Btimmer

After I submitted my first requests on the Stockperks app today, I received confirmation within 2 hours that they had been posted to my HAL account and my Princess account. Interestingly, I received email confirmation from HAL World Cruise Reservations regarding my HAL confirmation while the Princess confirmation came from Stockperks. This is the fastest confirmation I've ever received.

On the 2023 Grand South America we had George & Claire, a married couple, who performed daily classical music in the Explorer's Lounge (formerly Lincoln Center Stage). In their coffee chat they noted that this was their last contract with HAL. Next week I'll report from the Oosterdam what the music offerings are for our Antarctica cruise.

This thread answers the question why I never received a reply from HAL for the OBC I requested in November for a January, 2024 cruise. They didn't even reply that I needed to use a new method. So I downloaded the APP and I elected to use the PLAID method for verification. It went smoothly and I submitted my application for credit for the January 7, 2024 cruise on HAL. It was accepted and now I'll wait for it to be applied. If it's not applied by the time I board, I'll work it out with the onboard guest relations staff. I'll also now submit requests for a couple of upcoming Princess Cruises.

See you onboard. This will be our 3rd time to Antarctica; the two prior voyages were on the Zaandam.

We are headed back to Antarctica starting January 7, 2024 in San Antonio, Chile. Some of you may recall that we were just there on the Zaandam's Grand South America (GSA) which ended last week. Thanks for following along on that thread. Why would we return? There are several reasons. 1. Antarctica is a very cool place to visit and we want to get deeper into Antarctica since this voyage will be later in their summer. 2. We missed the Falkland Islands and want another opportunity to see the King Penguins. 3. It's a slightly different itinerary but includes Puerto Madryn, Argentina which is home to another large penguin colony. 4. We have another opportunity to visit Punta del Este, Uruguay which we also missed on the GSA. 5. We booked this cruise while on the GSA. It's fairly inexpensive at just over $100/day for an obstructed window room. 6. A chance to be back on the Oosterdam which we have sailed on a couple of times. 7. A possible opportunity to visit Iguazu Falls at the end of the cruise without the pressure of getting back to the ship. 8. We will not be leading or planning any group excursions and will enjoy visiting ports without outside pressures. We are participants on excursions in a couple of key ports to be able to see penguins. 9. Because we can. I'll post a few pictures here and make comments comparing what it's like to do a Grand cruise and compare it with a "regular" cruise as the route is quite similar. I'll also do one of my daily blogs that I'll later provide a link. If you have any questions about this cruise or comparing it to the GSA, please post the question on this thread. I'll try to answer as best as I can.

The internet was rock solid virtually everywhere. On board the ship, the WiFi quality can vary. Our WiFi in cabin 1818 was quite good. Mosquitoes were a non issue. I did have bug spray and used it a few times. Also we weee never asked for yellow fever vaccination information at any time.

Last year on our Boston RT Iceland voyage, HAL destroyed a wheel on Angela's luggage on the return leg. it's a whirlwind of activity to depart in two weeks. Have a Merry Christmas.

I'm guessing a forklift gouged it. Thanks for following along. We're headed back in a couple of weeks to repeat the Antarctica portion. I'll do another blog and Almost Live thread.

we've arrived in Fort Lauderdale along with the Celebrity Equinox. Angela's brand new commemorative duffel was totally destroyed between the ship and our pick up point. Totally destroyed! We're off on a land sea tour before flying home this evening.

A happy crew ready to serve cheese at the sailaway party from San Juan, Puerto Rico which is our last port before FLL.

It's been a busy few days with 3 ports in a row and two more to go. All is found I. My blog at https://timmer2023gsa.blogspot.com. Below are a few pictures from today. We took the shuttle to town and walked to the botanical garden and then hiked up the mountain to the two viewpoints. Unfortunately our onboard time was 1:30pm.

Today we visited Devil's Island (think Pappion) which is a former French Penal Colony. Today, however, we focussed on flora and fauna sightings. Here are a few pictures including some non flora and fauna. Agouti (large rodent)

Look up my blog post for Castro. We did the Coastal Towns tour and it was wonderful! Terrific bird watching. https://timmer2023gsa.blogspot.com

Tonight was the Orange Party. Lots of Orange was on display. The bridge over the Rio Negros was brilliantly on display.

Today in Manaus we did a terrific Swim with the Dolphins, Indigenous Village visit, Lunch on a floating Restaurant, fishing for pirarucu, and visiting the meeting of the brown Amazon and the black Rio Negro. And I'm batting two for two in the boat problem department. Our Zaandam #1 boat' propellor struck some rocks and we lost driving power. It took a bit for the captain and his first mate to get it fixed. On our last Amazon River excursion 4 years ago, we ran out of gas in the dark. I wonder why nobody wants to do excursions with me? The salad part of the lunch buffet It's not a good sign when the tools are spread on the deck.

Yes, ships get stuck on sandbars in the Amazon. We just passed by this empty cargo ship.

We did the regular Antarctica voyage 7 years ago and this Grand is many notches above it with a few different ports, upgraded menus, special events, speakers, and entertainment. I'll let you know about the current "regular" Antarctica voyage in a month when we board the Oosterdam in Chile and repeat the voyage to Buenos Aires.

Today in our short stop at Parintins, Angela and I walked out to the Boi Bumba Drome and viewed the old floats stored nearby and then made it back in time to see the Festival show which was quite good once again. Rain was in the forecast, and a monsoon hit as the shoreside tender was unloading at the ship. Below are some pictures from today.

I don't know as we generally don't eat in the MDR. I'll ask around.

Here's some pictures from our Boat excursion to Maica Lake. Cuteness personified!

Here's the first of what will be many large insects which will be attracted to the ship at night.

We're sailing up the Amazon and should reach Santarem by 10am local time (5am PST). At times there's less than 3 feet of clearance from the keel and ground. We're about 100 miles from where we went aground for 7 hours on the Volendam in 2019. Here's a few pictures from tonight. Duo Rio

Here's the official announcement about our Amazon River changes. What isn't said here is that we likely will have all tender ports (even Manaus). The adventure continues.

We received this note this morning about water conservation measures in the Amazon.

GREAT NEWS The Captain just announced we are going to Manaus and will stay two nights in order to do daytime transits over shallow portions of the river. He thanked everyone for doing a rain dance! Currently we're loading produce in Fortaleza which is delaying our departure. The ship is moving in the swells at the dock.