Live-ish -- Dec 20 Thru Jan 5 South America/Antarctica on Coral Princess

[lstone19]

9 minutes ago, gottagocit said:

It surprises me a little that with all the seas days in the itinerary the second formal night is on a port day. 

 

It's New Year's Eve. The ship was only scheduled in port until 4pm. From my previous Princess cruising experience, New Year's Eve will be a formal night if at all possible.

[azbirdmom]

1 hour ago, lstone19 said:

 

With tonight being New Year's Eve, they may not be following the usual order for menus. Note that the menu he posted says New Year's Eve on it. I would not count on tonight's menu being the one you'll have for your second formal night.

 

Very good point.  Guess I will have to ask on the ship!

 

[azbirdmom]

1 hour ago, erber said:

Leaving Ushuaia. Captain just told us we will be passing some gorgeous Chilean hanging glaciers in 3 hours or so. We will be on our balcony then as they will be on the starboard side! Yes... I'll post some photos! Happy New Year!

 

Glacier Alley was one of the highlights of our South America cruise but after being in Antarctica it may pale in comparison.  It still will be stunning, no doubt!

 

And Happy New Year to you as well!

Edited December 31, 2019 by azbirdmom

[gottagocit]

1 hour ago, lstone19 said:

 

It's New Year's Eve. The ship was only scheduled in port until 4pm. From my previous Princess cruising experience, New Year's Eve will be a formal night if at all possible.

Well that’s a good point. 
C

[erber]

Chilean Glaciers on our way to Punta Arenas!

 

Will post tomorrow's patter later. 

[erber]

Patter for tomorrow's activities.

[erber]

Another beautiful glacier, and a waterfall.

[erber]

Midnight Buffet for New Year's ! Snapped only a few photos of it. Happy New Year everyone! 

[lorri111]

Happy New Year everyone!

[lorri111]

Erber, what was the situation with tenders to Falklands? Can you get tickets in advance or do you just queue at the time? We are on a Patrick Watts tour where he says to try to get an early tender and I am worried about not getting off quickly enough.

[erber]

You get tender tickets at the queue in the general meeting place unless you are elite and then you go to different_meeting place and get priority. On our cruise the Universe Lounge was the regular meeting place and Explorers was for elites. I had a Princess tour so I went to yet another meeting spot at 11:15  for my excursion (one of the MDRs)  and we were taken off as a group at 11:30 for a noon tour. 

 

My husband chose to do his own thing (no tour) and walk around town. He went to Universe Lounge which was very crowded. He had to show his cruise card and when they realized he was elite they had him go to Explorers and hardly anyone was there. He was pretty quickly escorted to the tender. I believe he got off the ship around 10 ish or so. 

 

If you have an early independent tour I would get to the general tender meeting place or the elite one, if it applies, as early as feasible so you can get off quickly. 

Edited January 1, 2020 by erber

[erber]

Two odds and ends.  Our third round of laundry just came back and it took 4 days. We were told we can turn in laundry by 6 pm today and get it back before we diembark! 

 

All passengers received a Princess certificate that says we  cruised to Antarctica. It's a memento printed on regular weight paper and if you care about this sort of thing you might want to bring a cardboard envelope ( like a priority mailer or something sturdy for holding photos) to protect it. We are hunting for such an envelope now and also taking photos of our "certificates". 

Edited January 1, 2020 by erber

[holidayhelen]

Gosh - I have just realised that the Pianist is the same one that we had on the Star Princess when we last did this cruise in 2009 - Sammy Goldstein.  He was also on our far east cruise later that year!!!

[erber]

Tonight's dinner menu.

[erber]

Punta Arenas was pleasant temperature but quite windy. We walked through the town and did some shopping. No touring today. Not much was open given it is January 1st. Did notice a lot of graffiti, even on the statue of Magellan and many buildings. 

[erber]

Patter for tomorrow's activities. Note the passport return information on page 1 of the patter.

[erber]

I have spotted at least one person having a drink with a paper straw in it...

Edited January 1, 2020 by erber

[erber]

Three sea days ahead...Do you all still want my to take photos of patters and dinner menus for the rest of the cruise? I'm happy to do it.  Just let me know. 

[azbirdmom]

Can't speak for others but you don't need to take the time to upload them for me.  I will see them for myself soon enough!  Enjoy the rest of your cruise and thanks again for all of the great information you've provided.

[lorri111]

Many thanks again for all your help and the excitement you have provided to those of us on the next two cruises. Happy travels!

[erber]

You are very welcome! 

[vakamalua]

Thank you so much!  Enjoy your sea days and safe travels home.  What a great adventure!

[gardenbunny]

I had no idea about the Fuegians or 90 degrees South.  I did not come upon that in all my pre cruise research and reading.  The lectures look amazing - one of my favorite activities on these type of cruises.  So looking forward to them.  Cannot thank you enough to share so much which has given us much insight for our preparations.  Have an enjoyable 3 days to rest up and process all you experienced.  

[cecimar]

Thanks, Erber, for this wonderful and informative thread! Very much appreciated and enjoyed. All the best for the rest of your cruise.

[gottagocit]

I enjoy reading many of the patters but if you don’t continue adding them I will certainly understand. 
 

I don’t recall seeing the production shows listed in them. Perhaps I missed them or my memory is worsening. Lol. Were there the typical 3-4 on the voyage?

thanks