Looking forward to the past on NCL

[scubacruiserx2]

 It's been almost 17 years since we have been on NCL and that was on the NCL Dream . It was an older ship that took us to many places that we had only dreamed of . Namely the Baltic in 2006 ( including Russia ) and it was the largest cruise ship that could go through the Kiel Canal in Germany with it's low bridges . It could do this with the ability to flip it's lid (  i.e. smokestack ) .

 

 

 It also took us to Chile in 2007 with one stop in Argentina

 

 

 

 

Just before entering Ushuaia , Argentina we passed through Glacier Alley .

 

 

 

 Now , in just 4 weeks , we plan on sailing on an older ship , the NCL Star on the coast of Argentia with a visit to Antarctica , and with one stop in Chile . So now the tide and the ship have changed but we hope to take you along with us if you would like .

 

Edited December 5, 2023 by scubacruiserx2

[wolft927]

Norwegian Dream was my First Ship assignment back in 2004. Started off as Cruise Staff, was out of New Orleans at the Time. Also, was an Asst. Cruise Director on the Star. Wow, those days

[scubacruiserx2]

8 minutes ago, wolft927 said:

Norwegian Dream was my First Ship assignment back in 2004. Started off as Cruise Staff, was out of New Orleans at the Time. Also, was an Asst. Cruise Director on the Star. Wow, those days

 

We made some life long friends from those cruises doing tours together that we met on Cruise Critic . One couple lives in Toronto and the other in the Isle of Man and we have visited both . 

We hope that someone who has been on the Star recently can give us some tips to make the cruise better .

[mking8288]

Bookmarked and following, wishing you bon voyage, happy & safe travel from us (here in NY) to you.  We sailed some of the "newer" NCL ships in those days - here's "our" Norwegian Crown" around 2006-2007 when she was doing Bermuda runs. 

 

 

Fuzzy photos from the old Sony digital camera, one of these days - going to "photoshop" and edit it for a hopefully, better enhanced image.  Docked at Pier 88/90 next to the bigger Norwegian Dawn ... more closely related to the Norwegian Star - what a comparison in size.  

 

 

 

Here's your Norwegian Star - back in Sept 2008 - on a Mexico Rivera cruise out of Los Angles.  

 

 

What's changed, a lot and you are most certainly not going to see these - remember those good old days 😎 

 

[wolft927]

lol, Also worked on board the Crown! I was on the last sailing of the Crown before she was sold. 

[scubacruiserx2]

4 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Bookmarked and following, wishing you bon voyage, happy & safe travel from us (here in NY) to you.  We sailed some of the "newer" NCL ships in those days - here's "our" Norwegian Crown" around 2006-2007 when she was doing Bermuda runs. 

 

 

Fuzzy photos from the old Sony digital camera, one of these days - going to "photoshop" and edit it for a hopefully, better enhanced image.  Docked at Pier 88/90 next to the bigger Norwegian Dawn ... more closely related to the Norwegian Star - what a comparison in size.  

 

 

 

Here's your Norwegian Star - back in Sept 2008 - on a Mexico Rivera cruise out of Los Angles.  

 

 

What's changed, a lot and you are most certainly not going to see these - remember those good old days 😎 

 

 

 All of the photos that I posted were digital photos of my old film prints . I did have a Sealife 4 mp digital camera that would not zoom with which I took a close up of a sea Lion .

[scubacruiserx2]

4 hours ago, wolft927 said:

lol, Also worked on board the Crown! I was on the last sailing of the Crown before she was sold. 

 

 Wow , you really got around . When I joined the Navy in 1972 I  had hoped to see the world but all I saw was Camp LeJeune after Boot Camp and Hospital Corpman school in San Diego . No cruises !

[scubacruiserx2]

 We found a old brochure when it was called the Dreamward and repainted by NCL .

 

 

 

 

We had a forward facing cabin on a NCL cruise that the person on the ship told us that nobody would block our view but it was accessable to everybody and they did sometimes .

 We also have one on our upcoming cruise that is private .

 

 

 

 

 

 

A closeup of a T -shirt that I bought then that was too large to wear then - but it fits now !

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 Back to the future - we're in the hunting and gathering mode for our future trip on the Star to Antarctica on January 7 , 2024 . It leaves from Buenos Aires and returns to B.A. This is a reverse profile for us as we have always left from Santiago and ended up in B.A. Here's our plan .

1-7 Board the Star depart 18:45

1-8 Montevideo 0800 - 1600

1-9 @ Sea

1-10 Puerto Madryn 0700 -1600 

1-11 @Sea

1-12 Punta Arenas , Chile 0800 -1600

1-13 Ushuaia 10:00 - 1700

1-14 The Drake lake or the Drake shake ?

1-15 Paradise Bay , Antarctica

1-16 Elephant Island the South Shetland Islands

1-17 Another Drake crossing

1-18 Falkland Islands 0600 - 1600 

1-19 @ Sea

1-20 @Sea

1-21 B.A. @ 05:45 

 Flying South for the Winter in El Calafate

1-22 Glacier cruise tour for 5 glaciers

1-23 Torres del Paine , Chile . Involves a double boarder crossing and a 16 hour day !

1-24 Car rental and Perito Moreno Glacier

1-25 Drive 3 hours to El Chalten with no gas stations on the way

1-26 Light hiking El Chalten

1-27 Return car to El Calafate airport and return to B.A. 

1-28 Flight to MIA where our TA will drive us back to Palm Beach County . It's the Summer Y'all in South America so we will need Florida casual for B.A. and Puffers , hats , and gloves for the South . Whew ! Winter in Florida , the Lord willing .

[dexddd]

What a blast from the past.  Reminds me of the guy who posts of the Norway.  Think that is Ed something. 

[scubacruiserx2]

 Was that the SS Norway ? I was on the way to work at the Fisher Island Fire Station where I worked as a Firefighter /Paramedic when I saw a fire at the Port of Miami on a Sunday in May of 2003 . I phoned the Alarm office and they had already dispatched units to the fire on the Norway . Here's the local CBS report of the incident .

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/4-dead-in-cruise-ship-explosion/

 

 We didn't leave the island to fight the fire . Our main mission was to stay on the island and only leave to transport a patient to the hospital .

 We would also leave for drills , training or to evacuate in the event of a hurricane .

Edited December 6, 2023 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 You can't judge the future by looking at the past but here's some photos of the ports that we hope to go to on our upcoming cruise .

Montevideo

 

Following the Sun into port

 

 

 

The Navy of Uruguay

 

 

Just follow the green brick road

 

 

 

 

We ate lunch at the Mercado

 

 

I had steak kababs

 

 

And Patty had a little lamb

 

 

The Sun on the move

 

 

Edited December 7, 2023 by scubacruiserx2

[Tak8]

I'll be on The Star in May.  Im very interested in your take.  Enjoy.

[scubacruiserx2]

17 hours ago, Tak8 said:

I'll be on The Star in May.  Im very interested in your take.  Enjoy.

 

 Thanks , so will we . Our current photos are from past cruises and what we experenced then , we hope to experience on the Star and maybe better . We don't do Live , Liveish or Semi Live as I lack the skills . We may do a running thread while on board and a proper review after we return . So this is currently a prequel and preperation phase . We hope that more people with recent Star experencies will share to help us prepare for our trip .

[dexddd]

On 12/6/2023 at 6:56 AM, scubacruiserx2 said:

 Was that the SS Norway ? I was on the way to work at the Fisher Island Fire Station where I worked as a Firefighter /Paramedic when I saw a fire at the Port of Miami on a Sunday in May of 2003 . I phoned the Alarm office and they had already dispatched units to the fire on the Norway . Here's the local CBS report of the incident .

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/4-dead-in-cruise-ship-explosion/

 

 We didn't leave the island to fight the fire . Our main mission was to stay on the island and only leave to transport a patient to the hospital .

 We would also leave for drills , training or to evacuate in the event of a hurricane .

Actually think it is like poster ernieroller or similar of Norway posts.

[scubacruiserx2]

When we last sailed to Antarctica it was from Santiago to B.A . We received this letter of warning from the ships Captain a day or two before our arrival there .

 

 

 

 Our guide there warned us about walking around after dark and suggested using a cab from the hotel if going to dinner or a show . Kinda like a cheap insurance policy .

[scubacruiserx2]

5 hours ago, dexddd said:

Actually think it is like poster ernieroller or similar of Norway posts.

 

I'm sorry but I don't understand what you mean .

[scubacruiserx2]

 The next stop was Puerto Madryn . We did a private tour to Punta Tombo which is where the penguin is at the bottom of the map .

 

 

We had to meet the guide at the end of a long pier so wear comfortable walking shoes .

 

 

Look for wildlife along the way 

 

 

It's a long walk to see the penguins and they have the right of way

 

 

We got there early and had a close encounter

 

 

It seemed confused by the wire fence 

 

 

But it found mom in time for a milkshake

 

 

The penguin beach

 

 

Sunning themselves

 

 

We left when all of the buses showed up

 

 

 

We found this sitting on the bulbous bow of our ship

 

 

An escort when we were leaving

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 Our next stop on the Star is in Punta Arenas , Chile . This was our favorite shore excursion on a cruise . It was pricey , but we thought that it was worth it and it is not offered on the Star . We had hoped for the large plane on that cold rainy morning but we got the smaller Cessna and a pilot with lots of experence . It's a 1 hour flight and the Pilot wanted me up front as I had some flying experencce as a Paramedic .

 

 

This was all I saw as it was an IFR flight .

 

 

 

 

My wife's view

 

 

The lady on the right was married to one of the ships officers so we thought that surely he would not send his wife on a dangerous flight , would he ?

 

The weather begain to clear as we landed and we were sure glad to see the bathrooms and the bus before the larger , slower plane landed .

 

 

 

Edited December 10, 2023 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

On the bus in Torres del Paine . A Rhea and a CaraCara

 

 

 

 

Torres del Paine means towers of Blue . Here are the 3 towers .

 

 

A guanaco  and it's chulengo

 

 

[ready2cruzagain]

On 12/5/2023 at 11:26 AM, wolft927 said:

Norwegian Dream was my First Ship assignment back in 2004. Started off as Cruise Staff, was out of New Orleans at the Time. Also, was an Asst. Cruise Director on the Star. Wow, those days

You were probably on the ship when I sailed it. NCL Dream was my first cruise ever and we sailed out of New Orleans in early 2005. Loved every second of it. Now 56 cruises later I am still loving cruising!

[scubacruiserx2]

The Paine River cascade 

 

 

 

 

Our first view of the Cuernos del Paine

 

 

 

 

The Cuernos or horns are made of darker sedimentary rocks that have worn away  faster than the lighter colored granite base 

 

 

The place where we ate lunch

 

 

Another photo of the Dream