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The waters are almost always calm. The Antarctic Peninsula interrupts the circumpolar current of the Southern Ocean, which makes the waters converge at the Drake Passage. Thus the Drake is rough, but the waters are smooth around the Peninsula. PS the flights can get interesting due to weather as well. One of my friends is a tour guide in Santiago who flew down with a group of passengers to take them to the ship. Turns out that only one of the planes could make it (hers) so she got a free cruise while the rest of the paying passengers were stuck in Santiago until the landing conditions were safe for flying again. There are multiple ways that weather can mess with you on this trip.

I saw people doing this. The wet landings were on sandy beaches so it shouldn't be a problem.

Hi Steve, I know of no other way to see reservations (dining or excursions) than on the website. Is this what you're referring to? There is no app. Sometimes people refer to the onboard website (mycruise.com) as an "app" but it's not. Until you board, the only option is the my.silversea.com website. The Silversea website is definitely clunky. And I find that it's even worse on my phone. I rarely bother with it unless I'm on my laptop. Nonetheless if you don't see the reservations that you asked for, by all means try to check availability, and make the reservations on the website ASAP. If you can't do that, then call again to confirm. No reason that it should take so long to show up.

Silver Cloud, 2019. Review in my signature. I've heard that the Tauck charters on Ponant are different from the regular Ponant cruises, so much of the advice we gave above may be irrelevant. We have never done a charter on the Ponant ships. Iceland is amazing but be prepared for unexpectedly cold weather, and disruptions in the itinerary as a result.

Hi @Got2Cruise! We have done two Ponant expeditions and have three more booked. We find it an acceptable alternative to Silversea which is our preferred line at present (cutbacks notwithstanding). I don't find the issues brought up earlier by Elizabethbea to be dealbreakers for me, but some of the issues that were mentioned were different to my experience. The expedition guides in Corsica and in Indonesia were universally excellent, and definitely NOT university students. They were experienced professionals who knew their stuff and did a fantastic job. The excursions on Ponant are more active and more strenuous than the excursions we've done on Silversea. When they go for a hike they mean business! The zodiac launching platform on the Ponant Explorers is much easier to negotiate than that on the Silversea ships. The main restaurant was not self-service. The casual grill was partly self-service. Agree that on the Explorers, there is no promenade deck at all, and we definitely missed this on sea days. Our next two are on Le Commandant Charcot and there will be a promenade deck on this ship which we're looking forward to using. Agree that the pool is more for show than for swimming, though it is pretty. The ships are aesthetically pleasing and we found the cabins to be big enough. Wines are similar in quality to what are included on Silversea. The food was quite good. It was certainly a nice ship for an expedition and we're happy to be going back to them in the near future. Links to both of my trip reports are in my signature. Any specific questions - just ask.

No, and I can attest to feeling each one of those steps. In fact I still am! But Chris has even shorter legs than I do, so she gets even more steps. I think her total was over 37000. Luckily we kept it under 30000 for Saturday.

Friday afternoon. More punishment for the feet! After lunch, a quick run through Plaza Mayor on our way to visit the Templo Mayor museum. The museum is laid out over the ruins of the great pyramid/temple of Tenochtitlan. The pyramid was repeatedly expanded by building over the previous smaller pyramids. At the beginning of the visit you can see some ruins. Then there's a decent sized museum. More exhibits! My brain is on overload. Here's my favorite, Mictlantecuhtli. The Aztec god of death, pictured with his liver hanging out. I suspect he had recently disembarked from a Silversea cruise and his liver was just taking a breather, but we all have our beliefs I guess. Onward! Next, we took the elevator to the top of the Torre Latino. The Bellas Artes palace, next door. And some scenery. In the distance, one of the volcanic peaks surrounding the city. One of these tall buildings is our hotel. So far away. Back at ground level, in the courtyard of the Bellas Artes palace. We were just at the top of that tower. A quick look at the inside of the Bellas Artes palace. The old Post Office. Now it was time to go home to get ready for dinner. We caught the Metro without any issue. But when it came to changing lines, we were stumped. Turns out, some of the Metro lines are actually busses! Eventually I figured it out, and we were back at the hotel with time to recharge before dinner. Which meant that we had to do the bus to Metro sequence in reverse! Much easier this time, though traffic was awful and the Metro was chock full. We squeezed in and made it to our dinner reservation only 5 minutes late. The hotel was easy to find but nobody was at the reception desk for the restaurant. We waited a few minutes then checked at hotel reception. They said to wait at the desk... Shortly, a gentleman appeared and checked us in. Up 3 floors in an old hand-operated elevator. Then a walk, and a staircase. Then another spiral staircase made of alabaster, beautifully backlit. Where were they taking us? What a mysterious and fun process just to get here. But we had a table with a beautiful view. We started with shrimp tacos and pastes. The latter reminded me of empanadas. Mains were barbecued ribs, and a pork "chamorro" which were both delicious. My main course was huge! My main looked like this when they brought it to the table, But they shredded the meat before serving it, with tortillas. We managed to eat everything, but no room for dessert. The view of the Plaza was great, as it got darker and the buildings were lit up for the evening. On the way out we had a chance to take pictures of the hotel. Beautiful old architecture. Might be fun to stay here some time. One more lap around the Plaza to see the lights. The cathedral. And the government buildings on the south side of the Plaza. It had been a long full day, so we stopped by a wine shop on the way back to the Metro. Almost home! The angel of Independence was lit nicely for the evening. Home for a nightcap on the terrace before bed, and to toast our 35,800 step performance. I'd broken my previous high from our visit to Prague a few years back. And we have a full day planned tomorrow.

Welcome onboard! Such a shame about Guayaquil. We flew in for embarkation in 2017 and had a half-day tour which was really fun. Hopefully things will improve in the future so that it will be possible to visit again. Smooth sailing to you from here on out!

Friday morning. Walking our feet off, part 1. There was supposed to be a pastry shop across the street but we couldn't find it. So we walked around the block and found a hole in the wall shop with coffee and sweet rolls, which we brought to our balcony for a quick breakfast. Today we planned to walk the Avenida de la Reforma, and eventually get to the Historical Center. It's a decent hike. We set out at a gentle pace, enjoying the atmospheric tree-lined wide boulevard, and marveling at the crazy traffic. Every so often, there's a roundabout with something in the middle. The first roundabout had a statue of Diana, the Roman goddess. I liked this view best. Onward to the Angel of Independence Though the layout appears to be a roundabout, after a while we discovered that this is not how the traffic flows at all. Two large streets intersect at a right angle at each circle. There are traffic lights which regulate entry. However, traffic flows around the circle in BOTH directions at once! If you want to go left, instead of going right and going 3/4 around the circle to exit, you actually go left into the circle and exit 1/4 way around. But traffic flows into the circle in both directions simultaneously. It's insane to watch. And, I'm glad that I'm not driving here. Next was a statue of the last Aztec emperor. Not Montezuma. It was Cuauhtémoc. Further on, this was supposed to be a monument to Columbus. From a distance, it sure looked like it. But if you blow up the photo, you can see letters. And it looks like a 2D profile, not a 3D statue. And from the side, your perspective changes completely! What a difference 90 degrees makes! From here we left the busy wide Avenida, and headed down small side streets to the Monument of the Revolution. Unfortunately we were much too early to go to the top. That doesn't open until noon! We explored further, trying to find a library that Chris wanted to see. And we found a different statue of Christopher Columbus on the way. We found the library too. Interesting open design with floating shelves over our heads. And what's hanging in the middle? It's a whale skeleton! Typical library decor back home... Onward. To the Alameda de Santa Maria, with its Moorish kiosk in the middle. This was designed for the 1884 World's Fair. You can't go inside but you can get a view. We had planned to visit the geology museum next to the park but it did not seem open. So we turned to Plan B. Nice building though! There was another plaza on Chris's list before the Historical Center, but it was far. So eventually we figured out where the nearest Metro stop was, after some bad information from Google. We got some Metro cards for 100 pesos each, and hopped on the Metro for a few stops. Metro, then more walking, and we arrived at the Plaza de Las Tres Culturas. There was an archeology park nearby but we didn't go there. Instead we got a free view of the park, and an old church, with a modern high rise nearby. Now, finally it was time for the Historical Center! We found a bus to the Metro station that we needed, and we were off. I should mention that the 100 peso card had 85 pesos worth of travel funds (the card costs 15 Pesos) . That's less than $5, worth of funds, which doesn't seem like much, except that rides cost only 5 or 6 Pesos each! Super cheap. We eventually made it to the Historical Center, after having to go to the following stop because the Metro stop in the Center proper was closed! The next stop was a huge market which was incredibly crowded but we made it. After a brief look at Plaza Mayor, and a quick reccon of our dinner spot, we found some lunch at a cafe full of local families. Tacos and Chilaquiles. Refueled! Now it was time to explore the Historical Center for real. Our dînner reservation was at the Gran Hotel on their terrace. So we'd have to eventually get back to our hotel to get ready, and then come back for dinner. Guess we'll be using those Metro cards a lot!

Dinner at Ritz-Carlton, July 4th. We did a tasting menu, with pairings. The pairings were Mezcal! Potent stuff. We got a bottle of wine for a chaser. Food was innovative and tasty. For an apéritif, red wine spiked with Mezcal. There were four courses plus dessert. The first appetizer was grilled marinated tasajo (dried beef) which was then served in a mold, with pineapple and avocado almost like a tartare, but it wasn't raw. It was swimming in a marinade with a touch of dry ice to make it smoke. Cool effect, and delicious. 20240704_192550.mp4 Next appetizer was an octopus taco. A huge tentacle! The first main was chicken in a white mole. The mole has pine nuts, chiles, and chicatanas. Yummy, but what are chicatanas? Google to the rescue! "Chicatanas are large, reddish-brown flying ants with thick bodies and big wings that are considered a delicacy in Oaxaca." They were tasty, but maybe I didn't need to know that! The last main was a pork belly with "fiesta" mole. The mole was so flavorful. I would have preferred to have more of the fat rendered out of the belly during cooking. But a nice dish. Dessert was a Oaxacan chocolate tart. Over the top after all the preceding rich food. An interesting set of dishes, with exotic ingredients that we'd never make at home. Glad to have tried them but we'll look for less fancy meals for the next few days.

Anthropology Museum, Chapultepec, CDMX. This Museum was huge and overwhelming, much like this city of over 20 million. But we had to do it. Admission is only 95 pesos, about $5US. A bargain. Massive displays of artifacts, some small and others quite large. And reconstructed large-scale buildings. A few pictures to give you an idea of the variety here. Lascaux cave paintings? Wasn't sure why they were here... Massive edifice, and a close-up of some details. A Mayan creator god from Xochicalco. Quite the character. Wrapped up in two snakes. Sure... It takes many snakes to do all that creating. At least that's the PG version. Impressive dreds too. Chak Mool. A rain god, always represented in this odd position. Stone of the Sun, Aztec civilization. Xochipilli. Aztec god of art, games, dance, flowers, etc. He didn't seem so cheerful, considering! Beautiful jade mask. A very cute jaguar. Looks like he wants a scratch behind the ears. An Olmec giant head A very happy fellow swimming in a snail shell. Another beautiful mosaic mask. It would take all day to see this museum properly. Even at our rushed pace it took us about 2-1/2 hours. Very much recommended!

Mexico City? We didn't hear that, nor did our hotel make any request to conserve water. But with a population over 20 million, I could certainly understand the potential for that to happen! We did our part by not drinking any...at least not from the tap.

Keens are great. We had them years back and used them a lot for rock scrambling along the shores in Hawaii. Nice thick soles and good toe protection. But the problem? We would get little spots of sunburn on your feet! The open webbing made it impossible to avoid some sun exposure on the tops of our feet.

Good Morning from CDMX! The view from our balcony is spectacular in the morning light. Our ride to the airport should depart in about 90 minutes. We are resting this morning after two very busy days here. On Friday we walked most of the way to the Centro Historico and made lots of photo stops along the way, visited museums, and then took the Metro back to our hotel to get ready for dinner. We had dinner at the Terrace of the Gran Hotel overlooking Zocolo, and the square at night was a beautiful backdrop to some great food. Yesterday we were up early and spend the morning wandering the parks and tree-lined boulevards of La Condesa. What a beautiful neighborhood! We found a wine bar and marked it for later. Then we went to Chapultepec Castle before lunch (at that wine bar, of course!). We ticked a few more sites off the list after lunch and then had time to rest our feet before dinner, which was in Polanco. A really fun restaurant and great food, again. This morning we did not do anything! Unless you count relaxing on our balcony with a coffee as an acceptable vacation activity. But after 35000 steps on Friday, and another 28000 yesterday, we figured that a break would be prudent. I'll look through some pictures soon and post some. The city is overwhelming and impossible to grasp in just a few days. Public transport is ridiculously cheap (think about 30 cents per ride) but can get crowded. Food has been great, and relatively cheap, but the portions are massive. We drank Mexican wines which were pleasant. I think we'll be back when we can fit another long weekend into our schedule! More later!

We had at least 3 wet landings on beaches. Water shoes were very handy. Most of the time the hikes were short, so we didn't change shoes at all. Once we did, for a longer hike.

Hi from CDMX! Made it here early (good job DL) even though ATL was hopping. Mexico's automated immigration process was quick and we were on the road 20 minutes after landing. We're staring at the Ritz-Carlton by Chapultepec Park, and the view from our 43rd floor balcony is awesome. The whole park is right in front of us. So we went for a walk. Every visitor needs this shot. We debated visiting Chapultepec Castle vs the Anthropology Museum. The latter won out. They even have an oculus fountain, like Changi! The museum was great but it was overwhelming. So many exhibits! Very well done and I took way more pictures than I can sort through now. But on the way back we got some rain! Luckily we had our raincoats in the backpack with us. Made it home, not too soaked, and with time to watch the rest of the storm! Beautiful and fierce. Dinner is at our hotel tonight. Time for a shower and some great food!

Oh, I thought that you were just posting a photo of your dinner!

Dora was not happy with me when we got home from the Kimberley Expedition. It took most of the last 10 days before she forgave me for that prolonged absence. When the suitcase came out on Tuesday she was not happy at all. We'll be home for quite a while after this, so she should get over it. Fingers and paws crossed! Not this time. I'm sure we will be back!

No house cleaning here. We left home a little after 4:30 and we're making our descent into Atlanta now. Next stop, CDMX! After my experience trying to fly United last month, we are both glad to be back on DL today. First time in Mexico City, so we're looking forward to the food and the history. Our hotel is right by Chapultepec Park so we'll probably do that this afternoon, and maybe visit the Anthropology Museum too. We do hope that the cats forgive us for these two trips in quick succession. They were decidedly unhappy when the suitcase came out on Tuesday.

Does it make you talk funny?

Safe travels onward, to the next part of the adventure! Can't wait to hear more about it!

Saturday, June 22nd. A very long day! Today would last for 36 hours, because of the 12 hour time change between Perth and New York. Our check in desks were open a little before 10PM which was great. Not much of a line and then we were through immigration (kiosks, quick) and security (no priority line but still quite efficient) in good time. On to the SilverKris Lounge which was very quiet when we arrived, as we were some of the first ones there, but gradually more passengers arrived. Decent food and beverages. Time to board. The 1:10AM flight from Perth to Singapore was short but the 787 had comfortable seats, so after dinner at 2AM we slept for a bit until we arrived in Singapore around 6:30. Interestingly, we had approached the runway early at 6:02, and almost landed, but pulled up at the last minute. The pilot said that there were gusty winds preventing us from landing. We circled again and made another approach, eventually landing on time about 6:25. We landed at T2 so we got to see a nice flower exhibit. No pictures of us posing with the flowers though. We aren't very photogenic at this point after sleeping on the airplane! Koi pond too! Nice exhibit. Since we were in T2, we went to that lounge for an hour or so, then hopped the train to T3 where our flight was departing. The train went right past the Jewel, but it wasn't running yet. Bummer! The T3 lounge was as nice as we'd remembered. Since we had a few hours, we took advantage of the facilities and had a shower and a change of clothes before the upcoming monster flight. There was security at the gate but we timed it well and only waited a few minutes in that line, then boarded straightaway. Settled in with a glass of bubbly. We pushed back on time and wheels were up at 12:29PM local time. This insanity awaited us. Food, drink, movie, nap, rinse and repeat. The time passed slowly as I tried to limit my sleeping to the first part of the flight. Since we get in at 6:30PM I wanted to sleep again after we arrived. Here's a dinner picture; some delicious noodles in a pork broth, with shrimp and some pork ribs tossed in for good measure. It was very tasty! There was less turbulence, though in flight service was still suspended a few times. Not as bad as the flight over a few weeks ago. Interestingly we took a more southerly route both times rather than the transpolar route. I suspect that they are trying to avoid Russian airspace. Eventually the flight was over and we arrived in JFK. We landed at a gate in T4 which was very close to immigration, and Global entry was very efficient. So, we waited for our bags instead. A quick AirTrain ride, one stop to T5, and we were at the TWA hotel. We had decided to spend the night, rather than trying to drive 3 more hours to Albany tonight. Quite the nice hotel lobby! A soaring wide-open space. Complete with many vintage touches from its era. And, a TWA jet parked out back! Apparently it's a bar but we were too tired for that. Off to dinner! We had dinner at the hotel restaurant, Cafe de Paris. The pizza and burger were both great, and went well with a bottle of French red. Much better than the Silversea burger. It's even made with real meat! Sunday morning we were up with the sun, and ready for the drive home. After we grabbed a bagel and some coffee we took the AirTrain to Hertz where they had a car for us. It was not what we expected, but it was fun nonetheless! We were on the road about 7:45AM. Traffic home was very light and it only took 2.5 hours for the trip, even though I did not go as fast as I would have with the Audi. For obvious reasons, I thought this car would be a magnet for attention if I drove it too aggressively. I had to take a picture of the rental car in our driveway before we returned it at the Albany airport. Quite a beast! Our cats were happy to see us even though they acted like they were expecting the pet sitter. We had plenty of time for grocery shopping, unpacking, and even some laundry before we ran out of energy and got ready for work on Monday. Another vacation completed - time to start planning the next one! Thanks all for following along. We had a great time despite minor issues. Looking forward to our next Silversea cruises!

Friday, June 21st. Fremantle in an hour. Plenty of traffic on the way to Fremantle, but we got there before sunset and found a parking lot near Victoria Quay. From there it was a very short walk to the Round House, perched up on a hill with a nice view of the coast. I love the evening lighting on the light rocks. We walked along High Street for a bit, admiring the interesting buildings. I got a very strong vibe of the French Quarter in New Orleans. The wire railings on the balconies really reminded me of there. The National Hotel. A landmark, according to Chris's index card. We stopped by a discount chemist and grabbed some tea tree oil as a souvenir. Then we had a leisurely stroll back to the car by a different street, to see more beautiful buildings. The train station. And others. This is a shipping company. We still had a few hours before we needed to be at the airport but we'd pretty much kicked Chris's list. So we decided to go for one last meal - fish and chips, at a "fancy" place that Chris had found. Even better, the restaurant is near the airport. So we headed off to the suburbs to find "Rusty Old Boat Fish & Chips" which was quite busy. Parking was scrum on the nearby streets. There was a line to get in but they found us a table and we had some delicious fish and chips. I enjoyed them so much that I forgot to take a picture. I guess I'll have to go back. We still had an hour to kill so we looked for a park to relax and stretch our legs, but nothing looked appealing. We found a shopping mall but the only thing open was Woolworth's which is a grocery store. So not much useful shopping there. Off to the airport! We took our time, found a gas station, filled up the Audi, and returned the car around 9:30. A short walk to our terminal, where the check-in desks weren't yet open, so we waited a bit and contemplated the long journey ahead. Somehow, it's never as much fun when you're going back!

Friday, June 21st. More time in Perth! I need to get this finished today before we go to Mexico City for the weekend. So, back to our last day in Perth. After a shower and a change we decided to walk along the river for some more sightseeing. So we drove to Point Fraser and parked, as it looked like a nice walk from there, along the river all the way to the Matagarup Bridge. Except they were renovating the area, and all of the walking path from the parking lot was torn up, and a good chunk of the riverfront was behind a barricade! Oh well. So, we cut through Trinity College and eventually got to the river. I was sure this was a cormorant when I first saw it, but it's actually an Australasian Darter. Same behavior, spreading its wings to dry after a fishing expedition. Nice pose! The Matagarup Bridge soon came into view. Quite an unusual structure, but very interesting interplay of asymmetric curves. Of course, we had to cross it and look from every possible angle. We saw people climbing up the bridge in order to go zip-lining across the river to the other side. We didn't do that. Instead we worked our way back to Queens Gardens. Lots of bird life. The sign said that there were cygnets but we only saw adult swans. In the late afternoon light, the shadows make their long necks look even longer. A pretty setting in the middle of the city. Much smaller than Kings Park. Very serene. Another nice pelican. This Australian Ibis was on a mission. We didn't get in his way. In the distance, the lights of the nearby cricket ground. We made our way slowly back to the car. Lake Vasto, in the Ozone Preserve, along the river. Almost sunset. Weird for those of us from the Northern Hemisphere, to have such short days in June! Soon enough we'll be back to that. From here we decided to take a quick trip to Fremantle to have a wander.

I believe it - the exhibit did say that some of these were still in use during the decade that I started medical school. I take that as good evidence that it's time for me to be retired as well!