LIVE! HAL Oosterdam 1/7-1/29 South America & Antarctica—Let’s Cruise!

[AroundWithMAPTravels]

4 minutes ago, TravelBluebird said:

 And WOW when a gust blew our way from the penguin colony, the odor was….um….unique

 

 

Yes, that is an “aroma” that will be remembered…

when we returned home from Antarctica last February I emptied the luggage into the tub in the laundry room and walked away.   Next day I went to do laundry and was literally bowled over by “aroma” 

definitely a “memory” of being there…. Still makes me smile (and shudder a bit)

enjoy it as much as you can “stand”, as it will bring a smile to your face when you think about it in the future 😁

[Hogladyrider]

I don't know what is up with CC but I have stopped getting notifications of new posts on ALL the reviews I am following.

 

I have checked and I am still signed up as "instant notification"....very strange.

[TravelBluebird]

When I first got out on the bow for the penguin rookery, it was PACKED. I mean packed; I couldn’t even get within 4 people of the railing.

 

I ended up going down to Promenade for a while till the initial rush was over (that was also packed). Went back after 20 minutes, asked people if I could get a few shots, and was able to.

 

You say PENGUINS on the Oosterdam in Antarctica and the Bow turns into a Mosh Pit!  OK, not really, people were very nice about letting you get a chance at the rail, but you can see what I mean:

 

Edited January 19 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

2 minutes ago, Hogladyrider said:

I don't know what is up with CC but I have stopped getting notifications of new posts on ALL the reviews I am following.

 

I have checked and I am still signed up as "instant notification"....very strange.

 

@Hogladyrider Ugh, that is a bummer—I hope that it can be fixed soon. I hate when that happens.

[TravelBluebird]

5 minutes ago, AroundWithMAPTravels said:

Yes, that is an “aroma” that will be remembered…

when we returned home from Antarctica last February I emptied the luggage into the tub in the laundry room and walked away.   Next day I went to do laundry and was literally bowled over by “aroma” 

definitely a “memory” of being there…. Still makes me smile (and shudder a bit)

enjoy it as much as you can “stand”, as it will bring a smile to your face when you think about it in the future 😁

 

OMG that is crazy that the aroma lingered that long.

 

My mother in law has severe Alzheimers so her memories are not great. When we told her we were coming to Antarctica, a trip she herself made many years ago, all she said was “penguins stink” 😂

[AroundWithMAPTravels]

😂 it is obviously a memory that “sticks” (and ‘stinks” in a nice way… putting a smile on your face)

[AroundWithMAPTravels]

Antarctica is truly a “feast for the senses”.  It sounds like you are doing so, but all I can say is “savor every moment “

it is truly unique in every way

PS… love the photos and thoughts you have been providing 

[NorbertsNiece]

4 hours ago, TravelBluebird said:

 

@NorbertsNiece Estancia Excursions.

Say hi to Nyree from me. GF Linda. She made the best GF sandwich I had on the whole trip!!

 

She has postcards to sell also bath beans. If you have little people in your life they'll love them! Each bean turns into a Falkland animal when soaked in water ..... the penguin has a bow tie!!

[caneable]

7 hours ago, TravelBluebird said:

 

@FLCruiser97 We’ve had 2 so far, and I understand there will be 4 in total but I’ll update to confirm after the cruise.

0106 posted on Jan 29 thread that the re is notification on Navigator that there will be 4 dress nights.

[billco]

23 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Personally, I use 10x50 Permafocus binoculars with a 7.5 angle of view, giving almost 400' at 1,000 yds. I also have 12x50 and have also used them on board ships, but I used binoculars on the bridge for over 35 yrs.

A woman on another Roll Call posted the following: "I use Nikon Monarch M7 10 by 42. I love them. I use an OUFABE harness to hold them. It’s elastic and takes all the pressure off my neck so I can wear them comfortably all day long. Binos are only good if you can have them with you always and have fast access to using them." I imagine they are pretty good as they are pretty expensive for binoculars.

https://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-products/product/binoculars/16766/monarch-m7-10x42.html

I'll be bringing a Dwarf 2 telescope that I bought for taking photos of the Total Solar Eclipse in April. Hope it won't be too cold for it.

https://dwarflab.com/products/dwarf-2-smart-telescope

Edited January 19 by billco

[TravelBluebird]

9 hours ago, NorbertsNiece said:

Say hi to Nyree from me. GF Linda. She made the best GF sandwich I had on the whole trip!!

 

She has postcards to sell also bath beans. If you have little people in your life they'll love them! Each bean turns into a Falkland animal when soaked in water ..... the penguin has a bow tie!!

@NorbertsNiece Sounds amazing! I think I’ve asked you this in your thread, but can’t remember exactly what you said.

 

The excursion company wants us off the ship on as early a tender as possible. SO, how did you navigate that—how early were you in line for tender tickets at Rolling Stone lounge, and were you able to get on a tender at a reasonable hour?

 

As of yesterday, the forcast looks like rough seas heading over to Falkland Islands on Sunday…if it doesn’t change, I’m a little worried about if we’ll make it there, but weather changes and fingers tightly crossed!

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, billco said:

A woman on another Roll Call posted the following: "I use Nikon Monarch M7 10 by 42. I love them. I use an OUFABE harness to hold them. It’s elastic and takes all the pressure off my neck so I can wear them comfortably all day long. Binos are only good if you can have them with you always and have fast access to using them." I imagine they are pretty good as they are pretty expensive for binoculars.

https://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-products/product/binoculars/16766/monarch-m7-10x42.html

I'll be bringing a Dwarf 2 telescope that I bought for taking photos of the Total Solar Eclipse in April. Hope it won't be too cold for it.

https://dwarflab.com/products/dwarf-2-smart-telescope

 

The Nikon is well above the price point that I will pay for binoculars. If I wanted to get into that price point, I would be buying Swarovski.

[billco]

19 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

The Nikon is well above the price point that I will pay for binoculars. If I wanted to get into that price point, I would be buying Swarovski.

Agree. At $3000+ Swarovski binoculars are quite above that price point.

[NorbertsNiece]

45 minutes ago, TravelBluebird said:

@NorbertsNiece Sounds amazing! I think I’ve asked you this in your thread, but can’t remember exactly what you said.

 

The excursion company wants us off the ship on as early a tender as possible. SO, how did you navigate that—how early were you in line for tender tickets at Rolling Stone lounge, and were you able to get on a tender at a reasonable hour?

 

As of yesterday, the forcast looks like rough seas heading over to Falkland Islands on Sunday…if it doesn’t change, I’m a little worried about if we’ll make it there, but weather changes and fingers tightly crossed!

The system that day was really, really bad. Geoff was there really early and there were others before him. By 0800, when they opened ticketing, many others had arrived. There was no supervised queue so a scramble ensued. Maybe insufficient tenders. We were ashore and in a landrover by 0910. Whilst there were many landrovers already at Volunteer Point by the time we got there we had plenty of time there both at the nesting place and the beach; it did not feel crowded at all. We were amongst the last to leave; had ample time to have a tour of Stanley in the 4x4 and shop too before the last tender. 🤞 you make it

Edited January 19 by NorbertsNiece

[Heidi13]

10 minutes ago, billco said:

Agree. At $3000+ Swarovski binoculars are quite above that price point.

 

Affirmative, they are at that price point.

 

However, at about $800 the Nikon's are only an average binocular and I can purchase alternatives with better specifications and reasonable image quality for about $150. I wouldn't pay $800 for an average binocular, but I would pay $3K for exceptional ones that are guaranteed for life.

 

Many years ago, I tested Swarovski for a potential fleet purchase for the Bridge of our ships, and the image quality is exceptional, as was the guarantee. Vastly superior to any of the Nikons, Bushnells, etc I also had on trial.

[TravelBluebird]

15 hours ago, AroundWithMAPTravels said:

Antarctica is truly a “feast for the senses”.  It sounds like you are doing so, but all I can say is “savor every moment “

it is truly unique in every way

PS… love the photos and thoughts you have been providing 

@AroundWithMAPTravels Thank you!  I have been savouring every moment!  Stayed outside in Charlotte’s Bay long after I was done with photos so I could just drink it all in!

[TravelBluebird]

59 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Affirmative, they are at that price point.

 

However, at about $800 the Nikon's are only an average binocular and I can purchase alternatives with better specifications and reasonable image quality for about $150. I wouldn't pay $800 for an average binocular, but I would pay $3K for exceptional ones that are guaranteed for life.

 

Many years ago, I tested Swarovski for a potential fleet purchase for the Bridge of our ships, and the image quality is exceptional, as was the guarantee. Vastly superior to any of the Nikons, Bushnells, etc I also had on trial.

Thank you @Heidi13 for all your detailed information on binoculars_I’ve learned a lot and thus will help me when I purchase a new pair for my travels.

[TravelBluebird]

1 hour ago, NorbertsNiece said:

The system that day was really, really bad. Geoff was there really early and there were others before him. By 0800, when they opened ticketing, many others had arrived. There was no supervised queue so a scramble ensued. Maybe insufficient tenders. We were ashore and in a landrover by 0910. Whilst there were many landrovers already at Volunteer Point by the time we got there we had plenty of time there both at the nesting place and the beach; it did not feel crowded at all. We were amongst the last to leave; had ample time to have a tour of Stanley in the 4x4 and shop too before the last tender. 🤞 you make it

Thank you!  I’ll try to be in line—or ready to scramble— with my Kindle at 7am!

[TravelBluebird]

This morning we were at Charlotte Bay bright and early.  Woke up 7:15 to first narration sounds.

 

Grabbed quick coffee in Lifo and we’re on Bow.  Was lightly raining and snowing at first  but not cold AT ALL comparatively speaking due to no wind!

 

This was supposed to be a great spot for humpback whales feeding.  We didn’t see a single whale.  😭

 

A few were spotted at 6am but that was it.

 

However it was BEAUTIFUL.  Five glaciers feed into the bay.  The mist and low clouds slowly lifted although only a few high rays of sun came out.  
 

After bow I went up to front of ship in 6 for different persoective

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 19 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

We grabbed our first MDR breakfast close to closing time—9:39z. Russ—who is MUCH BETTER!—had the Pan Asian breakfast and I had corned beef hash with poached eggs.  Plus fresh squeezed OJ (for Vit C) $4 and espressos

 

 

 

 

Edited January 19 by TravelBluebird

[TravelBluebird]

We are far from land now on our way to Deception Island.  Captain originally estimated 4pm but fue to speed needed to travel with ice..we’ll be there 7 or 7:30.

 

ITS snowing.  A couple interesting icebergs and 2 presentations from our Antarctic Exoedition team.  I also taped more vlogs.

 

 

 

Edited January 19 by TravelBluebird

[caneable]

7 minutes ago, TravelBluebird said:

We grabbed our first MDR breakfast close to closing time—9:39z. Russ—who is MUCH BETTER!—had the Pan Asian breakfast and I had corned beef hash with poached eggs.  Plus fresh squeezed OJ (for Vit C) $4 and espressos

 

 

 

 

Way to go! Every second counts. One thing I’ve been wondering is whether they give out any maps of the areas you cover. I’ve downloaded a few off Pinterest but don’t really want to print one out unless I have to
Steve

[caneable]

Btw, Charlotte Bay looks great.

 

[whogo]

3 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

The Nikon is well above the price point that I will pay for binoculars. If I wanted to get into that price point, I would be buying Swarovski.

Naturalists on our Seabourn Antarctica cruise had Swarovski available. I was impressed at how clear the image was compared to my Canon binoculars. Swarovski were for sale on the ship, I never checked the price.

[TravelBluebird]

37 minutes ago, caneable said:

Way to go! Every second counts. One thing I’ve been wondering is whether they give out any maps of the areas you cover. I’ve downloaded a few off Pinterest but don’t really want to print one out unless I have to
Steve

 

We have received one little map. There are additional maps one can look at in the expedition center room up in the Crow’s Nest.  Here is the map we received; if you are really into maps you might want to bring a more detailed one: