Ken the cruiser

We saw one yacht this morning, the Scenic Eclipse 2, as we were cruising through the Charlotte Bay. But most of the small vessels are in small coves and waterways. Places the Sapphire can’t even get close to.

Our continued morning trek through Wilhelmina Bay was awesome, and we saw more Humpback whales! 😁 Two Humpback whales, a mother and her calf. Another Humpback whale just roaming around looking for something tasty to eat. Even saw its fluke! 😁 As you can see, we saw quite a few Humpback whales this morning! 😁 Another mother with her calf. And now we are off to cruise to Port Lockroy, which is a bay forming a natural harbor on the north-western shore of Wiencke Island in the Palmer Archipelago to the west of the Antarctic Peninsula.

Woke up this morning at about 5 am just to see what there was to see, as we weren’t scheduled to arrive at Charlotte Bay until around 6:30 am. This is Brabant Island in the background. Woke up again at 7 am to our alarm, and the ships had already gone into Charlotte Bay and just turned around. Perfect timing! 😁 Whale! 😁 At first we thought this was a log. But there are no trees in Antarctica. It was another whale just hanging out! 😂 These next few pictures were taken while we were eating breakfast in Sabatinis. These were taken as we were exiting Charlotte Bay on our way to Wilhelmina Bay next door.

We have not. We pretty much eat, go to the theater show, game show, and then back to our cabin to chill and see what there is to see outside. Maybe someone else on the ship that is following this thread has a better insight of the music scene around the ship. Sorry.

My DW and I were looking at the route the Sapphire has taken so far on our journey since we left San Antonio and were amazed at how many ships, large and small, are cruising around the Antarctica Peninsula on any given day this time of year! https://www.cruisemapper.com/?imo=9228186 Which begs the question, is each of these expedition ship’s “zodiac port stops” listed in their published itineraries somehow registered with some central source to minimize overlaps? If so, who, since Antarctica is not a sovereign country? Maybe the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO)? The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) was founded in 1991 by seven companies. The primary goal of the association is to "advocate and promote the practice of safe and environmentally responsible private-sector travel to the Antarctic". Since the group's inception membership has grown to over 100 members. In addition there are tour groups working outside the association which may not follow its safety and environmental guidelin… I scanned their website, but did not see any specific reference to this question. https://iaato.org/about-iaato/our-mission/ Or is it just first come, first serve, and if one expedition ship’s “scheduled” landing stop is occupied, do they just go find another spot for their passengers to go ashore at? 🤔 We have no idea. We just found it fascinating as there are A LOT of ships cruising around the Peninsula every day! We just thought it was interesting how so many expedition ships can operate effectively in this one unique area. 😁

Have a great cruise! We’re currently on the Sapphire Princess you almost met up with at Elephant Island yesterday! 😁 One suggestion. If you put an extra line with a space between each picture, that will eliminate them blending together.

I don’t know about all that. But my DW saw a sign at the Explorers Lounge bar while I was ordering my triple Baileys after dinner drink that said the minimum drinking age on the ship was 18! 😂

Day 10 - Jan 29 - Day 3 of Antarctic scenic cruising starting at Charlotte Bay And we definitely can’t complain out the internet service, especially considering where we are currently at! 😁

This evening after another tasty Formal Night dinner and relaxing in the cabin, we headed to see the production show Do You Wanna Dance! This is the first time we’ve seen this show and thought it was quite enjoyable! 😁 However, we decided to pass on the 8:30 pm game show in the Explorers Lounge this evening, Top, Medium or Bottom, to get ready for another early start tomorrow.

This afternoon we continued our trek after leaving Admiralty Bay all the way to Livingston Island, at the maximum speed limit allowed of 10 knots. Needless to say it was an all day affair! 😂 It started off kind of overcast once we got into the channel. Along the way we saw some interesting icebergs off the port side. The scenery started picking up when we got to Greenwich Island with this unique rock formation with a glacier a little ways behind it. Then when we got to Livingston Island, the weather started to clear a little and the sun eventually started to peak out. 😁 If you look close, you will see some penguins on the righthand side of this iceberg. Then while we were eating dinner, these were some of the views from our table; hence the blue tint as I took the photos through the window. Then it was time to start heading towards Charlotte Bay where we will begin Day 3’s adventure! 😁

We wanted to go when Princess was going there, but waited too long. Now the only reasonably priced cruise line that goes there is NCL, which works for us, especially when 6 of our evening meals (2 with FAS, 2 with FAS+, and 2 with our Platinum loyalty level) per leg are in one of their specialty restaurants. 😁

We had an aft-facing Club Balcony cabin on the NCL Jade when we did our 38-day Athens to Cape Town by way of Dubai cruise and had an awesome time (see Live From thread below) and really enjoyed the aft views. We also have an aft-facing Balcony cabin booked on the NCL Star in 2025 for our Longyearbyen B2B cruise. Both of these smaller NCL ships (around 2200 passengers) are more geared for longer cruises. So no waterslides or anything like that. Just boring “old people” stuff to do. 😂

Thanks. That’s why I use Windy, which usually works pretty well regardless of where we are. Which weather app do you use that provides readings as far south as the Antarctica Peninsula? I just figured since the temp was on the Princess App, it would be correct. But then when the Captain at Noon today said it was 35F, I knew that App was off a little. But at least it’s getting closer. It now says it’s 30.2F! Maybe that temperature reading is with the wind chill factor! 🤔

Thanks! You’re going to have a great time!! And I guess that means I can put my flannel shirts away once we get to BA! 😂 Right now it’s around 33F down here cruising along the South Shetland Islands. I erroneously mentioned earlier that it was 26.6F because I made the mistake of getting it from the Princess App. When I checked Windy, it pretty much said it stays around 33-36F this time of year down here.

We had so much fun taking pictures in 26.6F temps, here are some more of Admiralty Bay on our way out! 😁 One perk with being in an aft-facing cabin, is that you get some really closeup pictures when the ship has to turn around in a really tight space near a glacier! 😁 This is the new Brazil Research Station, as the old one burned down a few years ago. Poland’s Arctowski Research Station on the left and a small US station on the right. Our final view of Admiralty Bay before heading south along the South Shetland Islands, where it is currently foggy and snowing lightly. 😂

As we got closer to Admiralty Bay, I woke up around 5 am and watched the sunrise over the Southern Ocean, and then went back to bed! 😂 We entered Admiralty Bay a little before 7 am. Here are some of the views we have seen so far. Brazilian Research Center

Day 9 - Jan 28 - Day 2 of Antarctic Cruising starting at Admiralty Bay

We arrived at Elephant Island around 7 pm and spent about 90 minutes there slowly cruising through the area. Just prior to arriving, the Captain changed course due to the extreme winds coming from the West and went on the southern side of the island where the winds and wave action would be calmer. The first island we passed by on the starboard side was a little island called Cornwallis Island. As we passed by it, the sun came out and really made the island light up! Off in the distance on the port side was Clarence Island, which was a little harder to see because of the fog. Then came the views of some of the various icebergs, cliffs and glaciers we saw as we cruised along the “trunk” of Elephant Island. You can see Cornwallis Island off in the distance. This iceberg was so unique I had to post pictures of it from different angles! 😁 And then we were off for our overnight rendezvous with some more awesome sights scheduled for our day 2 of cruising around the Antarctic Peninsula. 😁

We were just sitting in our cabin occasionally looking out to see if we could get a glimpse of any wildlife, mainly birds flying behind the ship, as we wait to head to an early dinner before we arrive at Elephant Island. Then for about 5-10 minutes, blue sky appeared, there was a faint rainbow (if you look close that ends in the ship’s wake), a massive amount of white-capped waves all about, and when I open the door to take the picture, there was a light mist in the air. Then it was gone! I know, it doesn’t take much to keep me amused! 😂

We are a little over halfway to Elephant island and it looks like the wave action has finally caught back up with us. Hopefully it will be a little calmer once we start to cruise around the island.🤞

And the race is on! Who is going to get to Elephant Island first, the Eclipse or the Sapphire? 😂 In any event it sounds like you’re having a great cruise and your photos look awesome! We’ll be heading to the Peninsula next, and here’s hoping your recrossing of the Drake Passage will be as uneventful as ours was yesterday. 😁 FWIW the waves forecast looks relatively calm at 11 pm tonight (on windy.com) as you cross the Drake Passage on your way to the Falkland Islands.

Thanks @TravelBluebird for letting us follow along on your wonderful adventure! Seeing it through your awesome pictures definitely helped us get super excited about our SA/Antarctica cruise that started on Jan 20 on the Sapphire Princess. 😁

I’m using my iPhone SE. Although I will say it took 171 photos to render the above 6! 😂

That was definitely worth the trip over! 😁 These photos were taken from our aft balcony. Also got pictures of a couple of Cape Petrels and a Snowy Sheathbill. 😁 This photo was taken as we were leaving. I know it’s hard to see with all of the fog, but Iceberg A23a is huge! 😂 We’re now headed to Elephant Island with an estimated arrival time of 6:30 pm. I guess we will be bypassing the shows after an early dinner tonight! Where the ship is in the below picture is where the Iceberg A23a is located.

We’re ready! We just finished with breakfast and are on the balcony with the web cam turned on. All we need now is for the fog to lift just a little! 😂 About an hour ago, I saw a few Cape Petrels flying behind the ship, but they were too quick for me. But I’m ready now! After all, it’s all about the hunt, especially when it’s 32F outside! 😂