LIVE Coral Princess Jan 5 - 21 Antarctica

[gottagocit]

26 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

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. 

Okay. Thanks. 

[azbirdmom]

1 hour ago, gottagocit said:

Okay. Thanks. 

Captain told us this morning it was in diesel generator 3 which remains down but does not impact our voyage. He said it will be fixed ashore, BA or Montevideo. 

[gottagocit]

58 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

Captain told us this morning it was in diesel generator 3 which remains down but does not impact our voyage. He said it will be fixed ashore, BA or Montevideo. 

It’s good it wasn’t more serious and didn’t alter your trip in a large way. 
Hopefully it’s something they can repair or replace during a scheduled port stop and not impact our itinerary either or impact safety of course after we board on Tuesday. 

[lorri111]

9 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

Captain told us this morning it was in diesel generator 3 which remains down but does not impact our voyage. He said it will be fixed ashore, BA or Montevideo. 

Wahhh, hope it doesn't affect our boarding or cruise on Tues!

[holidayhelen]

Hope all is well - bridge cam still says 13.45 Thurs!

[erber]

Have a wonderful day in the Falkland Islands. I looked at the weather and it appears to be favorable (i.e. wind below 20 mph). Enjoy every minute. 🐧

[gottagocit]

6 hours ago, holidayhelen said:

Hope all is well - bridge cam still says 13.45 Thurs!

The marine traffic system shows the Coral in the bay off Stanley so it appears they were able to make the port stop. Hopefully the weather shows rain and windy today. Ugh. Hopefully the tender trips won’t be too rough. 
 

[azbirdmom]

We were able to make the port stop in Stanley and have had a wonderful day here.  The rain and winds held off for most of the day but both are kicking up now.  We visited Bluff Cove for the second time today and it did not disappoint.  The difference now is that only 10 minutes jostling in a 4 wheel drive vehicle now vs. the half hour-ish amount of time it took us 8 years ago.  That's because the road goes a little further now and by next year the road will go all the way there eliminating the need for the 4 wheel part of the journey.

 

There are now over 2 dozen Kings among the hundreds of Gentoos.  They were very entertaining!  The beach was a mess as the winds that at times gusted to as much as 90 MPH here in the last couple of days really churned up stuff from the sea and tossed it everywhere.  The penguin youngsters were quite tired out by the whole experience and most were laying down exhausted.

 

We heard that we were the first ship to make it to Stanley in days and the locals were glad to see us (and our $$) come ashore.  Truly a memorable day!

[Shaver John]

Just a couple of quick questions if you have time. Do you see Zumba on the patter? We are on the Coral on March 5th, and I love Zumba. Also, did you get a bar of soap? If not, I have plenty at home and will bring a couple to use. Do you know how may days it took to be in the top 40 luncheon? Also, is anyone celebrating their 500 days, we will be and I wonder what will be done. Thank you so much for you time and this wonderful review of the trip. We can hardly wait.Nancy....

[vickie_bernie]

10 minutes ago, Shaver John said:

Just a couple of quick questions if you have time. Do you see Zumba on the patter? We are on the Coral on March 5th, and I love Zumba. Also, did you get a bar of soap? If not, I have plenty at home and will bring a couple to use. Do you know how may days it took to be in the top 40 luncheon? Also, is anyone celebrating their 500 days, we will be and I wonder what will be done. Thank you so much for you time and this wonderful review of the trip. We can hardly wait.Nancy....

 

 

We recently celebrated pur 750 days.  We got vip status.  Champagne, flowers, tour of the bridge, recognition at captain circle party, and sabatini breakfast.

 

At 500 days you get allthe above but sadly no sabatinis until 750.

 

Congratulations and enjoy

[erber]

47 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

We were able to make the port stop in Stanley and have had a wonderful day here.  The rain and winds held off for most of the day but both are kicking up now.  We visited Bluff Cove for the second time today and it did not disappoint.  The difference now is that only 10 minutes jostling in a 4 wheel drive vehicle now vs. the half hour-ish amount of time it took us 8 years ago.  That's because the road goes a little further now and by next year the road will go all the way there eliminating the need for the 4 wheel part of the journey.

 

 

We heard that we were the first ship to make it to Stanley in days and the locals were glad to see us (and our $$) come ashore.  Truly a memorable day!

So glad you were able to tender in the Falklands and that Bluff Cove was great. I enjoyed every minute of it in late December. It sounds like it has been a great trip, in spite of the bumps at the beginning. 

[azbirdmom]

33 minutes ago, Shaver John said:

Just a couple of quick questions if you have time. Do you see Zumba on the patter? We are on the Coral on March 5th, and I love Zumba. Also, did you get a bar of soap? If not, I have plenty at home and will bring a couple to use. Do you know how may days it took to be in the top 40 luncheon? Also, is anyone celebrating their 500 days, we will be and I wonder what will be done. Thank you so much for you time and this wonderful review of the trip. We can hardly wait.Nancy....

 

Have not seen Zumba for this sailing but a lot has been different.  For example, the usual South America itinerary would have tango dancers and other entertainment from the region.  Antarctica has been the main attraction on this cruise and lectures have replaced some of the normal things.  So you may have additional entertainment options on your cruise.

 

Bar soap is still at the sinks on the Coral.  If you absolutely need it, bring it along as no one knows how long they will disappear from all the ships.

 

MTP was above 400, not sure exactly what the threshold was but we know someone in the mid-400's and they made it.  The Hotel General Manager did something different this cruise and had an MTP-like cocktail party for everyone sailing in a full suite.  It was a nice event and although no one from the bridge team made it (they were busy as we were approaching Elephant Island at the time), the rest of the Senior Officers and managers were very well represented.

 

Don't know about anyone celebrating 500 days but will ask Crissy the Captain's Circle Hostess the next time I see her.

[azbirdmom]

3 minutes ago, erber said:

So glad you were able to tender in the Falklands and that Bluff Cove was great. I enjoyed every minute of it in late December. It sounds like it has been a great trip, in spite of the bumps at the beginning. 

 

It's been amazing.  Even though we lost two days in Antarctica and Punta Arenas I can't imagine having a better cruise experience than what we've already had.

[sunny88]

29 minutes ago, Shaver John said:

Just a couple of quick questions if you have time. Do you see Zumba on the patter? We are on the Coral on March 5th, and I love Zumba. Also, did you get a bar of soap? If not, I have plenty at home and will bring a couple to use. Do you know how may days it took to be in the top 40 luncheon? Also, is anyone celebrating their 500 days, we will be and I wonder what will be done. Thank you so much for you time and this wonderful review of the trip. We can hardly wait.Nancy....

Zumba instructor injured her ankle on our first sea day 12/3/19, Doc. told her to rest a month or so, so they did not offer Zumba through 1/5/20 when we got off the ship.   But they did have a very good Line dancing class, lead by the Dancers, like a mini Zumba.  However I heard the dancers/signers got off on 1/5 as well, they have a new team now.  They should have a Zumba class soon, I hope.  Ampalo is good, we had her for one day Zumba class in Dec./2019. 

We had soaps on the ship for our trip. 

[azbirdmom]

Sad news to report. Heard some passengers talking about this on the tender but did not want to say anything until confirmed.  Four passengers are not continuing on with us as they were involved in a car accident. The Captain said that their injuries were not life threatening thankfully but they need to remain in Stanley.  Also they are disembarking an ill crew member here.  With all of the joy there are reminders to appreciate every day as things can change in an instant. 

Edited January 17, 2020 by azbirdmom

[gottagocit]

38 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

Sad news to report. Heard some passengers talking about this on the tender but did not want to say anything until confirmed.  Four passengers are not continuing on with us as they were involved in a car accident. The Captain said that their injuries were not life threatening thankfully but they need to remain in Stanley.  Also they are disembarking an ill crew member here.  With all of the joy there are reminders to appreciate every day as things can change in an instant. 

That’s an awful way to end a cruise. Hope they recover and get home okay. 
Did you hear whether they were in a car they rented and therefore driving themselves or were they on a tour at the time of the accident?

 

It’s great you all were able to go ashore and see the wonderful destination. I sure hope we get to do so as well next Saturday. 
 

Chris

[KYteach]

4 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

 

It's been amazing.  Even though we lost two days in Antarctica and Punta Arenas I can't imagine having a better cruise experience than what we've already had.

This is Sandye (travelled with you on your previous South America cruise and played trivia with you). I have SO enjoyed following along with you—and would love to take this trip. Thanks for the inspiration! We leave in a couple of weeks to cruise from Sydney to Singapore! Looking forward to it. Safe travels!

[Mamai5]

10 hours ago, KYteach said:

This is Sandye (travelled with you on your previous South America cruise and played trivia with you). I have SO enjoyed following along with you—and would love to take this trip. Thanks for the inspiration! We leave in a couple of weeks to cruise from Sydney to Singapore! Looking forward to it. Safe travels!

Hi Sandye, my name is Susan, and we traveled with you on the North Cape Cruise. I remember how much we had in common...teachers. Your CC handle rang a bell. And I looked back at my emails and found one from you. Hope you are both well, and continue to travel the world. We are getting on this cruise on the 21st, and will be happy to share our experiences. Take care. 

[azbirdmom]

10 hours ago, KYteach said:

This is Sandye (travelled with you on your previous South America cruise and played trivia with you). I have SO enjoyed following along with you—and would love to take this trip. Thanks for the inspiration! We leave in a couple of weeks to cruise from Sydney to Singapore! Looking forward to it. Safe travels!

 

Sandye!  Hope you are well.  That was a wonderful cruise and I have thought often about it during this cruise.  No trivia for us this time - it would be hard to beat the team we had that trip with our varied knowledge of different topics.  And funny but I was thinking about our sailaway party from Montevideo this morning right after I woke up.

 

We cruised roundtrip from Singapore last January and roundtrip from Sydney last October.  Love both!  Hope you have a fantastic cruise.

[jimbri]

Beautiful photos!

[jrblach]

Jan 13 – visit Cape Horn, Chile. Ship circled island. Steaming toward Antarctica.

 

Jan 14 – 15 – abbreviated 2 day compressed visit to Antarctica. This replaces the scheduled 4 day visit.  Temperatures ranged from 36F to 30F.  2C to -2C.

Sunrise 3am   sunset 10pm.  Lat/long 62.

 

Place visited	Time & TEMP	Details of the visit
JAN 14
start scenic crusing Anvers Island – Palmer station	1115 36F	Visibility good, low clouds, Ice bergs
Neumayer Channel	1215 -1415 36F	Ice bergs, penguins & seals on ice bergs, Visibility good, low clouds,
After – Gerliache straight	1415 36F	Visibility good, low clouds, ice covered land
Charlotte Bay	1900 – 2130 36 F	lots of whales, Ice bergs, penguins & seals on ice bergs, Visibility good, low clouds,
After – Gerliache straight	2130	ice covered land
JAN 15
Place visited	Time & TEMP	Details of the visit
Deception Island	545 to 630	fog caused visit to be discontinued & cancelled. We did not get up for this – too early
Admiralty Bay	1030 – 1400 32F-30F	Visited Stations Polish, Brazil, Peru. Polish came on ship. Few ice bergs. Gigantic penguin colony next to polish station
Elephant Island	2000 – 2200 30F-28F	Went along the coast for part of the Island. Beautiful sunset
Travel to Falkland Islands

 

Jan 15 – around 10 PM, the Captain announced a fire in the engine # 3 area. Smoke came into Decks 6 & 7. ships crew was put on full alert. Fire was put out and alert was cancelled. All entertainment and services stopped during the alert.

 

Jan 16 – at sea. 32F. Most traveled passengers lunch

 

Jan 17 – Falklands Islands. Private tour with Patrick Watts to see Penguins at Volunteer Point. Colonies consisting of thousands of Penguins – mainly King.

[gottagocit]

1 hour ago, jrblach said:

 

Jan 17 – Falklands Islands. Private tour with Patrick Watts to see Penguins at Volunteer Point. Colonies consisting of thousands of Penguins – mainly King.

Thanks for sharing the details of the Antarctic portion. Can’t wait to see it. 
 

How was the Patrick Watts tour? Was the route as bumpy and rough as some make it sound? Did you have any issue returning back to Stanley in plenty of time to get tender to ship? Any time to check out any of Stanley? Any regrets about taking it?

 

thanks,

Chris

[KYteach]

5 hours ago, Mamai5 said:

Hi Sandye, my name is Susan, and we traveled with you on the North Cape Cruise. I remember how much we had in common...teachers. Your CC handle rang a bell. And I looked back at my emails and found one from you. Hope you are both well, and continue to travel the world. We are getting on this cruise on the 21st, and will be happy to share our experiences. Take care. 

Susan—of course I remember you! The North Cape Cruise was one of my favorites! Now would love to take the Northern Lights Norway cruise. You would think our bucket list would be getting smaller—but it’s not!  Will look forward to sharing your South America travel experiences with you. Did I read that Princess will be eliminating the SA/Antarctica Cruise? Hope not as we are booked up through 2021. Happy travels.

[SheilaPybus]

On 1/15/2020 at 4:39 AM, holidayhelen said:

THANK YOU sooo much for these wonderful photos.  We board next Tuesday and are looking forward to seeing it all for ourselves.

 

On 1/15/2020 at 10:13 AM, Coral said:

Have a great cruise next week!

Great to meet you tonight Helen, see you onboard xx

 

[CTGirl]

12 hours ago, jrblach said:

Jan 16 – at sea. 32F. Most traveled passengers lunch

We were there too.  Which officer was at your table?  We were with the Entertainment Director and his wife.  We had a lively discussion.