Cruising to Antarctica and South America with many photos

[knittinggirl]

On 2/19/2019 at 5:16 PM, SeaDog-46 said:

Be aware that next summer season [20/21] will probably be Zaandam & other large cruise ships last in the Antarctic area south of  60 deg. South - due to new Ice Class rules that are now in force.

The new rules come fully into effect on 1st January 2022, but most vessels certificates will run out before then & this stops them operating right up to the deadline.

The same applies to Greenland as it is north of 60N, but Iceland & Norwegian coast are exempt due to Gulf Stream.

Is Westerdam also losing it's Ice Class?  Why can't they incorporate the new Ice Class regulations into their next set of ships constructed?  They just cut steel for another Pinnacle Class ship. 

 

How much does building for ICE Class add to the cost of a vessel?

Edited March 17, 2019 by knittinggirl

[scubacruiserx2]

 

The Orcas were back

 

 

 

And this time they were chasing a penguin

 

 

 

Video clip :

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 Because of the strong winds we were zigzagging around the continent doing a Antarctican Tango

 

 

And on a slightly different note , I had my lucky whale shirt on and we hoped that it would work .

 

 

We were just taking in the view from the balcony

 

 

 

when a loud wooosh erupted in front of us .

 

 

It looked like it was going to ram us .

 

 

It hesitated for a second , and arched it's back

 

 

and raised it's tail a little 

 

 

and left a little calling card  .

 

 

 

DW's video of the whale :

 

 

 

[Walt fan]

Your lucky shirt worked.  I am seeing this world through your lens.  Incredible.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Really appreciate your taking the time to put together all those videos and great pictures.

 

Love the whales.

[scubacruiserx2]

8 hours ago, Walt fan said:

Your lucky shirt worked.  I am seeing this world through your lens.  Incredible.

 

There was more beauty than we could capture so we did the best that we could . We hpoe that you have a good work week .

[scubacruiserx2]

1 hour ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

Really appreciate your taking the time to put together all those videos and great pictures.

 

Love the whales.

 

Thank you , we are happy that you are enjoying them .

[scubacruiserx2]

 

Dinner options

 

 

Dinner is served

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

We were up at 6 AM on December 31 , 2018 to see Deception Island

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deception_Island

 

And from what we could see , it lived up to it's name

 

 

 

Fog rolling in

 

 

A ghost ship ?

 

 

 

Penguins on a volcanic beach

 

 

 

 

This ship past us

 

 

and it and the island disappeared into the fog while we moved onward .

[scubacruiserx2]

Breakfast is served

 

 

 

 

We found out a couple of things on this day

 

1. Mimosas are free to the room but not in the Pinnacle 

 

2. The Pinnacle no longer will deliver their dinners to a Neptune Suites

 

3. A special New Years Eve dinner menu for the Pinnacle was obtained 24 hours in advance . It costs $50 without wine , $84 with .

 

 

This is the MDR dinner that can be delivered to our room

 

 

We could by several bottles of Jordan for the difference and we did.

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

As we were having breakfast some chinstrap penguins were feeding also 

 

 

 

 

They are fast as you can see in this video clip :

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

We heard this announcement on TV about a giant iceberg 

 

 

 

They later said that was 11 miles long and 5 miles wide so we went out back to see it 

 

 

We couldn't see it all so we went up top

 

 

There was iceberg as far as we could see 

 

 

There was also snow on the deck and we were told that there was a blizzard over night 

 

 

There was enough to make a small snow man

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

 

We were now en route to King George Island the largest of the South Shetland Islands 

 

 

 

There we would be entering Admiralty Bay

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admiralty_Bay_(South_Shetland_Islands)

 

 

The sun had  come out a bit helping to brighten things up

 

 

 

 

[Walt fan]

The A57A iceberg announcement was fascinating.  I would have never been able to see something like this if it weren't for your pictures.  Thank you.  It is incredible.  

[scubacruiserx2]

2 hours ago, Walt fan said:

The A57A iceberg announcement was fascinating.  I would have never been able to see something like this if it weren't for your pictures.  Thank you.  It is incredible.  

 

You're welcome . We're glad that we could make this trip and that we had the devices with which we could record , remember and share it with others like you .

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Sailing out of Antarctica and 2018

 

 

 

 

 

The Polish Antarctic base

 

 

Penguins on the rocks

 

 

 

Picking up speed

 

 

And our last whale sighting

 

[Bubba54]

Wow, just awesome photography. Thanks for sharing.

[scubacruiserx2]

2 hours ago, Bubba54 said:

Wow, just awesome photography. Thanks for sharing.

 

Well thank you Bubba , and have a great day .

[scubacruiserx2]

 

With the South Shetlands in our rear view mirror we were now headed North toward the Falkland Islands

 

 

The old year would end for us at sea , with no fireworks . We loved it .

 

 

Lump Crab and shrimp

 

 

Crawfish Chowder

 

 

Filet and " Maine" Lobster 

 

 

 

 

Sunset was another cloudy affair

 

 

But it got better

 

 

 

Video clip :

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

We had a calm sea while crossing the Drake on New Years Day.

 

 

 

 

But of course it could change , and it did .

 

 

For the 1st time on this cruise the forward flag was down as we road it out .

 

 

 

Because the Pinnacle no longer allows room delivery we went down for New years day dinner

 

 

 

 

We had wanted to eat crab legs in Ushuaia , the port that we missed . These weren't very good

 

 

But the Souffle was good - even if it was out of focus 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

The sea was so bumpy at dinner that the ice bucket for our wine fell over spilling the uncorked half - full wine bottle . They gave us a new bottle which we took up to our room .

 

 

We weren't sure if we would be able to make port in the morning

 

 

but we went to bed dreaming of exotic animals .

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

It had been 9 days since we last walked on land in Punta Arenas so we were ready to come ashore.

 

 

It looked to be a nice day

 

 

 

Tenders away !

 

 

It's about 20-25 minutes to tender to shore

 

 

Welcome to the Falkland Islands

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

After coming ashore we met our guide and driver , Kurt , from Estancia Excursions .

 

 

 

http://estancia-excursions.com/tour/volunteer-point/

 

It's about 2 1/2 hours over pavement , gravel and off road for abot 12 miles to see the penguins at Volunteer Point , so buckle in and hold on .

 

 

 

 

 

On the ranch and time to go off road

 

 

Video clip :

 

 

 

 

We can see the water , almost there

 

 

We made it ahead of the crowds .

 

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

I have to compliment you on the amount of time you have spent on doing this report with all the great pictures and videos of your journey.