January 7th NCL Star cruise to Antarctica , Argentina and Chile with a 10 day stay photo travelogue

[Huntingdon1701]

9 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

 

  This may help . Will you be using private or ships tours ?

 

 

Thanks. I'll be using ships tours mostly. I may have to rely on finding local ATMs to get cash rather than places of exchange before I leave for the cruise.

[scubacruiserx2]

2 hours ago, Huntingdon1701 said:

Thanks. I'll be using ships tours mostly. I may have to rely on finding local ATMs to get cash rather than places of exchange before I leave for the cruise.

 

 The Argentina Peso has always been a slippery slope . The last time that we traveled there our bank would not allow us to exchange A Pesos . We normally have currency of the places that we travel to by having our bank deliver the foreign currency delivered to our house before we leave . Russian Rubles , Krones , Pounds Sterling - no problems . But the A Peso is the only currency that they would not exchange . Many of the ATMs there would only allow $ 50 per transaction plus a fee . And many of the ATM's were empty , usually on a week end . We did exchange Dollars for Pesos last trip at the EZE airport bank . We needed a passport and fresh Dollars . But even the cab driver didn't want the pesos . He said that they were fake and wanted dollars . We only had the petty cash available - so we gave him the Dollars - but no tip . We found out later that it was a common scam to get Dollars instead of A Pesos . 

  Our past and future guide will pick us up at the airport this time and will help us exchange money . She said that they have a new President and that the currency has changed a lot . When we checked 2 weeks ago it was 350 A Pesos to a Dollar . I just checked XE Currency and it's now 810 A Peso to the Dollar ! 

[Huntingdon1701]

Sounds like the guides are going to get dollars then...

[scubacruiserx2]

14 minutes ago, Huntingdon1701 said:

Sounds like the guides are going to get dollars then...

 

 As much as I dislike saying this they prefer Dollars and a number of people remember the Falkland Island War . They prefer to say Isla Malvinas to Falklands . Thus they prefer Dollars to Pounds Sterling . They see the US as more like them as we seperated from the the UK .   But many confuse Yanks with English as we share a common language . Our son is currently on holiday in Peru with his wife who is from there . They live in the US with our 3rd grandson and they are all fluent in English and Spanish . But she still prefers her family and culture to our son's family and culture . We speak some Spanish but hire local guides who are bilingual to help and show us what we would like to see . We used to do the same in Russia and spoke some Russian , but if asked we might say that we were from Canada . But we 've found the Russians to be more open to us than some of the people in Argentina in our experence .

[scubacruiserx2]

A couple of parting shots 

 

 

Cape Horn

 

 

The Base near Cape Horn

 

 

 Collage of South America and Patagonia stay . But no Antarctica . We are watching both the Star and the Oosterdam . The Oosterdam has been and tha Star is going and the passed each other last night . The Star is about half wat across the Drake Passage and should be there late afternoon or early evening .

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

13 hours ago, cmph said:

Wow, this is now on my list of cruises to go on! We cruise for the destinations at this point in our lives, and I have to say that this itinerary wasn't on my radar until I read through your thread and saw all of the gorgeous photos of the scenery and wildlife. Thank you so much for sharing!

 

 Thank you very much . I must say that we looked at your profile and noted that you have children about our grandsons age . We did do a Baltic cruise with him a couple of years back that you might enjoy at this link . We presume that you missed Saint Petersburg but we were able to visit there with him .

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/topic/2287122-eclipsing-northern-europe-by-cruise-basic-black-and-baltic-blues/

 

 Antarctica , Patagonia and South America was our favorite cruise to see  God's creation . It would be a perfect vacation if your family could go during the Christmas and New Years Eve cruise and there are several cruise lines that go . We've been on HAL , NCL , Celebrity and Princess and like them all . Happy New Year and happy cruising . Please stay tuned as Antartica , The Falkland Islands and a land stay at Patagonia is next , so the best is yet to come .

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Birds of a feather fishing together

 

 

Chin strap penguins fishing

 

 

 

Gentoo moving fast

 

 

The tail of a whale

 

 

 

[ColdCruise]

On 12/28/2023 at 6:45 PM, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

  Thanks Mic and Rosie . It was a chamber of commerce day after sleet the day before .

 

One of our favorite video clips from the Glacier Alley

 

 

 

That water looks amazing @scubacruiserx2 

and those glaciers - awesome! I love looking at and listening to glaciers … such an awesomely beautiful and potentially destructive expression of nature!

 

thanks again for sharing these fantastic photos!

[scubacruiserx2]

7 hours ago, Huntingdon1701 said:

Sounds like the guides are going to get dollars then...

Please read about new President's policies

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/21/argentina-president-javier-milei-economic-policies-protests

 

Thanks to MicCanberra's post on another thread

[ColdCruise]

17 hours ago, cmph said:

Wow, this is now on my list of cruises to go on! We cruise for the destinations at this point in our lives, and I have to say that this itinerary wasn't on my radar until I read through your thread and saw all of the gorgeous photos of the scenery and wildlife. Thank you so much for sharing!

Once you visit Antarctica , you’ll be hooked @cmph

went in Feb 2023, going back in 2025

[ColdCruise]

3 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

 

 

love this photo - you just captured the mood perfectly… along with all the variations of light.

 

plus those are super photos of the penguins “flying” through the ocean (I have to go check my photos from spring, I don’t think I got any near as clear of this action!)

 

Edited December 30, 2023 by ColdCruise
Edit

[scubacruiserx2]

5 minutes ago, ColdCruise said:

That water looks amazing @scubacruiserx2 

and those glaciers - awesome! I love looking at and listening to glaciers … such an awesomely beautiful and potentially destructive expression of nature!

 

thanks again for sharing these fantastic photos!

 

Thank you . It was a beautiful day ! A couple of video clips from our favorite glacier , Perito Moreno near El Calafate .

 

Calving from underneath the glacier - big , blue ice .

Calving from above sounded like a cannon . Watch for small rainbow after the splash .

 

 

 

 

[cmph]

24 minutes ago, ColdCruise said:

Once you visit Antarctica , you’ll be hooked @cmph

went in Feb 2023, going back in 2025

I can absolutely envision that!

 

And - I was just telling my husband about that exact photo of the penguins, as it happens. I told him "I HAVE to see the penguins flying through the water like this!"

[scubacruiserx2]

1 hour ago, cmph said:

I can absolutely envision that!

 

And - I was just telling my husband about that exact photo of the penguins, as it happens. I told him "I HAVE to see the penguins flying through the water like this!"

 

 

 Here's some flying penguins on a video clip .Very hard to capture a still shot .

 

 

 

 

 We are watching the Oosterdam , currently at Cape Horn and the Star very near and headed for Paradise Bay tomorrow . 20 hours of sunlight !

https://www.cruisemapper.com/?imo=9195157

Edited December 30, 2023 by scubacruiserx2

[ColdCruise]

Someone earlier was asking about currency.. here’s an article about the “blue rate”

https://wander-argentina.com/current-exchange-rates/
 

note that in Ushuaia, I was only there for a couple days pre-cruise and 1 day after, so I didn’t want a lot of cash. I think I exchanged $50 then found out that the posted blue rate was for exchanging $100 bills, not even $100 in smaller bills. The posted blue rate was almost double the official rate and I got about 100 A pesos less than posted …but still more than the atm rate. I found Trip Advisor forums useful for planning my ground game.

[ColdCruise]

 

41 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

41 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

 

 Here's some flying penguins on a video clip .Very hard to capture a still shot .

 

 

 

Your photos in #108 we’re certainly clear & crisp @scubacruiserx2

I thought the penguins were so amazing. It was so surreal to walk past a couple of basking seals (probably with bellies full of penguin) ,  then find myself surrounded by 100s or 1000s of penguins, all seemingly unconcerned or oblivious to my presence … that all backstopped by breathtaking icebergs and ice covered mountains and glaciers. Only time I teared up from viewing nature’s beauty .

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2023 by ColdCruise
Flipped photo x2

[PBM13]

I am booked on the same itinerary in February 24.  Seriously looking forward to it even though we have a lot of sea days.  We have just been informed of the cruise terminal change, and I hope this doesn't cause any inconvenience.  Shame there is no whale. Watching as excursions.  Can not wait

[scubacruiserx2]

[scubacruiserx2]

1 hour ago, PBM13 said:

I am booked on the same itinerary in February 24.  Seriously looking forward to it even though we have a lot of sea days.  We have just been informed of the cruise terminal change, and I hope this doesn't cause any inconvenience.  Shame there is no whale. Watching as excursions.  Can not wait

 

 Which ship are you on ?

[scubacruiserx2]

12 hours ago, ColdCruise said:

 

 

 

IMG_1667.mov 25.16 MB · 0 downloads

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for sharing the beautiful photos . Unfortunately , We cannot open the video . I did look at a video of a Gentoo with it's chick . Which ship were you on ?

[PBM13]

26 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

 Which ship are you on ?

Star 

[scubacruiserx2]

35 minutes ago, PBM13 said:

Star 

  I'm sorry that we didn't see at February 24 th cruise on the Star . Only the 4th and the 18th . We did see some whales close by . This one appeared to swim right at our ship and submerged leaving a red calling card .

 

 

[PBM13]

Fantastic.   Do they change the menus as you move into a new year.  We board on the 4th of Feb out of Buenos Aires.  Can not wait.  Thanks for the pictures 

[scubacruiserx2]

48 minutes ago, PBM13 said:

Fantastic.   Do they change the menus as you move into a new year.  We board on the 4th of Feb out of Buenos Aires.  Can not wait.  Thanks for the pictures 

 

Thank you and you are welcome . We are preparing some photos and following the process of the Star to follow their route . They are approaching Paradise Bay with our time currently 0900 EST they are 2 hours ahead of us , almost lunch time there . We will have meals delivered to the cabin and spend lots of time on the balcony watching and shooting photos if the weather is nice when we are there .

 

https://www.cruisemapper.com/?imo=9195157