TravelBluebird

I agree with the Points Guy—Carnival’s MDR and other included food cannot be beat on the major lines! That said, I was very impressed with the food on Holland America in January (Oosterdam). However, I missed Carnival’s pizza, Guy’s, Big Chicken, etc. and other varied included food options, but to make up for it somewhat, HAL’s buffet food was quite good (except the pizza. Blech). Interesting to see that the Points Guy site is doing more cruising coverage; thanks for highlighting the article!

They are missing quite a lot. Incredible scenery; penguin colonies, and much more. I just did a cruise to Antartica with Holland America last month—only a “sail by” but absolutely amazing:

Remember the cruise I booked on board (from Rotterdam, to Iceland, Norway—14 days actually 2 back-to backs?) for 2015. I was so excited! Got an email notice that this cruise has been cancelled. HAL suggested the cruise after this one but I can’t do it due to a work conference I have to attend. 😭 Now looking at different itineraries.

I felt very lucky that we didn’t have to tender in Ushuaia for our cruise, especially since we had so many other tender ports.

So it was the migratory whale regulation? Wow. Yes, our captain mentioned that but it was not at all a problem for our HAL cruise since it had evidently been planned for.

Not that I am aware of, and besides my recent cruise, I’ve closely followed two other HAL Antarctica LIVE blogs here on Cruise Critic. We did miss a port (Port Montt) but that was due to leaving Santiago very late (weather and delayed passengers).

So sorry to hear about your medical disembarkation; I had to do this once from a Carnival ship, and was also taken very good care of. I am glad that Holland America took good care of you as well. I hope that everything turns out OK and that you get home safely.

Hi everyone! Taking me awhile to complete the series of videos from this cruise, BUT they are very visually rich and I’ve wanted to do the cruise justice! This one is about the penguins excursion to Isla Magdalena as well as 2 scenic cruising days—Chilean Fjords and Glaciers, plus the ship experience including dining and the expedition team.

Absolutely used the balcony—could dash out to take photos and in to warm up whenever needed. Even though I was out on the bow quite a bit, you can’t always be out there, and there is so much that you can see (and photograph) from your balcony. I do agree that port is a bit better from Santiago (Glacier Alley etc.) and Starboard from SA BUT we were starboard from Santiago and it was still wonderful, and you can’t plan on serendipity (the penguins on ice floes that floated by on Starboard on my trip, whales etc).

I hope you can avoid the Drake Shake on the way back!

We saw the Scenic Eclipse on our cruise!

It’s such a unique experience—I’v been on many wonderful cruises, but very few that I’d want to repeat again, like this one!

This is exactly how I felt about the cruise! Someone asked me yesterday if I’d take the same cruise again, and I said ABSOLUTELY!

On top of spending the last week fighting a cold, I broke a tooth AND am swamped at work! I want to be back on the Oosterdam 😭 In any event, here is the next video in my Vlog series from the ship. This one coves Port Chacabuco, the Chilean Fjords and some of the ship life on the Oosterdam. Next installment will include Puerto Madryn and the Magellenic Penguin colony.

No, due to copyright reasons, nothing was recorded for later viewing, however, during the Antarctica portion of our cruise, lectures were broadcast live in the staterooms, which was a huge help.

Oh no; I hope shelter can be found quickly. We were so lucky, overall, with our weather compared to this; we couldn’t get to Lemaire Channel and had to shelter in place for awhile after that, but our waves and wind were not quite as bad as what you are experiencing now.

I hope as you get further into Antarctica that the lectures will be broadcast in the cabins for those days. We had 1,800 people plus on our cruise, and there was simply no way to fit everyone in the Main theater and Rolling Stone Lounge for the lectures. Plus, it enabled my husband who had a terrible cold to watch in the room and not infect anyone else on the ship.

I definitely would not compare an Expedition ship with a non-expedition ship; I had assumed the Viking ship that didn’t make it to the Falklands was a non-expedition ship.

Thank you—that is helpful information, and something I will take into consideration in the future, especially for certain itineraries. Definitely would not choose Viking Ocean for this itinerary, as the Oosterdam’s maneuverability was key to getting us into certain ports and close in for parts of Antarctica.

I did not see or hear any karaoke while on Oosterdam last month.

The captain truly is wonderful; the night before our cruise arrived, the winds were high and the islanders had to scramble the last minute to get our lunches, etc. ready for our excursions! We had a short period of winds over 50 knots and a very short tender suspension when we were at Port Stanley. Viking, in my experience, tends to be very cautious with winds in ports. When I took Viking Ocean, we missed Sicily due to winds, and several other ships made it to port that day.

Deception Island is so interesting and scenic due to its volcanic nature. And the chinstrap penguins are incredible!

So glad you made it to the Falklands!! Volunteer point was a highlight of our trip. Also, just a heads up for your Valparaiso & Vino del Mar tour—there are very severe wildfires in that area right now—a truly tragic situation: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/03/world/americas/wildfires-chile-valparaiso.html

Hi everyone! I’ve had a heck of a week catching up on work, and catching a cold (probably from the air travel home, as DH has long been over his!). Here is the next video from the trip—I taped this on the ship, and it covers the Antarctica Experience prior to Deception Island. More to follow as I catch up with all the videos I couldn’t upload on the ship. This one is a bit out of order since I wanted to do an Antarctica focused one first; the rest of the trip to follow.

Bon Voyage! We are on the last leg of our trip home. Enjoy your wonderful cruise!