LIVE Coral Princess Jan 5 - 21 Antarctica

[erber]

I  had no idea they ran out of ice cream cones! I was too cold to have ice cream after  the Falkland Islands! 

 

I truly have trust in the Captain and certainly feel that on the previous cruise (which I was on) that decisions regarding missing Montevideo or specific points of interest in Antarctica related solely to weather conditions.  For example, there were gale force winds preventing our docking in Montevideo. I don't know whether it would be permissible to eliminate a port  solely to give additional time for scenic cruising in Antarctica. Moreover, it is possible the weather conditions forecast for the Antarctic portion of the cruise suggests problems for being able to see all the proposed portions on the projected route. Even though our specific points of interest to see during Antarctic cruising were revised due to weather conditions, the Captain made every effort to find amazing things for us to see instead in other locations of the Antarctic area (amazing icebergs and a fabulous amount of wildlife in Charlotte Bay). 

 

I agree with LGeo who stated: "I’ve never had an opinion about a captain before this cruise and came away really impressed with Captain McBain. I truly believe he will do his best to give you a great experience but he’s always going to prioritize safety (as he should)." 

 

I hope that the rest of this cruise proves to be smooth sailing and that you all see amazing scenery and enjoy this pristine part of the world. It was really the most amazing experience.

[lorri111]

Can I ask if you know if the wine packages (I think gold is the only one available now) is available on this cruise? It is sometimes, not always, offered on cruises over 7 nights. We are on 21st and curious to know.

[heathriel]

Just want to chime in and give some updates/etc for those who are interested in knowing a bit more about this cruise from a different perspective.

 

I’m onboard with a group, some of which were scheduled to do the Antarctica landing excursion in Punta Arenas. We are obviously disappointed that we don’t get to do it due to the missed port, but we are much happier that we got a full refund for the excursion than the alternative (if we had landed in Punta Arenas, the tour would have taken off — and with the weather forecast as it is we likely wouldn’t have gotten to Antarctica, so the ship would charged half and flown us elsewhere.)

 

The staff is doing an amazing job — they are friendly and accommodating as always on Princess. I am traveling in a Vista Suite as a Platinum passenger, but I have many in my group who are on their first cruise ever and are in all categories — and everyone says the same.

 

The seas have been getting steadily more rough the more south we get. While we aren’t going fast, the ship is rolling quite a bit. We keep going out the deck 10 front door to watch the pitch and roll and it is quite a thing. Handrails are definitely needed in the Horizon Court, and drinks there shouldn’t be filled all the way up or they get spilled.

 

There are lots of cool birds following the boat, and we have spotted some neat other wildlife in the water — seals and things like that. Have been told by Juta, the German host, that our new itinerary will be a spectacular viewing route for the Chilean fjords and glaciers and all associated wildlife, so we are incredibly lucky to get to do it. She said the last cruise had a lot of fog and was difficult to do the wildlife spotting so we are already having a better time of it in that regard.

 

Side note: the younger kids in our group are totally enthralled with the kids program. They don’t want to leave it every day when they get kicked out at 10:00pm. The teens are happy to go back and forth, and have especially enjoyed the naturalist lectures.

 

And for any of you interested in the Voice of the Ocean, three in our group are competing in the finals (we were only given two votes as a whole group to our non-singing members, btw — so they got in based on their own merit!) so I can answer questions about that as well. Likewise, we’ve been enjoying a lot of the activities onboard the ship and cruise director Fernando and team have been doing an awesome job keeping everyone entertained.

 

The thing we keep telling ourselves and our group members is that the first thing you need to remember about Antarctica is that, while underneath the ice it is a stable ecosystem, above the water it is the harshest and most unpredictable places on earth. Less than 1% of people on the planet ever get to be in the Antarctic region, and we are fortunate enough to be among those who can bear witness to its beauty, its grandeur, and its fragility. 
 

I look at the children on this ship and can’t help but think how much broader their lives will be from having been here — and sincerely hope that it will still be when they are my age.

 

And, when it comes down to it — that’s really why we’re here, right?
 

Well, that and penguins.

[LGeo]

50 minutes ago, heathriel said:

Just want to chime in and give some updates/etc for those who are interested in knowing a bit more about this cruise from a different perspective.

 

I’m onboard with a group, some of which were scheduled to do the Antarctica landing excursion in Punta Arenas. We are obviously disappointed that we don’t get to do it due to the missed port, but we are much happier that we got a full refund for the excursion than the alternative (if we had landed in Punta Arenas, the tour would have taken off — and with the weather forecast as it is we likely wouldn’t have gotten to Antarctica, so the ship would charged half and flown us elsewhere.)

 

The staff is doing an amazing job — they are friendly and accommodating as always on Princess. I am traveling in a Vista Suite as a Platinum passenger, but I have many in my group who are on their first cruise ever and are in all categories — and everyone says the same.

 

The seas have been getting steadily more rough the more south we get. While we aren’t going fast, the ship is rolling quite a bit. We keep going out the deck 10 front door to watch the pitch and roll and it is quite a thing. Handrails are definitely needed in the Horizon Court, and drinks there shouldn’t be filled all the way up or they get spilled.

 

There are lots of cool birds following the boat, and we have spotted some neat other wildlife in the water — seals and things like that. Have been told by Juta, the German host, that our new itinerary will be a spectacular viewing route for the Chilean fjords and glaciers and all associated wildlife, so we are incredibly lucky to get to do it. She said the last cruise had a lot of fog and was difficult to do the wildlife spotting so we are already having a better time of it in that regard.

 

Side note: the younger kids in our group are totally enthralled with the kids program. They don’t want to leave it every day when they get kicked out at 10:00pm. The teens are happy to go back and forth, and have especially enjoyed the naturalist lectures.

 

And for any of you interested in the Voice of the Ocean, three in our group are competing in the finals (we were only given two votes as a whole group to our non-singing members, btw — so they got in based on their own merit!) so I can answer questions about that as well. Likewise, we’ve been enjoying a lot of the activities onboard the ship and cruise director Fernando and team have been doing an awesome job keeping everyone entertained.

 

The thing we keep telling ourselves and our group members is that the first thing you need to remember about Antarctica is that, while underneath the ice it is a stable ecosystem, above the water it is the harshest and most unpredictable places on earth. Less than 1% of people on the planet ever get to be in the Antarctic region, and we are fortunate enough to be among those who can bear witness to its beauty, its grandeur, and its fragility. 
 

I look at the children on this ship and can’t help but think how much broader their lives will be from having been here — and sincerely hope that it will still be when they are my age.

 

And, when it comes down to it — that’s really why we’re here, right?
 

Well, that and penguins.

I think you have a great mindset Heathriel. If it makes your landing expedition folks feel better, the Antarctica landing AND Torres del Paine excursions were both canceled last trip due to insurance issues. Without those, Punta Arenas is a somewhat limited port in terms of activities/things to see (and there are penguin tours at each port) so I personally think the Puerto Montt and Chilean Fjords are a really nice add given the circumstances- especially with the weather. 
 

A site I found useful was passageweather dot com. It shows wave height forecasts and wave directions and was accurate for us last week. You had some whoppers on your route (made worse by wave direction) but your new crossing days look fairly calm (so far),  
 

I hope you enjoy the rest of the trip! It gets better and better the closer you get to Antarctica and Patagonia. 

[azbirdmom]

I am on the cruise too and while skeptical at times about what we are being told, we are "rolling with it", literally at the moment.  I had heard from one of the officers that the skipping of Montevideo on the last cruise did create some provisioning challenges that contributed to the initial delay.  The fuel and then the worsening storm created the rest.  You cannot control mother nature and I do think they are doing the best they can to deliver the best experience they can under the circumstances.  Fingers crossed that the Captain is able to deliver on the "highlights" when we get down to the main attraction of this cruise and that mother nature is kind enough to allow that.

[OzCanuck]

Any idea how many kids on the cruise? 

[heathriel]

That’s good to know about the last Tripp’s excursions! I’m sure that added to the decision as well.

 

Here are the Princess Patters so far for this trip. Hope people find these as useful as I did!

 

I don’t know how many kids are on board, but I’ve seen more than 20.

Day1.pdf Scannable Document on Jan 8, 2020 at 2_30_22 PM.pdf Day3.pdf Day4.pdf

[cecimar]

What is really odd is that the Celebrity Eclipse, which was anchored next to the Coral Princess in San Antonio and was also affected by late arrival of the refuelling boat, got to Puerto Montt yesterday at 9 a.m. and sailed away to Punta Arenas at 6 pm same day. It's odd that a similar vessel could do it and we are still on our way to Puerto Montt.

Edited January 8, 2020 by cecimar

[jrblach]

Jan 8 - SLOW BOAT TO CHINA. Ship going very slow thru very calm seas. Captain has promised to provide map and details of our brief “2” day visit to Antarctica.

Jan 9 – still a slow boat to China. Seas a little rough, winds 50 mph, ship rocky & bumpy.  Internet is slow. No info on Antarctica yet. Storm is many hundreds miles away.

we probably will only post and not read since have limited internet minutes. if you have any questions, send email to world2021@yahoo.com

you are welcome to post our responses to your email on cruise critic

[azbirdmom]

18 minutes ago, cecimar said:

What is really odd is that the Celebrity Eclipse, which was anchored next to the Coral Princess in San Antonio and was also affected by late arrival of the refuelling boat, got to Puerto Montt yesterday at 9 a.m. and sailed away to Punta Arenas at 6 pm same day. It's odd that a similar vessel could do it and we are still on our way to Puerto Montt.

Is the Eclipse going to Antarctica as well?  Were their original plans to go to Puerto Montt or did they substitute ports?  Just wondering if they are on their normal itinerary. 

[azbirdmom]

This is right by the International Cafe. 

[ebeluga]

X Eclipse schedule, they are not going to Antarctica.  PM is on the original itinerary.

https://www.cruisetimetables.com/celebritycruises-05jan2020.html

[xDisconnections]

31 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

Is the Eclipse going to Antarctica as well?  Were their original plans to go to Puerto Montt or did they substitute ports?  Just wondering if they are on their normal itinerary. 

No Antarctica- just the normal South America segment around the Horn. I don’t believe there have been any changes despite what we are being told onboard the Coral Princess.

[Wiusa]

1 hour ago, cecimar said:

What is really odd is that the Celebrity Eclipse, which was anchored next to the Coral Princess in San Antonio and was also affected by late arrival of the refuelling boat, got to Puerto Montt yesterday at 9 a.m. and sailed away to Punta Arenas at 6 pm same day. It's odd that a similar vessel could do it and we are still on our way to Puerto Montt.

Today Eclipse cancelled their call to Punta Arenas for the 10th

[xDisconnections]

12 minutes ago, Wiusa said:

Today Eclipse cancelled their call to Punta Arenas for the 10th

Thanks for the update! 

[ridgerunner51]

2 hours ago, heathriel said:

That’s good to know about the last Tripp’s excursions! I’m sure that added to the decision as well.

 

Here are the Princess Patters so far for this trip. Hope people find these as useful as I did!

 

I don’t know how many kids are on board, but I’ve seen more than 20.

Day1.pdf 3.23 MB · 12 downloads Scannable Document on Jan 8, 2020 at 2_30_22 PM.pdf 3.03 MB · 3 downloads Day3.pdf 0 B · 3 downloads Day4.pdf 0 B · 3 downloads

 

Thank you for doing this.  Day3 and Day4 are 0 B and will not open. 

 

[azbirdmom]

1 hour ago, xDisconnections said:

No Antarctica- just the normal South America segment around the Horn. I don’t believe there have been any changes despite what we are being told onboard the Coral Princess.

That’s what I thought. We had to alter our itinerary and make arrangements with the ports etc. whereas they were just proceeding on their normal schedule. Well until they cancelled Punta Arenas that is. Makes a huge difference. 

[heathriel]

Our internet is getting Slower/spottier the more south we go. Trying again.

 

Day3.pdf Day4.pdf

[ridgerunner51]

3 minutes ago, heathriel said:

Our internet is getting Slower/spottier the more south we go. Trying again.

 

Day3.pdf 3.7 MB · 1 download Day4.pdf 3.66 MB · 1 download

 

Thank you for taking the time to do this.

 

[heathriel]

8 minutes ago, ridgerunner51 said:

 

Thank you for taking the time to do this.

 

No problem! Its always so helpful to me when planning things, so I'm going to take pictures of *all* of them along the way. Sometimes you'll get them in a chunk like this though!

[erber]

I was unable to post photos etc for several days on cruise critic during the cruise when we were heading down to Antarctica. But, I was still able to share photos on WhatsApp and Instagram when in Antarctica. 

[holidayhelen]

13 hours ago, erber said:

I was unable to post photos etc for several days on cruise critic during the cruise when we were heading down to Antarctica. But, I was still able to share photos on WhatsApp and Instagram when in Antarctica. 

 

Did you have an internet package?  we have got the unlimited package - but realise that it may not be all that good the whole cruise

[heathriel]

We have the 4 device package.

 

 

 

Day5.pdf

[erber]

I swapped my elite minutes and then paid for  the unlimited package for one device. My husband used his elite minutes and after using them up we would just switch which device we were using the unlimited package on.

 

So, yes, I was using an internet package when trying to upload photos to cruise critic or use WhatsApp etc. While WhatsApp and Instagram could handle uploads even far south most of the time, uploads to cruise critic would fail every time until we were further north again. Pure text posts would work on cruise critic regardless of location.

[jrblach]

We are in Puerto montttt 50f rain free Wifi at port with seats and Bathrooms. Ship cold .   food .entertain. Lectures good. From. My pad.gave map of inside passage. No info on Antarctica

We have a great attitude. We booked b 2 b since all r cruisers in this area had problems. we trying to report the facts