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

[lbfluffy]

We were on the Coral on November 17th, Panama cruise. We sometimes would get a coffee and Bailey’s at the station by the dessert in the Buffet. We also did not notice smoke in the International cafe. Of course the casino was never busy when we sat at the International Cafe. And we loved Fernando the cruise director. 

[lorri111]

7 minutes ago, erber said:

I did not save the first day's patter or take pictures of it.  I will post as I find out the other days. I do know there are a total of 3 formal nights on this cruise., The first being tonight. 

Thanks!

[Gracie115]

12 hours ago, erber said:

 

 

The port is very industrial. We were dropped off at a port terminal and had to walk a ways into the terminal area. We waited for a while until we were called to check in. Then we did so and  got our cruise cards. We were required to turn passports in to Princess employees.  We then were told to walk to get the  port shuttle to the ship. It was a short drive  to the ship. It was a fairly smooth process, although I have not been to a port where a shuttle was required after check in. 

 

Our scheduled departure was 5:00 pm. Muster drill was at 4:15. 

 

Have your passports been returned yet or will they be keeping them until the end of your cruise?

[erber]

No. Passports won't be returned until we are in Chile, apparently.

[jimbri]

Enjoying your report!

[lois1112]

I am also on the 21st sailing and looking forward to your posts

[harleysmama]

We are also on the January 21st sailing thank you for your posts.

[erber]

We went to all three lectures today and caught up on 2 of the 3 lectures from yesterday.  All lectures have been very informative. The three naturalists all have a lot to share  about Antarctica and it's history.

 

We will try to attend all future lectures live as it is hard to catch up on channel 48.  Channel 48 has a continuous loop of lectures but  also a required presentation that repeats in 10 languages. So you can't just click on the lecture you missed. There are apparently many more lectures to come. 

 

I'm posting tonight's dinner menu. We plan to eat early in MDR tonight and then go see the movie Official Secrets in the Universe Lounge. 

[gottagocit]

I believe the glass in front of the menus affects the cameras focus as we can’t quite read the menu items. They sometimes post the menus up around the buffet also as I recall and those aren’t under glass I think....of course I could be wrong. Lol. 
 

Have the seas been rough and chasing everyone tread carefully as they move about? 
Does the ship seems crowded on the sea days so far?

 

thanks much

[gottagocit]

I see winds today in Stanley were forecast to be from the SW at 28 mph and will continue blowing through Friday. Hopefully that won’t be enough to prevent tendering. Fingers crossed for you guys to make that stop. 

[Shaver John]

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this review. We will be on the Coral on March 4th, and I love to do Zumba on Princess. I noticed that Zumba seems to be missing from the Patter. Do you know if this is just on this trip or have they changed something on the Coral?  We had Zumba on the Sky Princess last month so hopefully they just do not have a certified Zumba instructor for the Coral??? Thank you so much for keeping us informed, We are getting excited.

[erber]

Don't know about zumba.  I'll keep taking photos of the patter and we will see if it shows up. 

[erber]

Patters for tomorrow

[azbirdmom]

Temperature in Stanley - high of 44.  Brrr.  And it's only the beginning!  I'm now thinking we need more warm layers when packing...

 

The Christmas Caroling with the staff and officers will be fun.  When we cruised over Christmas the families of many of the officers were on board too.  Very festive.

 

And I'm happy to see that they are posting the themes for Horizon Court.  I wish all ships would do that since it helps to plan where to dine.

 

Thank you for continuing to take the time to share info with us.  It's very helpful and is getting me more excited for our turn on the Coral that is now less than two weeks away.  Keep enjoying your cruise and I hope you have a great time in Stanley!

[erber]

Just to clarify, the patter that I  posted was received  late this afternoon and details activity etc. for tomorrow, Tuesday December 24. So, when it says today's weather it is referencing weather for December 24 when we are in Stanley. It is supposed to reach a high of 50 degrees. It will reach a high of 44 degrees on Christmas.

[azbirdmom]

10 minutes ago, erber said:

Just to clarify, the patter that I  posted was received  late this afternoon and details activity etc. for tomorrow, Tuesday December 24. So, when it says today's weather it is referencing weather for December 24 when we are in Stanley. It is supposed to reach a high of 50 degrees. It will reach a high of 44 degrees on Christmas.

 

Misread that, thank you for the clarification!

[erber]

No problem. Very excited for tomorrow. It is supposed to rain in the afternoon. I'm hoping I get through the tour before the rain starts. My tour is 12 to 3. And then I'll look around the town before heading back to the ship. 

 

The movie Official Secrets was pretty good. Time for another snack and then some football before bed. I'll check in either tomorrow or the day after about how it went in port Stanley!🐧

[noworriesbehappy]

Thank you so much for taking your precious vacation time to post.  I'll be sailing her on Jan 21, 2020. 

 

I'm not sure what to do with currency for this trip.  Can you give me some advice?   If I use Princess Transfer would I've time to go to the bank at EZE to exchange money.  I read on Tripadvisor that the line can be an hour long.  Can you tell us your observation when you're in port if US dollar and credit card is accepted?

 

Have a wonderful cruise. May good weather follow you on the entire trip.

[LP24/08]

11 hours ago, noworriesbehappy said:

Thank you so much for taking your precious vacation time to post.   My daughter, son in law, and 11 year grandson are

on board and reading your posts makes me feel as if I am there with them.  My husband and I did this itinerary 12 years ago on the Star Princess and though it was the most impressive cruise we had every done some 20cruises later we still feel that way and hope you all enjoy  it as much as we did.  Sorry about the rough weather and hope it stays improved for you.  Linda

 

[erber]

We have arrived to the port and tenders are going. My meeting time for the tour is in an hour. It is 54 degrees. Rain is supposed to start in a couple of hours so I'm bringing the umbrella and wearing a thermal shirt, sweatshirt and a windbreaker jacket with a hood. I have a hat and gloves. I'll let you all know if that combination of outerwear was sufficient. Since it will be raining and not as cold as I anticipated, I am not wearing the down jacket. Hope that is not a mistake! Photos later!

 

As for currency question, we did not exchange money in Buenos Aires nor purchase there so I cannot comment on currency issues in that port. I'll let you know how it goes in this port. It is my understanding that I will be able to use U.S. dollars here. I have a credit card if that is not the case.

[Coral]

12 minutes ago, erber said:

We have arrived to the port and tenders are going. My meeting time for the tour is in an hour. It is 54 degrees. Rain is supposed to start in a couple of hours so I'm bringing the umbrella and wearing a thermal shirt, sweatshirt and a windbreaker jacket with a hood. I have a hat and gloves. I'll let you all know if that combination of outerwear was sufficient. Since it will be raining and not as cold as I anticipated, I am not wearing the down jacket. Hope that is not a mistake! Photos later!

 

Yea!!! So glad to hear this. Have an amazing day.

Edited December 24, 2019 by Coral

[lstone19]

On 12/22/2019 at 12:38 PM, gottagocit said:

It sounds like your first formal night is tonight which would have been the day you visited Montevideo had the seas not been so rough. Is that correct? If so was this evening going to be a formal night regardless or was it moved up a day?  It’s typically on a sea day. 
 

 

Per the schedule I found on a website that lists cruise schedules, Montevideo was supposed to be on Saturday 12/21 with Sunday (the first formal night per the post) on Sunday 12/22, a scheduled sea day.

 

I'm surprised to see Captain McBain back in command. He left 10/18 at the end of the 9/29 Panama Canal (Pacific partial) with Dariusz Balana, Coral's other captain, re-joining that day. My understanding was that the captain's had alternating approximately 10-week contracts so I'm surprised to see Captain McBain back already although I knew he would be back before the last of the cruises that go by Antarctica as he had mentioned on my previous cruise that he was looking forward to returning to Antarctica (on second thought, it's been nine weeks - he probably just returned as pushing the change out another cruise would have made his break over 11 weeks).

 

Also, I'm glad to see Daniele Rosafio is still Maitre D'. We had him and he is excellent and constantly visible in the dining rooms. He ran an absolutely wonderful Chef's Table.

[gottagocit]

I discovered a website showing Info for Port Stanley harbor. The first one even shows the tenders traveling back and forth from the Coral to the pier in a radar like format. It gives you a good idea exactly where we will go ashore. 
 

https://www.*****/cruise-port-tracker/south-america/port-stanley-falkland-islands/

This one is a webcam showing ship traffic but appears to pointing across the harbor jetty and doesn’t show the ships anchored in the harbor. 
 

https://www.*****/cruise-port-webcams/south-america/port-stanley-falkland-islands/

I’ll add this info to our Jan 21 roll call page also. 

Chris 

 

[gottagocit]

Well I guess the website name was struck for some reason. In place of the asterisks add in crusin.me 

Edited December 24, 2019 by gottagocit

[erber]

All right everyone. We are back on board, ate hamburgers and ribs up in Trident Grill  (and a delicious pistachio cake in the buffet). We are now settled down from the most amazing day. First I will post the patter for tomorrow. There are many lectures we will go to tonorrow. We arrive at Elephant Island on Thursday, by the way.

 

Shortly after the patter photos, I'll post about the Bluff Cove excursion. I don't think I can post my videos but I'll post a few photos. 

 

I forgot to take a photo of dinner menu. We were too exhausted to deal with the MDR tonight. So....some menus you will just have to see on your own when you cruise....