. 

44 minutes ago, NorbertsNiece said:

Am headed to the beach. Sand whipped up by the incredibly strong wind. More humans than penguins.

 

Soooo cold and windy. Hats, scarves, gloves and thermals so recommended!

 

Beach video here

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thank you for the GORGEOUS photos and the warning about the cold bitter winds! 

Wow..this is amazing. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this for everybody.

Yes! Very useful as I am booked and am now looking at the details of onboard life... THANK YOU for taking the time to scan them all in and post them!