Peak season for Penquins??

[ParrotTops]

We are looking into either Dec or Jan for an antarctic cruise--our choices are Dec 7 or Jan 2. The brochure makes it sound like Jan is the time to see baby penquins...any suggestions??

[diebroke]

There won't be any baby penguins on Dec. 7. There will likely be babies on Jan. 2. On Dec. 7, you will see them nesting on their eggs & fighting off birds. In Jan. you will see babies & also expierence an extra month's worth of guano. Somewhat different experiences. Both good.

[ParrotTops]

Thanks for answering my post so quickly!

[holidayhelen]

sorry - whats guano? We are sailing on the Star Princess on 17 January 09 - we will see baby penguins won't we????

[Corndog819]

sorry - whats guano? We are sailing on the Star Princess on 17 January 09 - we will see baby penguins won't we????

Dictionary:

guano

(gwä'nō) pronunciation

 

n., pl. -nos.

 

1. A substance composed chiefly of the dung of sea birds or bats, accumulated along certain coastal areas or in caves and used as fertilizer.

2. Any of various similar substances, such as a fertilizer prepared from ground fish parts.

[donaldsc]

sorry - whats guano? We are sailing on the Star Princess on 17 January 09 - we will see baby penguins won't we????

 

If you just sail past Antarctica and do not do any landings, you will see no baby penguins. That is the advantage of taking a trip where you actually go ashore.

 

DON

[minke]

Have to disagree with diebroke's reponse "there wont be any penguin chicks dec 7th" We did the dec cruise in 06 & saw plenty of chicks, admittedly small & only just hatched. they will be larger in jan but also therefor more guano & less snow (it does melt rapidly in antarctica at certain sites like Brown Bluff). We had the advantage of seeing Brown Bluff in a snowstorm with penguin nests half covered in snow but that afternoon saw chicks again at Hope Bay. In member reviews you will find under MV Nordcap my cruise review & that has a link in it to my photos on webshot where you can see the proof of the penguin chicks we saw.

[ParrotTops]

minke: I would love to read your review but I must be doing something wrong! I cannot locate it under "member reviews"--could you please post the link?? Thanks so much!!

[diebroke]

Oops, my lack of penguinology expertise has been exposed. Guess I fell into the trap that every experience must be like ours. We were there on Dec. 7 and saw only eggs. Everything I have read about trips in January mentions chicks.

[minke]

Here is the review link, you will need to copy & paste the photo album link in your browser window as CC does not do live links in reviews (or at least not in mine) http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=26664

Later I did another album on webshots entitled - Penguins & Antarctic scenery, My webshots home page has it among many other photo subjects (a lot to sort through, over 5000 photos now!). the album mentioned in the review was featured on the front page of webshots with many favorable comments, hope you like it

[2552phxcrzr]

Part of peak season for chicks will depend on where you are visiting. I would google penguins by location to get a better sense of what to expect.

[ParrotTops]

Thanks again to everyone for all the great info!~ Czar: I am dying to see your photos but my AOL won't let me access it! Would you mind sendng me the link directly at ParrotTops@aol.com? Thanks so much!

[minke]

This should work for you now, I was trying to avoid giving it on the board in case I was seen as trying to push it too much, but here goes http://travel.webshots.com/album/556799884Xpmhqz

 

Hope this helps, to answer your other question about the cameras. these were taken with a Sony H5 now no longer made & replaced by the H50. I now have both at home & use them in different ways (H5 with a 1.7teleconverter permanently fitted) I took the teleconverter with me to Antarctica & hadly ever used it as the H5 gave 35mm-435mm equivalent. H50 gives a wider angle & is rated at 31mm-465mm (15x optical zoom). they are small enough to fit under the waterproof jacket you will be given for landings & are ready to go before those with big cameras can get them unwrapped & lens fitted etc! You need to get your own waterproof pants for the landings. Battery life is critical in cold weather so you do need to take a back up. The H50 comes with one lithiu-iron battery & a charger (be carefull with some generaic Sony battery's, I bought one & the camera would not accept it!). I believe in USA it is on sale around 300$

[ParrotTops]

Czar: Wow! Your photos are incredible!! We enjoyed looking at them so much!!! Now we really are excited about our trip! Thanks so much for sharing!

[San Diego Ellie]

Holidayhelen, I was on the Star Princess late in February to early March. You will see loads of penguins in the Falklands. By our cruise babies were older, but the January sailing saw many babies there. It was an awesome cruise, the best we have ever had, with wonderful lecturers as well as the wonders of antarctica. I met people on board with over 70 cruises under their belt, and they all agreed this was their best cruise ever.

 

I am sure a cruise with landings is an even more awesome experience, but the cruise on Star is affordable (about a quarter of the cost or less), and is simply wonderful. Wish I could go again this year!

[soraya]

Minke -Thanks so much for the photos. We're going to Antarctica in Jan - it's been a long anticipated journey and the photos are adding to the excitment here!

 

Completely agree with you about Iberia - DH flew to Peru with them last year for the Inca trail walk and they were bad. We're in Scotland so BA & Iberia would mean taking our luggage through T5 at Heathrow to get to Madrid. We've decided the luggage loss possibilities are too high so we've going to Paris and across with Air France - who are much better.

 

latebloomer - agree with you about costs, we were prepared to go on the cheapest boat we could get that didn't have shared facilities (!) when all of a sudden Silversea did a 50% discount for their first season which meant they were the almost the same as the basic ones. That offer went quickly and I think the boat is almost full (132 passengers) I haven't quite got my head around the change from the basic cabin I'd been visualising for years changing into a luxury one with room service!

 

Really looking forward to reading the reviews from the new season of cruises. One thing I have noticed from the reviews is landing or non landing cruises seem to attract similar people -ie those with a sense of adventure and excitment. Nobody is blase about it like some Carribean cruises!

[luv2cruise450]

Minke....thank you so much for sharing your great pix from your Antarctica cruise...they are really beautiful and your little captions were just so much fun to read! We're hoping to do a similar sailing ...hopefully either end of 2009 or in Jan 2010.

Happy future sailings!

[MMDown Under]

Minke -Thanks so much for the photos. We're going to Antarctica in Jan - it's been a long anticipated journey and the photos are adding to the excitment here!

 

Completely agree with you about Iberia - DH flew to Peru with them last year for the Inca trail walk and they were bad. We're in Scotland so BA & Iberia would mean taking our luggage through T5 at Heathrow to get to Madrid. We've decided the luggage loss possibilities are too high so we've going to Paris and across with Air France - who are much better.

 

latebloomer - agree with you about costs, we were prepared to go on the cheapest boat we could get that didn't have shared facilities (!) when all of a sudden Silversea did a 50% discount for their first season which meant they were the almost the same as the basic ones. That offer went quickly and I think the boat is almost full (132 passengers) I haven't quite got my head around the change from the basic cabin I'd been visualising for years changing into a luxury one with room service!

 

Really looking forward to reading the reviews from the new season of cruises. One thing I have noticed from the reviews is landing or non landing cruises seem to attract similar people -ie those with a sense of adventure and excitment. Nobody is blase about it like some Carribean cruises!

 

How did you trip go? Did you do a review?

[hitchhiker_fp]

a vote for Jan

[diebroke]

How did you trip go? Did you do a review?

 

There are some comments about the Prince Albert II Antarctica cruises on the Silverseas board. They all seem very positive.

Also interesting that it appears the the Prince Albert II has effectively been mothballed except for the Arctic & the Antarctic

[HRHMadonna]

We were on the Star Princess Feb 2009. And, while we did not have any landings in Antarctica, we saw thousands of penguins up close and personal in both the Falkland Islands and in Punta Arenas.

 

It will be a trip of a lifetime, regardless of which type cruise you choose.

[Jade13]

Also interesting that it appears the the Prince Albert II has effectively been mothballed except for the Arctic & the Antarctic

 

"mothballed" ???

 

Btw, we took Minerva to Antarctica and SilverSeas PAII to the Arctic.

 

I would recommend Minerva over PAII - overall better ship, better food, and better Expedition staff (hired by Abercrombie & Kent), although the PAII had nicer staterooms - they all have tubs.