January 7th NCL Star cruise to Antarctica , Argentina and Chile with a 10 day stay photo travelogue

[scubacruiserx2]

 Our next scheduled stop after Punta Arenas is Ushuaia . It doesn't show Glacier Alley on the way on our NCL printout , but all 3 times before we have cruised by and it is spectacular on a good day . We saw sleet the day before these photos and the port was closed the day before we arrived but , it was open and beautiful for us .

[scubacruiserx2]

 It was cloudy just before sunset the night before Ushuaia .

 

 

But then it suddenly cleared just before sunset

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

      Glacier Alley on the Canal Beagle

 

 

 

First Glacier is Romanche

 

 

It's the only glacier that I have seen with a cascade of water flowing from it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 26, 2023 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

               Almania Glacier

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 26, 2023 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

Tidewater Glacier and mountain top views

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

After passing Holandia Glacier their was an island astern and the water grew very calm and thick . You can see it in this map that also shows a line where Chile ends and Argentia begins . And as you can see , Ushuaia is in Argentina .

 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Holanda+Glacier/@-54.9240379,-68.8708742,10z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0xbc4dc527204d3487:0xba7abdc3f625506f!8m2!3d-54.916667!4d-69.1166669!16s%2Fm%2F0j44515?entry=ttu

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were moving very slowly and the images of the wake in the water seemed to take on a life of their own

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Cruising into Ushuaia

 

 

 

 

 

 

Which way do we go ?

 

[scubacruiserx2]

The Star is scheduled to arrive in Ushuaia at 10 AM and leave at 1700  so we won't be able to do this trip again . We would recommend it if you can make it on your cruise . We will share photos of a previous trip here next time .

 

 

THE TRIP

 

We depart from the local seaport toward Alicia Island, where we will find a colony of South American sea lions. Then we sail to Bird Island to watch king shags and imperial shags living close to their nests, and from spring through fall we can even find their breeds.

 

Again, we head east towards another small island that, depending on the season, we can view South American fur seals. Very close to this island is Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse, an authentic symbol of Ushuaia, built in 1919. From there we have a view of the island where rock shags live.

 

On our way back to Ushuaia, we disembark at Bridges Island to walk along a path for the interpretation of wildlife, while listening to the history of the native inhabitants, the Yamanas. On this island, we can find the largest Yamana's "concheros" (shelly deposits) of the region.

 

As this is the largest island, we reach the highest panoramic point from which we can enjoy amazing views of the Beagle Channel with the town of Ushuaia in the distance. During the trip, we offer coffee with liquor, different types of tea, a delicious hot chocolate with biscuits and cookies and, of course, the typical Argentine beverage, the mate.

 

Tour duration: 4 hours.

 

Daily departure times: 9:30 am & 3:00 pm.

 

Edited December 27, 2023 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

The port

 

 

The airport in the distance

 

 

 

 

I belive that this is our sister boat . They get quite close .

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

Snooty neighbors

 

 

Don't forget to bring some water

 

 

Mom and kiddo

 

 

Dad can use some dental work

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 Bird Island , Ushuaia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch time in the Kelp

 

 

 

A mother and her chick

 

[ColeThornton]

@scubacruiserx2    A lot of amazing and breathtaking pictures in this review.  Thanks for taking the time to post them for us.

[MicCanberra]

3 hours ago, ColeThornton said:

@scubacruiserx2    A lot of amazing and breathtaking pictures in this review.  Thanks for taking the time to post them for us.

Agreed.

[Huntingdon1701]

On 12/24/2023 at 2:59 PM, scubacruiserx2 said:

  Unfortunately NCL doesn't offer the trip to Torres del Paine that we took on the HAL Zaandam . We will so it in hopes that NCL will see it and consider it in the future and to show you why we plan on visiting it after our cruise on the Star .

 

 

 

 

They have a flight tour to Torres del Paine showing on my March cruise with the Star, so maybe they saw this. 

 

Really enjoying seeing all of your posts ahead of my own trip. Very helpful in planning tour options. 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 The NCL Star is still currently docked at Ushuaia .

https://www.cruisemapper.com/?imo=9195157

They head out to Antarctica as soon as they leave , but only for 2 days instead of the 4 days on our last cruise there .

 Our sister boat headed out to our last stop before we did - Bridges Island .

 

 

The Behemoth Catameran could't get as close as us to the islands .

 

 

The Skipper and Gilligan had a flag which was raffled - we lost . We hoped that our 4 hour tour would would be just that and not a ship wreck .

 

 

 

The Bridges FamilyG.P. Despard was one of the missionaries that settled at the Falklands with his family, including his adopted son Thomas Bridges. Thomas would also become a missionary and together with his wife Mary Ann, he landed at Ushuaia in 1871.

Edited December 28, 2023 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

Landing at Bridges Island

 

 

The other group was ahead of us at the peak of the island being stalked by an irate bird as they got too close to the nest .

 

 

 

The others as we neared the summit

 

 

Looking back at our boats as the other group approached the boats

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

  A view from the island toward the city

 

 

The backside of the island

 

 

 

 

 

We thought that these were Calafate berries , but I don't think they are

 

 

 

 

A springy moss

 

 

 

 

Don't forget to eat some Centolla Crab here . It's like King Crab with spikes , yikes !

 

 

 

Crab photo from wikipedia

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithodes_santolla

[scubacruiserx2]

7 hours ago, ColeThornton said:

@scubacruiserx2    A lot of amazing and breathtaking pictures in this review.  Thanks for taking the time to post them for us.

 

And thank you for writing in and your kind words .

[scubacruiserx2]

3 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Agreed.

 

  Thanks Mic and Rosie . It was a chamber of commerce day after sleet the day before .

 

One of our favorite video clips from the Glacier Alley

 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2023 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

4 hours ago, Huntingdon1701 said:

 

They have a flight tour to Torres del Paine showing on my March cruise with the Star, so maybe they saw this. 

 

Really enjoying seeing all of your posts ahead of my own trip. Very helpful in planning tour options. 

 

 Wow , thank you very much . It was our most expensive tour , but we loved it , and we hope that NCL will continue to offer that trip ! We hope to do a tour there after our cruise on a long day trip from El Calafate . We don't do live photos as I use a camera and we get immersed in what we're doing . So we will do our review here after we get back . Even though we don't do live reviews we may chat as we go . We hope to be leaving 2 weeks from today . 🙂😊

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

51 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

 Wow , thank you very much . It was our most expensive tour , but we loved it , and we hope that NCL will continue to offer that trip ! We hope to do a tour there after our cruise on a long day trip from El Calafate . We don't do live photos as I use a camera and we get immersed in what we're doing . So we will do our review here after we get back . Even though we don't do live reviews we may chat as we go . We hope to be leaving 2 weeks from today . 🙂😊

 

 

 

Well duh , DW just reminded me that we leave in 1 week . Yikes , we should start packing after my Doctor visit  mañana .

[Huntingdon1701]

Do you have any advice on tipping for guides? Were dollars accepted? I've looked into getting the local currencies and everywhere rquires quite a large sum to be bought, which I almost certainly won't need. Thanks.

[scubacruiserx2]

14 hours ago, Huntingdon1701 said:

Do you have any advice on tipping for guides? Were dollars accepted? I've looked into getting the local currencies and everywhere rquires quite a large sum to be bought, which I almost certainly won't need. Thanks.

 

 

  This may help . Will you be using private or ships tours ?

 

I was researching tipping last night in planning for cash vs credit card transactions. Tipping in restaurants and tour guides is generally 10% but guides should be higher if private. In general, most websites I saw said that you should tip in local currency unless the tip is US$50 or more when paying in US$ is also good. Hotel tipping is the equivalent of US$1 or so per bag and housekeeping the equivalent of US$3-5 . No tipping taxis unless they help with luggage. Wait staff 10-15%, preferably in cash because if you add it to credit card payment sometimes the servers don’t get the tip. Note that sometimes the service is built into the bill when you get it; you have to check. But if you see Cubiertos, that is a charge that goes to the restaurant not the server for basically serving you. Here is a link to an interesting article on dining out in Argentina. https://wander-argentina.com/faq-dining-out/

 

Dining Out in Argentina: Customs,

Edited December 29, 2023 by scubacruiserx2

[cmph]

Wow, this is now on my list of cruises to go on! We cruise for the destinations at this point in our lives, and I have to say that this itinerary wasn't on my radar until I read through your thread and saw all of the gorgeous photos of the scenery and wildlife. Thank you so much for sharing!