J-D

We have flown 8-12 hour flights on ANZ a few times, variously in Economy, Premium Economy (not the Space Seat version), and Business. Our impression has been generally positive compared with United and Air Canada.

A few months ago, my wife and I flew LAX to AKL on an ANZ B777-300 in Economy / Sky Couch when we were unable to upgrade to business. For two adults (one of them 6'1"), we expected Sky Couch to be of no more than marginal benefit, for the reasons mentioned in the previous post plus the known close spacing (pitch) of the Economy seats on that aircraft type. However, Sky Couch actually proved to be worthwhile for us. Being assured of having 3 Economy seats for two people was a big benefit in itself. Also, it was possible for at least one of us to lie more or less prone at any given time. It was cramped and not at all comparable to a lie-flat business class seat, but as compared with standard ANZ economy, Sky Couch was (for us) worth the extra money on a long-haul overnight leg.

John

Vina del Mar and Valparaiso are adjacent and essentially run into one another. We stayed in Vina (at the Sheraton, on Starwood points) the night before boarding a ship at Valpo in March 2013. It was only a few km -- perhaps a 10 min taxi ride -- from the Sheraton to the cruise terminal. However, in my opinion, Valpo is the more interesting place. If we had not already spent a few hours in Valpo following each of two previous disembarkations, we probably would have chosen a hotel in Valpo rather than Vina, so as to be better situated for touring Valpo. I have not re-checked Valpo hotel reviews recently, but seem to recall that Valpo has some hotels with good reviews somewhat up the hills from the downtown and port areas.

John

We stayed at the Hotel Orly, which was very pleasant, free breakfast, coffee and tea available in the lounge all day and next door to several good restaurants, in a safe and clean area.

Just to clarify, the Hotel Orly is in Santiago. We also stayed at the Orly and concur with the above favourable review. But it is a long way from Valpo...

John

At Valparaiso, the ship will dock in a busy commercial port. The port provides a shuttle bus to the cruise terminal, which is 2 or 3 km to the east along the shore. (You are not allowed to walk inside the port area.) From the terminal, it is possible to walk south (inland) into the city -- the National Congress building is about 1/2 km inland from the terminal. On one of our arrivals into Valpo (Feb. 2010), we walked to the National Congress and somewhat beyond. We felt safe enough as far as the Congress Bldg and surroundings, but got a bit nervous when we walked further inland from there. However, the majority of the interesting (to us) sights are to the west, closer to the dock. Unfortunately, one cannot get directly from the dock to that interesting area--as far as I know, it is necessary to first take the shuttle to the cruise terminal, well to the east.

On our 2nd arrival at Valpo (Feb. 2013), we arranged to be picked up at the cruise terminal by AboutChile tours. They provided an excellent and reasonably-priced private tour of the more westerly area, by van and on foot, before taking us on to Vina del Mar and to Santiago. They (and other tour operators) do the same tour in reverse, from Santiago or Santiago airport to Vina and Valpo and then to the cruise terminal. If you are not already irrevocably committed to the Princess transfer, I recommend considering a change to such a private transfer/tour. Depending when you must be aboard and your specific interests, it might be better to ask the tour operator to skip Vina del Mar and spend as much time as possible visiting Valparaiso, which is interesting and colourful. Many people who take these Santiago-to-Valpo transfer/tours stop at a winery en route from Santiago to Vina and Valpo (we have also done that), but of course any winery visit will cut down on the time available to see Valpo.

If you are not already planning to do so, I strongly recommend flying in to Santiago a few days early, if you can. We found it to be a very interesting city, and it is easy and relatively safe to get around on your own.

John

...do we use their PC's or is it worth taking our own laptop or tablet?

Definitely worth having your own device so you can compose and read msgs, and view other files, while offline, i.e., while not paying the ship's high per-minute connection charges. With your own device, you can also connect at lower rates while in ports.

John

We did the standard 10-day Princess round trip out of Papeete in 2011 on the former Royal Princess -- sister ship to the Ocean. It is a fabulous trip, and those small R-class ships have everything one needs during that port-intensive itinerary. Though the costs on land in French Polynesia can be high, the cost per day during those Princess cruises is often very reasonable.

If at all possible, I recommend arranging to spend a few extra days in FP before or after the cruise. Mo`orea is very scenic and peaceful, and is easy to reach by ferry from the same dock where the cruise starts and ends. Much of Tahiti itself is also extremely scenic with interesting history -- well worth a pre- or post-cruise stay, a road trip around the island, and an excursion into the lush interior.

John

From what I've read (I am no expert), the protection against yellow fever is not considered to be effective until 10 days after the vaccination. One would need to be sure to be vaccinated at least that far in advance of the date when the vaccination is required to be effective.

John

I concur that getting a car or scooter is a good way to see the coastal part of Rarotonga. Although driving in Rarotonga is on the left, the roads are not busy (except perhaps in downtown Avarua, depending on time of day), and Rarotonga must be one of the least stressful places to acquire some experience in driving on the left.

If you will be there overnight and want to keep the vehicle beyond 24 hours (or perhaps it is beyond noon the following day?), you may need to go to the police station in downtown Avarua for a Cook Isl. driver's licence:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/archive/index.php/t-1934609.html

Most online sources now say that the temporary licence issued by the rental agent is good to noon the following day, but you should check on the current rules as to how long you can legitimately drive with just the temporary licence.

John

The striking orange and black bird (with white marks on the face) in the last photo of post #157 is a male Long-tailed Meadowlark, Sturnella loyca (in Spanish, Loica).

John

...My only concern about the December option is that it misses a couple of potentially interesting places Puerto Madryn, Puerto Montt and Amalia Glacier (cruising). What do you think?:)

I have not looked into all the options considered by scubacruiserx2, and we have done this itinerary only in Feb.-March (B.A. to Valpo twice; continuing from Valpo to L.A. once). In our opinion, Puerto Madryn, Puerto Montt, and the Chilean Fjords (including Amalia Glacier and, on a clear day, distant views of Torres del Paine) were all highlights -- Puerto Madryn for wildlife (we went to Peninsula Valdes rather than Punta Tombo); and the Chilean Fjords/Amalia Glacier and Puerto Montt for spectacular scenery. By late February and especially March, Magellanic Penguins are becoming less abundant on their colonies, but should still be present in good numbers early in a "B.A. to L.A." cruise during the stop at Puerto Madryn.

Scubacruiserx2 is certainly correct that the Falklands are the best place for penguins along the usual "around-the-Horn + Falklands itineraries". If you get ashore at Stanley (East Falkland), you can be more or less assured of seeing at least three penguin species (King, Gentoo, Magellanic) if you select an appropriate ShoreEx. My understanding of the likelihood of getting ashore at Stanley is that it is well above 50%. However, in our very small sample of attempts (twice, both in February), we got ashore once, in 2010, and diverted due to a storm once, in 2013.

On the southern S. American itineraries, it is important to adopt a flexible and "enjoy whatever happens" attitude. In particular, everyone should be prepared for the possibility of missing one or more ports -- not just the Falklands. We missed Punta Arenas on our 2010 trip when delayed at Ushuaia by 40-kt winds holding us against the dock. Ships occasionally miss Ushuaia as well, due to weather or Argentine/Falklands politics. We were fortunate to get to Ushuaia, a scenic & interesting port, on both of our trips. (Actually, we got there on a third unplanned visit as well, as a result of the great Chilean earthquake (magnitude 8.8) of 27 Feb. 2010 -- a long story.) Fortunately, those major earthquakes seem to occur in Chile only about once per 50 years!

John

More birds to identify! The first one in post #146 (photo copied below) is another Southern Giant Petrel.

...And once again -we were being followed.

 

 

 

The series of seabird photos (one of the series is repeated below) is of a shearwater, of which there are numerous species -- often difficult to distinguish. However, the photos are excellent, and show all the relevant angles, and I am reasonably confident that this bird is a Great Shearwater, Puffinus gravis (Fardela capirotada in Spanish).

 

The Great Shearwater has a very lengthy migration. It nests in colonies in the South Atlantic and then migrates north up the western Atlantic, across the equator, to eastern Canada and Greenland. These birds then cross to the European side before migrating south along the eastern Atlantic and back to the breeding areas.

 

John

The key point is that, on the Grand, the central staircase above deck 7 is not regularly accessible -- it is normally "crew only". Those stairs are available for passenger use only during emergencies or simulated emergencies, e.g., boat drill on embarkation day. All of the large Princess ships built subsequently had a permanently-accessible central staircase until the current Royal Princess was commissioned -- inexplicably, with the same flaw as the Grand despite all the problems & complaints about the Grand's lack of a regularly-accessible central stairwell.

Again, some people do not find this to be a problem. However, those of us who like to use the central stairs to quickly get from deck-to-deck (and/or for exercise), along with those who fret about elevator congestion and delays, are often frustrated by the lack of a useable central stairwell.

John

As already noted, they are sister ships, but Star was built more recently, and various modifications have been made such that they now have quite a few differences. We have been on each of these ships twice. Alfredo's on the Grand is indeed a very good addition. Some of us are not happy about the Grand's "Skywalkersectomy"; others like the resulting extra sunlight aft. We find the lack of a regularly-accessible central staircase on the Grand above deck 7 to be quite annoying; some people don't mind. Probably not much of an issue for the OP's relatively short cruise, but the closets in the Grand's balcony, oceanview, and interior cabins have a much shorter clothes railing than in the later ships including the Star -- much less space for hangars on the Grand

All things considered, we prefer the Star, but would not hesitate to travel on the Grand again if that seemed best from other considerations. However, we would try to avoid a cabin in the central part of the Grand given the frequent congestion at the central elevators associated with the lack of (accessible) central stairs.

John

We had no trouble taking a taxi from our hotel to the cruise terminal in 2011. Price was reasonable.

Same for us in March 2013. The taxi should bring you close to the terminal where you will check in your luggage and go through embarkation formalities. From there, you will take a shuttle bus for perhaps 2 km to the ship, and your luggage will be delivered to the ship by someone else.

John

... do you know if they accept credit cards for the roundtrip tickets to Russell or the Catamaran to Hole in the Rock?

Yes, credit cards were accepted at the sales offices on the Paihia wharf and on the Russell wharf when we were there in November 2013.

John

We stayed in B.A. for four days during each of two trips (2010 and 2013), drank the hotel's tap water, and had no problems.

John

From our experience in booking several trans-Pacific trips, I concur that a few months in advance should be fine. However, if you hope to get seats with frequent-flyer points, or (better) to use points to upgrade, you should try to book on the first day that the outbound space is made available by your airline--typically about 11 mo in advance.

John

 

Here is a local bird related to the Cormorant called the Anhinga .

This male has his "mating mask" on with the color around the eyes.

...

A small video clip of feeding

 

 

And a very informative 4 minute video on this interesting bird

 

Nice Anhinga pictures. According to my notes, I first saw it in Dec. 1957 as a child when our family made our first trip to the FL Everglades. That species occurs all the way from the SE U.S.A. southeast to (approx.) Buenos Aires. There is only one other species in the Anhingidae (darter) family; it looks very similar and occurs in Africa, south Asia, and Australia.

John

Our next stop was Bridges Island . ... While hiking a little further we found this mother bird and her two chicks

 

 

Scubacruiserx2, very nice photos and videos yet again. The goose in the video within post #127 is an Upland (or Magellan) Goose, Chloephaga picta (in Spanish: Caiquen). The white-headed adult in the video is actually a male -- the adult female has a rusty red head.

Though difficult to see clearly, the circling bird in the video within post #128,

is apparently a skua, most likely a Chilean Skua, Stercorarius chilensis (in Spanish: Salteador chileno). That is the common skua species along the Beagle Channel. If the video is played at 1/4 speed, at time 0.06 sec, white patches are visible at the bases of the primary feathers in the outer wings--characteristic of skuas. Skuas "steal" food from other birds, and take small chicks and eggs from the seabird colonies. They are related to gulls and terns.

John

...After circling the light house we found some nice color and birds

The last photo in post #123 and the first in post #124 (Imperial Cormorants) clearly show them to be the "eastern" King Cormorant form of this species, with the black area extending relatively far down the side of the face, below the eye level. Also, very nice photos of the Kelp Geese and Rock Cormorants.

I am inspired by your photos to want to get back to southern S. America (and the Falklands). However, there are so many other interesting places that we have not previously visited that we also want to see!

John

Of the most recent photos (in post #118), the first photo has two of the previously mentioned Kelp Gulls near the right side.

The 3rd photo has a Rock Cormorant, Phalacrocorax magellanicus, Cormoran de las Rocas in Spanish (sometimes known as the Magellan Cormorant), with its distinctive black neck, posed (appropriately) on the rock near the right foreground. In this particular Rock Cormorant, the white face patch is not visible. The abundant cormorants in various photos are again Imperial Cormorants.

The 2nd-last photo has an interesting large predatory bird perched at top centre--I will not venture a guess about its identity. Many skuas (predatory birds related to gulls) make their living eating eggs and chicks in these Beagle Channel seabird colonies, but I am not certain that this bird is a skua.

John

In the first of the most recent four photos, the gull in the foreground of the first "mom and pup" sea lion photo is a young Dolphin Gull -- not as colourful as the adult in an earlier photo.

The cormorants in the 3rd and 4th photos are again Imperial Cormorants, Phalacrocorax atriceps. That species has a westerly form sometimes described as the "Blue-eyed Cormorant" and an easterly form, the "King Cormorant". The Imperial Cormorant was the most common species of cormorant that we saw on small-boat cruises near Ushuaia, but you probably also saw another species, the Rock Cormorant, on at least one of the islands there. Male Rock Cormorants have an all-black neck with a white patch behind the eye.

The gull in the left foreground of the final (4th) photo is, I believe, a Kelp Gull, Larus dominicanus (in Spanish, Gaviota dominicana) -- a widespread species at southern latitudes. In New Zealand it is called the Black-backed Gull.

John

Great sea lion photos. And the gull with the very bright red bill and legs is a Dolphin Gull, Larus scoresbii (Spanish name Gaviota austral). Looking forward to your next installment...

John

We are going to see some incredible wildlife coming up in Ushuaia ! We would love to here about your trips sometime John . In the meantime we have a few parting images of this pristine area .

I don't want to distract from your excellent travelogue by interjecting comments about our trips. Looking forward to your photos from the Ushuaia area. I am guessing you went on the catamaran trip around the islands and lighthouse--we have done that twice.

John

Spectacular photos! I would guess that the bird in the wake is a Black-browed Albatross, but need a closer view to be sure. Your photos bring back a lot of memories of our two (actually 2.5 -- a long story) cruises along your approximate itinerary.

John