scubacruiserx2

  We knew with Icebergs this close that we would soon see a Glacier

An attempt to harpoon Agua the great Blue Iceberg

2 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

No NCL Sun be we have Regent seven seas Voyager with us again

 We noticed that they went South in the Fjords to the Glacier we think . They are scheduled to go to Chacabuco tomorrow so you may pass at them at sea . We hope that you had a great day .

 Before we knew it we were in the icebergs - some small and some bigger than trees .

  A view of our balcony

Near the mountain

And away we go

A couple of Condors and a rainbow

 The Sun has turned south away from the Port of Chacabuco probably looking for the Glacier .

 We were pleasantly surprised that our Christmas was alive and well after being gone 3 weeks and 3 days ! It has since morphed into a Loveuary  tree for Valentines Day and we wonder if it can make it to a March like a lamb tree .

 We were up early but not bright for a quick breakfast at 0630 . Our ride was due at 0700 and we were packed but we wanted to have a quick bite to eat and take care of business before the long ride to the boat . As it turned out we were the first picked up and picking up all of the other people took nearly as long as the ride to the boat . You have to pay a park fee which had to be paid in A Pesos . Then a line for the boat . It was a nice day with some clouds in the distance that looked like rain .

 We paid a little extra for a smaller room in the aft on the 2nd deck . It had a private viewing deck and bathroom . It also served a nice meal for lunch .

 It appears that the NCL Sun and the HAL Oosterdam may be in Puerto Chacabuco today so it may be crowded .

https://www.cruisemapper.com/?imo=9221281

We miss the good old days when they went just North to Puerto Aysen up the river . It was much more scenic and less crowded . As you can see from this photo in 2007 on the NCL Dream . There were more tenders than passengers , much nicer than waiting an hour in line .

 We had a late dinner in town that was good and early the next morning we were to go on a Glacier cruise . When we got back to the room it was hot . They have no fans or AC so the only way that we had to cool the room was to hold the window and door to the hallway open . We did lock them at 11 PM but people kept driving on the gravel road beneath us and talking very loudly in the halls until after midnight .

 How I wished that we had brought our rechargeable fans that we use after hurricanes and the power goes out . A little breeze and some white noise from the fan would have been a blessing . 

 There were a couple of places down the street for dinner but they were both closed and the Hotel only served breakfast . The lady at the desk was nice and said that we could walk ( 2 miles ) or that she could call us a cab , which we chose . We asked her to called the hotel where we had stayed before to make dinner reservations for the next day . We loved that place for dinner .

Local Trout

Ossobuco

Dessert

Our room was tiny compared to our nice Cabin on the Star and as we waited for the cab we noticed that 2 of the suitcases had been tampered with . Pat's large suitcase had been opened and relocked  probably using a TSA key . Nothing was missing but the contents had been rearranged . But the new piece of luggage had the locking holes where the zippers meet and the lock broken off . It was dirty clothes and hiking boots ( Pat's were brand new ) but nothing appeared to be taken . We had the lady at the desk call the airlines but they said that it had to be reported at the airport before we left .

 Our favorite hotel in El Calafate didn't answer our phone calls or Emails before we left . So we booked a different hotel . They had arranged a taxi to pick us up at the airport about 20 minutes away . But without a car we had a feeling that this visit may be going down the drain .

 They scanned our luggage as we left and it was after 1900 but on a Sunday night we  knew that some things may be closed . The entrance of our new place .

 An arrival in El Calafate

 After shopping for a suitcase we had some good ice cream and went to the blue market for some money as we had heard stories about trying to get it later . For a clean , new $100 bill I got a stack of 117,000 A pesos . It was almost half an inch thick . The next stop was Plaza de Mayo or the City Square . The first thing that I noticed was the May Pyramid which was erected after the May Revolution in 1811 and was BA's first National Monument .

The next thing was the Casa Rosada , the pink house which is where the President works . The balcony in the center is where Evita used to speak from .

 Lastly , was the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral where Pope Francis was Archbishop for 15 years before he became Pope .

The remains of General San Martin is guarded by 3 statutes of countries that he liberated Argentina , Peru and Chile .

 We had planned on eating at the Jorge Newbery domestic Airport but we spent a long time moving clothes to the new suitcase so that they would balance out . Worse was customs and immigration considering that we were not leaving the country . We boarded at about 1630 for the 3 hour flight to El Calafate .

  Our next stop was at the sprawling Parque El Rosedal .

  We met our guide in the disorganization that was disembarkation and headed out for an unknown tour .

 The only 2 things that we knew were that we had a domestic flight to El Calafate at 1630 and that we needed to buy a new suitcase . AA has a more stringent weight policy on domestic flights . We were flying business class and were allowed more luggage but each suitcase had to weight less .  😜

 The first stop was an upscale mall but the cheapest piece was $200 . So we moved on and would check the blue market later . We stopped at a park that dealt with the Guerra Sucia  ( Dirty War ) . To summarize , Juan Peron was elected in 1946 and lived in an age when dictators were commonplace . Their society wasn't stable and he and his 2nd wife Evita brought some hope to the masses . After his death in 1974 , his 3rd wife and the state sponsored force AAA  ( Argentine Anticommunist Alliance ) targeted left wing subversives and thousands of people disappeared  under it's  successor the Proceso de Reorganizacion National . This is what the park is about .

 What it didn't mention was that there was 1000% inflation and as the economy crumbled it tried to reintroduce national honor by attacking The Falkland Islands .

 The wall of missing people

An instrument of torture with a free collage behind it

A disappearing man as you walk by it

This one disappears when the tide rises

 We like Aerolineas Argentinas as our airline in South America just as we prefer Virgin Atlantic to fly to London . But they have a couple of quirks . The first was that they had lowered their luggage weight limit after we had booked and didn't notify us . Unfortunately our second checked bag was overweight in Miami . If we could have moved some things from the larger bag to the smaller it would be no problem . But unfortunately it was gone down the conveyor belt and they would not retrieve it or give us a credit for a couple of pounds that would have gone in it . The result was red HEAVY tag and a $100 overcharge , even though the total weight never changed . 

 The second odd thing is that AA always closes the window shades during the entire flight and most people go to sleep in the morning , only waking to be feed or excrete . So nocturnal is the norm in Argentina . The first time that we went to a nice dinner place in El Calafate we were surprised that they didn't open until 8 PM .

  We did show our last dinner but not our last lunch which was the same main for both of us and different desserts .

 While we sat at Gatsby's for the last time we were waiting for our guide and Monica to walk us down one last time to ding out from the Star . We had some time to reflect .

 Most of the cruise was good , very good . But just sitting in Gatsby's reminded us of a couple of reasons why we missed HAL . The most obvious was that we were in Gatsby's instead of our stateroom with it's peace and quite . And the second was the issue of laundry especially in warm climates where you sweat a lot like BA and South Florida . We were in a nice suite and we still had to pay for our laundry ! It seems like if you throw double digits in thousands of dollars that a couple of bags of free laundry wouldn't hurt them .

 Anyhow , we were purple tags for our checked bags and there was about a half an hour between it and the previous color so that's when we moved out of the frying pan and into the fire .

8 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

We went to Brujo glacier this afternoon, it was just glorious even with the light rain we had, it just meant poor visibility for photos but the most amazing blues in the glacier.

 It's always striking to see the huge wall of ice . They tend to sprout microclimates maybe snow , fog or rain but always impressive . Years ago Amalia was the go to glacier when we first went but Brujo  has become more common .

https://www.afar.com/travel-tips/amalia-and-el-brujo-glaciers

1 hour ago, milolii said:

Hi Ken, I started following your thread after I leaned about the NCL Star’s incident at the Falklands (on another media site); and seeing clips of a large, vocal & singing gathering in the  NCL Star’s  atrium the day before, January 31.  Originally, I was following @scubacruiserx2 ‘s January 7, 2024 thread as we booked on the NCL Star for  February, 2025.  

I’ll admit I didn’t know much about sailing to Antarctica other than there are plenty of sea days and it is clear that neither NCL or Princess offer/sell expedition cruises amd no one would be setting foot on the continent.  Due to the costs and time spend to get to BA or Santiago, my guess is most of the passengers on both ships understand these two points very well.  
 

After reading many of the posts here, it appears some posters don’t completely understand the importance of the “sail by” to Antarctica, as I admitted I didn’t until recently.  If posters want to fully appreciate the significance of this type of cruise, I suggest they read your threads or at least glance at all the amazing pics taken during the Antarctica portion postered in both threads. 
 

We sail both Princess and NCL frequently.  Again, Thank you and @scubacruiserx2for your threads. 
 

 

 You're welcome . If you look at our profile you will see Celebrity . Princess and HAL as our favorite lines . These are the ships that we have enjoyed the most and this was our 6th NCL cruise . Our 1st cruise to the Baltic and South America were both on NCL and this last cruise was too good for us to pass up , so we do have a soft spot for them . However , we think that longer is better and for that reason we preferred our 4 day cruise to Antarctica on HAL . We think that you made a great decision switching to the longer cruise and it may cost more but we think that the difference will be worth it in the long run ! Happy cruising . 🙂😊

 As we near the end of our cruise we feel a need to briefly summarize our cruise before we move to Patagonia which all pretty much self booked .

 The high points were  the best cabin that we've ever had at an affordable price . The People , Vonn the butler , Monica the Concierge and Arlene were superb and we take care of the people who take care of us . We loved the intimate breakfast and lunch gatherings and the bed , robes and towels .

 The embarkation was not all NCL's problem but we wished that they would have kept some separation between groups and had seats on the bus for everybody - no standing on moving vehicles . The food wasn't great overall and the tenders need some work . As a Firefighter /Paramedic , if the tenders didn't work well during a routine operation than I'm concerned if they needed to be deployed as life boats . But the lowest point for us deals with our faith and NCL's lack of cooperation with our attempt to organize a Bible Study . The CC coordinators who arranged the M&M meeting , 

our new friends , @ziggyuk  Anthony and Tony did  a great job and helped us book a space and refreshments from HAL on a couple of day's at sea and a Sunday self led group .

 Unfortunately , HAL refused to allow us to post any signs or place it in the Freestyle Daily . There were no Bibles in the Paris Room or in our night stands which was something that I has never seen before in a ship or a Hotel . 

 We did notice that self led Shabbat meeting that held was printed twice in the Freestyle Daily . And that their books were placed at the meeting place  at 6 PM . The books were still there on our Sunday morning and I spent an hour reading the book . It also features some patriotic American songs .

 I do wish that NCL would be more like HAL in the way that they treat people of Faith . HAL has self led groups for Jewish and  Interdenominational people and a Mass daily for Catholics . I only love one person more than my wife and family . My Rabbi is a Jewish carpenter and his name is Jesus , the one person that I love the most on this Valentine's Day .

 Look what we found in the mailbox yesterday . It's an invitation to observe World Whale Day ( February 18th this year ) with National Geographic . 

The only problem is that all of the ships have sailed except the cruises to Antarctica and Patagonia : Legendary Ice and Epic Ice Fjords . It's no wonder that they can afford to be so generous with their discounts !! 

 We don't have to walk in the penguin poo to smell it . We want Antarctica and the Falklands and not at $21 K p.p.

  It appears that the Oosterdam is doing a turn in a cove so hopefully it's the glacier . Meanwhile the Sun has left Punta Arenas and it appears that the Star is in Penguinland in the Falkland Islands .

1 hour ago, stonepebble said:

Looks like you're finishing up as we are starting! I feel like I know my way around the ship now! Thank you!

Pray for fair winds, following seas and the Drake Lake for the Feb 18 crew! 

Chris

  We will Chris . We also hope that you will have a Happy Anniversary and that  perhaps NCL may reconsider their options and honor the 2 port commitments in Antarctica and also The Falkland Islands . May it be the trip of your dreams . 😊🙂

40 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

BTW, of the places you dive, where would you say is the best place if you were an instructor (all levels), to live-work? That's work permit-visa friendly and one can pay the bills in that field? Just curious as I am guessing you have some experience diving various places

  We have not pursued it . But we had a couple of friends who were a retired LEO and his wife who lived and worked in Cozumel . They missed the family and returned back to Denver . Grand Turk is a nice laid back place but may be too slow for some people . Cayman is pretty but pretty expensive . We could dive there twice for the same price as Cozumel and we prefer the drift diving there . It's similar to Palm Beach County but clearer water and a lower cost of living .

 When we arrived at dinner they were closing down the 2 other stations and ours was the only one working that night . I guess everybody was packing . They have 2 chefs working back to back which was really noisy .  

Spinning the fork ( you'll poke your eye out )

The egg snake and the fried rice

The Main course , of course

After the din of dinner we really wanted a quite walk on the deck and I thought of Al Stewart's song that I always listen to on the first night of a cruise .