Btimmer

On the GSA, maps were issued against corporate HAL policy. I'm not optimistic for their return. The ship is really moving tonight after dinner.

The speakers on the Antarctica portion are from the same organization and are comparable. They have been quite good. There have been no other lectures on the current voyage. We have two large travel groups onboard and they snag venue space. We had great maps for the ports on the GSA and absolutely none on this one. The CD is totally unapologetic about their lack.

Correction: It was Deception Island not Destruction Island. Today on our last day in Antarctica, we visited Pt. Wild where many of Shackelton's group wintered under two overturned boats. They were rescued by Chilean Captain Pardo who is memorialized here. Smell-o-vision was fully turned on. Today we got within 1/10 of a mile behind the monument.

At the end of the day we really had a good stop at Destruction Island and the chinstrap rookery there. Smell-o-vision was in full effect from the 200,000 penguins there. You really need to check out today's blog for more details. Here are a few pictures. On the iceberg Closeup Mass of penguins at the Caldera entrance Closeup on the hillside of Destruction Island

We just hit the whale jackpot. On the starboard side while walking the deck 3 pods of humpback whales were bubble feeding relatively close to the ship. Here's a few pictures and I'll try uploading a short video later. This location is in the Gerlache Strait near where we overnighted on November 8, 2023.

This morning we are in Charlotte Bay which is surrounded by 5 glaciers. The walls are so steep, it's not conducive to penguin rookeries. Later we are headed to Deception Island which does have penguins.

Day 2 of our Antarctic adventure is now in the books. What a day! Penguins. Penguins. Penguins! Plus humpback whales and rugged scenery. I will write more in my blog entry for today. Here's a few pictures. The rookery at Cuverville Island was incredible with the guano smell and thousands of Gentu penguins. Whales were jumping all day. We got way closer to Cuverville Island this voyage. Enjoy. Fleeing penguin "Faux penguins" from an expedition ship

Yes, we've come to dead stops many times to just drift or hoover. The ship certainly weathers this just fine and is quite stable. Antarctica is another magical place for us and I'm sure you'll love it also. The posted pictures are just a fraction of what I took today. I may post a movie I shot of penguins sliding down a hill. It was super cool to watch!

Our scenic cruising ended early today at 4:30pm due to deteriorating weather. By 6pm, the winds had reached 65mph. But we saw three research stations, Palmer (USA), Yelco (Chile), & Port Lockroy (GB) along with lots of penguins and humpback whales. Palmer Station Yelco Station Port Lockroy Station Transported back in time Each of the little boats are a zodiac. It's blowing 40 knots and 2 meter seas. Is that your cup of tea? The large vessel is the mother ship.

We had Megan & Gabe on the Nieuw Statendam in 2022 on a Boston RT to Greenland/Iceland and they were fantastic! The one piano player model is here and on the Westerdam. It's here at customer request per Adam, the pianist, who's really good.

Here's some more pictures. Juvenile Albatross

We've reached Antarctica at Palmer Station and had our first penguin sighting. Unfortunately the commentary is only broadcast on the outside decks and not the Crow's Nest. Palmer Station ice flows around the ship Faux penguins

Price is not even comparable and I totally realize that going in. But the current cruise feels much more like an Expedition cruise for the Antarctic portion. We are entering Antarctica from a different direction but still visiting pretty much the same locations.

I've led many M&G's and the key that I've found is to get people to mingle not just sit at one table. Things you might consider are having a list of questions like Favorite Port, Favorite Itinerary, Most distant port from their home, Most unusual excursions, etc. Then call everyone back together and ask them to share their findings.

A FEW MUSINGS Now that we've been at sea for a week, I thought I would share a few comparisons between the Grand South America (GSA) cruise on the Zaandam and our current cruise on the Oosterdam. 1. CROWDS - This cruise is sailing at capacity of near to it. This results in significant crowding in virtually every venue (LIDO and the MainStage are the worst). For any lecture or evening show, one must be there at least 45 minutes early to get a decent seat. In the LIDO, there are insufficient staff to serve the quantity of people. 2. FOOD - While food is a very subjective topic, I think the food in the LIDO on the GSA was several notches higher than the current cruise. I miss the jumbo shrimp every night and the ceviche & sushii bar & chef at lunch. There are not as many food stations on the Oosterdam which is a challenge for the large numbers of people. The Caneletto this cruise is busy every night compared to the ghost town it was in the GSA. We've not yet been to the Main Dining Room or the Pinnacle Grill for a meal. 3. WINE TASTING - Comparable 4. LECTURES - On the current cruise, there have been a absence of historical and cultural lectures on the sea days leading up to Antarctica. This was time lost. Other guests have commented on it to me. The Antarctica Expedition team of three is comparable to those on the GSA, but with slightly different topics related to their expertise. All of the Antartica lectures are live streamed to the Rolling Stone Lounge AND to the stateroom IPTV because of crowding. They, however, are not saved for later viewing. 5. PORT TALKS - These are ONLY being presented live and are not saved for later viewing on TV. There are no paper port maps distributed like we had on the GSA. 6. ENTERTAINMENT - The current cruise has the Step One Dance Company plus other entertainers similar to and also repeats from the last cruise. Tonight's comedian was also on the GSA. The entertainment has been good. The Oosterdam has the Billboard Onboard and they have rolled it out with only one piano as a test. We really like the pianist, Adam, and have spent many hours there listening to his sets. He's been with HAL since the days of the HALCATS. 7. CAPTAIN & Senior Management - Kevin, our current captain is very personable and quite funny at times. He's been good at explaining delays and this morning gave a presentation about the first two days in Antarctica and will do another in a few days about the last two days. He's not very visible around the ship but is quite approachable if seen. We've never seen the Hotel General Manager since the introductory Captain's Toast. He's totally different than Florian was on the GSA. 8. SHIP - For the current voyage, the bow has been open many times and is expected to be open in Antarctica (weather permitting). This is different than the GSA which did not have an open bow that much. Condition wise, both ships are quite comparable. The Oosterdam does seem to be exhibiting far less motion. 9. CORDIALITY - We have found that we met far more people and interacted with them frequently on a daily basis. Of course, on this current cruise, we aren't doing many shore excursions and the design of the CC M&G was not conducive to meeting lots of folks even though it was well attended. 10. CROW'S NEST - This is a hubbub of activity. There is no "Happy Hour" up here like on the Zaandam. It's pretty crowded much of the time. 11 STATEROOM - We have an obstructed window cabin on this cruise and it's worked well for us to provide sunlight. For the $100/person upcharge it's been definitely worth it. On tender ports we have a nice view as tender #13 gets deployed. On the GSA we had a deck 1 window cabin that we also liked. Both cabins have a tub, and I would certainly prefer a shower as that's all we take. That's about all for now. If you have any comments or questions, please post them here and I'll try to respond. We're totally enjoying ourselves.

A FEW MUSINGS

As of 6:09am this morning, 16JAN24, we are officially south of 60º. We've already seen a few icebergs and the one below was the closest one to the ship and it's at least as long as the Oosterdam. We've been having lectures by the Expedition team these past few days and they're different from those on the Zaandam. The Drake Passage is what the Captain calls the "Drake Lake" as it is totally flat with barely one meter seas. The Oosterdam has been a much smoother ride than the Zaandam was in November last year on the GSA.

We just disembarked our Chilean pilot. Onward to Antartica!

We just visited Cape Horn (much closer this voyage) and have special permission to now sail the pass. Pretty cool!

Paper port maps are gone as well. We did have them on the GSA though.

We're on approach to Ushuaia after having sailed through Glacier Alley earlier this morning. The first Antarctica Expedition lecture on geology was great! French Glacier Coat & hat? Who needs them?

Unfortunately rebroadcasts of lectures have not been available for many years.

On the GSA, the Antarctica Experience team boarded in Ushuaia just like this cruise. Prior we had a totally different set of lecturers who covered history and cultural topics.

Yes, they start today at 9am like they did on the Grand South America. However we had 3 sea days before Punta Arenas with ample time for lecturers.

It's 6pm in Punta Arenas and the Captain just announced that our departure will be delayed for 2.5 hours to await the return of a HAL shore excursion. I suspect it is the excursion that went to the National Park by air. We've had very cold termperatures and strong winds all day. He indicated that tendering had to be halted mid day due to sustained 40knot winds and rain. As for us, we met my goal for today and actually exceeded it. We visited the wreck of the Lord Lonsdale, the Sara Braun House, the Cemetary where she's buried, the Maritime Museum and had fish soup at La Luna Cafe in downtown. We walked over 14k steps and did a lot of shopping. As I write this, there is another storm cloud coming in from the south. It's definitely colder today than it was in November and this is supposed to be summer. Are we having fun yet? Yes we are loving it.