Kirrus
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Posts posted by Kirrus
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Hi, Am I the only one who cannot open your report? The page shows: "404 Error File Not Found
The page you are looking for might have been removed,
had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable."
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I am delighted to have your photos of the Quest as I may have to include one in my upcoming photo book. Feel free to use mine as well.
You can download full sized images from the website and crop or edit any way you like. Hope it will be useful for you.
Sent from my SM-T700 using Forums mobile app
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You're welcome everyone. I'm glad to post the beautiful photo taken that day of the Zaandam in Antarctic waters.
Now, does anyone here have a photo of the Quest taken from the Zaandam, that they could post here for me? We would love to see it!
I have finally found your ship in my collection. We met at least twice:
1. Dec 30th 6:30pm between Anvers Island and Wiencke Island (GMap: https://www.google.com/maps?q=-64.775525,+-63.410830 )
and
2. Dec 31th 4:10pm Paradise Bay (GMap: https://www.google.com/maps?q=-64.862478,+-62.928605)
I think it is your ship.
Please click to enlarge. Enjoy!
Boris
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We were on the Seabourn Quest over the Christmas/New Years' holidays cruising Antarctica and South Georgia Island. On Dec. 30 we were enjoying a "champagne and caviar on ice party" on deck after leaving Torgerson Island and viewing the Palmer Research Station. Suddenly we heard the horn blow and when checking over the railing, I saw the Zaandam passing by in the channel. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and spirits were high. I thought you'd like a photo of us looking at you as you were looking at us! Enjoy!
Hi Sandi,
Thank you very much for posting the picture of our ship. Is it possible to find exact time when the photo was taken? I tried to find it among my thousands pictures, but unfortunately failed so far. I think we were on east and south part of Anvers Island on Dec 30, and west and south (including Lemaire channel) on Dec 31. Thanks, Boris
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Thank you very much for the taxi info and the link to the private service. Do you think it's quite safe to use this service?
Our luggage is not that big, just what an airline allows without overpaying (2 big 50 lb bags, and a couple small ones for 2 of us). But it will be too much to go along the street for us.
Sent from my SM-T700 using Forums mobile app
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We'll have lots of baggage, so it would be much easier to take taxi directly from port.
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Thanks. Yes, we leave the night before. How much does the taxi cost from the port to EZE?
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We disembark in Buenos Aires a day earlier (our ship stays overnight there). Is taxi in the port reliable and do they accept USD? Also when should we disembark to get to EZE airport for 9pm flight? Thanks!
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ZADM
Capt Pieter Jan van Maurik
HD Simon Tanner (unconfirmed)
CD unk at this time
Thanks a lot for the information!
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Is it possible to find out who will be the Captain, Hotel Director and Cruise Director on Zaandam for South America & Antractica cruise starting on Dec 20 2016? I would greatly appreciate the info!
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You are sort of right. Ships are allowed to have only 100 passengers on land at a time. Can you imagine landing 3000 passengers in groups of 100.
We did Antarctica on a ship that held 260 passengers so they divided us up into 3 groups. Would we have preferred to have more time on land - yes. Was it enough time on land - also yes. My choice for the best ship would have been a <100 passenger expedition ship which would have given us more land time but we got a deal on our trip that we could not believe. Many of the people on our ship paid more than twice what we paid. They were not happy when they found out the deal that we got.
Personally I feel that a "drive by" Antarctica cruise is silly since it is the equivalent of visiting London by going up and down the Thames without stopping to let the passengers off. There is a big difference between seeing the penguins and having them walk right up to you because they do not know that they are supposed to have a 10 foot distance between them and you. I even have several pictures of 2 penguins "doing it".
However, as I have said many times on CC - different strokes for different folks. What is important is that you enjoyed your trip and we enjoyed ours.
DON
As I understand there are huge amounts of penguins in other stops during this cruise. All kinds of penguins except Emperor, but I doubt you saw them in Antarctica. What I want to see there is landscape.
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So far our SA without Antarctica cruise on Zaandam was the best of our 8 ones. Hope this one will be better.
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We might have been unable to do much in Iceberg Alley due to the foggy conditions, but we sailed right through the Lemaire Channel (if you were on the Prinsendam in 2014) which most ships doesn't get to do. The exploration team said that they had only been through the Lemaire Channel 3 times out 33 visits.
Also in 2014, we saw more whales than I have seen on a whale watching tour. And some of them were very close to the Prinsendam. And I understand that almost 50 whales were seen in 2015 during the Prinsendam's GV.
Each time you go, it is totally different. That is why it is fantastic if you can do it more than once. In 2014, we didn't get to Elephant Island. But in 2011 we saw Elephant Island early in the morning as we were going SA around Antarctica.
Reason why HAL has been able to sail to Antarctica is that they convert the ship to light marine fuel which is extremely expensive.the Prinsendam didn't finish all the light marine fuel they had until we reached Fortaleza, Brazil. If this trip is on your bucket list, you should do it before they change the rules.
We have booked South America and Antarctica on Zaandam starting December 20, from Valparaiso to Buenos Aires.
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Thank you all! You convinced me that it should be the best cruise. I really hope it will.
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Thanks Ruth. Your will to keep cruising there means a lot for me. I meant HAL might shorten mileage, not time in Antarctica, if it doesn't go as deep south as it used to. We're going to take Dec 20 cruise.
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I heard several years ago that HAL hadn't renewed a license for cruising Antarctica. I see it didn't happen as HAL didn't exclude Antarctica completely. Ms Zaandam does visit Antarctica from Dec to Feb each year including 2016-2017. My question: do you know if HAL shortened the Antarctica portion of this South America and Antarctica cruise? The itinerary map does show a smaller Antarctica part, but I know the reality can be different (i.e. they cannot guarantee but may or may not go deeper). Do you know anything about it? Thanks a lot!
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Thank you very much for your detail descriptions. It's always a challenge to try something new.
We are Elite on Princess but still cruise on HAL from time to time if it's an itinerary we like LOTS better. :)Yes, sometimes HAL's itinerary is better, but Princess has many nice cruises in Japan we'd like to try.
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Hi, we were sailing exclusively on Holland America Line ships. After some disappointments with our last cruise on ms Prinsendam (their smallest ship), we are thinking about a cruise on Princess. There are some very interesting itineraries in Japan on Diamond we are interesting in.
After looking through Princess website, I still have some questions. Please excuse me if it is written somewhere and I missed it.
1. Is it good to buy air flights via EZAir? Should I do it when booking, or can add later? I see there is no change fee for flexible fare, but what if I need to cancel the cruise before final deposit date?
2. On HAL cruises we enjoyed (practically) same-day laundry service with flat fee $20 per bag (about $100, plus or minus, for unlimited 14-day cruise). Is there such thing?
3. For HAL cruisers - is Skywalkers Nightclub similar to Crow's Nest? Is it a place for CC Roll Call M&G meetings?
4. Are there BBQ (poolside) parties on cruises? HAL used to have many of them on each cruise, but much fewer stay now...
5. Is Movies under Stars very loud so one cannot sleep with balcony door partly open? HAL ships are silent most of the time, it can be a problem...
Sorry for so many questions. Any reply will be greatly appreciated.
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Verizon has a good global data plan $25 for each 100Mb data, which works both on the ships and in most countries. I use it every time overseas. Not sure if it's worth during Alaska cruise - lots of U.S. ports of call, included in the most data plans.
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On my first HAL cruise I checked my life jacket and the in-cabin information prior to muster. I subsequently learned nothing new at the drill, so please don't try to tie mariner status to need to attend. Either have it for everyone or for no one. As much as I dislike attending HAL muster drills - others do it far better - I still support them being mandatory for all passengers.
IMO, the main purpose of the drill - let the passengers know where the boat is. So you learn it every time.
Every time during the drill many people were absent. I always wondered what these people will do. Even though the drill is before the departure, there is practically no time to find the people (who even didn't appear on mandatory drill) and send them off the ship...
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Detailed planning works best if you have a companion who can be surprised during actual trip. It's important he or she doesn't participate in your research, but prepares to the worst. You will be rewarded :) Just my two cents.
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Hi, We are going to book a cruise from Buenos Aires to Santiago (or reverse) through Cape Horn on a Holland America Line ship. Is Novermber 10th a good starting date, especially if we hope to visit Falkland islands on this trip? Or December will be much better regarding the weather? I'd prefer November due to my work schedule... Thanks!
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What about the other papers of HAL boarding documents (10 or more pages), do we need them also? They are too heavy, especially for two people.
Valparaiso to Buenos Aires including Antarctica Dec 20th Trip Report
in Holland America Line
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I tried from another place (and another browser), and it worked. Thanks a lot for your report, it is great. Your pictures are beautiful!