Live From the Sapphire, 30-Day Antarctica/SA B2B, Jan 20 - Feb 19

[azbirdmom]

13 minutes ago, Mary loves to travel said:

It’s surprising how many ships show up as being here!   My understanding is that times in each location are carefully choreographed, so we all feel we’re the only ones here.  
I don’t know how schedules are coordinated or by whom, but it’s been great.  
 

Mary

 

When we were there in 2020 we only saw one boat - a sailboat of all things.  Didn't see a single ship.  Oh wait, I forgot the motorized raft with the pirate flag on which a few people stationed at the Polish research outpost rode on to visit us and give us an overview of what life is like at the bottom of the world.  Our captain said that they were bribed with pizza and fresh fruit and vegetables, something they can't get down there.

 

 

[gvre]

11 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks! You’re going to have a great time!! And I guess that means I can put my flannel shirts away once we get to BA! 😂

 

Right now it’s around 33F down here cruising along the South Shetland Islands. I erroneously mentioned earlier that it was 26.6F because I made the mistake of getting it from the Princess App. When I checked Windy, it pretty much said it stays around 33-36F this time of year down here.
 

Thanks for taking the time to share with us your unbelievable cruise.

We are booked on the Sapphire for February 7^th, 2025, for your exact 2^nd part of cruise and will be following along.

We have a PHS but it is not aft, it's Caribe mid ship as no aft’s were available.

Thanks again.

Debbie and Richard

Edited January 29 by gvre

[Carnevale]

Ken, I am wondering if you have had a chance to hear any of the music in the Wheelhouse or Piazza? We are boarding Sapphire on Feb 5 so expect some of them will still be on board.  Any standouts for you that we should make sure we hear?

[HaveDogWillTravel]

On 1/22/2024 at 5:25 AM, LaRu60 said:

@HaveDogWillTravel - love the map, where/how did you get it?

I was on the Sapphire Dec 1, 2023  to Jan 4 2024 LA to Ba with 4 days in Antartica. Everyone on the ship got them. 

[Ken the cruiser]

5 hours ago, Carnevale said:

Ken, I am wondering if you have had a chance to hear any of the music in the Wheelhouse or Piazza? We are boarding Sapphire on Feb 5 so expect some of them will still be on board.  Any standouts for you that we should make sure we hear?

We have not. We pretty much eat, go to the theater show, game show, and then back to our cabin to chill and see what there is to see outside. Maybe someone else on the ship that is following this thread has a better insight of the music scene around the ship. Sorry.

[Ken the cruiser]

Woke up this morning at about 5 am just to see what there was to see, as we weren’t scheduled to arrive at Charlotte Bay until around 6:30 am. This is Brabant Island in the background.
 

 

 
Woke up again at 7 am to our alarm, and the ships had already gone into Charlotte Bay and just turned around. Perfect timing! 😁

 

 

 

 
Whale! 😁

 
At first we thought this was a log. But there are no trees in Antarctica. It was another whale just hanging out! 😂

 

 

 

 
These next few pictures were taken while we were eating breakfast in Sabatinis.

 

 

 

 
These were taken as we were exiting Charlotte Bay on our way to Wilhelmina Bay next door.

 

 

 

 

[Mary loves to travel]

5 hours ago, Carnevale said:

Ken, I am wondering if you have had a chance to hear any of the music in the Wheelhouse or Piazza? We are boarding Sapphire on Feb 5 so expect some of them will still be on board.  Any standouts for you that we should make sure we hear?

 

11 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We have not. We pretty much eat, go to the theater show, game show, and then back to our cabin to chill and see what there is to see outside. Maybe someone else on the ship that is following this thread has a better insight of the music scene around the ship. Sorry.

We’re not much more active “club hoppers” than Ken 😂.    But we did hear the Supersonics one evening in the Piazza, and also went to Club Fusion when they were having an “oldies” night with music from the 50’s and 60’s.   They’re very good & it was a fun time.  
 

Mary

[Mary loves to travel]

Ken,

 

loving your photos!    One thing the naturalist mentioned about the “log behavior” is that’s how the whales sleep; one part of their brain focuses on breathing, the rest sleeps, and they just float along looking like big logs 😊

 

Mary

[Ken the cruiser]

Our continued morning trek through Wilhelmina Bay was awesome, and we saw more Humpback whales! 😁

 

 

 

 

 
Two Humpback whales, a mother and her calf.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Another Humpback whale just roaming around looking for something tasty to eat.

 

 
Even saw its fluke! 😁

 

 

 

 

As you can see, we saw quite a few Humpback whales this morning! 😁
 

 

 

 

 
Another mother with her calf.

 

 

 

 
And now we are off to cruise to Port Lockroy, which is a bay forming a natural harbor on the north-western shore of Wiencke Island in the Palmer Archipelago to the west of the Antarctic Peninsula.

 

[Ken the cruiser]

13 hours ago, stonepebble said:

I agree....

I don't know if you saw it....but way back I asked you if you saw other ships while you were cruising around Antarctica?

There are soooo many ships down there!

So other than in port...where I'm sure you are seeing other ships...do you see them when you are sailing around Paradise Bay? Elephant Island?

Chris

We saw one yacht this morning, the Scenic Eclipse 2, as we were cruising through the Charlotte Bay. But most of the small vessels are in small coves and waterways. Places the Sapphire can’t even get close to. 

 

Edited January 29 by Ken the cruiser

[stonepebble]

Pictures are just fabulous!

Thank you for taking the time to share them with us!

The more I read, the more I see, the more excited I am!

Chris

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, stonepebble said:

Pictures are just fabulous!

Thank you for taking the time to share them with us!

The more I read, the more I see, the more excited I am!

Chris

Thanks! I knew as soon as I commented on how few of vessels we’ve seen so far, that would change. So far today, as we cruise along the Gerlache Strait, we’ve seen 5 vessels so far! 😂

Edited January 29 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

This afternoon we cruised the Gerlache Strait headed towards Port Lockroy. Here are some of the sites we saw, with no shortage of icebergs. However, not a lot of visible wildlife on this leg. But the scenery was awesome!  😁

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was time to turn west out of the Gerlache Strait. Unofficially, we made it to latitude 64 degrees 58.8 minutes South, or more specifically we were within 109 km of making it to the Antarctic Circle. 😁
 

 

 

[that]

Just spectacular

oh

thank you!

[stonepebble]

I want some of whatever you are having!

You have just had fabulous weather!

So happy for you!

The photos just keep getting better!

Chris

[PurpleTraveller]

I have been following you on your journey and enjoying every moment. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience and your wonderful photos. I have been considering an Antarctic cruise and after seeing your amazing photos I am even more keen to go on one. Thank you once again. 😊

 

[Ken the cruiser]

We then headed down the Neumayer Channel for Port Lockroy where the only Antarctica Post Office is. For more information about it, click on this link.
 

https://www.antarcticaguide.com/blog/port-lockroy-antarcticas-post-office-and-museum

Here is some of the scenery we passed along the way.

 

 

 

I thought this iceberg looked like it had the head of a lion with a body full of feathers! 😂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
This was the view from our balcony while anchored for 4 hours at Port Lockroy. 😁

 

 

 
From here we head to Deception Island with a scheduled arrival around Noon tomorrow, if I heard the announcement correctly.

 

 

Edited January 29 by Ken the cruiser

[that]

Wow

Wow

Wow

the wonder of Each photo more incredible than the last

oh thank you

[Ken the cruiser]

2 minutes ago, that said:

Wow

Wow

Wow

the wonder of Each photo more incredible than the last

oh thank you

You are too kind. We are definitely having a great time and couldn’t ask for better weather!  😁

[that]

@Ken the cruiser

 

! just the facts!

so impressive

many thanks

 

[Ken the cruiser]

After dinner tonight, we headed back to the cabin until it was time to go watch the evening show, which was an encore performance by singer Alex Yost.

 

 
Afterwards we headed to watch the Mind Duel Officers vs Guests Game Show.

 

 
BTW this is what the scenery looked like from our balcony when we first arrived at 4:30 pm.

 

 
It’s now 9:30 pm and we’re just leaving. The weather can definitely change here in a hurry as it’s now snowing! 😂

 

 

Edited January 30 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 11 - Jan 30 - Day 4 cruising in Antarctic waters (Deception Island)

 

 

  

 

Edited January 30 by Ken the cruiser

[dickinson]

Awesome!!!!!  Thank you for taking us along. 🙂

[hpeabody]

AAAAAAAAAAmazing Photos.  Thank you!  I am booked in December for this "cruise by" in Antarctica on the Sapphire.  This thread has been great to get me excited and educated.

 

I would like to ask a question if I may.  In your opinion where are the best places around the ship for the best viewing.  Obviously you are finding some great views. My balcony cabin is on Caribe/Deck 10 a little bit aft of mid ship, starboard side. Any secrets you can share?

 

I have currently being shipped to me a Lands' End Hooded Down Wanderweight Ultralight Packable Jacket.  I am hoping this is a wise choice to hopefully keep me from freezing.  What are people doing to keep warm?

[tillys mom]

1 hour ago, hpeabody said:

AAAAAAAAAAmazing Photos.  Thank you!  I am booked in December for this "cruise by" in Antarctica on the Sapphire.  This thread has been great to get me excited and educated.

 

I would like to ask a question if I may.  In your opinion where are the best places around the ship for the best viewing.  Obviously you are finding some great views. My balcony cabin is on Caribe/Deck 10 a little bit aft of mid ship, starboard side. Any secrets you can share?

 

I have currently being shipped to me a Lands' End Hooded Down Wanderweight Ultralight Packable Jacket.  I am hoping this is a wise choice to hopefully keep me from freezing.  What are people doing to keep warm?

Hi Holly! I just ordered a Land’s End Expedition Winter Down Parka that I hope will keep me warm.