Mumbling about Marina

[clo]

2 minutes ago, LuAnn said:

Their brunches are fantastic!! Buffet isn't bad either!!! 🙂

Are brunches cooked to order? And buffets are a whole bunch of food put out of a table?

[ORV]

1 hour ago, clo said:

I tend to avoid buffets like the plague but I might give O a peek. Maybe.

I wouldn't worry, I checked your cruise and they're not having one. 

[shepherd really]

On 2/25/2024 at 3:47 PM, LuAnn said:

OHhh...I hope you can get a picture of A-23A..that would be incredible!!! 

The picture doesn't do it justice.  It's like taking a picture while driving on I95 in Rhode Island. 

Edited February 27 by shepherd really

[clo]

1 hour ago, shepherd really said:

The picture doesn't do it justice.  It's like taking a picture while driving on I95 in Rhode Island. 

I'm sure this doesn't do it justice but found this.

A23a iceberg seen with striking arches and cavernous hollows as it floats away from Antarctica | CNN

[Muckyduckway]

@shepherd really If there is a ship tour that ends at the Buenos Aires airport (EZE), could you post details please?  

 

Loving the preview that both you and ORV have been generous to share while onboard.

[shepherd really]

59 minutes ago, Muckyduckway said:

@shepherd really If there is a ship tour that ends at the Buenos Aires airport (EZE), could you post details please?  

 

Loving the preview that both you and ORV have been generous to share while onboard.

Thank you.  I'm afraid I don't have the answer to your question.  

[shepherd really]

I took the culinary immersion tour yesterday.  It was very interesting.  

 

I didn't know there was an escalator on the ship.  

[Muckyduckway]

4 hours ago, shepherd really said:

Thank you.  I'm afraid I don't have the answer to your question.  

No problem, thanks for responding. Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

[Woofbite]

On 2/25/2024 at 4:18 PM, Queen of DaNile said:

Very true. We did see lots more during time there. Just trying to show Elephant Island since that was mentioned. Usually the seas are too rough and haze too thick to to even see it 

True.

We've tried to see it three times and all have ended up being at a distance and looking through fog and rain.

[ORV]

10 hours ago, shepherd really said:

I took the culinary immersion tour yesterday.  It was very interesting.  

 

I didn't know there was an escalator on the ship.  

Isn't it at the front end of the GDR where the waiters go in and out and then it goes down to the Galley? 

[shepherd really]

1 hour ago, ORV said:

Isn't it at the front end of the GDR where the waiters go in and out and then it goes down to the Galley? 

I think that is correct.

[babysteps]

TLDR "yes and"

 

I was once on a kitchen tour (many years ago made friends with the guest chef instructor). As I recall (hm-recall?) the entrance to the GDR-kitchen escalator is midships so not all the way as "front end" as yo can get. On Marina and Riviera the GDR is somewhat U-shaped...although the escalator entrance is as far forward as you can get at midships. I need a whiteboard to explain better! 

[shepherd really]

The Falklands was a penguin paradise. I took a private tour to Volunteer Point. You got up close to them. They were not bother by humans and numerous rangers kept people from making them wary.

[osandomir]

1 hour ago, shepherd really said:

The Falklands was a penguin paradise. I took a private tour to Volunteer Point. You got up close to them. They were not bother by humans and numerous rangers kept people from making them wary.

Those penguins are awesome.  How was the weather conditions when you were tendering to the Falklands?

[shepherd really]

1 hour ago, osandomir said:

Those penguins are awesome.  How was the weather conditions when you were tendering to the Falklands?

The tendering was not bad at all. Breezy as you would expect in the Falklands, but the water was just a very light chop. 

[SophieM]

2 hours ago, shepherd really said:

The tendering was not bad at all. Breezy as you would expect in the Falklands, but the water was just a very light chop. 

If the last part of your ride to Volunteer Point was like ours, I’m going to say the tender was nothing. You all have had a fabulous cruise getting to see A-24 and making it into the Falklands! FDR must have the karma. 🙂

[shepherd really]

39 minutes ago, SophieM said:

If the last part of your ride to Volunteer Point was like ours, I’m going to say the tender was nothing. You all have had a fabulous cruise getting to see A-24 and making it into the Falklands! FDR must have the karma. 🙂

Yes, after the gravel ends and the peat bogs begin it’s quite a roller coaster. 

[clo]

14 hours ago, shepherd really said:

The Falklands was a penguin paradise. I took a private tour to Volunteer Point. You got up close to them. They were not bother by humans and numerous rangers kept people from making them wary.

IIRC we were told to stay either 3 or 5 meters away from them. And btw, they have the stinkiest poop we've ever smelled 🙂

Did you see my recent photo of the iceberg?

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/17/climate/iceberg-a23a-erosion-photos-scli-intl-scn-climate/index.html

[shepherd really]

Puerto Madryn Chile yesterday.  There is a shuttle into town, just in case anyone wants the correct answer to that question 😁.

 

I took the Punto Tumbo Penguin tour.  It was a long drive in a comfortable coach, 2 1/2 hours each way. 90 minutes walking on the trail with penguins and guanacos and a boxed lunch.  The Oceania price was $299 pp. 

 

Compared to the $200 Falklands penguin tour I booked, we saw fewer penguins at Punto Tumbo, had a more comfortable drive in a bus but with a few people hacking up their lungs in both directions as opposed to a private car with four people in the Falklands and just a generally inferior tour for 33% more money.

 

Had we missed the Falklands I would probably have been more positive about it, but we didn't, so it wasn't.  

 

The weather was beautiful, but the port was less so.  It was a bit run down.

 

I plan to start packing my cold weather clothes today (our last sea day).

 

Next up is Montevideo, then Punta Del Este and ending in Buenos Aires on the 5th.

 

Note about Baristas.  Paulo, the barista, is a great asset to Oceania. A very pleasant man with a good sense of humor who remembered what I ordered after the second day on board and was easy to take before I was caffeinated in the morning.  

[clo]

7 hours ago, shepherd really said:

guanacos

I had never heard of nor seen them. This would be somewhere in western Chilean Patagonia before we boarded the ship for Antarctica.

 

[FetaCheese]

7 hours ago, shepherd really said:

Puerto Madryn Chile yesterday.  There is a shuttle into town, just in case anyone wants the correct answer to that question 😁.

 

I took the Punto Tumbo Penguin tour.  It was a long drive in a comfortable coach, 2 1/2 hours each way. 90 minutes walking on the trail with penguins and guanacos and a boxed lunch.  The Oceania price was $299 pp. 

 

Compared to the $200 Falklands penguin tour I booked, we saw fewer penguins at Punto Tumbo, had a more comfortable drive in a bus but with a few people hacking up their lungs in both directions as opposed to a private car with four people in the Falklands and just a generally inferior tour for 33% more money.

 

Had we missed the Falklands I would probably have been more positive about it, but we didn't, so it wasn't.  

 

The weather was beautiful, but the port was less so.  It was a bit run down.

 

I plan to start packing my cold weather clothes today (our last sea day).

 

Next up is Montevideo, then Punta Del Este and ending in Buenos Aires on the 5th.

 

Note about Baristas.  Paulo, the barista, is a great asset to Oceania. A very pleasant man with a good sense of humor who remembered what I ordered after the second day on board and was easy to take before I was caffeinated in the morning.  

Your quote:

"Note about Baristas. Paulo, the barista, is a great asset to Oceania. A very pleasant man".

 

If same guy, Italian, we had him on Insignia in 2019.  Agree with your positive assessment of him.

Edited March 2 by FetaCheese

[LuAnn]

On 2/27/2024 at 10:10 AM, clo said:

I'm sure this doesn't do it justice but found this.

A23a iceberg seen with striking arches and cavernous hollows as it floats away from Antarctica | CNN

The article says it's 3 times the size of LA!!!! 

[LuAnn]

On 2/29/2024 at 6:00 AM, shepherd really said:

Yes, after the gravel ends and the peat bogs begin it’s quite a roller coaster. 

i seriously thought at one point we were going to tip over sideways..and the driver said "Thank you for not screaming"!! We have always considered it our most favorite shore excursion!!! So glad you made it in...you were with Patrick Watson? 

[LuAnn]

On 2/26/2024 at 1:18 PM, ORV said:

I wouldn't worry, I checked your cruise and they're not having one. 

How can I figure out if I have one on the upcoming Marina T/A? I've had them before...seems like usually on a Sunday? 

[clo]

On 2/29/2024 at 3:05 AM, shepherd really said:

Falklands

Our cruise line added several days in the Falklands. It was so weird to see green and blooming things. We were there in early January so summer was really there.