Antartica

[kiwimum]

22 hours ago, ldtr said:

Last time I was in Antarctica it was from Sept 25 until Dec 15. Thought that was not long enough.

 

McMurdo Station Ross Island.

What year.  DH was there and Pole 1974, 75, 76.

[BSinPNS]

As mentioned previously, you may stroll or dance with the penguins in Puerto Madryn, Punta Arenas, Ushuaia, and the Falklands.  They are in their natural envionment, but it doesn't include snow.  For us, it satisfied our desires to be with the penguins, but beat the cost of a true expedition cruise.

[Guest ldtr]

56 minutes ago, kiwimum said:

What year.  DH was there and Pole 1974, 75, 76.

81, 82, 83  from late september through mid December each year..  Spent a fair amount of time camping and traversing on the sea ice in McMurdo sound. Visited the pole a couple of times.

 

Was he at Scott Base? We would go over there to trade cases of beer. They wanted the US brands and we wanted the NZ brands (the darker beers resisted freezing better when we were doing our field work.

Edited April 9, 2023 by ldtr

[OlsSalt]

25 minutes ago, ldtr said:

81, 82, 83  from late september through mid December each year..  Spent a fair amount of time camping and traversing on the sea ice in McMurdo sound. Visited the pole a couple of times.

 

Was he at Scott Base? We would go over there to trade cases of beer. They wanted the US brands and we wanted the NZ brands (the darker beers resisted freezing better when we were doing our field work.

 

Is it true you would measure the cold by how long it took to freeze a can of beer if left outside? As told on a solar eclipse tour ,by astro-physicist researcher  George Smoot about his wintering stay down under. McMurdo Station

[Guest ldtr]

39 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

 

Is it true you would measure the cold by how long it took to freeze a can of beer if left outside? As told on a solar eclipse tour ,by astro-physicist researcher  George Smoot about his wintering stay down under. McMurdo Station

We never tested that. Most of the time we were on the sea ice the temp was around 10 to 15 degree Fahrenheit.  Heavy dark NZ would not freeze, lighter US beers would. much much colder during winter over.

 

Our season would end when the sea ice in McMurdo started to break up.

Edited April 9, 2023 by ldtr

[kiwimum]

5 hours ago, ldtr said:

81, 82, 83  from late september through mid December each year..  Spent a fair amount of time camping and traversing on the sea ice in McMurdo sound. Visited the pole a couple of times.

 

Was he at Scott Base? We would go over there to trade cases of beer. They wanted the US brands and we wanted the NZ brands (the darker beers resisted freezing better when we were doing our field work.

No he was at McMurdo until they could fly to Pole.   Operation Deep Freeze out of Hueneme.   He also did a couple of early season fly ins to retrieve/catalog Scott’s Hut.

We sailed out of San Diego to Buenos Aires in December 2022 on Princess.  Spent Christmas in Antarctica.   Amazing trip even with missed ports due to weather and coup in Peru. 

Edited April 10, 2023 by kiwimum

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, kiwimum said:

No he was at McMurdo until they could fly to Pole.   Operation Deep Freeze out of Hueneme.   He also did a couple of early season fly ins to retrieve/catalog Scott’s Hut.

We sailed out of San Diego to Buenos Aires in December 2022 on Princess.  Spent Christmas in Antarctica.   Amazing trip even with missed ports due to weather and coup in Peru. 

He was on the Navy side?  Your handle threw me off and had me thinking the NZ program.

[iflyrc5]

This was from our 4 days in Antarctica on the Volendam in Feb 2020

[kiwimum]

1 hour ago, ldtr said:

He was on the Navy side?  Your handle threw me off and had me thinking the NZ program.

Yes, US Navy.  Evacuated from Pole with appendicitis to Christchurch,

my home.  Met, married and flew to US on brides flight at the end of 75 season.  Many amazing years traveling the world with the Navy, my career and retirement.

[Guest ldtr]

52 minutes ago, kiwimum said:

Yes, US Navy.  Evacuated from Pole with appendicitis to Christchurch,

my home.  Met, married and flew to US on brides flight at the end of 75 season.  Many amazing years traveling the world with the Navy, my career and retirement.

My wife's mother was a WWIi war bride from NZ, father a bomber pilot met when he was there from Guadalcanal. Have spent several weeks in Christchurch going to/from McMurdo over the years.

Edited April 10, 2023 by ldtr

[BSinPNS]

One of our fellow passengers created YouTube videos for several of the ports. 

.  

[Ellencruise]

34 minutes ago, BSinPNS said:

One of our fellow passengers created YouTube videos for several of the ports. 

.  

Wonderful thanks for sharing, I want to go back!

[OlsSalt]

Wonderful video - very nice mix of still and action.

 

Proving yet again, a "drive-by" only of Antarctic is pretty darn good, plus one still gets plenty of up front and personal penguin experiences at the other HAL port stops on these cruises that many of the expedition cruises do not include - when they begin and end in Ushuaia.

 

Thanks for sharing this - yes, it brings tears to anyone who also had very similar cruise way down under. Thanks for the memories.

[Cruising Is Bliss]

There's a decent possibility that HAL may do a 2025 grand voyage that along the way spends 4 days drive-by cruising Antarctica. One of the four options HAL polled for the 2025 world cruise is not actually a world cruise. That potential itinerary is Jan 25th to June 7th, round trip Fort Lauderdale, includes all the way down to Antarctica and all the way up to the Arctic Circle.

 

Bloggers on the current world cruise reported that the hotel director said at a morning coffee chat that he personally thinks the 2024 & 2025 world cruises will both again be on Zuiderdam, and that HAL will also do the polled "Pole to Pole" 2025 cruise, on Volendam. HAL's website currently has Volendam's last scheduled cruise ending in Fort Lauderdale on Jan 25th 2025.

 

Edited April 17, 2023 by Cruising Is Bliss

[teacherman]

We did the 22 day cruise on the Zaandam in January, 2020.  It went from Santiago (San Antonio) to Buenos Aires.  It was the most amazing cruise we have ever done.  The 5 days in Antarctica were beautiful and I didn't think it was that big of a deal not to actually set foot on the land.  I did see others doing it from smaller ships using inflatables.  AND, we chose to spend 3 extra days in Santiago at the beginning and then spend 2 nights in Buenos Aires at the end, with a 2 night visit to Iguazu Falls which we did on our own.  Others told me that this Falls visit would be the "cherry on top of the sundae", and they were correct.  Overall, an amazing experience, and I am glad we ended our cruise in Buenos Aires.  There were 3 different presenters on board, and they did daily presentations on Antarctica.  If you didn't get to the auditorium early you would not get a seat.  Excellent presenters.

[Cruising Is Bliss]

On 4/17/2023 at 12:50 AM, Cruising Is Bliss said:

There's a decent possibility that HAL may do a 2025 grand voyage that along the way spends 4 days drive-by cruising Antarctica. One of the four options HAL polled for the 2025 world cruise is not actually a world cruise. That potential itinerary is Jan 25th to June 7th, round trip Fort Lauderdale, includes all the way down to Antarctica and all the way up to the Arctic Circle.

 

 

YAY! Pole to Pole 2025 grand voyage, on Volendam, 133 days (4 drive-by days in Antarctica), booking opens in May. For now, HAL will only be booking the full voyage.

 

Edited April 23, 2023 by Cruising Is Bliss