LIVE Coral Princess Jan 5 - 21 Antarctica

[holidayhelen]

10 hours ago, SheilaPybus said:

 

Great to meet you tonight Helen, see you onboard xx

 

 

 

Hello. Great to meet you too. Tour this morning

 

Helen

[LunaSeaRetreat]

On 1/7/2020 at 5:52 PM, lorri111 said:

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.

We are on the March 5 cruise and would also like to know if the wine package is offered?  Thanks to everyone for all the great information and pictures.  

Cynthia

[Wiusa]

5 hours ago, LunaSeaRetreat said:

like to know if the wine package is offered? 

It’s offered, but you may need to ask for a head waiter or supervisor if the server seems unsure. 

[heathriel]

Sorry I was a slacker on uploading these — I was busy running our conference + the internet wasn’t great + I was being present to the awesomeness of where we were.

Managed to snag a win in the Marriage Match game and my husband won Voice of the Ocean since we last posted though — and we saw penguins, whales, dolphins, seals, icebergs, sheep — it’s been a great trip.

 

Here are all the Patters!

January 12.pdf January 13.pdf January 14.pdf January 15.pdf January 16.pdf January 17.pdf January 18.pdf January 19.pdf January 20.pdf Misc.pdf January 21.pdf

[Shaver John]

How many days did it take to be invited to the top 40 Most Traveled Guest? Please let me know if you do not mind.

[azbirdmom]

3 minutes ago, Shaver John said:

How many days did it take to be invited to the top 40 Most Traveled Guest? Please let me know if you do not mind.

Sorry but I missed Crissy- I tried to find out for you.  @CTGirl went and should be able to tell you as she qualified. 

[azbirdmom]

1 hour ago, heathriel said:

Managed to snag a win in the Marriage Match game and my husband won Voice of the Ocean since we last posted though

 

 

Congratulations on both!

[azbirdmom]

We will be a little late leaving Montevideo today. They are still loading provisions which they have been doing all day which should mean the next cruise will be in great shape. They have been loading palettes all day.

 

They also appeared to be doing some work on the generator so I am guessing that situation will be resolved for the next cruise too. 

 

Very sad that we are getting kicked off the ship tomorrow. To those boarding - if you enjoy it even half as much as we did, you are in for a once in a lifetime experience. Have fun!

[CTGirl]

1 hour ago, Shaver John said:

How many days did it take to be invited to the top 40 Most Traveled Guest? Please let me know if you do not mind.

I think the cut off was something like 490. It was a very nice lunch. 

[LunaSeaRetreat]

21 hours ago, Wiusa said:

It’s offered, but you may need to ask for a head waiter or supervisor if the server seems unsure. 

Thanks, glad to hear the wine package is available.

[heathriel]

And the last bit, here is the Captain’s Log.

Log.pdf

[DaisyRose]

Did anyone ever find out why the fuel delivery was delayed, thus causing a late start to this cruise and the loss of one day in Antarctica?

[azbirdmom]

1 hour ago, DaisyRose said:

Did anyone ever find out why the fuel delivery was delayed, thus causing a late start to this cruise and the loss of one day in Antarctica?

 

We were told that they didn't have the right kind of fuel in San Antonio which seemed odd.  The ship did get their fuel from a barge the next day with "Valparaiso" on the back.  It is weird but it was their first visit to San Antonio this season and the situation in Chile has been unsettled.  Some here have said that there was a strike at the port but I never heard that officially.  The weather was also a huge factor as the waves and winds off the coast of Chile were quite high and other ships were also impacted.  Despite losing two days in Antarctica, what we saw was incredible - I didn't hear anyone complain after our visit there.

[I_Luv_To_Travel]

I’m in the process of reading through all the posts so thought I’d ask a question while I continue to read through.

I sailed with Princess last year on the South American cruise from Buenos Aires to Santiago. Unfortunately Princess didn’t offer the Antarctica extension last year so I’m looking at that for next year. I’m assuming that with the scenic cruising along the Antarctic coastline it does not make any difference which side of the ship your cabin is on as the ship will rotate for everyone to get a good view. Is this correct or is one side better than the other?

I’ll continue reading through the posts now!!

[azbirdmom]

18 hours ago, I_Luv_To_Travel said:

I’m in the process of reading through all the posts so thought I’d ask a question while I continue to read through.

I sailed with Princess last year on the South American cruise from Buenos Aires to Santiago. Unfortunately Princess didn’t offer the Antarctica extension last year so I’m looking at that for next year. I’m assuming that with the scenic cruising along the Antarctic coastline it does not make any difference which side of the ship your cabin is on as the ship will rotate for everyone to get a good view. Is this correct or is one side better than the other?

I’ll continue reading through the posts now!!

 

In Antarctica it mostly did not matter in terms of wildlife and ice - we saw it on both sides.  But when it came to Deception and Elephant Islands, the same side of the ship that is good for the South American portion is good for those as well which is the land side.  So if you're leaving from San Antonio and going to BA, the port side is best as you'll be on the correct side for Glacier Alley and Cape Horn.  And if you're going in the reverse direction, the starboard side tends to be best.

[DaisyRose]

Thank you AZBirdMom, for your response.  I, too, think it is weird that they did not have the right type of fuel in San Antonio.  Princess knew two years ago that their ship would be in San Antonio needing fuel on January 5, so I am sure they ordered what they needed a long time ago.  I guess we'll never know for sure.  It's true that what we saw was incredible, pictures and memories to last a life time.  And we do feel grateful to have been able to experience this beautiful place.  However, I can't help feeling a bit cheated as well.  I don't expect to ever be back to this part of the world again.  And although we had two days, I can't help but wonder what else we might have seen if we had the four days that were scheduled.  I don't blame Princess at all;  I feel they did the best they could under the circumstances.  And as seasoned travelers, we know that there are often things that just don't go as planned, and you just have to make the best of it.  So I'm happy we got there, just wish it would have been a little longer. I am also extremely grateful that we got in to Stanley, Falkland Islands, where many of us were able to see the penguins up close.  I've read that as many as 50% of calls there are sometimes cancelled due to weather, so we are incredibly lucky to have gotten in to Stanley.  

[azbirdmom]

2 hours ago, DaisyRose said:

Thank you AZBirdMom, for your response.  I, too, think it is weird that they did not have the right type of fuel in San Antonio.  Princess knew two years ago that their ship would be in San Antonio needing fuel on January 5, so I am sure they ordered what they needed a long time ago.  I guess we'll never know for sure.  It's true that what we saw was incredible, pictures and memories to last a life time.  And we do feel grateful to have been able to experience this beautiful place.  However, I can't help feeling a bit cheated as well.  I don't expect to ever be back to this part of the world again.  And although we had two days, I can't help but wonder what else we might have seen if we had the four days that were scheduled.  I don't blame Princess at all;  I feel they did the best they could under the circumstances.  And as seasoned travelers, we know that there are often things that just don't go as planned, and you just have to make the best of it.  So I'm happy we got there, just wish it would have been a little longer. I am also extremely grateful that we got in to Stanley, Falkland Islands, where many of us were able to see the penguins up close.  I've read that as many as 50% of calls there are sometimes cancelled due to weather, so we are incredibly lucky to have gotten in to Stanley.  

 

Agree with you, I think we would have been able to linger in some of the incredible places longer and we will never know what other amazing things we might have seen.  I got that feeling when I watched the showing of the DVD for Antarctica and they added the bit from the first cruise of the penguins running across the iceberg and one by one diving off the edge.

 

By the way, I had heard from one of the staff that provisioning had an impact on our delay as well.  They were supposed to get provisions in Montevideo on the trip before our's but missing that port meant they needed more in San Antonio.  Again, that was known 2 weeks before and should have been solvable.  It didn't ring true with me until I saw all of the provisions they loaded on at Montevideo - and it went on all day past sailaway time.

[wheezedr]

2 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

 

Agree with you, I think we would have been able to linger in some of the incredible places longer and we will never know what other amazing things we might have seen.  I got that feeling when I watched the showing of the DVD for Antarctica and they added the bit from the first cruise of the penguins running across the iceberg and one by one diving off the edge.

 

By the way, I had heard from one of the staff that provisioning had an impact on our delay as well.  They were supposed to get provisions in Montevideo on the trip before our's but missing that port meant they needed more in San Antonio.  Again, that was known 2 weeks before and should have been solvable.  It didn't ring true with me until I saw all of the provisions they loaded on at Montevideo - and it went on all day past sailaway time.

We were on the preceding cruise and did in fact miss Montevideo.  They ran short on some items and actually took on some things from the Zaandam while we were in the Falklands.  Nobody starved however and we had a wonderful time in Antarctica.  Sorry to hear your time was shortened 

[pompeii]

My gripe is that we didn't stay in Charlotte Bay for our full allotted time.  We were scheduled to arrive at  8pm and leave at 10:30pm, and we arrived about an hour or so early.  Which was perfect, until we left after less than an hour and a half, instead of staying the full the full two and a half hours.  An hour short may not sound like much, but this was the most magical place with just us, the silence, and the whales all around.  And since our time in Antarctica was already shortened so much, there was no reason to cheat us here.  We did not need the extra hour to get to Deception Island by 5:45am the next morning.  We could have stayed until 9 or 9:30 and still been ahead of schedule.  There was certainly not one person on board saying "Well, this is boring, let's get out of here."

 

Our cabin was Baja forward on the port side, and the naturalist (can't remember which one) was outside the bridge on the little platform right above us when he concluded his commentary for the evening.  After he turned his mike off, I asked him why we were leaving early, and he answered "well, we got here early."   When I replied I know that but we didn't stay the full 2:30 hours, he turned and walked back onto the bridge saying "I wouldn't know, I don't second guess the captain."  Gee, thanks for the explanation.

[ebeluga]

9 minutes ago, pompeii said:

My gripe is that we didn't stay in Charlotte Bay for our full allotted time.  We were scheduled to arrive at  8pm and leave at 10:30pm, and we arrived about an hour or so early.  Which was perfect, until we left after less than an hour and a half, instead of staying the full the full two and a half hours.  An hour short may not sound like much, but this was the most magical place with just us, the silence, and the whales all around.  And since our time in Antarctica was already shortened so much, there was no reason to cheat us here.  We did not need the extra hour to get to Deception Island by 5:45am the next morning.  We could have stayed until 9 or 9:30 and still been ahead of schedule.  There was certainly not one person on board saying "Well, this is boring, let's get out of here."

 

Our cabin was Baja forward on the port side, and the naturalist (can't remember which one) was outside the bridge on the little platform right above us when he concluded his commentary for the evening.  After he turned his mike off, I asked him why we were leaving early, and he answered "well, we got here early."   When I replied I know that but we didn't stay the full 2:30 hours, he turned and walked back onto the bridge saying "I wouldn't know, I don't second guess the captain."  Gee, thanks for the explanation.

My sentiment exactly!!

[Casey12]

I wish there was a current live from from this next cruise.

[teachberry]

10 hours ago, Casey12 said:

I wish there was a current live from from this next cruise.

We seem to have lost the OP! I have a friend on the Coral currently and he reported a wonderful day in the Falklands and internet will be spotty to nonexistent for several days.

[lois1112]

I am currently on coral

so far great weather

had calm seas and great weather in falklands.     I would highly recommend volunteer point ( I used Patrick watts)

For the person who asked about wine packages all I see is the premier beverage package: beverages up to $12 cocktails and wine by glass.  Available first day of cruise only 59.99 per per per day.  Unless you are huge drinkers I would just buy the wine you like.   Not ate huge selection of “local” wines on menu (about 7) one of head waiters told me it had to do with consistency in getting wine on board

[Mamai5]

We too are currently on the Coral, and they are selling the wine package. They are only offering the gold package...we bought the seven bottle package.

[travellingnana]

6 hours ago, lois1112 said:

I am currently on coral so far great weather had calm seas and great weather in falklands.     I would highly recommend volunteer point ( I used Patrick watts)

How bad was the trip out to Volunteer Point?  Husband insists on going (we're on the Jan 2021 cruise), but I'm worried it will kill his back.