LIVE Coral Princess Jan 5 - 21 Antarctica

[Summerprincess]

2 hours ago, Coral said:

Have a great cruise next week!

I wish you were coming too!  

I need to keep in better touch with you.  We still have fond memories of Norway and getting to know you.

Take  good care.  I hope all is well with you. 🙂

[Lucky TGO]

Good luck I hope things get a lot better for you. 
Tony

[donaldsc]

I did a cruise out of Ushuaia to the Falklands and S. Georgia Island.  There was a terrible storm but we managed to dodge it to get to both destinations.  The ships that were supposed to visit Antarctica from Ushuaia would not be able to dodge it and they stayed in Ushuaia for 2 days before they could leave.  In that part of the world stuff happens.  I should also mention that we could not dodge the storm coming back from S. Georgia and we encountered 100 knot winds.  It was sort of cool.  I love rough seas.

 

DON

[azbirdmom]

The whales were plentiful in Charlotte Bay last night. They put on a good show for us later and there was an incredible sunset. 

 

Could not see much of Deception Island early this morning due to fog, only the top, so that viewIng was aborted.

 

Admiralty Bay has been great with a stunning twin glacier and close views of the new Brazilian and Polish research bases.  They brought aboard some scientists from the Arctowski base and they gave a talk from the bridge that just ended. They have a sense of humor as their zodiac was flying a pirate flag. 
 

It is in the high 20’s with some wind but layered clothes, head / ear coverings and gloves have kept me comfortable. On the ship it is easy to duck inside to warm up although there are places forward on the Promenade deck where there is warm air blowing. We have gone all over the ship but mostly have spent time aft on Caribe and our suite balcony. Forward decks have been open. 
 

yesterday was the worst day for Internet but I was still able to post a few pictures at a time on FB. The one picture I posted here took 20 minutes to upload. 
 

Great cruise and great Antarctic experience. Even with the shortened time down here we don’t feel like we are missing a thing. 

[Wiusa]

The pirates (scientists from the Arctowski base) coming aboard and collecting their loot(fresh produce and pizza)

[azbirdmom]

22 hours ago, holidayhelen said:

 

 

I was showing my daughter this photo - ooohhhh she completely missed the point and said " Aww, azbirdmom has a black capped caique!!!!🤣

 

Yes we do!  And Ms. Poipu is no doubt cursing us out since we are leaving her at the birdie spa for quite a long time this trip!

[Piperpals]

On 1/9/2020 at 3:22 AM, erber said:

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.

Sorry if off topic but, how do you switch your Elite minutes?

Thanks

Helen

[erber]

When you log in to get your elite minutes or an internet  package, you have a choice to switch your minutes for a discounted package. 

[abbydancer2003]

I'm following.  I've done 2 Antarctic big ship trips.  Star Princess in 2010 - got to most of what we were supposed to, and then last year on the Eclipse - we had great days in Antarctica, but it was shorter than the Princess version.

 

We had so much fun on the Star that we had to go again.  We had great tablemates on that one.

[TeaBag]

Which did you like better, the Star or the Eclipse?

[Wiusa]

perfect sunset while the crew went on alert (all is well)

[abbydancer2003]

1 hour ago, TeaBag said:

Which did you like better, the Star or the Eclipse?

The Star had a better itinerary - ie 16 days vs 14, so one more in Antarctica and we got Pueto Arenas and the Beagle channel.  h

 

I like the Eclipse better a ship, though, and the X experience slightly more.

 

The Coral right now is my favorite Princess ship.

 

[cruisebie]

1 hour ago, Wiusa said:

perfect sunset while the crew went on alert (all is well)

 

Wiusa, all of your photos are spectacular! This sunset may be the best of all!

[gottagocit]

1 hour ago, Wiusa said:

perfect sunset while the crew went on alert (all is well)

Beautiful sunset. 
Why was the crew placed on alert?

[xDisconnections]

39 minutes ago, gottagocit said:

Beautiful sunset. 
Why was the crew placed on alert?

Fire caused by an engine that was extinguished very quickly. The crew did a great job. 

[xDisconnections]

2 hours ago, Wiusa said:

perfect sunset while the crew went on alert (all is well)

By any chance, were you on Deck 15 for this spending some time near the door by the midship elevator? I think we were taking pictures next to each other.

[holidayhelen]

3 hours ago, xDisconnections said:

Fire caused by an engine that was extinguished very quickly. The crew did a great job. 

 

We have had this before - and luckily there was another ship very near us that came along side to help if needed.   But it was dealt with very well and then the captain put something on the telly to show us how it happens.

 

~Wonderful photos - we just can't wait for Tues

 

Helen

[azbirdmom]

These were from the night before last after we left Charlotte Bay. My husband saw the sun hitting the iceberg off our balcony and I raced to the aft deck on Caribe to catch the sunset. 

Edited January 16, 2020 by azbirdmom

[azbirdmom]

Elephant Island last night. Our final Antarctic attraction. It was 28 but the windchill made it feel like it was in the low teens. 

[azbirdmom]

7 hours ago, xDisconnections said:

Fire caused by an engine that was extinguished very quickly. The crew did a great job. 

Agree!  Captain McBain kept us well informed too. After the all clear we went to the casino and the deck six hallway was very smoky but they cleared that quickly. 

[gottagocit]

8 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

Agree!  Captain McBain kept us well informed too. After the all clear we went to the casino and the deck six hallway was very smoky but they cleared that quickly. 

Have they described what caused the fire or what was damaged as a result of it? 

[cruisebie]

28 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

These were from the night before last after we left Charlotte Bay. My husband saw the sun hitting the iceberg off our balcony and I raced to the aft deck on Caribe to catch the sunset. 

 

Azbirdmom, what a unique picture of the iceberg! Lovely! 

 

Thanks to all of you for sharing your trip and photos with us! It's making it very hard to wait until next Dec for my turn.

[lorri111]

Stunning shots, thanks for sharing!

[erber]

Marvelous photos. So glad you had a great Antarctic experience! Hope that the Falklands are not windy so you can tender. Enjoy the rest of the trip. 

[azbirdmom]

1 hour ago, gottagocit said:

Have they described what caused the fire or what was damaged as a result of it? 

They only said engine #3. A crew member I spoke to this morning said this one had them a little scared given weather conditions and our location. Crew all had to stop what they were doing and go to their assigned locations. Elevators were stopped until the all clear was sounded. Kind of makes me feel safer given how they handled this situation. And when it was over the Captain did say we were heading for Stanley as planned and that we expect to arrive as scheduled on Friday, no doubt to quash speculation.