Live From the Sapphire, 30-Day Antarctica/SA B2B, Jan 20 - Feb 19

[PapaGoose]

I was going to suggest that maybe they took a quick trip to see the a23a iceberg but since it’s 3 times the size of New York City I doubt it just happened to be floating innocently by Elephant Island minding its own business without someone making a bigger fuss about it….

Edited January 12 by PapaGoose

[Ken the cruiser]

21 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

 

ETA:  Just found another post about it and here's what that person said: "Antarctica Scenic Cruising Day 2: change of plans due to weather & Captain took us to Admiralty Bay, King George Island. The weather was poor to start, but cleared & we've had the most glorious day cruising Admiralty Bay & then the coasts of the South Shetland Islands"

Cool! Thanks for the update! I knew there had to be a good reason! I guess he had to first head east to possibly avoid some bad weather before making the turn and head towards King George Island. 😁
 

Edited January 12 by Ken the cruiser

[TeDaKi]

The reason for sailing east after Elephant Island was to go see the A23A iceberg. Friends of mine are on this cruise. They went to see this giant iceberg on the previous cruise as well. 

[Ken the cruiser]

On 1/10/2024 at 8:24 PM, LACruiser88 said:

This was one of our bucket list itineraries and we completed it on the Star Princess in 2011.  We were also on the Sapphire this past March, Buenos Aires to LA.

 

Great ports and tons of wildlife to see in many ports.  We love the itinerary so much we will be on the Dec 1st, 51 day voyage, LA to Ft Lauderdale, on the Majestic.

 

Enjoy!!! 🐧🐋🐳🦈🕊🐦🦆

Thanks! I believe we will be cruising with you from BA to Ft Lauderdale on the last leg of your Dec 1st cruise. That's also going to be an awesome cruise for us as it stops in 3 Brazilian ports and I won't have to get a YF shot waiver as I'm too old to get one. Yay!! 😂

[Ken the cruiser]

On 1/11/2024 at 2:53 AM, nini said:

@Ken the cruiser Thank you so much for doing this!!! We would love to do this but we would need convincing for the South American ports as well as the long flights.

That's why we're doing the 30-day RT out of Santiago (San Antonio). If we have to fly 9 hours between Atlanta-Santiago, we want to take our time and enjoy all that there is to offer down there before flying back. After doing 4 flights between 14-17 hours this past year to get to/from a cruise, our new limit is 10 hours or less and the associated cruise we're flying to has to be at least 3-weeks to allow us plenty of time to recover! 😂

 

As far as going to the South American ports, we have always felt very safe there. But then we usually book ship excursions that take us to locations where there is plenty of wildlife as well as scenery to see. I have to admit of all the places we've been, except for Alaska and a few spots in the Galapagos, the most unique wildlife we've seen and in abundance has always been south of the equator. But when it comes to South America, there is also no shortage of beautiful churches to see either if you enjoy that sort of thing as well! 

 

Edited January 12 by Ken the cruiser

[nini]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

That's why we're doing the 30-day RT out of Santiago (San Antonio). If we have to fly 9 hours between Atlanta-Santiago, we want to take our time and enjoy all that there is to offer down there before flying back. After doing 4 flights between 14-17 hours this past year to get to/from a cruise, our new limit is 10 hours or less and the associated cruise we're flying to has to be at least 3-weeks to allow us plenty of time to recover! 😂

 

As far as going to the South American ports, we have always felt very safe there. But then we usually book ship excursions that take us to locations where there is plenty of wildlife as well as scenery to see. I have to admit of all the places we've been, except for Alaska and a few spots in the Galapagos, the most unique wildlife we've seen and in abundance has always been south of the equator. But when it comes to South America, there is also no shortage of beautiful churches to see either if you enjoy that sort of thing as well! 

 

 

Thank you for your response, encouragement and additional information. We are on the very edge of the state of Washington. Flying to Europe is quite the effort. A non-stop flight to LHR is 9 hours and 20 minutes. And it is tough to get non-stop.

[aprilsp88]

17 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

I read a post earlier today on another forum and the OP said that the Sapphire did divert from the original plan per an announcement from the Captain.

@azbirdmomWould you share the name of the forum? I'm interested in reading the full post. Thanks.

[azbirdmom]

15 minutes ago, aprilsp88 said:

@azbirdmomWould you share the name of the forum? I'm interested in reading the full post. Thanks.

That was the full post, it just had a bunch of pictures too.  It was from a FB forum.

[Angekins]

I'm currently on board Sapphire Princess. The photo shows our intended schedule of scenic cruising. We missed Hope Bay as the Captain said there was too much ice. We did go to see A23a, which was not on the schedule.

[Ken the cruiser]

Wanted to add one more reference that might come in handy when we're trying to figure out what type of bird we're looking at when we're cruising around Elephant Island and the Antarctica Peninsula.

 

30 Birds That Live in Antarctica

 

BTW we're really starting to get excited now. After today, just 4 days and a wake-up before we board our flight and head towards Santiago! 😊

[Ken the cruiser]

It will be interesting to see how our upcoming route from San Antonio to Buenos Aires by way of the Antarctica Peninsula will differ, other than being in the opposite direction of course, from that of its current itinerary originating in Buenos Aires.

 

 

To include the 4-day portion cruising around the Peninsula and hopefully still going to see the A23a Iceberg and Elephant Island.

 

 

Then there are the waves to deal with crossing Drake Passage, which currently seem to be ranging around 13' as the Sapphire gets closer to Ushuaia.

 

 

Edited January 14 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

As we continue to get ready to fly to Chile on Thursday, I found this link that provides Princess Bridge Cam shots for all of their ships, as I was curious if the Sapphire had left Ushuaia yet heading for Punta Arenas.

 

Princess Cruise Ship Bridge Cams

 

Thought it would be a cool reference in case someone was interested in a relatively current view from the front of the ship. From what I can tell they seem to update every 60-70 minutes, and it's raining right now as the Sapphire just left the port.

[DLSHS_Mom]

Ken- We are looking forward to following your adventure.  This trip is on our bucket list.  I really like your B2B idea.  We were on the Sapphire for the 32-day adventure in November and had fantastic service.  In reserve dining we had Carlos and Mary as our waiters.....what a treat!!  

[Ken the cruiser]

33 minutes ago, DLSHS_Mom said:

Ken- We are looking forward to following your adventure.  This trip is on our bucket list.  I really like your B2B idea.  We were on the Sapphire for the 32-day adventure in November and had fantastic service.  In reserve dining we had Carlos and Mary as our waiters.....what a treat!!  

Hopefully, we will have a little better luck with the weather than some of the other cruises have had to deal with, especially in the Patagonia area, the past few weeks. In any event, I’m sure it will be an awesome cruise! 😁

[thefamilycruisers]

Ken - looking forward to your postings.  We are doing this cruise next January and are really excited. What are your 'don't miss' excursions and how far out do I need to book them?  We usually do private excursions and are interested in the wild life, both sea and land.  

Thanks so much for doing this.

[Ken the cruiser]

27 minutes ago, thefamilycruisers said:

Ken - looking forward to your postings.  We are doing this cruise next January and are really excited. What are your 'don't miss' excursions and how far out do I need to book them?  We usually do private excursions and are interested in the wild life, both sea and land.  

Thanks so much for doing this.

You’re going to have a great time! If you click on the ports that are underlined in my 2 itineraries on the first page, you will see the ones we’re currently booked on. As far as how early to book them,  my recommendation is to book your cruise as early as possible and then book the excursions as soon as they become available, as the good wildlife ones get booked quickly, especially on the Antarctica leg.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

On 1/14/2024 at 8:35 AM, Ken the cruiser said:

It will be interesting to see how our upcoming route from San Antonio to Buenos Aires by way of the Antarctica Peninsula will differ, other than being in the opposite direction of course, from that of its current itinerary originating in Buenos Aires.

Hi I was on the first Santiago to BA leg the Sapphire just did (I boarded in LA) and my friends stayed on and went back to Santigo. I’ll attach the Santiago to BA map thru the Antarctic for you. I see someone already posted the BA to Santiago map.
 

 While the best side is outside, with the below freezing temps compounded by strong winds we did have to spend some time inside even though we were very well prepared with multiple layers and good quality parkas and other outerwear. 
Surprisingly, the views on both sailings were best from starboard while in Antarctica until we got to Deception Island then port side was optimal. This was the first time the aft view was mostly not as good. I had the last Emerald deck starboard aft mini suite and my husband had the B4 aft facing balcony next to the vista suite on Emerald deck. We barely used his balcony!  We always sale aft facing in Alaska where this affords just the best views. So we were shocked at how that did not hold up in Antarctica!  
 

Yes the Captain did sail by A23a iceberg on both the first sailing and the second. It was humbling to say the least. We also missed Hope Bay due to too much ice. 

 

Edited January 16 by HaveDogWillTravel

[HaveDogWillTravel]

20 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Hopefully, we will have a little better luck with the weather than some of the other cruises have had to deal with, especially in the Patagonia area, the past few weeks. In any event, I’m sure it will be an awesome cruise! 😁

We had excellent weather on our sailing and my friends are having great weather as well on the current return trip. I say excellent because one does expect cold, wind and rain. One also expects extremely rough seas. So to me excellent means the cold was bearable, the winds didn’t keep the outer decks closed, the rain was brief and not heavy the few times it came, the seas thru Drakes passage were like the potato patch out of San Francisco at its worst. And while in the Antarctica seas it was like sailing on a lake. Lots of sun breaking thru.  From passengers onboard who’ve sailed this route multiple times I understood this trip to have the best weather & seas they’ve experienced.  

[Ken the cruiser]

52 minutes ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

We had excellent weather on our sailing and my friends are having great weather as well on the current return trip. I say excellent because one does expect cold, wind and rain. One also expects extremely rough seas. So to me excellent means the cold was bearable, the winds didn’t keep the outer decks closed, the rain was brief and not heavy the few times it came, the seas thru Drakes passage were like the potato patch out of San Francisco at its worst. And while in the Antarctica seas it was like sailing on a lake. Lots of sun breaking thru.  From passengers onboard who’ve sailed this route multiple times I understood this trip to have the best weather & seas they’ve experienced.  

Sounds fantastic! Hopefully, we will have similar experiences with the elements on our upcoming cruise as well! 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Hi I was on the first Santiago to BA leg the Sapphire just did (I boarded in LA) and my friends stayed on and went back to Santigo. I’ll attach the Santiago to BA map thru the Antarctic for you. I see someone already posted the BA to Santiago map.
 

 While the best side is outside, with the below freezing temps compounded by strong winds we did have to spend some time inside even though we were very well prepared with multiple layers and good quality parkas and other outerwear. 
Surprisingly, the views on both sailings were best from starboard while in Antarctica until we got to Deception Island then port side was optimal. This was the first time the aft view was mostly not as good. I had the last Emerald deck starboard aft mini suite and my husband had the B4 aft facing balcony next to the vista suite on Emerald deck. We barely used his balcony!  We always sale aft facing in Alaska where this affords just the best views. So we were shocked at how that did not hold up in Antarctica!  
 

Yes the Captain did sail by A23a iceberg on both the first sailing and the second. It was humbling to say the least. We also missed Hope Bay due to too much ice. 

 

Glad to hear most of the best viewing when cruising around the Peninsula is on the starboard side, as our aft-facing cabin is positioned more towards that side of the ship. 

[vickykay]

Looking forward to another wonderful Ken live review!

[azbirdmom]

19 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Glad to hear most of the best viewing when cruising around the Peninsula is on the starboard side, as our aft-facing cabin is positioned more towards that side of the ship. 

 

On our cruise in 2020 we spent most of our time aft so you chose your cabin wisely.  We were on the Coral so the aft areas were open on most decks as were the foreward sections.  I made a mental note that if we ever redo that itinerary that I would book an aft suite.  That and Promenade deck are the best areas IMO.

[Ken the cruiser]

2 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

 

On our cruise in 2020 we spent most of our time aft so you chose your cabin wisely.  We were on the Coral so the aft areas were open on most decks as were the foreward sections.  I made a mental note that if we ever redo that itinerary that I would book an aft suite.  That and Promenade deck are the best areas IMO.

We agree. On our 22-day HAL cruise on the Zaandam back in 2018, we were in a balcony cabin on the starboard side 2 doors from the entrance to the covered aft-facing viewing area on Deck 6. Combined, that's where we spent a majority of our time while cruising around the Peninsula. However, we also spent time occasionally walking around the promenade where we encountered most of our whale sightings. But, on those windy days being the balcony kind of guy that I am, it will be nice sitting out there out of the wind and sun I might add, enjoying the aft-facing views of all the places we will be visiting!

[Ken the cruiser]

I just noticed on the Cruise Mapper (CM) itinerary, which hopefully is missing a few ports, the Sapphire is only stopping at 4 ports, and is 2 days longer!

 

 
However, on our similar 14-day Feb 5 itinerary, I noticed we’re also stopping at Puerto Madryn AR and Puerto Montt CL as well as staying an extra day in Buenos Aires AR. Not sure if it’s just an oversight on the currently listed CM Sapphire itinerary, but if not, we are definitely excited about having the 2 extra wildlife ports to visit on ours! 😁

 

Edited January 17 by Ken the cruiser

[azbirdmom]

5 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I just noticed on the Cruise Mapper (CM) itinerary, which hopefully is missing a few ports, the Sapphire is only stopping at 4 ports.

 

 
However, on our similar Feb 5 itinerary, I noticed we’re also stopping at Puerto Madryn AR and Puerto Montt CL as well as staying an extra day in Buenos Aires AR. Not sure if it’s just an oversight on the currently listed CM Sapphire itinerary, but if not, we are definitely excited about having the 2 extra wildlife ports on ours! 😁

 

 

They do only 4 port stops on the itineraries with Antarctica scenic cruising added on.  Pretty sure your first leg will be the same.  The "regular" 14 day South America cruises without Antarctica (like your leg 2) visit 6 ports.  This is the way it's been since Princess restarted the Antarctica cruises in 2020.