Live (when possible) from the Venture in Antarctica 1/3 - 1/16

[crunchii]

Arrived in Buenos Aires this morning. There were several Seaborn representatives holding up signs right outside of the exit, then we followed one of them to the bus to our hotel.

 

We were lucky and able to get our room right away, but if no rooms are available, they can store your luggage, so you can go sightseeing. Seabourn offers some tours in the afternoon and evening (see below), if you don't have anything planned.

 

We'll fly to Ushuaia early tomorrow morning (our bus leaves at 5:30 am 😱) to board the Venture.

 

I don't know how well the Internet works on the ship, but I'll try to post when I can! I'll definitely report our experience through the Drake Passage without the stabilizers.

[Fletcher]

Excellent . . . looking forward to your postings.  Just looked at the Ushuaia webcam and seen the Venture tied up next to Scenic Eclipse and an impressive-looking Hanseatic Nature. 

[lincslady]

Looking forward to reading about your cruise.  Looking at Cruisemapper, I was struck by how many ships are currently doing the Antarctic trip.  My DH and I did it in about 1990, on an old ordinary cruise ship called the Ocean Princess, on a cruise under the auspices of Eric Lindblad.  I doubt she was ice hardened!  It was a wonderful trip, lots of visits ashore in our red parkas. In and out of BA, with a couple of nights there at the end.  Some time later we discovered that she had 'sunk' in the mud in the Amazon!   No loss of life; she just went slowly down, I believe.  Thank goodness it was not when we were all on board.

[crunchii]

We're onboard now 🥰 Grabbed a light lunch in Lido and now having coffee in Seabourn Square 🙂

 

Yep, Hanseatic Nature is behind us and Scenic Eclipse is across. HAL Oosterdam is also here. They're tendering.

[crunchii]

We're in the middle of the Drake Passage. The sea is fairly mild, but the ship is rocking quite a bit, so yeah I say the stabilizers are important. 😆 But it's tolerable. Nothing has fallen off the table or shelves.

 

[crunchii]

During the briefing yesterday, someone asked about the stabilizers. Their answer was pretty much what was stated in the letter we received (it's a comfort issue and not safety issue), but they also mentioned the reason why South Georgia was dropped from those itineraries that included it. (Ours doesn't include it to begin with.)

 

It has to do with the direction they would be sailing. When they sail southwest from South Georgia to the Antarctica, the waves will hit the ship from unfavorable direction.

 

That makes sense. I was wondering why they can go to Antarctica through the Drake Passage without the stabilizers, but not South Georgia. Now I know.

[crunchii]

We're now in Antarctica, just about to pass through between the tip of Antarctic Peninsula and Joinville Island toward Waddell Sea.

 

It's smooth sailing and no more significant rocking 🙂

[toseaornottosea]

Just curious.  Was a meal served on the charter flight from BA to Ushuaia?

[crunchii]

Yes, lunch was served, but it was not very good. Ham and cheese sandwich (no lettuce, etc.) and some mixed fruit. (Sorry, forgot to take pictures.) That plane ride definitely was not luxurious.

[toseaornottosea]

I wonder if Alvear Icon room service would prepare some food to go that we could take with us on the plane and the same with the Venture for the return flight?

[Flamin_June]

Seabourn very likely, just ask. In the old days on the Legend we had smoked salmon sandwiches made for us to take on a BA flight home from Barcelona.

[toseaornottosea]

8 hours ago, crunchii said:

Yes, lunch was served, but it was not very good. Ham and cheese sandwich (no lettuce, etc.) and some mixed fruit. (Sorry, forgot to take pictures.) That plane ride definitely was not luxurious.

Were you able to bring your usual carry-on wheeled luggage on the charter flight?  If yes, did they weigh it?  Did they weigh your checked luggage for the charter?  

[crunchii]

Yes, I was able to bring my carry-on wheeled luggage like usual. We put our checked luggage out in the hallway the night before at the hotel, and we didn't see it again until arriving at the airport in Ushuaia. Dunno if they weighed our luggage during that time or not. Carry-on luggage was not weighed.

Edited January 7, 2023 by crunchii
Typo

[toseaornottosea]

2 minutes ago, crunchii said:

Yes, I was able to bring my carry-on wheeled luggage like usual. We put our checked luggage out in the hallway the night before at the hotel, and we didn't see it again until arriving at the airport in Ushuaia. Dunno if they weighed our luggage during that time or not. Carry-on luggage was not weighed.

Do you use an International size roll-aboard?  

[crunchii]

I use Samsonite Winfield carry-on. It fit in the overhead compartment fine. The plane was old, but it was a regular airplane.

[toseaornottosea]

Thanks for all the good info and advice. 

[crunchii]

We did our first landing today. In the morning we took the Zodiac to The Naze on James Ross Island. We saw some penguins and seals there.

 

In the afternoon, we were supposed to do another landing at False Island Point on Vega Island, but the condition wasn't right, so we just did a Zodiac tour through icebergs.

 

Then in the evening, we saw a couple pods of orcas. They swam along with us for a while.

 

Tonight, the ship will go east, then south along James Ross Island to Rum Cove, where we'll have another landing tomorrow morning, weather permitting.

[imcpa]

Is David Price the CD?  We cruised with him as Asst CD on Encore in Nov and years ago on Crystal.

[crunchii]

Current CD on Venture is Luperci de Souza.

[whogo]

I am enjoying your reports, crunchii. Is the expedition staff blogging from the cruise? If so, can you provide a link, please?

[crunchii]

Looks like they're a little behind on their posts, but you can see their blog in Seabourn Voyage Tracker.

https://www.seabourn.com/en_US/experience/voyagetracker/index.html

 

Select "Seabourn Venture" > 2023 > 12-day Antarctica Exploration (4 - 16 January)

 

You can see the posts from the previous cruises there as well.

[crunchii]

This morning's landing was canceled, due to high wind.

 

Disappointing, but we're enjoying the scenery from the ship. We're cruising along the west side of James Ross Island, where not too many cruise ships visit. According to the expedition staff, this area was completely blocked off by the ice until 1990's.

 

[Fletcher]

32 minutes ago, crunchii said:

This morning's landing was canceled, due to high wind. Disappointing, but we're enjoying the scenery from the ship. We're cruising along the west side of James Ross Island, where not too many cruise ships visit. According to the expedition staff, this area was completely blocked off by the ice until 1990's.

 

We never got down there on our Quest trip in 2018 due to ice!  A singular lack of it and snow for you today.  Spotted a Lindblad/Nat Geo ship today has sailed the entire length of the west side of the Peninsula and now seems headed across to NZ.  They may be gone for some time.

Edited January 8, 2023 by Fletcher

[crunchii]

We went as far south as Lockyer Island, then got blocked by ice bergs. We have now turned around and are going back the way we came instead of going around James Ross Island.

[whogo]

5 hours ago, crunchii said:

Looks like they're a little behind on their posts, but you can see their blog in Seabourn Voyage Tracker.

https://www.seabourn.com/en_US/experience/voyagetracker/index.html

 

Many thanks, crunchii.