Live From -Star Princess Antartica 2/2/10

[bookworm1]

we did the chef's table on the Star last September and it was a memorable meal. Who is the Executive Chef?

Michael and Jeralyn

[speakertosuits]

Ccrain. Which side of the ship got more views of antarctica? I know you have an aft cabin which I am not likely to get, but do you see more on the starboard or port side? Does the captain spin the ship around so both sides get to see the sights?

 

I am thinking about this cruise and we will likely get a min-suite. You comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[ccrain]

Nice to hear the Chef's Table was yet another great success! I'm hoping that if we get to participate again in a couple of weeks we have a sea day afterwards. Last time we had a full day tour if Iceland which was tough considering how I felt after the dinner and wine the night before:eek:, but I managed.

 

I also think there may be an opportunity here to allow more to take part in this great experience, but then it may lose it's exclusiveness.....wonder what Princess can come up with?

 

Enjoy your day!

 

How about dinner in the officer's mess with the captain or staff captain? No fancy food, no wine, they charge you for eating crew food. Now that would be profitable!

[ccrain]

we did the chef's table on the Star last September and it was a memorable meal. Who is the Executive Chef?

Michael and Jeralyn

 

or Pualo, Can't remember which. He's been with Princess since almost the beginning.

[ccrain]

Ccrain. Which side of the ship got more views of antarctica? I know you have an aft cabin which I am not likely to get, but do you see more on the starboard or port side? Does the captain spin the ship around so both sides get to see the sights?

 

I am thinking about this cruise and we will likely get a min-suite. You comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Emerald mini, in the 700 section. Fully covered balcony, minimal wind if you get 3-4 cabins in.

 

Side selection is difficult. The captain does rotate the ship, but only when he's at a fixed viewing point. Based on this cruise I would have picked Port for the best cabin. Why? On the trip down Gerlache strait you would have been treated to the continent view as the ship heads south , but would have to get out and about to the see the Archipeligo Islands. In the Neumayer Channel you would have had a great view of one of the Glaciers off the Port side as the ship heads back north, but you would have had to get out to the Glaciers on the other side.

 

when the captain rounded Deception Island, he would turned to ship so that the port side would have the only view due to the direction of the wind and the swells.

 

But you know, in the end, it really won't matter. Trust me. Go for location and price. You can't beat the Emerald deck minis for location and the full covered balcony will help with wind and rain. My second choice would be a dolphin mini in the center of the ship. Much easier on the stomach.

[ccrain]

Well we have discovered the Piazza. In a good way. this low and this centered, Judy can enjoy the ship rather than the view on the TV's front of the ship channel. during the Hawaii run, we rarely came down here, now we here every morning since the motion is so much more pronounced in the Horizon Court.

 

we have a moderate swell this morning. A very long swell, not a lot of wind, so we're catching the Drake Passage at a good time.

 

Yesterday was actually the first time I've been pretty bored on a cruise ship. Not much going on. Judy hung out in the Piazza and I dodged whale watchers on the promenade deck with my morning walk. Sleep after Chef's table was not easy, too much wine I think and a bit of a sulfate headache, so a long nap was definitely in order. Not much to see after noon with the antarctic islands behind us and the drake passage in front of us. We are due to arrive at Cape Horn around 5 or 6 tonight, so we shall see how the weather treats us.

 

We passed on the cabin crawl, Judy wasn't doing so hot...but she felt better by evening to go tray dancing in Explorer's. Last night was formal night and we just did not want to get dressed up at all. The Groove Babies started a set at 530, then canned music from 630 to 730, then canned ballroom music from 730 to 830, Princess Pop Star, Ballroom Blitz and then the Groove Babies back at 1100. They need to update their CD music a bit, put it on random play and turn up the volume on the dance floor. Its more like elevator music and extremely hard to dance to.

 

Needless to say, we weren't dressed up so we didn't do ballroom blitz and we went to dinner in the Piazza. Had the artichoke soup and a couple of different salads. the cherry tomato and mozzarella salad was great. The tomatos were fresh and sweet. Tried the greek salad, which is always good, and the tuna/pasta salad which are good as well. Judy had a sushi plate from vines and that did it for dinner. Nice and light.

 

We also went to Words and Music last night. A lot of singing, not much dancing, but we did sit up front and enjoyed it a lot.

[GeneKan62]

Loving your live review. Makes me feel I'm on the ship.:)

[ccrain]

Today's patter looks more promising. Not nearly what Dave Cole packs into the Hawaii run, but a lot more normal sea day looking activities. There are three lectures that look like fun on Shakelton, the frozen ocean and Antarctic Seabirds. The Matre De wine club is today, but after all the wine from Chef's table we will probably pass.

 

Tonight looks a lot more promising. Dancing starts at 530 with only an hour break, don't understand why an hour break, its canned music anyway, just keep it playing...then the groove babies.

 

I have to say something about Arnold, one of the wait staff in Explorer's. The first night of the cruise we had 2 of the bar staff go by and we asked for water and it didn't come. Arnold came by and promptly got us two glasses of water, and then we ordered drinks from him. The next night he brought us two big glasses water and he keeps them filled and we keep ordering drinks just from him. he checks on us constantly, bringing peanuts, pretzels, ginger ale and bitters for judy, water for the both of us. really fantastic service.

 

So, that's it from here...

 

We'll talk more later...

[Seal]

Glad you found a good spot for Judy--John always reminds me that the medical center is always as low and centered as possible--may be a good reason for this--I know if I had the courage for your trip we would probably have an aft for the obvious reason--we started with the aft in French Polynesia and have had many since then--OK_OK--I realize that the sea is quite calm in that area and makes it easy for me--if we took the Hawaii to Papette with the aft cabin--maybe not so great !!!

We took the Star about this time last year when it arrived on the easy side of the continent and even then the folks on your part had some rough weather--the ship was over 24 hours late to pick us up in Valiperiso--luckily I have ww on my cell and received a call from Princess in CA about the problem and to extend the hotel stay in Santiago--I told everyone that was with Princess about the problem and for some reason they thought I was nuts--even the Princess reps that showed up at the hotel either didn't know or didn't tell until it was the day to leave and we weren't going anywhere. Anyway I am soooooo proud of your wife for taking this wonderful trip !!

 

Nancy:D

[speakertosuits]

Emerald mini, in the 700 section. Fully covered balcony, minimal wind if you get 3-4 cabins in.

 

Side selection is difficult. The captain does rotate the ship, but only when he's at a fixed viewing point. Based on this cruise I would have picked Port for the best cabin. Why? On the trip down Gerlache strait you would have been treated to the continent view as the ship heads south , but would have to get out and about to the see the Archipeligo Islands. In the Neumayer Channel you would have had a great view of one of the Glaciers off the Port side as the ship heads back north, but you would have had to get out to the Glaciers on the other side.

 

when the captain rounded Deception Island, he would turned to ship so that the port side would have the only view due to the direction of the wind and the swells.

 

But you know, in the end, it really won't matter. Trust me. Go for location and price. You can't beat the Emerald deck minis for location and the full covered balcony will help with wind and rain. My second choice would be a dolphin mini in the center of the ship. Much easier on the stomach.

 

Thanks for your comments. Seems that the Jan 6, 2011 sailing has few minis on Dolphin deck left.

[ccrain]

After days of compensating for ship movement it is very interesting how the brain then takes on dry land. Sitting here feeling movement back and forth, but I know for a fact its not moving.

 

We're docked and Judy and I are planning our walking around time today with some coffee to start.

 

The lectures were good yesterday. Dr Stonehouse's shakelton lecture was very interesting. More interesting was the reaction of the audience to one particular photograph showing the cook butchering an large emporer penguin. Several gasps and many 'awwwws'. Considering that the men at the time were starving and had no hope of rescue, they were truly on their own, and as the good doctor put it himself, when 100+ pounds of meat (editors note: read 'chicken') comes walking through your camp you don't exactly turn your nose up at it. but a good lecture nonetheless.

 

It was rough around the horn yesterday. Too rough to embark the pilots and allow us to go around the island of Cape Horn. Cape Horn itself is very impressive. Just as you would picture it in your mind, seas crashing against jagged rock, white caps frothing as far as the eye can see, a bitterly cold wind, a desolate sheer rock face with no vegetation, looking completely inhospitable and stark. Outlined in bright sunshine, it just looked like a place you would not want to visit, much less sail by.

 

Funny, in antarctica you want to reach out and touch the glaciers and the ice cliffs, bring the ship closer and closer! Here you could just imagine the sheer terror of sailors as they looked up and suddenly saw the jagged rocks looming out of the storm, the wind pushing them to their doom. It made you want to stay as far away as possible, even the wind lifting the sea into rainbow cascades of salt spray did nothing to quell the primoridial fear invoked by that wall of rock, roaring wind and crashing sea.

 

What a contrast!

 

We tried a bit of line dancing yesterday afternoon. The ship movement was sufficient to throw everyone off, including Melissa the instructor, and then the dreaded 'bing bong', this is the captain from the bridge and I've got some good news, bad news that we have all become accustomed to over the past few weeks. Not that the weather is his fault, that's for sure. But even just the sail by was impressive enough for me.

 

Last night was CD music hell in explorers for a while. Somewhere in the mix process, the playlist got stuck for 2 hours on 5 songs, so when Groove Babies showed up, we were ready to listen to some real music and do some serious dancing. We danced for an hour, then did dinner - Bay of Thailand menu? But it had LAMB ON IT!! Judy tried the seaweed salad that came with the spring roll and promptly lost her appettite completely. she couldn't find anything else that tasted right - even the standard filet. I had the tai seafood noodles, which were great, and then went straight to the lamb which was ummy. but we skipped dessert.

 

After dinner we went to see "This is It", the Michael Jackson movie. The show he was planning would have been one huge success. I'm glad they did the movie. It showed Michael at his best and as we of his generation would like to remember him as.

 

 

All in all, a good day.

[ccrain]

Greeting from Chile.

 

Yesterday was a fun day. After exploring Ushuaia for a while, we relaxed back on board for the afternoon before doing Italian dinner. First we hunted up Jack, the on board sommelier, for a wine recommendation. (Needed to spend that certificate from the TA.) He recommended an Italian Chianti, reasonably priced, that went well with dinner. Judy's appetite had returned so she had spaghetti and meat balls, salad and the saltimbocca turbot - which she pronounced the best dish of the cruise so far. I had two eggplant parmesan's and the veal scallopene, both of which were good. Now in the past we have noticed a difference between ships, same dish. its the same here on the Star. The food is subdued compared to the Golden and Grand, the last two cruises. A little bit of red chili flake in the sauce for the eggplant parmesan would have been great. Several dishes have required salt and ground pepper. The fetticune alfredo requires salt, pepper and some extra cheese.

 

This is not to say they were bad, but they required a little bit more seasoning for our tastes compared to the previous two ships.

 

The ship was sailing through the Beagle Channel. Very similar to the Inland Passage with tree lined shores, glacier carved canyons and spectacular waterfalls. We danced with the Groove Babies for a while, talking to Stacy, the drummer, about his day in Ushuaia. He did confess that he stopped for a coffee on shore and his stomach was bothering him. Sure enough, by 930 he was down for the count. Don't drink the water is always a good rule of thumb.

 

So we did country night to CD music. (At least it didn't get stuck on 2 songs.) Did line dances, cotton eyed joe, the bang-bang game and in general had a good time. but without the Groove Babies playing, that was it for dancing. They went back to the CD collection and started playing mambos and sambas - one right after another. They really need a better song picker, or at least a playlist edited by someone who can put some variety in the dance music. I mean come on, its MP3 music not LPs you have to change out...

 

This morning we are off Punta Arenas and the mass exodus to the tenders has begun. Not sure what we're going to do yet, still watching the weather and it is a bit choppy as well as a long way to shore, so we'll see. In the meantime, see ya...

[CruzinNoony]

Thank you so much for posting your "live from". I follow it every day. We sailed around the Horn from BA to Santiago a couple of years ago, but did not go into Antarctica. Was Antarctica really that special for us to repeat several of the same ports just to see that area?:eek:

[ccrain]

Thank you so much for posting your "live from". I follow it every day. We sailed around the Horn from BA to Santiago a couple of years ago, but did not go into Antarctica. Was Antarctica really that special for us to repeat several of the same ports just to see that area?:eek:

 

Basically we were able to enjoy antarctica for about 2 1/2 days. the rest was spent running from weather, hiding from icebergs and in general trying to stay out of trouble. But the trip into Elephant Island and the trip through the Gerlache straits made it all worth while...for us. the other ports were just a price we had to pay to go to the antarctic. After March 2011, the ships available to go to the antarctic will be severely limited and Princess will probably not be going for several years.

 

So yes, it was worth it, but before I come back I'm going to intensify my learning spanish. Speaking the local language helps an awful lot.

 

BTW, we did not get off the ship. when I heard the Captain talk about the wind picking up I made the decision to stay on board. good thing. the wind has come up and the tenders are bobbing like corks. A lot of people are sick in their rooms from the tender ride and Judy would be right there with them if we'd have tried it.

 

Tonight, up the Magellans Straits towards Montevideo. Yak at ya tomorrow.

[ccrain]

Ship is all decked out this morning for Valentine's Day. Judy is sleeping late, so I'll update the log while watching the Southern Atlantic roll by the internet cafe windows. Overcast day, still cool, slight swell pushing us along.

 

The tender trip yesterday is now legendary among the passengers. Many got sick, some got scared that the tender would roll over, not likely but I'm sure it was not pleasant. The tender guys were having a heck of a time getting the tenders docked and that meant loaded tenders had to sit out and wait. So it made for a very sparse early seating in the dining room, but a quick dinner, over in less than an hour.

 

The passengers on tour to antarctica, forgot to mention that one, involved a 4 hour plane ride to the antarctic continent, a visit to a Chilean outpost, complete with souvenier shop, a walk about in the mud and snow, visits to local penguins and then a 4 hour plane ride back to Punta Arenas. All for $3300 per person. (A little bit too pricey for me.) Anyway, they were two hours late coming back and since this was a princess excursion and with the ship in no hurry to leave, we waited until they were back on board and left between 9 and 10. A couple we dance with were on that excursion, so I'll find out more details today.

 

Stacey, the Groove Babies drummer, was better from his ordeal with the local water from Ushauia. So after dinner we danced, then went to the Comedy/Magician show, don't have his name handy and then danced at the 70's show.

 

Dinner was one of the Princess menus with Coq Au Vin. The one I had a fit over on the Hawaii cruise. As well as chips and salsa/guacumole. Judy had the beef stroganoff, but her taste buds were off again. She didn't like it, but I tried it and it was pretty good. Again, all of the spices were a bit understated, but not that bad. The guacomole was to die for - real guac, simple, tasty. Just bring me a bowl of chips, a bowl of guac and a bowl of that salsa stuff and I'll be happy.

 

Well gotta go register for the mass renewal of vows. Oh the things we guys do for our spouses....

[ccrain]

So anyway sign up to renewal of vows went smoothly. sign up was a breeze. We have signed up for a tango tour on disembarkation day in BA. We'll see how that goes. I've heard horror stories about check in at EZE, but the FF talk forums don't bear that out. Of course there will be a lot of people trying to get out at the same time Thursday night.

 

I'll let you know how that all goes.

 

Today is the first of three sea days on the way back, then Montevideo, then BA.

 

(The magician comedian is Greg Moreland.)

 

today we will probably do line dance class, the mexican buffet for lunch, a magic workshop with Greg, then renewal of vows.

 

They have a sommalier's wine club today. $25. Probably similar to the Matre De's club but with Jack, the on board sommalier. The chianti he picked for the Italian dinner was great and even better after it breathed overnight for the Coq Au Vin last night. Not sure if I want to do the wine club or not, we'll see around 11.

 

Tonight is the Love and Marriage Game show. We're going to try and sign up. Before that its dancing with the Groove Babies and we will probably just spend the evening in Explorer's dancing away.

 

Yak at y'all tomorrow...

[bcnvcanada]

We have been enjoying yur live from thread. A few words about the Buenos Aires Airport. If your can check in on line. Princess transfers were a mess. We had done an all day tour with Princess and thought we would be taken after our tour to the aiport as it was under 4 hours before departure. Instead we were taken back into B.A. t there transfer hotel. We were to wait in line again to get transfer tickets. The transfers were running late (very) so we took a cab from the hotel with another couple. Total coast 120 a paso for four or about 7.50usd per person. We arrived at the airport, cases are outside of American airlines area, collected cases, went inside to Delta, no line. American had a line, though not too long, United had a larger line. CHeck with your airlines as there was not fee to leave. It was included in the ticket price. We waited upstairs, until gate was posted, had a drink. Security point one was okay, the Argentina exit line was long, but went fast. Second security point did have a long line, but again it went fast. We added out sweaters at the gate area, taking them out of the carry ons. Gate was the only problem. Everyone, tried to board at once, knocking the poles for the orderly departure out of the way. They did call by boarding section, but it seemed like most everyone charged the boarding area. The majority of the pax were from the cruise ship. We did have to have our hand cases opened, and searched, no sharp objects, folding sissors, a wine corkscrew, or superglue. These were the things we saw being taken away. It did take a few minutes, but we were soon on our way. It was not as bad as I though it would be. Enjoy your day in Buenos Aires, we did.

[ccrain]

We have been enjoying yur live from thread. A few words about the Buenos Aires Airport. If your can check in on line. Princess transfers were a mess. We had done an all day tour with Princess and thought we would be taken after our tour to the aiport as it was under 4 hours before departure. Instead we were taken back into B.A. t there transfer hotel. We were to wait in line again to get transfer tickets. The transfers were running late (very) so we took a cab from the hotel with another couple. Total coast 120 a paso for four or about 7.50usd per person. We arrived at the airport, cases are outside of American airlines area, collected cases, went inside to Delta, no line. American had a line, though not too long, United had a larger line. CHeck with your airlines as there was not fee to leave. It was included in the ticket price. We waited upstairs, until gate was posted, had a drink. Security point one was okay, the Argentina exit line was long, but went fast. Second security point did have a long line, but again it went fast. We added out sweaters at the gate area, taking them out of the carry ons. Gate was the only problem. Everyone, tried to board at once, knocking the poles for the orderly departure out of the way. They did call by boarding section, but it seemed like most everyone charged the boarding area. The majority of the pax were from the cruise ship. We did have to have our hand cases opened, and searched, no sharp objects, folding sissors, a wine corkscrew, or superglue. These were the things we saw being taken away. It did take a few minutes, but we were soon on our way. It was not as bad as I though it would be. Enjoy your day in Buenos Aires, we did.

 

 

My plan B is to grab a cab at the transfer hotel as our tour will end around 2pm and our plane is at 10pm - if the transfers are goofed up.

 

Were all the bags in one place or were they at the various airline holding areas?

 

I'd rather get there much earlier than later and stay at the red carpet club...

[ccrain]

Yesterday's Valentine's day went off quite well. We did the line dance class in the morning, the mexican buffet wasn't all that bad and even had a spicy chile salsa, Judy went and learned a couple of really neat card tricks, a couple of magic tricks and I took her to the Group Renewal of Vows that she thoroughly enjoyed. Dinner was quite nice, another Princess menu with LAMB on it. Judy had the homestyle pulled pork with north carolina BBQ sauce. I had the lamb, of course. Both were very good.

 

We hit the dance floor in explorer's with the Groove Babies around 730, then stayed through and played in the Marriage Game, which was a hoot - I think embarrassed the host, and then danced late. When we returned to our room there was the dreaded green card to spring forward, promptly making it after 1am in the morning. Time to crash. This morning was awfully hard to pull ourselves out of bed, but its time to cowboy up since we are in the home stretch.

 

Tonight is the last formal night. Haven't decided to dress up yet. We shall see later.

 

 

We did get our disembarkation tickets today - we have to meet at 0645 (0645!!!!) on the morning of disembarkation for our tour. It is going to be one looonnnnggggg day, that is for sure.

[bcnvcanada]

On the second of February the bags were all at one place. It was outside the American Airlines area outside of the termial building. There were porters with carts all around. You could get carts inside the terminal though. We found the transfer hotel a mess. Too many people and very little room, no place to sit and people wanting to go to the airport, blocking exits. The princess people try to control it, but most did not chose to follow directions. We used the Sherton Liberator, downtown. It does take 40 minutes to get to the airport, and more at rush hour. We too, left on our tour a 6:45am, this was to tour the downtown before the traffic got too heavy. We did not return to the hotel until after 5:00pm. The first class lounge will be great. Delta did not have a lounge at this airport, but then, they did post the gate until late and we did not have to wait long before boarding about 10 minutes. We have really enjoy your posts of this journey. We are glad that you enjoyed your trip to Antarcticia. It is a very special place. Safe travels home.

[ccrain]

Yesterday was the second of three sea days. Still cool, but not cold, a moderate sea but coming from behind, so the motion was pretty much a minimum.

 

Actually a pretty boring sea day. Not too much going on. The culinary cooking show was pretty good, but we've not seen a cooking show like the one on the Dawn several years ago - that was ROTFLMAO fun. No line dance class, a couple of lectures and that was pretty much it for interesting stuff to do. A lot of "unhosted" activities - but none we were interested in.

 

We decided not to dress up last night and do the HC for dinner. It was actually quite good. The Beef Wellington was very good and the pasta they were cooking in the dining area was quite good as well, once you put a touch more salt, a few chili flake sprinkles and a little parmesan on top. The bay shrimp salad was also very good.

 

Dancing music did not start until 730. Just cannot dance to the normal low volume elevator music they pipe into the Explorer's lounge. Since they have a lot of canned music anyway, I don't understand why they just don't let it run. It makes no sense to have an hour of elevator music, an hour of dance music, and hour of elevator music and then an hour of live music.

 

Then we did a production show "Destination Anywhere". We hadn't seen it before and we sat 2nd row center. It was a really good show. Lots of dancing, singing, very high energy and several WOW sequences. The London sequence was especially good with the costumes and dance. The integration of the walking canes into the men's routines was very effective.

 

After the show it was Ballroom Blitz and we showed up to cheer Abby and Glen on. (I still don't understand why they keep insisting on making this a competition. Vian had the same problem on the Golden. Its not dancing with the stars. They are putting people head to head with experience levels that vary from many of years to jut a few months. I agree with Vian that it should be a demonstration, not a competition.) Abby and Glen did very well with their tango and two step, getting runners up and a couple from CA, whom Abby and Glen know and have cruised with, won. Another couple who dances with us a lot in Explorer's lounge, and they are very good in a social setting, were so nervous, they just could not relax. Lily and Johnny, the couple that won, were not nervous and that made a big difference.

 

But after Ballroom Blitz was the farewell party in the Piazza and a balloon drop, but we hit the sack a bit early.

 

Today looks much more promising in the Patter - but unfortunately the things we want to do are overlapped. At 1400 is the scrap boat building regatta, so we have to be there to cheer on Robert?, I hope I got the name right, a fellow CC member we've been seeing around the ship, with his boat.

 

Tonight looks even better. Lots of dance music, with only 15 minute breaks.

 

So chow for now...

[seamanfs]

Thanks so much for the informative live from. I had a question regarding the swimming pools on the Star. Is one pool covered and is the temp of the covered pool warm enough for comfortable swimming?? Thanks in advance for your reply!!!

[cruizer2d]

Yes, there is a covered pool on the Star, and it's very comfortable to swim in. We were on the Star for the Antarctic cruise 1/17/10--2/2, and we found the covered pool was frequently in use-- not so the uncovered one (obviously). Actually, the uncovered one was netted over frequently.

[lollypopj]

Enjoying your report..sounds like u love dancing!!

Are there any teas,or ceramics classes going on ?

[ccrain]

Thanks so much for the informative live from. I had a question regarding the swimming pools on the Star. Is one pool covered and is the temp of the covered pool warm enough for comfortable swimming?? Thanks in advance for your reply!!!

 

The covered pool was also frequently netted over as were the hottubs due to swells and sloshing, but it was warm when filled and fresh water.