GeorgeCharlie

We visited both of these ports in 2018, while onboard the Zuiderdam.

We had enjoyable walks around the towns on our own, including chatting with a number of the local residents. Although, I do agree with @iceman93 that taking a guided tour can give you added insight into an area.

If you are interested in seeing some pictures of the towns, you can see them starting at post #231 of the cruise review we did. 

We were in Buenos Aires last December for a couple of days. We did not go on a horseback riding tour, but the tour guide we had does do these type of tours and we can certainly recommend him as being a excellent local guide. Plus, his rates were very competitive.

His name is Tomás and you can contact him at: www.bonaventuratrips.com

Not sure if you have already had a look at any of them, but there are numerous SA cruise reviews here on CC.

Such as this one done by @scubacruiserx2, and he has many excellent photos of the Antarctic portion (along with the rest of the cruise)

 We were on Oosterdam's repositioning SA cruise last fall, which included the itinerary you mentioned above.

6 hours ago, GeorgeCharlie said:

 

With respect to Nurses Week - this past weekend my DW (Lynne) along with more then 150 fellow classmates, celebrated their 50th anniversary of graduation from nursing school. She actually graduated in 1971, but because of Covid they (along with the grads of 1972 & 1973) were only able to do it now. They were bagpiped in, wearing their dark navy blue nursing capes and gold nursing caps – Quite to show! 👩‍⚕️

Finally got a picture of Lynne in her gold cap and RAH cape.

The RAH stands for Royal Alexandra Hospital. She entered the RAH School of Nursing in 1968 and graduated from their 3-year program in 1971. After graduation, they wrote their RN exams and she became a RN in August/71. The students stayed in the school residence and were considered hospital employees, as they had to work at the hospital. Fairly cheap labour, as they received no pay for the first six mouths, $9/mth for the remainder of the first year, then $12/mth for the 2nd year, and $15/mth for the 3rd year. She retired in 2012 (44 years), spending most of time in ICU/CCU and the last three quarters of her career as the Cardiology Instructor.

3 hours ago, ShipGirl0805 said:

Wow! This was really great! Been looking all over for reviews of Greenland. Thank you for taking the time.

Thanks - are you planning a cruise to Greenland soon?

With respect to Nurses Week - this past weekend my DW (Lynne) along with more then 150 fellow classmates, celebrated their 50th anniversary of graduation from nursing school. She actually graduated in 1971, but because of Covid they (along with the grads of 1972 & 1973) were only able to do it now. They were bagpiped in, wearing their dark navy blue nursing capes and gold nursing caps – Quite to show! 👩‍⚕️

Unfortunately, we have never sailed in an aft-facing cabin and have always had a side balcony cabin, reasonably high on the ship. 

In the case of Greenland, the only real scenic section was sailing in the Prince Christian Sund and we mainly wandered around on the ship in order to see as many views as possible. Staying in the cabin would have only given us a partial perspective of what there was to see. In an aft-facing cabin you would likely have the ability to see all the views after they have passed by, but they may be farther away, and you wouldn’t get as good of a view.

We found the sailing into/out of, the ports-of-call, tended to rather limited in scenic views and in those cases your aft-facing cabin would likely be as good as any.
 

Have a look at this site, as it may give you a better idea of how to get around in the Old Town.

Accessible Tallinn (visittallinn.ee)

We visited Tallinn is 2019 and took a privately arranged walking tour. The tour was offered by “Best of Tallinn: Walking Tour with a Local Guide”. There were 8 of us on the tour and it cost 20 Euros each. A similar tour was offered by the ship at a cost of US$89. 

As already mentioned by others, the main attractions the Tallinn Old Town (divided into a "lower town" and Toompea hill) are easily explored on foot from the port. Crime levels in Tallinn are low, although there is some petty crime. Pick pocketing can be a problem.

We met the guide at the port gates, and you can see the Zuiderdam in the background.

This is one of the best preserved medieval towns in Europe - so it is hilly and with many cobblestone streets, therefore (as as already mentioned) not conducive for people with mobility issues.

There was a tourist train, but I do not know its route.

The main entrance into the walled Toompea Hill portion of the Old Town.

The area contains many historical buildings, including some with a more recent notorious past.

It was a public holiday when we were there and throughout the area there were various shows being presented.

View of the Lower Town taken from the Toompea Hill.

The stairs we took down on our way back to the ship.

The large building is the Stenbock House on Toompea hill, which is the official seat of the Government of Estonia.

Duplicate

1 hour ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

 

I don't remember the name for this feature, but if you put your thumb in the hole and could rotate it 360 degrees without it coming out of the hole, you were supposed to have good luck.

 

We were in Istanbul in 2012 on the Nieuw Amsterdam.

Some info on the above.

https://www.dailysabah.com/history/2019/07/22/superstitions-busted-hagia-sophias-wishing-column

We visited Manta last Nov as part of the 31-Day SA repositioning cruise on the Oosterdam. Our Manta tour covered many of the same sights others have already mentioned.

The cruise also included a stop in Falkland Islands and we were fortunate to be able to take a helicopter tour out to see three types of penguins at Volunteer Point, plus a second tour out to a Rockhopper penguin colony.🤠

King Penguins.

King penguin chick still in it's winter coat.

Rockhopper "The penguin with an Attitude".

1 hour ago, dawnvip said:

@GeorgeCharlie thank you so much for your detailed trip report!! DH and I are booked for the Ft Lauderdale to Santiago leg this fall on the Oosterdam. Wondering if you recall which days were the formal nights on the cruise? We really enjoy the formal nights but also want to book the specialty dining so hoping not to conflict!!  Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Dawn

Hi Dawn.

Reviewing the daily programs shows the following "Dressy" days for the first (17 day) segment.

Nov 20th - day 2 of the cruise and first sea day.

Nov 26th - day 8 and a sea day.

Dec 03rd - day 15 and a sea day.

Have a great cruise.🤠

Cheers, Bill 

This picture was taken in 2018 at the Skogafoss Falls in Iceland. Where, like most large falls, due to the amount of spray produced, at least one rainbow is present any time the sun emerges.

47 minutes ago, RMLincoln said:

Thank you for sharing this!  I had one extended family member who landed on Gold beach. My own father served but not in Europe. We’ve been spared so much by their courage and sacrifice. I hope to get to Cherbourg someday. m—

My DW (Lynne) father was in the Canadian Army and landed on Juno Beach shortly after D-Day. He then carried on with the liberation of Netherlands/Holland.

We visited Cherbourg (Normandy) on board the Zuiderdam in 2019, just a few days before the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Some of the sites had restricted access due to the upcoming celebrations, but it was still an impressive sight.  

The simple epitaph on this D-Day memorial at Courseulles-sur-Mer reads: "Here on the 6th June 1944 Europe was liberated by the heroism of the Allied forces."

For over 90 years, a grand two-storey home has sat alone on a beach in the village of Bernières-sur-Mer, in Normandy, France, looking toward England across the English Channel. It wasn’t built by Canadians, and Canadians don’t own it. But on June 6, 1944, it became a part of Canadian military history. On that day, it was the first house to be liberated during Operation Overlord, the Allied military operation to try to liberate France

Sadly, more than 100 Canadians were killed on the beach in front of the home during the first few minutes of the battle.

The house is, and has always been, two semi-detached homes in a single building. The left-hand side is owned by the family of Hervé Hoffer, whose grandfather owned the home during the war but was evicted by the Germans. 

The Hoffer family has lovingly maintained the spirit of their home's wartime history, and the memory of Canada's sacrifice. Today, visitors are almost always welcome, and inside they will find a living shrine to remembrance — a summer home festooned with maple leaf flags, regimental insignia and a large collection of wartime maps, photographs, uniforms and other artifacts.

There was also fighting inside the Hoffer house, as Canadians cleared the building of enemy troops. A veteran, who returned to visit in 2009, left this message in Hoffer’s guest book: “Ernie Kells, Queen’s Own Rifles — one of five soldiers who arrived at this house on D-Day, now 84 years old. Sorry about throwing grenades into your cellar.”

When we disembarked in Buenos Aries this past December, we used Tomas Hughes who had been highly recommended by previous cruisers. We found him his tours to be very good and you can contact him at https://www.bonaventuratrips.com

We visited a number of the ports you have listed during our Nov/Dec 2022 cruise. In most of the ports we used private tour operators.

If you are interested, you can find more details in the review I did of the cruise.

We did HAL's repositioning SA cruise last Nov-Dec. We were the first larger cruise ship to return to a number of the ports since COVID, so there were some organizational frustrations. We managed to get into all the ports and, other then some technical issues and onboard experiences, we had a great cruise.

I'm just in the process of finishing a review of the cruise.

1 minute ago, 0106 said:

@GeorgeCharlieThank you for your detailed trip report. I appreciate your private tour info. We are thinking about booking a cruise on the Oosterdam which includes Antarctica in January 2024.  What do yo think is a better embarkation port, Santiago or Buenos Aires?  I was wondering if East to west or west to east made a difference in the Drake channel too.

Unfortunately I not much help, as we have not embarked in either Santiago, or Buenos Aries, nor have we taken an Antarctica cruise.

Maybe try posting your questions to the South America/Antarctica Ports of Call.

The answers are:

Going west from Stanley, you would first reach Argentina.

Going east from Stanley, you would first reach Chile.

The furthest south settlement in the Falkland Islands is on Sea Lion Island. Travelling west in a straight line, would have you passing through the Strait of Magellan just south of mainland Argentina, and first arriving on land in Chile. So in this case it doesn't matter if you go either west, or east - you're going to Chile.😉

Okay, those two were easy, now for a tougher one.

Which country would you land in, if you were to head straight west from the furthest south settlement in the Falkland Islands?

If you headed straight East from Stanley in the Falkland Islands, which country would you get to first?

Okay - some questions for the Trivia buffs.

If you headed straight West from Stanley in the Falkland Islands, which country would you get to first?

In conversations with people who had taken the 4x4 tour to Volunteer Point, it seemed to be unanimous in that they had a terrific time. 

Many had not previously experienced serious offroad travel and viewed it as an adventure trip, especially when they got stuck and had to be pulled out.

Even setting aside the complaints of five adults (including driver) being crammed into a small vehicle for an extended length of time – some even said they would do it again.🤣