satie37

Don I wish it had been a week longer for free.  No this was a 3 week trip which included an Antarctica circle crossing.  Spending the extra time on the east slide meant we only had 2 days on the west side before we had to cross the Drake.  So no circle crossing and reduced time on the west side.  

That’s why I am going back but this time with Falklands and SG.  

Hi - yes I will be travelling on the Nov 3 trip and was relieved to monitor the Hondius departure for the inaugural trip in June.   Booking a not yet built ship always comes with a bit of risk.  I am very excited to be on this new ship and also experience the Falklands and SG.  

My friend and I are travelling on this trip together.  We actually met in Antarctica on a Quark Trip last year.  

Amazing!!

We are also booked on this trip and it will be the second time to Antarctica.  Last year we did a trip mainly focused on the east side - Wedell sea.  Somewhat unplanned as we got trapped by ice for a week there.  I booked with Argentina air to Trelew and will take a shuttle to Peurto Madryn.  I am flying with Latam from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires.  Hopefully there are no glitches with the flights.  I always leave a cushion when flying small domestic airlines so am arriving in Peurto Madryn 2 days ahead of departure.  

The town itself does not have much to offer.  We did a full day excursion to the now defunct Russian nuclear silos.  It was an amazing and very informative excursion.  We really got a sense of what was happening for the local population during that time.  The underground living quarters and museum were compelling an of course we actually saw the missile silos.  In addition we stopped in a national park and had a traditional lunch on the way back to ship.  

Definitely get out of Reykjavik.  If you are only there for the day and want to get a taste of the amazing landscape skip the Blue Lagoon.  In my opinion not worth the hype and not even a good spa experience.  Rent a car or take a golden circle tour to see some of the highlights - the Rift Valley between the Europe and North American plates - huge waterfalls - visit the Fontana Spa which is heated by a geyser (not geothermal plant runoff like the blue lagoon) and visit the actual geysers.  Have lunch at a hydroponic greenhouse.  This is doable in a day.  

Another amazing but expensive experience is the ‘Into the volcano’ trip which we did a few years ago.  You would have time for that and to see a bit of Reykjavik.  

Hello everyone! My family and I will be taking a Princess cruise out of Southampton on Aug 11 and then visiting Stavanger, Olden, Hellesylt and Geiranger, and finally Bergen. One of my family members will still be attempting to work remotely while on our cruise. Can anyone give any insight into cell and data coverage as well as WiFi while on the boat and while in Port? He has AT&T. Can anyone recommend any bars or restaurants with WiFi? We are definitely going to purchase an internet plan from Princess to cover the days at sea, but truly I would be greatful for any information. Thanks everyone! [emoji4]

Consider getting a portable hotspot. I use skyroam which was brilliant when in port or near land. It picks up the signal from local towers. I paid $10/day on days I activated it. I had unlimited data and I just tossed it in my daypack.

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Perhaps this is a silly question. Would it be worthwhile to go to the Blue Lagoon even we don't plan to go into the water or have a spa treatment?

No not worth it. It is barely worth going even if you are going into the water. It is not a natural lagoon and is fed with run off from the geothermal plant. The water is tepid at best with cold areas and it is crowded with tourists.

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For those of you that have done Tallin, Stockholm, or Helsinki on your own (i.e., no organized tour), how did you make your way around? Did you have maps (maybe from Google, an official map from tourist information booth, maps in Rick Steves book)? Or could you manage to get to the major sites without them?

 

 

 

Just don't want to spend the time we have in port wandering around lost ;)

Both Tallin and Helsinki are compact and walkable. It is difficult to get lost. Having a town map with major sites would be sufficient. In Helsinki we joined a free walking tour also to learn the local perspective. Stockholm is spread out so we took the HOHO bus which worked out well.

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My friend and I are planning on exploring the Norwegian coast next summer and have narrowed it down to two choices. I am really torn between the itereraries and the ship. Having sailed on Prinsendam I like the fewer passengers and this one goes to more ports. However, the Princess cruise includes a stop at the Lofoten Islands vs HAL stop at Narvik. Other than that the itineraries are mostly the same. We also are looking for a more spacious cabin .... so likely Vista Suite on Prinsendam or Mini Suite on Princess. Anyone give me some feedback on the HAL itinerary vs Princess? I have not sailed on Princess before so any feedback on that experience would be helpful. What would YOU choose??? I am interested in exploring the culture, geography and am an enthusiast photographer so hoping to do some landscape and street photography while I am there.

Thank you so much Corliss, that makes me feel better about that room, and the fact that we won't have one of those coveted "walk in closets" ;p

Keep an eye on the prices if you do a GTY cabin you can often get a free upgrade if the cabin prices get lowered to what you paid for your original cabin category. We got upgraded on the prinsendam from a balcony to a signature suite.

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Just curious if she has any opinions on what type of camera she wants to use. I am a real Pentax fan as I find their cameras well built and weather resistant. Have their new K1 but obviously not a light camera. The Pentax K01 is a mirror less model by Pentax which is good. It takes the regular Pentax lenses. If you are looking for something more compact check out the Lumix cameras. I have 2 of them - a P&S model and a DSLR but without interchangeable lenses. They are all great cameras with good quality photos and easy to use.

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I just purchased the TG4 as I felt when compared to the TG5 it actually seemed like the better camera. Given the same size sensor Olympus has chosen to reduce the number of pixels on the TG5. I have a Canon PowerShot underwater also but it does not shoot RAW and I haven't been so happy with the underwater shots. I wanted a faster lens and the TG4 has an F2 which is pretty good for a sports camera.

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We sailed on the Prinsendam for the 14 day Baltic and has a signature suite which was fabulous. The best cabin I have had on a cruise. I loved the small size of the ship. Only 800 passengers made a big difference in ports. We did not have set dining times which worked out well for us. I also found that people did dress nicely for dinners but not formal. The ship has very comfortable common spaces which were well used likely because there are fewer cabins with balconies. The entertainment was first rate and the passengers were mostly well travelled and interesting conversationalists. The ship does seem to attract older cruise passengers.

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We did a 14 day Baltic cruise on the Prinsendam. Very few men wore a tux and most wore slacks, suit jacket and tie for the gala nights. I didn't see any women in full formal dresses. I personally wore black dress slacks and a nice blouse and jacket. I think things have toned down a lot from the past formal gala nights.

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It probably depends on which HAL ship you take. I would not recommend the Prinsendam - although it is a beautiful ship and I personally loved the smaller passenger count - however I felt as though I was getting a preview of retirement home living. We have travelled NCL a few times with our kids and there were lots of on board activities for kids and teens of all ages.

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I notice there are only roll calls for the larger cruise ships which is too bad. As many people who go on expedition ships are solo travellers I thought it would be great to have roll calls for these ships also.

Maybe I missed it but is there a place to do this on cruise critic???

There is a helpful site called http://www.traveltothepoles.com where they explain the differences between ships and provide the rating for each.

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We went at the end of February and into March. We saw tons of fantastic icebergs, including witnessing some calving. We saw whales, including from kayaks and from the bow of the ship. We saw lots of penguins but the chicks were growing up.

Thanks for sharing this. I was thinking that as it was towards the end of the season the sightings would be sparse.

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:confused: I am a little confused...the Shetland Islands are off the coast of Scotland. That would be closer to the Arctic...whales but no penguins.

 

Are there other Shetlands?

My bad - should have specified SOUTH Shetland Islands. They are just off the top of Antarctica.

i just put a deposit in a 14 day antarctic trip which goes to the Shetland islands and the peninsula and hopefully crosses the circle. It departs Mar 3 and is a photography trip so I am trusting that the company would make sure they do these trips at good times of the season for photography. I expect we will see lots of whales at this time but I was also hoping we would also still see lots of penguins and youngish chicks. I am also hoping for icebergs. Is this getting too late in the season?

Couldn't find my roll call but just got my cabin assignments last night with nice upgrade to mid ship signature suite from Vista. YEAH!!!

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Just wondering if anyone has received their cabin assignments yet. Anyone with experience with Holland America will they send an email update or do I just have to keep checking the site???

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I was on Starclipper this past Jan 2017 and was happy to find they have hired a Dive Instructor to be on board. He was excellent and I got to do 3 dives. His contract is for a year so he should be on your ship. I suggest you bring your own fins as the ones on board were awful. Have fun

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Ruthy123 thanks for the reminder that these areas are to be respected and can be dangerous. I have 5 children and have travelled a lot with them at various ages. As 'unpopular' as it may be I had a good child harness for my energetic toddler so there was no danger of them darting out into traffic, falling on cobblestones or getting into harms way. I found that the harness, and a backpack child carrier did the trick of making travel easy for me, safe and enjoyable for my child and allowed the exploration of areas I likely would not have ventured were I simply carrying or holding onto my child. Still common sense - although not always so common - should prevail when travelling with young children.

If you will be whale watching then I suggest Icelandic Fish & Chips which is right down by the Harbour. Another choice is Forrettabarrin which is right across from the Iceland Air Hotel on the harbour. I don't think sand and ash would be an issue around the golden circle area. That insurance is to protect you from wind storm damage where volcanic ash can damage car paint. You might want to ask your question on the Iceland forum.