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South America Cape Horn on Emerald Princess February 28, 2018


PurpleTraveller
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Friday March 2 - Montivideo

 

We woke to a beautiful morning in Montevideo and when we went up for breakfast we could see the ship graveyard on the other side of the breakwater.

 

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We left the ship at 9am as we wanted to do our walking before it got too hot. As we got to the end of the pier we walked past a display of ship anchors and equipment. One of the anchors was from the General Graf Spee, a German armoured ship that was scuttled in Montevideo harbour in WWll.

 

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We got a map from one of the people from the Tourist Information Centre who were handing out maps at the port exit and went on a leisurely walk to the city centre. We walked past local stores and a street fruit and vegetable market.

 

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We walked through Plaza Zabala then to Plaza Constitucion where we visited the Cathedral. There was market in the plaza and we sat down for a while to enjoy the lovely plaza.

 

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We walked on to Plaza Independencia passing under the Puerta de la Cuidadela a stone gateway which is from the colonial citadel which was demolished in 1833.

 

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Plaza Independencia is very attractive with its palm trees and view of Palacio Salvo which was South America tallest building when it opened in 1927.

 

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We saw the statue of the Uruguayan independence hero Jose Gervasio Artigas and visited his underground mausoleum with its honour guard.

 

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We also saw Palacio Estevez which was Government House until 1985.

 

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We left the plaza and walked past Teatro Solis which opened in 1856.

 

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It was getting very warm by now so we headed towards the sea promenade, La Rambla. It was lovely to walk along the promenade and there was a wonderful sea breeze.

 

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We walked towards the dock and then cut through to the Mercado del Puerto. This lovely iron old port building has many steak restaurants and we wandered around looking at all the meat cooking. It was very hot inside but very interesting.

 

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As it was now getting quite hot we made our back to the ship and had lunch. We spent the rest of the afternoon on the Sun Deck watching "The Devil Wears Prada" and an Elton John concert at MUTS.

 

We had a lovely sail away passing the ship graveyard and accompanied by a beautiful sunset.

 

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Very nice review.

 

You mentioned you took a port bus from the ship to the terminal in BA. I take it that this due to no walking in the port allowed. Do you have any idea what would happen to disabled passengers that could not get on a bus?

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Saturday March 3 - Sea Day

 

I love sea days, particularly if we have had a busy few days before hand. The day started by going to the Destination Presentation by Julio Delgado on Puerto Madryn at 9.30am. We have been on two other cruises where Julio Delgado was the Destination Expert and enjoy his presentations. After the presentation we went for a walk around the Promenade and were delighted to see dolphins swimming alongside the ship. As it was a lovely sunny day we spent most of it on deck. We watched a Sam Smith concert at MUTS, had lunch and then I went to the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet at 1pm at Skywalkers. I was amazed at how many people were there, certainly the largest turn out I have been to. I then returned to MUTS and we watched "Saving Mr Banks" before having dinner. We went to the 8.15pm show in the theatre "Magic To Do". A lovely sea day!

 

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Very nice review.

 

You mentioned you took a port bus from the ship to the terminal in BA. I take it that this due to no walking in the port allowed. Do you have any idea what would happen to disabled passengers that could not get on a bus?

Thanks. There is no walking in the port in Buenos Aires as it it a very busy industrial working port. I did see a passenger with a walker being helped on to one of the port shuttle buses by port assistants but I did not see anyone in a wheelchair. I am not sure what happens to help them.

 

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Thank you so much for the great photos and reviews. We are going on the Royal Princess for the 49-day South America cruise in February 2019. Will be following. So looking forward to this trip of a lifetime.

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Sunday March 4 - Puerto Madryn

 

We had not planned much for Puerto Madryn as we had booked tours to see penguins in the Falklands and Punta Arenas and did not feel like a long drive to Peninsula Valdes. We originally had planned to go to Punta Loma to see the sea lions but after checking the tides discovered that low tide was around 4.30pm. The best time to see the sea lions is at low tide so we decided to have a relaxing day walking along the sea promenade.

 

The ship docks at a long pier near to the centre of Puerto Madryn.

 

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We left the ship at 9.30am and walked along the pier to land then turned left to walk along the promenade. It was a mild day with a slight breeze which made for pleasant walking. As we walked we saw a number of statues and memorials along the road.

 

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We walked for about two kilometres until we decided to have a rest and walked over the dunes to find a spot with a view. The sand was very soft and there were a number of families on the beach, some playing games. While we sat there three sea lions swam past.

 

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After sitting back on the dunes and watching the games being played we decided to walk back to the city centre. The beach side cafes and restaurants were now starting to open. Some of them looked very nice.

 

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We passed another memorial, this one was for General San Martin and we could see Emerald Princess at the pier.

 

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We walked into the city centre but as it was a Sunday only the souvenir tourist shops and supermarket were open and all the other shops were closed. When the clouds moved in and it became cooler we returned to the ship for lunch.

 

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Thank you so much for the great photos and reviews. We are going on the Royal Princess for the 49-day South America cruise in February 2019. Will be following. So looking forward to this trip of a lifetime.
Thanks. 49 days on Royal Princess will be wonderful! Hope you have a great cruise.

 

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Monday March 5 - Sea Day

 

Another sea day to enjoy. First stop was the Destination Presentation on Port Stanley and the Falkland Islands at 9.30am in the theatre. Next was an Enrichment Lecture by Angela Kelly on Shackleton's Polar Perils at 11.00am also in the theatre. This was very interesting and I enjoyed the lecture. After lunch we hit the Sun Deck to enjoy the lovely sunny day and we watched the "Hall and Oates Live in Dublin" concert at MUTS. After dinner we went to the theatre to enjoy a performance by Teacake (yes, that is her real name) Ferguson, who did a tribute to the divas - Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston. She was wonderful and we had a great time.

 

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Thanks for the great pictures! I was on the cruise, too, and at this stage of my life, don't do the photo routine. Very nice to see yours, awesome. It was a great cruise. Of my cruises, passenger mix seemed very good, people really inter mingled a great deal, I've never visited with so many different people.

 

I'll be following along, reliving the cruise, one I've always wanted to do. Thanks again!

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Thanks for the great pictures! I was on the cruise, too, and at this stage of my life, don't do the photo routine. Very nice to see yours, awesome. It was a great cruise. Of my cruises, passenger mix seemed very good, people really inter mingled a great deal, I've never visited with so many different people.

 

I'll be following along, reliving the cruise, one I've always wanted to do. Thanks again!

Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed the cruise as we did too. Hope you enjoy the rest of the review.

 

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Tuesday March 6 - Stanley, Falkland Islands

 

This was the day of the cruise that I had most been looking forward to. I have always wanted to see King penguins in the wild and today was the day. We had kept our fingers crossed that we would get into Stanley as many ships do not, but we were fortunate and we were here.

 

When planning our day in the Falklands we decided that DH would do a battlefields tour as that was what he was most interested in, so we booked him on the 9.00am Princess Battlefields tour. I was far more interested in penguins, particularly King penguins so after research booked a full day tour to Volunteer Point with Estancia Excursions. Nyree at Estancia Excursions was always very prompt at responding to my emails, payment wasn't due until the day of the tour and she sent very clear instructions of where and when to meet at the dock.

 

As I needed to be on the first tender, if possible, I queued outside the Michelangelo Dining Room from 7.15am for my tender ticket. We were due to moor at 8.00am and I received ticket number 76 so I was on the first tender. The two ladies that I shared the car with to Volunteer Point had queued from 6.30am and got tickets 9 and 10. The first tender left the ship just after 8.00am and took 20 minutes to get to the dock at Stanley.

 

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At the dock it was very easy to meet Nyree as she was standing next to a large Estancia Excursions flag. She introduced me to our driver John and the two ladies I would be sharing the car with. We left at 8.35am after a quick restroom stop.

 

We scored the jackpot with our driver John. Not only were we in a very comfortable Toyota Hilux 4WD with only three of us but John was an excellent guide.

 

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John had been in the British navy when the Falklands War took place so he was a font of information and personal experience. As we drove to Volunteer Point he pointed out battle locations and explained how the war took place. I was surprised at how rough and rocky the terrain is and the British troops who landed on the western side of the island and had to walk the 60 km to Stanley with their heavy packs would have had a terrible time.

 

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The road to Volunteer Point starts as a paved road, then turns to a dirt road and then when you get to the private property where Volunteer Point is, turns to no road. The cars travel in convoy so that if one gets bogged others can pull them out.

 

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The way is bumpy but not too bad and there is no real track, just a few crossing points over creeks and whichever way the driver can find. The countryside was quite pretty with a number of ponds and birds to see.

 

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The time flew and we arrived at Volunteer Point at 10.45am. We were one of the first cars to arrive and we parked in the Estancia Excursions row (each company has a designated parking area/row). There are basic restroom facilities at the parking area.

 

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We were given two hours to see the penguins and were to meet back at the car at 12.45pm. Just a short distance away there were a number of penguins walking around and there was a very large group of King penguins in a circle surrounding their babies. You were not allowed to pass the white rock circle surrounding this large group and you had to keep a minimum of two metres away from the penguins outside of the circle. There were also rock circles around groups of Gentoo penguins. There were other areas that you were not allowed to go into that had signs up "Stop Penguins Only Beyond This Point". There were also wardens in fluorescent vests keeping an eye on what was going on and preventing tourists getting too close to the penguins.

 

I was in penguin heaven! There were far more penguins than I had expected and it was amazing to walk amongst them. They were so entertaining to watch and listen to.

 

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I liked these two King penguins who seemed to be having a conversation.

 

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Eventually after what seemed like a moment but actually was closer to 45 minutes I dragged myself away to look at the Gentoo penguins. Many of them were also in white rock circles and there were feathers all over the ground from the young shedding. This fellow was making sure I didn't pass the sign forbidding non penguins into their area!

 

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There were also Magellanic penguins to look at.

 

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I spotted this one coming out of its burrow.

 

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I walked down to the beach to look at the penguins down there.

 

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These guys walked down to the beach, seemed to considered the conditions, decided that the water was too cold and then turned around and went back. They were so funny!

 

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As time was running away I went back to the King penguins. Earlier you could hardy see the babies but now they were emerging from the circle of adults and walking around .

 

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All too soon it was time to return to the car. At the car a packed lunch of a sandwich, packet of chips, a penguin chocolate biscuit (nice touch) and a bottle of water was waiting.

 

This was one of the best experiences of my life and I wasn't the only one to have a wonderful time as everyone was walking around with big grins.

 

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Thanks for taking us along on this journey with you! A great itinerary and the photos are much appreciated! Bucket list for sure!

Norris

Thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying the review. I hope you get to do this cruise in the future.

 

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