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

[LACruiser88]

55 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Most of the drive was through the city, which was not all that photogenic

Have you been to BA before?  It is a beautiful city with amazing European influenced architecture.  They must have taken you through the "wrong-side" of the city.

[Ken the cruiser]

30 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

Have you been to BA before?  It is a beautiful city with amazing European influenced architecture.  They must have taken you through the "wrong-side" of the city.

Only when we flew into BA back in 2018 to go on a 22-day HAL Antarctica cruise, where we went straight from the airport to the cruise terminal. Today, they basically used the highway system through BA to get to the river cruise location, about an hour away, and back, pretty much bypassing the downtown BA area. We initially drove through the “shanty” part of the city after leaving the port area to get to the highway, which as you might imagine was not all that impressive.
 

But I’m sure BA has some awesome architectural designs to check out on a city tour. 

[Ken the cruiser]

47 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

Have you been to BA before?  It is a beautiful city with amazing European influenced architecture.  They must have taken you through the "wrong-side" of the city.

Only when we flew into BA back in 2018 to go on a 22-day HAL Antarctica cruise, where we went straight from the airport to the cruise terminal. Today, they basically used the highway system through BA to get to the river cruise location, about an hour away, and back, pretty much bypassing the downtown BA area. We initially drove through the “shanty” part of the city after leaving the port area to get to the highway, which as you might imagine was not all that impressive.
 

But I’m sure BA has some awesome architectural designs to check out on a city tour. 

[Ken the cruiser]

Tonight after dinner in the Reserve DR, we headed back to the cabin until it was time to go watch our first magic show this entire cruise with illusionist RJ Cantu. Even though we pretty much had seen every trick he did, we still had a great time because his presentations were so funny ! 😂
 

 
The game show tonight was Generation Gap, which we had seen before.
 

 

So we headed back to the cabin to watch sail away, and just in time to also watch the sun setting over Buenos Aires! 😁

 

 

The Sapphire Princess was initially scheduled to depart at 6 pm. However, it drew the short straw and was rescheduled for an 8 pm departure to fall in line after the other 3 cruise ships that were also leaving the port this evening.

  

 
But it was fascinating to watch as there were tug boats pulling the ship through large and somewhat curvy pier area while a lone tug boat off the stern was keeping us from going too far to one side or the other. This process took at least 30 minutes before the Captain was even allowed to use the propellers to help move the ship along. The 20+ knot cross wind was not helping the cause either. 

 

 
But eventually we cleared the port area and were on our way back to Montevideo, Uruguay for an early morning arrival tomorrow.

 

Edited February 7 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 19 - Feb 7 - Montevideo, Uruguay 

 

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Woke up briefly around 6 am to take this sunrise photo before going back to bed.

 

 
Then around 6:45 am the Captain announced in the cabins as well as around the ship that due to ship traffic congestion, we would be docking a little later than the original time of 7 am. 

 

 

We finally tied up to the pier around 9 am, with an apologetic greeting committee, that included a bunch of Southern Black-backed (Kelp) Gulls and a cute little Monarch butterfly! 😁

 

 

 

Also because of the tight turning radius of close to 90 degrees to dock at our assigned port, we needed a little help similar to what we experienced last night leaving Buenos Aires.

 

 

 
After breakfast we walked around the promenade to see what there was to see, as we were in no hurry as we didn’t have an excursion booked today.

 

 

 

 
I took this photo from the promenade at the front of the ship. As one might imagine it was definitely a tight fit to get the Azamara Quest and the Silver Sea Nova docked before allowing the Sapphire in.

 

 

Off in the distance is the MSC Preziosa which arrived sometime earlier this morning cruising from Santos, Brazil.

 

 
Here’s the view from our balcony of the ship junk yard once again that we saw a few days ago when we were here.

 

 

[EDVM96]

48 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

After breakfast we walked around the promenade to see what there was to see, as we were in no hurry as we didn’t have an excursion booked today.

Did you check the Mercado del Puerto, right next to the cruise pier?

A nice market hall with a lot of Rodízio restaurants.

 

Perfect place for carnivores 😁

[azbirdmom]

2 minutes ago, EDVM96 said:

Did you check the Mercado del Puerto, right next to the cruise pier?

A nice market hall with a lot of Rodízio restaurants.

 

Perfect place for carnivores 😁

There's also an Empanada stand that is yummy.  We've been there twice!

[Ken the cruiser]

Since it was a pretty day and the Old Town was just across the street from where we were docked, we decided to take a stroll around the area. We saw the entrance to the Mercado del Puerto. But since we weren’t planning on eating downtown, we didn’t go in. But we did ask this elusive Montevideo pigeon which direction was best to start heading in through the outdoor market area?

 

 

and this was the direction it pointed us in. 😁

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Then it was time to head back to the ship and have a tasty lunch up at the buffet!

 

[waltd]

For those that remember the 1972 Andes plane crash with the soccer team on board there is a museum dedicated to them that is close by. Nice walk through Old Town. We found it very interesting

[Ken the cruiser]

On 2/5/2024 at 9:08 PM, Ken the cruiser said:

That’s too bad. Hopefully there wasn’t any issue with the PCL transfer getting you to the airport well ahead of your flight time. But with 2,400+ passengers having to process through that temporary building, I can imagine it was quite chaotic, especially if some folks had scheduled relatively early flights back home.
 

I wonder if the folks like my BIL and his DW that went on an excursion on the way to the airport had to deal with the same chaos. But they left at 6:45 am, so they might have avoided much of what you had to deal with.

 

In any event hopefully you made it to the airport in plenty of time to get on your flight and had a smooth flight home. 😁

Just heard from my BIL regarding their disembarkation experience that was linked with a combination PCL excursion/transfer to the airport. Here’s what he said in an email once they were home, remembering the meeting time for their excursion and subsequent transfer to the airport was at 6:45 am.

 
We had no problem leaving the ship and boarding the bus to the terminal.  The bus had to stop twice to wait for crews that were moving cargo to ships. The total delay was about five minutes total.  The major delay was at the terminal because we had to wait about twenty minutes for the yellow tagged luggage to be delivered.  After all the bags were delivered, we collected our luggage, cleared customs, and delivered the bags to the porters (that took their bags straight to an airport holding area).  We then crossed the street and boarded our tour bus.  The tour was quite good and we were at the airport on schedule, retrieved our bags, and checked in for our flights.  All flights were on schedule and we arrived home a little earlier than expected.

 

Not to minimize the ordeal many of the disembarking passengers went through yesterday in BA. But my BIL’s experience just reconfirms why we book our transfers from the ship to the airport, many of which usually include an excursion, through the cruise line rather than save a few dollars and take a taxi. The main reason being that as we’re now in our 70s, we don’t deal with stress as well as we used to. I know, who knew! 😂

 

But on this particular disembarkation where the terminal was still being repaired from the unforeseen December windstorm destruction, that would not have been a fun way to conclude an otherwise awesome cruise, regardless of who was to blame. IOW if booking an airport transfer through the cruise line can in anyway minimize the potential stress factor, we’re all for it.

Edited February 7 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

After another tasty dinner in the Reserve DR, we headed back to our cabin to wait to set sail to Puerto Madryn. While we were waiting I was noticing all of the Kelp Gulls that were flying around, and every once in a while I noticed a brownish colored gull flying by.

 

 
Then I remembered our Puerto Arenas excursion to Magdalena Island and recalled they were juvenile Kelp Gulls. It just amazes me how much the juvenile gulls coloring can change as they approach adulthood. 
 

 
Then as the MSC Preziosa was heading out,

 

 

the Captain announced we were next. 😁
 

 
That was the Montevideo pier we were tied up at.

 

 
I checked Windy and the weather forecast for our cruise to Puerto Madryn is looking quite peaceful. 

 

 
Then it was time to head to the theater to watch a rock n roll show by singer and Irish river dancer Colin Barkell.

 

 

followed by the Yes/No Game Show in the Explorers Lounge.

 

Edited February 8 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 20 - Feb 8 - Sea Day

  

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Today, there is a port talk in the morning and two lectures in the afternoon along with taking a long walk on the promenade before it starts getting chilly again the farther south we go. It’s definitely nice to be back at sea and looking forward to the next stop at Puerto Madryn where we have an 8-hour wildlife excursion booked!  😃

 

[stonepebble]

Love port days but I love those relaxing Sea Days too! Great itinerary for that!

Chris

[Ken the cruiser]

I just checked and the weather is looking pretty good for our all day Puerto Madryn excursion tomorrow, with sunny skies with temps ranging from 68-79F and light winds! 😁

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

After dinner tonight we headed back to the cabin before heading down to the Explorers Lounge to participate in Tricky Twisted Trivia instead of going to watch Bravo again.

 

 
But also to get a front row seat to watch an amazing ventriloquist and singer, Michael Minor, who is definitely worth seeing if you ever get the chance to! 😁

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 21 - Feb 9 - Puerto Madryn, Argentina

  

 

 

 
Also, here’s a little tidbit we learned today. As you may have heard, PCL just raised the daily 1-device internet package rate from approximately $15 per person per day to $25, or $12.50 if you are at least Platinum. But what we weren’t aware of is that the 4-device package rate is now $45 per day, if you book it for the entire cruise, or $22.50 if you are at least Platinum.
 

IOW one of us can purchase the 4-device internet package for less than if each of us purchased the 1-device package separately, save $2.50 per day, and have 2 more devices active on the internet at the same time. Since we each have an iPhone and iPad, we can keep all 4 devices signed on instead of having to switch back and forth when the need arises. In my case I carry my iPhone when I’m out and about around the ship, but use my iPad when I’m back in the cabin. Just thought I’d pass this along if anyone was interested. 😁

[beg3yrs]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Day 21 - Feb 9 - Puerto Madryn, Argentina

  

 

 

 
Also, here’s a little tidbit we learned today. As you may have heard, PCL just raised the daily 1-device internet package rate from approximately $15 per person per day to $25, or $12.50 if you are at least Platinum. But what we weren’t aware of is that the 4-device package rate is now $45 per day, if you book it for the entire cruise, or $22.50 if you are at least Platinum.
 

IOW one of us can purchase the 4-device internet package for less than if each of us purchased the 1-device package separately, save $2.50 per day, and have 2 more devices active on the internet at the same time. Since we each have an iPhone and iPad, we can keep all 4 devices signed on instead of having to switch back and forth when the need arises. In my case I carry my iPhone when I’m out and about around the ship, but use my iPad when I’m back in the cabin. Just thought I’d pass this along if anyone was interested. 😁

Similar kind of math used for purchase of beverage-only packages versus the Plus or Premier bundles.

[Ken the cruiser]

8 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

Similar kind of math used for purchase of beverage-only packages versus the Plus or Premier bundles.

True. And since we just made Elite, we also have to add the complimentary mini-fridge setup into the “beverage package” equation, especially when the beverage portion of Plus is around $30 pp/day. 

[Ken the cruiser]

Today started out with a beautiful sunrise around 6 am

 

 

before arriving in Puerto Madryn around 8 am.

 

 

 
About an hour later, we were off on our 8 hour adventure, almost 6 of which were driving to and from the Valdes Peninsula.

 

 

Here are some of the sights we saw along the way.

 

 
Guanacos, similar to llamas found in other parts of South America.

 

 

 

 

These are a couple of Rheas off in the distance, which look a little like an ostrich or emu.

 

 
There are 3 Maras near that tree off in the distance.

 

 
For those of you that don’t know what a Mara looks like up close, here’s a picture.

 

 

We arrived at our first of two stops where we saw sea lions and elephant seals as well as a few other critters while we were there. 😁

 

 

This was the beach where the elephant seals were laying out with the sea lions stretched out farther up the beach.

 

 

These are the elephant seals where this time of the season they just lay around molting off the outer layer of their skin.

 

 

 

A couple of sea lion rookeries were also on the beach.

 

 

 
Notice the sea lion pups hanging out together near the shoreline.

 

 

There was even a large flock of Dolphin Gulls up at the other end of the beach.

 

 
These yellow flowering bushes called Quilimbay are a major source of food for various animal life here in Patagonia, from these cute little white butterflies to the Guanaco and other plant eating animals in the area.

 

 

 
Imperial cormorant, with the white chest feathers.

  

 
Even saw this cute little gecko crawling around.

 

 
Next stop, Magellanic Penguins!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was time for our 2+ hour drive back to the ship!

 

 
Horses!

 

 

 

Once we were back on the ship and had dinner, we headed back to the cabin for sail away. We even had a farewell committee waiting to wish us well as we headed off to our next destination. 😂

 

 
And we’re off! Next stop, the Falkland Islands day after tomorrow! 🤞

 

[Ken the cruiser]

We decided to pass on going to the evening show that featured Instrumentalist Sebastian Fucci, as we were still recovering from our long excursion today. However, we did catch a glimpse of the sunset this evening  

 

 

as we headed out to go watch the game show The Sky is the Limit! in the Explorers Lounge.

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 22 - Feb 10 - Sea Day

 

 

 

 
The Atlantic Ocean is forecasted to be relatively calm between Puerto Madryn and the Falkland Islands tomorrow.
 

 

However, it will be interesting to see tomorrow evening what the forecast will be for Port Stanley on Sunday. Right now it’s not looking too good, especially when compared to Saturday’s forecast!

  

Edited February 10 by Ken the cruiser

[vacation1996]

I have been reading your journey and now looking at Jan 2025. we usually book AFT at back/back but thinking of switching to a side one for this one ... still AFT but trying to see which deck  and balconies are best ...weather permitting of course  we will spend quite at lot of time out there so thinking more sheltered than open ...any suggestions where to pick or not to  would help us a lot  again thank you for taking us on your journey .

[Ken the cruiser]

8 hours ago, vacation1996 said:

I have been reading your journey and now looking at Jan 2025. we usually book AFT at back/back but thinking of switching to a side one for this one ... still AFT but trying to see which deck  and balconies are best ...weather permitting of course  we will spend quite at lot of time out there so thinking more sheltered than open ...any suggestions where to pick or not to  would help us a lot  again thank you for taking us on your journey .

If you are leaning towards a mini-suite on either the starboard or port side that also has a covered balcony, then the ones with those two options can only be found on deck 8 towards the aft. However, there are no Reserve Class mini-suites with a covered balcony anywhere on the ship that I’m aware of. 
 

 
Here are the mini-suites on deck 8 aft.

 

 
There are also two premium aft-facing balconies on deck 10 that offer both the wind protection from being in the aft-aft cabin as well as either a port or starboard view, depending on which one you choose.

 

 
If I had to pick which side when cruising the Antarctica Peninsula, I’d have to lean towards the starboard side. However, going through the Beagle Channel and cruising by Deception Island, the port side might be better.

 

Hope this helps!