Oosterdam South America and Antarctica

[flamingos]

Thank you all! We have booked a starboard-side verandah cabin on Deck 4.  This is going to be amazing!

[flamingos]

Next question: is there any point to bringing swimwear?  🙂

[SightCRR]

B/A in their summer is in the upper 80's F if you trust their pools or beaches. 

[flamingos]

27 minutes ago, SightCRR said:

B/A in their summer is in the upper 80's F if you trust their pools or beaches. 

 

I was thinking on board ship.  I'm not wasting my shore time by going to a beach to swim. I have penguins to see!

 🙂

 

[whogo]

I preferred our excursion to Bluff Cove in February, 2011 to our January 29, 2020 visit to Volunteer Point. We saw little activity at Volunteer Point, the king penguins just stood around, no feeding. We did see a half dozen waddle out to sea. Volunteer Point had only one pair of king penguins then (the colony has since grown), similarly inactive. In contrast, the gentoo penguins were a delight, feeding, waddling, jumping in and out of the water and swimming. Bluff Cove also provided a wonderful tea experience. Our ride to Bluff Cove was much more jarring than our longer ride to Volunteer Point for some reason. We were probably just unlucky at Volunteer Point, the king penguins have to feed at some time.

 

Balcony? Warm weather or cold, we spend little time on a balcony. We do like the large expanse of glass for views, though.

[Dobby36]

4 minutes ago, whogo said:

I preferred our excursion to Bluff Cove in February, 2011 to our January 29, 2020 visit to Volunteer Point. We saw little activity at Volunteer Point, the king penguins just stood around, no feeding. We did see a half dozen waddle out to sea. Volunteer Point had only one pair of king penguins then (the colony has since grown), similarly inactive. In contrast, the gentoo penguins were a delight, feeding, waddling, jumping in and out of the water and swimming. Bluff Cove also provided a wonderful tea experience. Our ride to Bluff Cove was much more jarring than our longer ride to Volunteer Point for some reason. We were probably just unlucky at Volunteer Point, the king penguins have to feed at some time.

 

Balcony? Warm weather or cold, we spend little time on a balcony. We do like the large expanse of glass for views, though.

 

i second the endorsement of Bluff Cove, including the tea/scone/cake service in the facility as well as the yarn in adjacent gift shop.  Lots of British charm to accompany the Penguin sights.  And as an improvement over your 2011 visit the Land Rover journey is now on a dirt road for the final mile.  They showed us the old tracks in the bogs that used to be used but it was “paved” into a dirt road a couple years ago and you can now drive there at a relatively smooth and fast clip after leaving the real road.

[whogo]

Excursions? We toured from Puerto Montt to see Petrohué Falls, more like a rapids in my book, never saw one that cut through a narrow channel like that. A half dozen tour buses shared that experience. Much more impressive was the view of snow capped, conical Mount Osorno viewed from Puerto Varas across Lake Llanquihue. Absolutely beautiful sight, my first conical volcano, as close to a religious experience as I am likely to have.

 

Montevideo was a favorite city. Take the hop on/off bus tour, stroll the city, and eat a steak cooked over a wood fired grill.

[breakiron]

Thanks everyone for all the advice.  I'm sailing this cruise on the Oosterdam at the end of January 2024 and looking forward to it.  Just booked a penguin tour for the Falklands, the Bluff Cove Penguin rookery, tour is still available for the Jan. 29 cruise.  Did book the thermal spa for the cruise thinking I may need somewhere to get warm, lol.....The thermal spa isn't a bad price considering this is a 22 day cruise.

[0106]

5 hours ago, flamingos said:

is there any point to bringing swimwear

There is a sea day between Punta del Estes and Puerto Madryn, research says average temperature is 80 degrees in February.  I’m bringing a bathing suit.  A dip in the covered Lido pool might be nice or using the hot tub after a hiking excursion even if the weather outside is cold.  We have 5 sea days and 7 days of scenic cruising.  How did those of you who have taken this trip spend your sea days? I’m hoping for some interesting live guest lecturers.

[boulders]

12 hours ago, 0106 said:

How did you get to Isla Magdalena?  What type of boat was used for the trip?  Can you recommend a private tour company?

 

We used the HAL shore excursion. The boat was a small, slightly decrepit, ferry. 

[ColonyGirl2]

On 5/13/2023 at 7:25 PM, OlsSalt said:

An alternative tip for this cruise is  to get an ocean-view cabin on the promenade deck, close to the atrium, where you can easily go in and out on that large promenade viewing deck too. Biggest advantage of this cabin choice near the atrium is you can easily go from one side of the ship to the other to catch all the views.  

 

Ssshhh.  Don't tell anyone. 🤫 

This is where we were on our Zaandam Antarctica cruise.  It was so convenient that we have also booked it for Zaandam's Amazon cruise next February. Largest balcony on the ship.

[DCThunder]

14 hours ago, boulders said:

 

We used the HAL shore excursion. The boat was a small, slightly decrepit, ferry. 

The Isla Magdalena was the lowest rated excursion (on my own mental rating scale) of the ones I took.  As noted, the ferry was small and slightly decrepit, and not particularly comfortable.  At Isla Magdalena, you disembarked down a narrow gangway to the beach and depending on the tide, it can be pretty steep.  Another tour boat was able to disembark their passengers, but then couldn't reembark them because of the wind and tide, so they had to get on our boat and we transferred them to the other boat out in open water.

 

The Isla itself is nothing special.  There's a path up to a lighthouse, but otherwise, not a lot to see, at least when I was there in March. The penguins were mostly out at sea and those on shore were often in their burrows as it was windy and cool.  The highlight of the trip was sailing past some smaller islands covered with shags and other seabirds as well as a good number of sea lions. 

 

If I'm ever back in Punta Arenas, I'll find something else to do.

[ColonyGirl2]

31 minutes ago, DCThunder said:

The Isla Magdalena was the lowest rated excursion (on my own mental rating scale) of the ones I took. 

There's a path up to a lighthouse, but otherwise, not a lot to see, at least when I was there in March. The penguins were mostly out at sea and those on shore were often in their burrows as it was windy and cool. 

If I'm ever back in Punta Arenas, I'll find something else to do.

This was a great excursion for us.  We were there in mid-January and it was covered with penguins. We were also lucky to make the landing as the afternoon excursion was not able to get ashore.

 

[ColonyGirl2]

We also took the Bluff Cove excursion.  Lots of penguins there also. 

[DCThunder]

Trying to post photos from my visit...

 

Edited May 17, 2023 by DCThunder

[DCThunder]

Hope these show up....Nope.

 

Edited May 17, 2023 by DCThunder

[0106]

@ColonyGirl2Did you take the HAL tour or a private tour to Isla Magdalena? I am leaning toward a private tour.  Do you know if all tours use the ferry or are there some private boats? I don’t want to miss any opportunity to see the penguins.

[ColonyGirl2]

@0106 It was a HAL tour and cost $199pp.  They had a morning and afternoon tour and our morning tour ran, but the afternoon tour was not able to make the landing.  It seems to me that there was at least one private boat there, but not sure if it was a tour boat.

Make sure you go in Dec-Feb as that is when the penguins are nesting (burrowing) there.  It sounds like they are gone by March.

[0106]

@ColonyGirl2I appreciate your reply.  We will be there in the middle of February.  Here are the two tours HAL offers.  Seems like the more you expensive one take you on a private boat and the other one takes you by the “public” ferry. Do you know which on you did?

 

[ColonyGirl2]

@0106 Can't see your first picture, "Off the Beaten track.." sounds right. My notes say "Get on ferry early-more comfortable on upper level - 2 hr bumpy ride."

I am attaching a pic that shows you some of the boat.

 

[AryMay]

3 hours ago, 0106 said:

@ColonyGirl2Did you take the HAL tour or a private tour to Isla Magdalena? I am leaning toward a private tour.  Do you know if all tours use the ferry or are there some private boats? I don’t want to miss any opportunity to see the penguins.

 

We did an independent tour via speed boat with Solo Expediciones to Magdalena Island in 2019. At that time the tour company seemed quite disorganized. We were bussed to where the boats would load, but then waited for a long time before the boats arrived. Once boarding began it was a free-for-all and more passengers were loaded onto the boat than what there were seats. I had to sit with strangers while my husband was left to stand (and hang on for dear life) for the long (~1 hour) boat ride to the island.

 

It was enjoyable once we reached the island where thousands of magallanic penguins were roaming about. We had about an hour to walk a loop up the hill to the light house and back down to the dock. As we sailed back, the boat stopped briefly off shore where we were able to photograph a colony of sea lions. Although quicker than taking the ferry, the boat ride was very rough and several people were sea sick. 

 

I have lots of photos from our day on Magdalena Island that you can see by clicking HERE.

[0106]

@AryMayI appreciate the link to your blog.  I just finished reading the entire SA & Antarctic entries and learned so much.  I’ve been in rough water, never been seasick but I will definitely be packing some meds.  I was planning on taking long underwear and my 2 part North Face coat but I think I might buy a longer jacket.  I hate cold weather, I would have thought you would be more used to it being from MN but you really look bundled up.  You are an excellent writer and photographer, thanks again.

 

 

[AryMay]

50 minutes ago, 0106 said:

@AryMayI appreciate the link to your blog.  I just finished reading the entire SA & Antarctic entries and learned so much.  I’ve been in rough water, never been seasick but I will definitely be packing some meds.  I was planning on taking long underwear and my 2 part North Face coat but I think I might buy a longer jacket.  I hate cold weather, I would have thought you would be more used to it being from MN but you really look bundled up.  You are an excellent writer and photographer, thanks again.

 

 

The wind chill on a moving ship makes a big difference in the “real feel” of cold weather. The multiple layers of warm clothing were necessary to stay out on deck for long periods of time.

 

I was envious of those with balcony cabins that could duck inside to warm up. Unfortunately to get a balcony on the Zaandam would have meant booking a suite…which wasn’t in our budget. I believe I would splurge to get the balcony on the Oosterdam if we were to do this itinerary again! 

[flamingos]

5 minutes ago, AryMay said:

The wind chill on a moving ship makes a big difference in the “real feel” of cold weather. The multiple layers of warm clothing were necessary to stay out on deck for long periods of time.

 

I was envious of those with balcony cabins that could duck inside to warm up. Unfortunately to get a balcony on the Zaandam would have meant booking a suite…which wasn’t in our budget. I believe I would splurge to get the balcony on the Oosterdam if we were to do this itinerary again! 

 

We did splurge for the balcony.  🙂

 

We did Alaska in May, and layers definitely helped, with a windbreaker on top.  I'm hoping their naturalist on board is as good as the one we had in Alaska.

[tupper10]

1 hour ago, 0106 said:

@AryMayI appreciate the link to your blog.  I just finished reading the entire SA & Antarctic entries and learned so much.  I’ve been in rough water, never been seasick but I will definitely be packing some meds.  I was planning on taking long underwear and my 2 part North Face coat but I think I might buy a longer jacket.  I hate cold weather, I would have thought you would be more used to it being from MN but you really look bundled up.  You are an excellent writer and photographer, thanks again.

 

 

I don't think you need a  longer warm jacket you just need more layers for the wind.  I bought a pair of  heavy fleece pull on pants that went over my long underwear. This was much warmer than jeans.   I then had a pair of cheap rain pants as well that went over the fleece.  The rain pants blocked the wind.     For the top layer it was long underwear, a turtle neck shirt (like one you would wear for skiing), a fleece and then my jacket which had another layer of fleece and the outside shell which was waterproof.  I also had a neck warmer and good hat that covered my ears and good sun glasses,  since the sun reflects off the snow/ice.  Again it isn't that it is so cold it is that it is so windy.  If you ski another thing you can do is just bring your ski pants since they are warm and water proof and just wear your long underwear as the bottom layer.