Antarctica Live On Board

[rallydave]

7 minutes ago, Jacqueline said:

Fabulous pictures and it is a great itinerary.

We had 10 meter seas and the staff acknowledged it was rough but not notably so.  It’s an interesting question as to what kind of seas make a passage dangerous and which ships can make the crossing in these conditions,

It is certainly uncomfortable and it’s nearly inevitable that people can get hurt as the conditions worsen, But what happens if this is at the end of the voyage on the return from Antartica?

Last year on the first Antarctica voyage, we had storms lined up in the Drake as we finished our experience.  Captain Larson put us in the saf lee of an island and waited for the first storm to roll thru and ran the Drake between the two storm fronts and it was a fairly easy passage up to Ushuaia.  If there is a will, there is a way.  Not to worry!! 

[Tommorris]

I'm wondering about the kayak expeditions in Antarctica.  Do they "sell out"? Would it make sense to book once we're in Antarctica to take advantage of the weather?

[Kauaijim]

Like voting in Chicago do it early and often . We were unable to kayak because of weather and were waitlisted on other trips but never cleared . My advice book several trips and cancel after you’ve taken one . Doesn’t seem fair but it’s whats done . 

 

 

 

 

 

[florisdekort]

Regarding kayaking - book early and book at least 2 days (day 2 and day 4 for example). Many kayak trips get cancelled because of wind. 

 

Floris 

[florisdekort]

We are arriving at New Island just now... It’s sunny and 10 degrees with 20 kts of wind. Our colour, green, will be the last group to land at 6 pm. I’ll try to post some photos of our landing later tonight or tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, we’ll be at Stanley and assuming the swell allows the ship to run tenders we’ll be visiting the King penguins at Volunteer Point. 

 

Best,

Floris 

[florisdekort]

We had a fabulous evening on New Island. Our 6 pm landing turned out to be a blessing in disguise - the light was just fabulous. Galeforce9 and Fletcher - everything you wrote above about New Island is true and then some. What a beautiful place. The wildlife experience is unlike anything I’ve seen before (and I have been to Antarcrica). It’s impossible (for me at least) to do the albatross runway or the rockhopper penguins jumping in and out of the ocean justice in a photo, so apologies, just some basic photos below. We got back to the ship on the last zodiac at 8:30 pm and are now enjoying room service spaghetti bolognese 🙂

 

Floris

 

 

[SKP946]

Great photos Floris, thank you so much for sharing 

[Host Jazzbeau]

5 hours ago, florisdekort said:

We had a fabulous evening on New Island. Our 6 pm landing turned out to be a blessing in disguise - the light was just fabulous. Galeforce9 and Fletcher - everything you wrote above about New Island is true and then some. What a beautiful place. The wildlife experience is unlike anything I’ve seen before (and I have been to Antarcrica). It’s impossible (for me at least) to do the albatross runway or the rockhopper penguins jumping in and out of the ocean justice in a photo, so apologies, just some basic photos below. We got back to the ship on the last zodiac at 8:30 pm and are now enjoying room service spaghetti bolognese 🙂

 

Floris

 

Thanks for the posts Floris.  Not to hijack this thread, but ... IIRC on Azamara you book OWs [which we had on our last cruise and just loved!] – what level(s) do you like on Seabourn?

[galeforce9]

Floris.  So glad you enjoyed it.  I really hope that Seabourn consider longer itineraries in the Falklands when they are scheduling their new expedition ships. They have so much to offer, as you’ve seen today.  

[Fletcher]

Floris - Delighted you had a great day in New Island.  Can I ask, was this zodiac trip included in your fare or did you have to pay extra for it?  

 

I see the Quest is not alone in Port Stanley today.  Also there is the Zaandam with 1700 passengers.  I do hope this won't spoil your visit.  

[FlyingScotSailors]

6 hours ago, Fletcher said:

I see the Quest is not alone in Port Stanley today.  Also there is the Zaandam with 1700 passengers.  I do hope this won't spoil your visit.  

Wow!  Since Quest changed the date of its visit to Port Stanley, how did the total number of passengers on shore at one time effect the tours, especially the private ones, on the island?  It seemed that all the 4x4s on the island were needed just to accommodate the Quest last year.

[florisdekort]

12 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

Thanks for the posts Floris.  Not to hijack this thread, but ... IIRC on Azamara you book OWs [which we had on our last cruise and just loved!] – what level(s) do you like on Seabourn?

 

On Seabourn we book a Penthouse suite or above - for the extra space. Seabourn’s regular balcony suites are in our opinion similar to Azamara’s Club Continent suites, although with a much better bathroom (tub and shower). We love Seabourn’s Penthouse Spa suites for the aft views but they sell out fast. If we can get a really good deal we book an Owners or a Signature suite - in terms of size probably similar to Azamara’s Owners suite (although again with a much better bathroom).

 

Floris 

 

[florisdekort]

8 hours ago, Fletcher said:

Floris - Delighted you had a great day in New Island.  Can I ask, was this zodiac trip included in your fare or did you have to pay extra for it?  

 

I see the Quest is not alone in Port Stanley today.  Also there is the Zaandam with 1700 passengers.  I do hope this won't spoil your visit.  

 

The zodiac landings on New Island were complimentary as we lost a day in Antarctica. The landings were done just as in Antarctica, by colour group. It all went flawless.

 

Coming to Stanley today has indeed been a challenge. Seabourn had to cancel many tours as, because Zaandam is in town, they simply couldn’t get replacement inventory. Lots of angry people at the Square. Most guests with private arrangements ran into the same issue when they tried to change the date on their booking. Almost everything is simply sold out.

 

The 6 in our party lucked out... We managed to get to Volunteer Point as per our original plan. Our two jeeps even arrived first, so we had the entire place to ourselves for about 30 minutes, before 200 HAL people showed up. Our driver “Carrot” was awesome and we enjoyed our 4 hour car ride with him immensely. And just as we arrived... the sun did too. Another awesome day! Photos to follow. 

 

Floris 

[florisdekort]

Volunteer Point... 

 

[galeforce9]

Beautiful photos. I find Kings have a true knack of turning their heads away from the camera or closing their eyes!!  

 

Did you get bogged down at all? I reckon you can bank on that a few times!!  I know you went privately.  The problem with the cruise ship trips is that they travel in convoy and some of the drivers are less experienced, so they keep going over the same ruts and the ground doesn’t have time to recover.  

 

It’s great to have the place to yourself. I remember eating our packed lunch courtesy of our driver’s call at the supermarket in the rangers’ office (a portakabin) and having a lovely cup of tea. Is it still there?  

 

We called in the settlement at Johnson’s Harbour on the way back where they were shearing sheep in a shed.   

 

Our driver listened to the Saturday football on the forces radio coming back and it was just like being back home in England. 

 

Fond memories. 

[Chairsin]

I’m in love with that rockhopper - clearly he knows he is a cool dude. Thanks for posting these pics and glad Plan B worked out well for you.

 

the one thing anyone who books an AntRtcics Cruise should understand is the “schedule “ is very fluid.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Floris,

 

GIve me a call.  I am in 522.  

 

Pete

[SKP946]

I couldn’t find Quest at first this Tuesday morning (Melbourne time, 14 hours ahead of Antarctic time) but finally found her at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula morning on Marine Traffic. Even her Zodiacs are being tracked

Edited December 10, 2018 by SKP946

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Wow,  didn't realize they are tracking the Zodiacs!.   He is our track from our Zodiac Tour today using my Garmin 810 GPS.  The Green is our staring point and the red is where we stopped.   There is some "noise" around the start and finish since I turn on the GPS while inside the ship and its not as accurate when you do that, but I hate to forget to turn it on when I leave to I just turn in on when I leave my cabin,

 

 

Edited December 11, 2018 by The-Inside-Cabin

[Love4tahoe]

This is a great website for following the ship and reading about what’s happening each day:

 

https://my.yb.tl/seabournexpeditions/8216/

 

[SKP946]

54 minutes ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Wow,  didn't realize they are tracking the Zodiacs!.   He is our track from our Zodiac Tour today using my Garmin 810 GPS.  The Green is our staring point and the red is where we stopped.   There is some "noise" around the start and finish since I turn on the GPS while inside the ship and its not as accurate when you do that, but I hate to forget to turn it on when I leave to I just turn in on when I leave my cabin,

 

 

 

Yes, it appears that all the Quest’s Zodiacs are being tracked. This was the route of “Seabourn Quest Zodiac No. 3”  according to the Marine Traffic website. (I assume that you didn’t have any landings today. ?) 

BTW I am enjoying your blog, we were on the same voyage 4 years ago, so it’s bringing back fond memories 🙂

[The-Inside-Cabin]

No landings today.  First one scheduled for tomorrow.  We were on the third Zodiac today.

Edited December 11, 2018 by The-Inside-Cabin

[florisdekort]

We were at Hope Bay yesterday, also known as Esperanza Base, an Argentinian research center. Zodiac tours only, but as we also went kayaking and the kayaks were beached, we did step ashore after all 🙂 During the morning hours we sailed past a 15 (!) mile long ice berg (or ice island as Iggy calls it), quite spectacular. 

 

 

[florisdekort]

We’re now en route to our second stop, Damoy Point. Interestingly this is my second Seabourn Antarctica cruise and both our first two stops have been locations we didn’t go to last time. Nice bonus!

 

Some photos from yesterday’s kayaking below. 

 

[florisdekort]

Sailing towards Damoy Point this morning...