LIVE! HAL Oosterdam 1/7-1/29 South America & Antarctica—Let’s Cruise!

[FLCruiser97]

WOW. Thanks @Heidi13. That was a very good lesson in binoculars. I have 10X50, 366/1000yds so I feel after your explanation, these should do the trick.  

[TravelBluebird]

WOW penguins on an iceburg!

 

Just floated past my balcony; nearly vaulted over the bed to get my camera 😂

 

I think this is one of the best things I have seen in my entire life.

[FLCruiser97]

Soooo Cooool!!!!

[0106]

@TravelBluebird @Btimmer The Roll Call for the January 29 departure is getting conflicting information about the boarding process.  Is there anyway you can help us by finding the correct information while onboard?  We have been told different things from or TAs PCCs and HAL.  Some of us have been told:

The location for luggage drop-off & holding room is at Costa Salguero and check-in is at the Cruise Terminal Benito Quinquela Martin.

There is a shuttle service between both locations.

 

The address for luggage drop-off and holding room is:

 

Centro Costa Salguero, Pabellón 6

Av. Costanera Rafael Obligado 1221, C1425 BUENOS AIRES

Others have been told to report directly to the Cruise Terminal Benito Quinquela Martin.  

[TravelBluebird]

Also saw humpback whales and another ice flow with 3 penguins.  We are on the way to Neumayer; snow and rain, bow closed again for wind.   Hope the visibility improves when we get there; glad I got out and about all morning.

 

 

 

Edited January 18 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

4 minutes ago, 0106 said:

@TravelBluebird @Btimmer The Roll Call for the January 29 departure is getting conflicting information about the boarding process.  Is there anyway you can help us by finding the correct information while onboard?  We have been told different things from or TAs PCCs and HAL.  Some of us have been told:

The location for luggage drop-off & holding room is at Costa Salguero and check-in is at the Cruise Terminal Benito Quinquela Martin.

There is a shuttle service between both locations.

 

The address for luggage drop-off and holding room is:

 

Centro Costa Salguero, Pabellón 6

Av. Costanera Rafael Obligado 1221, C1425 BUENOS AIRES

Others have been told to report directly to the Cruise Terminal Benito Quinquela Martin.  

 

I will ask customer service to see if they are familiar with the boarding process at the terminal.

[TravelBluebird]

A couple photos to show the ship experience today.

 

If you come out early and in bad weather, you can have the bow to yourself almost:

 

 

 

Edited January 18 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

Not so much after the wind dies down and a couple whales have been spotted

 

 

 

Edited January 18 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

Oh I almost forgot! There were penguins frolicking in the water today!   Could actually see them on the bow cam when we were in the room…I caught a few coming by starboard side after that. This is my favorite one, mid jump!

 

 

Edited January 18 by TravelBluebird

[FLCruiser97]

4 minutes ago, TravelBluebird said:

Oh I almost forgot! There were penguins frolicking in the water today!   Could actually see them on the bow cam when we were in the room…I caught a few coming by starboard side after that. This is my favorite on, mid jump!

 

 

Cute little things, aren't they?

[0106]

23 minutes ago, TravelBluebird said:

I will ask customer service to see if they are familiar with the boarding process at the terminal.

Thank you very much!

 

Your photos are amazing!  Thank you so much very posting them.

(I hope your DH is feeling better too.)

[NorbertsNiece]

37 minutes ago, 0106 said:

@TravelBluebird @Btimmer The Roll Call for the January 29 departure is getting conflicting information about the boarding process.  Is there anyway you can help us by finding the correct information while onboard?  We have been told different things from or TAs PCCs and HAL.  Some of us have been told:

The location for luggage drop-off & holding room is at Costa Salguero and check-in is at the Cruise Terminal Benito Quinquela Martin.

There is a shuttle service between both locations.

 

The address for luggage drop-off and holding room is:

 

Centro Costa Salguero, Pabellón 6

Av. Costanera Rafael Obligado 1221, C1425 BUENOS AIRES

Others have been told to report directly to the Cruise Terminal Benito Quinquela Martin.  

Hi.

Baggage drop off was at the Cruise Terminal. You will be given a numbered card and sit in a waiting area until your number is called when you will join the line to check in. After check in you will head down to a bus that will take you to the ship.

 

This was how it went on the 10th December cruise. You make good friends in that long line!

[0106]

34 minutes ago, NorbertsNiece said:

This was how it went on the 10th December cruise

I believe things MAY be different this time because of the damage to the cruise terminal that you documented in your thread.  Currently, the most accurate information I could find is in this link.    https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ports-destinations/new-buenos-aires-check-process-after-storm-damages-cruise-terminal

Check-in at Pavilion B, Costa Salguero

Passengers will check in at Pavilion 6 of the Costa Salguero property near Costanera, where they also will drop off their luggage. Then they'll be transferred to the cruise terminal, where they will undergo immigration procedures before embarking.

[TravelBluebird]

1 hour ago, FLCruiser97 said:

Cute little things, aren't they?

 

Just so dang adorable. Very windy on the bow at Neumayer; was out for a short while; couldn’t hold any cameras straight (gusting now to 30 knots—I can see on the bow cam that about 4 people are left there.  Sun was out for about.1 minute

 

On our way to Cuverville Island, where this a large rookery of Gentoo Penguins. Hope we can see some from the ship!  The penguins above were also Gentoo Penguins.

[NorbertsNiece]

46 minutes ago, 0106 said:

I believe things MAY be different this time because of the damage to the cruise terminal that you documented in your thread.  Currently, the most accurate information I could find is in this link.    https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ports-destinations/new-buenos-aires-check-process-after-storm-damages-cruise-terminal

Check-in at Pavilion B, Costa Salguero

Passengers will check in at Pavilion 6 of the Costa Salguero property near Costanera, where they also will drop off their luggage. Then they'll be transferred to the cruise terminal, where they will undergo immigration procedures before embarking.

Gosh I'd forgotten about that.

 

Pic is for @TravelBluebird

My favourite pic from the cruise, Volunteer Point, teen being chastised by the adults 

[TravelBluebird]

18 minutes ago, NorbertsNiece said:

Gosh I'd forgotten about that.

 

Pic is for @TravelBluebird

My favourite pic from the cruise, Volunteer Point, teen being chastised by the adults 

 

@NorbertsNiece Your photo is amazing!  Great color and action and WOW those babies are furry!  I hope we make it to Port Stanley; I have an independent tour to Volunteer Point planned.

[FLCruiser97]

Dee, Just wondering, how many dress-up nights are on your cruise. Our cruise will be 25-days and just wondering about packing. 

[NorbertsNiece]

1 hour ago, TravelBluebird said:

 

@NorbertsNiece Your photo is amazing!  Great color and action and WOW those babies are furry!  I hope we make it to Port Stanley; I have an independent tour to Volunteer Point planned.

Who you going with 🤞? They're all amazing.

[Heidi13]

6 hours ago, FLCruiser97 said:

WOW. Thanks @Heidi13. That was a very good lesson in binoculars. I have 10X50, 366/1000yds so I feel after your explanation, these should do the trick.  

 

Other than being bulky and a little on the heavy side, they are a great choice.

[caneable]

I know that I have mentioned previously that we are seasoned travellers with NCL and this will be our first voyage with HA. I have a query about wifi access through “Have It All”.

On NCL we are used to having a time allocation of access within NCL “Free At Sea” and we both get the allowance.  I’ve watched a few YouTube videos about the “Have It All” video package and I’m not sure what access we will get.  Currently I’m anticipating to send family and friends regular WhatsApp messages and photos as we make our way round the voyage. On NCL I usually bundle all my WhatsApp messages together before I go online.  As soon as I’m finished I log in and off they go. Invariably someone will ask a question but I’m usually able to log out after around 5 minutes.  Will I be able to do that with my “Have It All” package?

Also will both my wife and myself have our own allowance or is it per cabin.

Thanks for any help.

Steve

[whogo]

Resolution is a key factor in binocular quality.  8 X 42 binoculars from different manufacturers can have vastly different image quality, like the difference between hi-def and lo-def TV.

 

Now back to TravelBluebird's regularly scheduled programming.

[0106]

1 hour ago, caneable said:

I have a query about wifi access through “Have It All”.

On NCL we are used to having a time allocation of access within NCL “Free At Sea” and we both get the allowance.

There is no time allocation on HAL.  You and your wife should both install the Navigator App on your device.  Put your phone in airplane mode, turn on wifi and connect to the Starlink internet on the app. I had no problem sending iMessages and emails during my transatlantic.  WhatsApp should be fine.  However, if there are satellite problems in Antarctica internet may be impacted for the entire ship as explained by @TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

3 hours ago, FLCruiser97 said:

Dee, Just wondering, how many dress-up nights are on your cruise. Our cruise will be 25-days and just wondering about packing. 

 

@FLCruiser97 We’ve had 2 so far, and I understand there will be 4 in total but I’ll update to confirm after the cruise.

[TravelBluebird]

2 hours ago, NorbertsNiece said:

Who you going with 🤞? They're all amazing.

 

@NorbertsNiece Estancia Excursions.

[TravelBluebird]

So many penguins!!!!

 

The penguin rookery // colony at Cuverville Island was amazing!

 

Just a couple of photos…Internet is very slow for me tonight.  Penguins everywhere—on rocks, on snow, in water!  And WOW when a gust blew our way from the penguin colony, the odor was….um….unique 😂

 

I had to compress the Nikon photos since I was shooting in 20mb to retain the most detail, so I’m not sure you’ll be able to blow these up to really look at the individual penguins, but its something else to really look at what all the penguins are doing@

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 19 by TravelBluebird