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

[Ken the cruiser]

20 minutes ago, EDVM96 said:

Tomorrow will be a busy day in Port Stanley, as 3 ships plan to stop there:

Azamara Quest (698 pax)
Norwegian Star (2348 pax)
Sapphire Princess (2674 pax)
 

It’s definitely going to be busy! Sure glad we have a ship excursion so we won’t have to deal with the tendering process. 

[effinaround]

Just started going through my deception island shots.  Another low res (so it will actually upload) penguin shot. I will have more if folks are interested but don't want to hijack Ken's excellent thread.

 

[stonepebble]

52 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

It’s definitely going to be busy! Sure glad we have a ship excursion so we won’t have to deal with the tendering process. 

Hi Ken...another dumb question for you...

We, like you, have an aft cabin.

Where did you take most of your photos from? Your balcony or other spots on your ship? 

I'm starting to think about packing and it will make a difference if we are going in & out to our balcony as opposed to long periods of time out on deck!

Thanks,

Chris

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, effinaround said:

Just started going through my deception island shots.  Another low res (so it will actually upload) penguin shot. I will have more if folks are interested but don't want to hijack Ken's excellent thread.

 

Thanks! Please feel free to post pictures of any of the penguins and sea lions you saw cruising around in the Antarctic waters! But you must have had quite the zoom lens on your camera as I don’t remember coming anywhere that close to seeing them just by looking.

Edited January 31 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

51 minutes ago, stonepebble said:

Hi Ken...another dumb question for you...

We, like you, have an aft cabin.

Where did you take most of your photos from? Your balcony or other spots on your ship? 

I'm starting to think about packing and it will make a difference if we are going in & out to our balcony as opposed to long periods of time out on deck!

Thanks,

Chris

We took pretty much took all of our Antarctica photos from our balcony, except the few I took through the DR window when we were eating. You just have to be patient for the scenic view points to make it to the stern as the ship was only going 10 kn/hr.
 

The main reason I did this was because I could sit out on the balcony without having to deal with the wind, which was a little brisk most of the time. It was definitely cold and I had my down jacket and knit hat on most of the time, but there was no wind and that was a big plus! 😁

[stonepebble]

Thank you! I was hoping that was the case!

Very lucky that we got our cabin!

We won't want to miss a thing so I know we'll be out on the balcony a lot!

My husband just discovered rechargeable hand warmers! haha! So it looks like our hands will warm up fast between photos!

I may highjack your incredible photos and just enjoy the scenery!😀

Chris

 

[effinaround]

From a berg in Charlotte bay the other day:

 

[effinaround]

3 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks! Please feel free to post pictures of any of the penguins and sea lions you saw cruising around in the Antarctic waters! But you must have had quite the zoom lens on your camera as I don’t remember coming anywhere that close to seeing them just by looking.

True. I was using a 2000mm equivalent zoom lens. There was a lot of stuff that I shot on spec where I thought there might be something and zoomed in.  Once i captured the image I played it back on the camera and then had a better idea where to focus.  If I was better organized I would have had the binoculars with me more frequently. Still, I shot a number of frames of the National Geographic Resolution expedition ship yesterday and only after the fact realized that there were penguins right behind it.

[Ken the cruiser]

17 minutes ago, effinaround said:

From a berg in Charlotte bay the other day:

 

What awesome pictures of two Chinstrap penguins!!! Thank you so much for sharing them with us!! 😁

[Ken the cruiser]

Went to a couple of lectures today, one about glaciers and the other about penguins. Then once we got back to the cabin, we noticed the seas had calmed and it looks like clear sailing from here on out to the Falkland Islands. 
 

 

 
The Captain mentioned on his noon report that some weather might be coming to the Falklands in the early afternoon tomorrow, which got me to checking for details, which also gave me something constructive to do until dinner! 😁

 

Here’s the hourly forecast for Port Stanley tomorrow. Notice from Noon on it starts to get a little breezier with an increasing chance of rain.

 

 

Here are the two excursions we are going on tomorrow. This first one in the morning looks pretty “weather safe” right now, just a little chilly.

 

  
However, the afternoon one looks like it could be a little more “exciting”! 😂

 
Follow the blue line to see where our Bluff Cove Penguin Rookery excursion will be. 

 

 

Here’s where the “wind” is forecasted to be the strongest at 3 pm. Right where we will be at Bluff Cove as well as in Port Stanley where the Sapphire will be anchored! 😱  

 

On the bright side for those going to Volunteer Point and other points north of Port Stanley, you shouldn’t be to affected too much. However, if you are going to be south of Port Stanley like we are or simply wandering around the town in the afternoon, you may want to put an extra layer on if you’ll be in that area in the afternoon. 😉

 

 

Edited January 31 by Ken the cruiser

[stonepebble]

Quick question Ken...

Do you have a guide book for common wildlife in Antarctica?

I found a really good web page but it's not printer friendly at all.

Thanks,

Chris

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 minute ago, stonepebble said:

Quick question Ken...

Do you have a guide book for common wildlife in Antarctica?

I found a really good web page but it's not printer friendly at all.

Thanks,

Chris

 

 

Quick answer. Look at the links on the first page of this thread. 😁

[beg3yrs]

One visit to the Falklands was beautiful in the morning. Captain Rickard Lorentzen was reticent to start tendering as the forecast for the afternoon was windy, much like yours. Another ship (Crystal Symphony I think) ahead of us started tendering and then we did as well.

 

The captain probably regretted his decision as that afternoon when we finished our excursion, tendering had been "paused" due to high winds and lots of chop even at the dock. It was miserable and even inside the "tunnel" it was awful. We saw one tender attempt to dock and it was blown against the shore rocks bending its prop. Had to eventually be towed back to the ship.

 

Many of us decided early to head to the local pub which was soon packed. Warm inside and cool beer was ok with us. Ship security knew just where to find the remaining passengers when tendering resumed. Even then it was the choppiest tender ride ever. Water was sloshing across the floor, deep enough the people were raising their feet and jokes were being made about seeing fish.

[stonepebble]

Thank you..."Cool Antarctica" is the web page I was referring to. It's great!

I think I'll just print from there...

For some reason I still have to have something I can hold in my hand!

Chris

 

[Ken the cruiser]

21 minutes ago, beg3yrs said:

One visit to the Falklands was beautiful in the morning. Captain Rickard Lorentzen was reticent to start tendering as the forecast for the afternoon was windy, much like yours. Another ship (Crystal Symphony I think) ahead of us started tendering and then we did as well.

 

The captain probably regretted his decision as that afternoon when we finished our excursion, tendering had been "paused" due to high winds and lots of chop even at the dock. It was miserable and even inside the "tunnel" it was awful. We saw one tender attempt to dock and it was blown against the shore rocks bending its prop. Had to eventually be towed back to the ship.

 

Many of us decided early to head to the local pub which was soon packed. Warm inside and cool beer was ok with us. Ship security knew just where to find the remaining passengers when tendering resumed. Even then it was the choppiest tender ride ever. Water was sloshing across the floor, deep enough the people were raising their feet and jokes were being made about seeing fish.

Wow! That’s quite the adventure I’m sure you never want to encounter again! Hopefully, that won’t be the case for us tomorrow! 🤞

[EDVM96]

9 hours ago, EDVM96 said:

Tomorrow will be a busy day in Port Stanley, as 3 ships plan to stop there:

Azamara Quest (698 pax)
Norwegian Star (2348 pax)
Sapphire Princess (2674 pax)
 

It looks like the Norwegian Star skips Port Stanley tomorrow, as their AIS destination now indicates AR BSAS for Buenos Aires. Earlier, it showed FK PSY for Falkland.
Port Stanley was on the Star's itinerary: 01 Feb 06:00 - 16:00
 

[azbirdmom]

We've been to Bluff Cove twice and loved it.  We had to do "4 Wheeling" both times although not nearly as far the second time and from what I've read they did finish the road all the way to Bluff Cove.  No more teeth rattling bone jostling rides over the peat bogs!  Hope the weather gods are with you and you have a good day in the Falklands.

[BlerkOne]

4 hours ago, effinaround said:

True. I was using a 2000mm equivalent zoom lens. There was a lot of stuff that I shot on spec where I thought there might be something and zoomed in.  Once i captured the image I played it back on the camera and then had a better idea where to focus.  If I was better organized I would have had the binoculars with me more frequently. Still, I shot a number of frames of the National Geographic Resolution expedition ship yesterday and only after the fact realized that there were penguins right behind it.

nikon p950?

[effinaround]

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

nikon p950?

Indeed.

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

We've been to Bluff Cove twice and loved it.  We had to do "4 Wheeling" both times although not nearly as far the second time and from what I've read they did finish the road all the way to Bluff Cove.  No more teeth rattling bone jostling rides over the peat bogs!  Hope the weather gods are with you and you have a good day in the Falklands.

Thanks, and hopefully you’re right, as we will probably have the teeth rattling bone jostling “4 Wheeling” drive on the morning excursion! 😂

[Ken the cruiser]

After a tasty dinner, we eventually headed to the theater to watch an awesome performance by pianist John Bressler, whom we have seen before on a different cruise and who once again put on a great show!

 

 
Then we were off to participate in a very unique game show called Search Engine Challenge. All I can say is it was unique, but we did have a fun time as usual! 😂

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 13 - Feb 1 - Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

  

 

 

 
Port Stanley does seem like a popular place this evening. The blue ship heading south away from the port is the Oceania Marina while the yellow ship above the island heading in a NNW direction is the NCL Sun. The other blue ship heading in a ENE direction is the Azamara Quest while the other yellow ship heading due north is the NCL Star. According to CM, both the Quest and the Sapphire are still plannng to arrive in Port Stanley tomorrow morning while the NCL Star seems to be bypassing the port as @EDVM96 mentioned earlier.

 

 
According to Windy, the winds don’t start revving up until around 2 pm and the last water shuttle isn’t until 5:30 pm. Should be an interesting day tomorrow! 😁

 

 

[milogurd]

There is a rumor on another social media site that you are running low on beer. First World Problems.

[Ken the cruiser]

6 hours ago, milogurd said:

There is a rumor on another social media site that you are running low on beer. First World Problems.

😱

[Ken the cruiser]

We have arrived at Port Stanley and the weather this morning looks great so far! 😁

 

 
And the NCL Star kept on going, so it’s only the Azamara Quest and us in port. That will definitely make it easier to find a restaurant at lunchtime. Yay!

  

 
And the weather forecast looks a little more positive! 🤞