***LIVE*** FROM THE GOLDEN PRINCESS with Arlene & Tony

[Sunviking]

Hi

I'm one of the lucky 44 or thereabouts who made it to Antarctica yesterday. It was my second trip there since I went the very first time it was offered in 2004 when I did this trip on the Royal Princess. The weather was absolutely fantastic! We had Carolina blue skies and fairly light breezes. We saw literally thousands of penguins up close and personal. If you sit down they will come right up to you. We saw them swimming to shore and "dolphining." There were lots of birds for any bird lovers, including skuas, great southern petrels and cormorants, all of which prey on penguin chicks and eggs.

 

As to the size of this ship versus a smaller one like the old Royal Princess doing this route. This is just my humble opinion, but I think in terms of the ride it makes no difference. I remember some rough sea days the first time around. The difference is rather IMHO in the ability of some of the ports to handle this many passengers, especially since we have been traveling in tandem with the Rotterdam. Stanley was nearly overwhelmed with so many people at one time and in PuntaArenas we had to tender whereas on the Royal we could tie up at the dock. Whenever so many people are tendering it makes for long waits. Of course those of us on the Antarctic flight were the first off and late coming back so we had no worries.

 

I haven't had any special meals made up just for us so I can't comment on that or share recipes - juat a few thoughts on the cruise and its intinerary.

 

Ann

[Linda-E]

Hi Ann,

 

I'm so glad to hear that you made it! Thanks for the update. Hope your weather improves.

 

Linda

[Druke I]

I'm another who feels the Grand and modified Grand class vessels are too large for the 'round the Horn run, as they do overwhelm the small ports and their infrastructure.

 

I also feel that those classes of ships do not ride as well as some others in heavy seas.

 

We went 'round the Horn last year on Regal Princess, and even its passenger load was a stretch for the ports.

 

Sure regret having to have cancelled Royal Princess 'round the Horn several years ago. Much handier size, and in my opinion, a much "better sea boat" in heavy seas.

[spongerob]

Thanks Michael and Ann. It's nice to get some comparisons. I have to think that the (real) Royal Princess would have been a champ on this itinerary.

[billisd]

Ann -- thanks so much for sharing your amazing excursion with all of us.

[Seal]

Don't know what's going on--not a sound out of you or Tony

 

Got to leave the house--but came back to see if anything is happening on this thread

 

I see your green light on--so you must be alive

 

Nancy:D

[easykruz]

Just wanted to let everyone know I survived the Antarctica Tour. I will report on it later. Unfortunately for you, Vicky and I came back very exhausted, so we cleaned up, ate in the Horizon Court, and went to bed. We got up late today and the boats rockin and rollin, love it. Feels like we're on a Roller Coaster at times here in the library.:eek: Anyway I have to go to a lecture now and I promise I will fill everyone in on Antarctica later.

 

Easykruz,

Wild Bill;)

[JotWorld]

Just wanted to let everyone know I survived the Antarctica Tour. I will report on it later. Unfortunately for you, Vicky and I came back very exhausted, so we cleaned up, ate in the Horizon Court, and went to bed. We got up late today and the boats rockin and rollin, love it. Feels like we're on a Roller Coaster at times here in the library.:eek: Anyway I have to go to a lecture now and I promise I will fill everyone in on Antarctica later.

 

Easykruz,

Wild Bill;)

 

Welcome Back!:)

We will all await the Full Report!:D :eek:

jotBill(WIWT)

[JotWorld]

Don't know what's going on--not a sound out of you or Tony

 

Got to leave the house--but came back to see if anything is happening on this thread

 

I see your green light on--so you must be alive

 

Nancy:D

 

Hi Nancy,:)

Yes, her light is on, but there are dashes under her name.:(

Please see Host Caroline's Post above #443.

My Best!

jotBill

[easykruz]

I would like to start in the here and now. As I stated the boat was rockin and rollin. Captain Oliver just announced that we hit some 100 mph wind gusts and that was the reason the boat keeled (not sure if that's the right term), he said it was similar to a sail boat. He also stated that we were entering a channel that would give us more protection. Unfortunately, I missed Joe May's lecture but can turn it on TV. So not to worry! Vicky and I are going to take beginner Samba dance lessons at 1 pm and attend an interview of Maurizio by Frankie at 3:15 pm. At least that is what we are going to try to attend. Well, that about takes care of the here and now.

 

Easykruzin for everyone,

Wild Bill:eek: :D :rolleyes:

[gardener718]

Would someone mind telling me what all these things mean? dashes under name, host Caroline? etc, etc. I am new to CC, and am leaving on Monday to join the Golden. Found this site by accident and love, love, love, it. Have met up with other CCers and arranged tours, emailed and can't wait to meet everyone. Something has changed and I would like to know what the possibilities are. I am naive in this area, but would like to be educated. Please!

Thanks and see you soon.

Marianne:confused:

[easykruz]

Becky, if you're thinking about it, then GO!! I was on the Antarctica trip this past January and it was a marvelous trip. It's well worth the time and expense. I'm sure I'll do it again someday.

 

Kathleen,

 

I just wanted to again thank you for the ski pants, the Antarctic Tour was fantastic. I will report as soon as I catch up on all the posts.

 

Bill:)

[JotWorld]

I would like to start in the here and now. As I stated the boat was rockin and rollin. Captain Oliver just announced that we hit some 100 mph wind gusts and that was the reason the boat keeled (not sure if that's the right term), he said it was similar to a sail boat. He also stated that we were entering a channel that would give us more protection. . Well, that about takes care of the here and now.

 

Easykruzin for everyone,

Wild Bill

 

Bill, "Keeled", "100 MPH Gusts", Wow!:eek: Things change Fast!:eek: Please take care & All the rest of you CC'ers onboard!:eek:

Was there any injuries or damage onboard? (I Hope Not)

It looks Much better Now, than it did earlier;)

jotBill

[Sea Fan]

Would someone mind telling me what all these things mean? dashes under name, host Caroline? etc, etc. I am new to CC, and am leaving on Monday to join the Golden. Found this site by accident and love, love, love, it. Have met up with other CCers and arranged tours, emailed and can't wait to meet everyone. Something has changed and I would like to know what the possibilities are. I am naive in this area, but would like to be educated. Please!

Thanks and see you soon.

Marianne:confused:

 

Marianne, Maybe someone can post a link that will explain this, I can't find it. We cannot discuss it when this happens because we could lose the whole thread. There is so much good information here we wouldn't want that to happen.

 

I'm really sad about it but there is nothing we can do or say!

 

Dianne

[easykruz]

Well then, you're all set! One thing I would advise is to keep an eye on the Princess Cruise Personalizer after final payment is made. When you are allowed to book your shore excursions, do so. They sell out fast and if you wait until you're onboard, you'll probably be disappointed. I esearched the excursions from the past year's cruise and had a good idea what I wanted before my cruise options were offered. It made it very easy to choose my bookings when I finally could.

 

Kathleen,

 

Right you are, when I booked the Antarctica tour for Vicky and I, I booked three days aftier the tours opened up on the web. We were number 33 and 34 booked on that excursion, with a max of 44.

 

Bill:)

[calikak]

Would someone mind telling me what all these things mean? dashes under name, host Caroline? etc, etc. I am new to CC, and am leaving on Monday to join the Golden. Found this site by accident and love, love, love, it. Have met up with other CCers and arranged tours, emailed and can't wait to meet everyone. Something has changed and I would like to know what the possibilities are. I am naive in this area, but would like to be educated. Please!

Thanks and see you soon.

Marianne:confused:

 

A host is someone who is in charge of a board--for this board it's Host Caroline, who posted earlier on this thread. If you have questions, you can e-mail the community manager at community@cruisecritic.com and they should be able to answer your questions. Hope that helps and I hope you hve a great time on the Golden next week!

 

Bill, thanks for keeping us updated--hope the weather improves for you, otherwise it'll be fun trying to samba with the ship pitching and rolling!

[easykruz]

Bill, "Keeled", "100 MPH Gusts", Wow! Things change Fast! Please take care & All the rest of you CC'ers onboard!

Was there any injuries or damage onboard? (I Hope Not)

It looks Much better Now, than it did earlier

jotBill

 

 

Bill,

 

To my knowledge I didn't see or hear anything. Frankie, ACD, MCed a food carving demo in the Atrium, and it went off like easy sailing on the high seas with lots and lots of people watching from all 3 floors of the atrium. I also saw a huge crowd walking out of the Princess Theatre (the lecture I missed) hearing no problems and seeing people holding on to the railings and walls with no concerns. Again that is from my point of view. Maybe some other CCers saw something different.

 

Easykruz Bill:cool: :)

[ko57]

Kathleen,

 

I just wanted to again thank you for the ski pants, the Antarctic Tour was fantastic. I will report as soon as I catch up on all the posts.

 

Bill:)

 

All right, I'm green with envy. (But I'm Irish, and St. Patrick's Day is tomorrow so at least it works!) Congrats on your trip, I can't wait to hear about it!

[easykruz]

Antarctica, Part 1,

 

I am going to try to do this from memory the best I can, sometimes I get things mixed up. Since I didn't review my camera tapes I'll do the best I can.

 

Sunviking, Ann and her daughter and Foothill Traveler, Pat made the tour as well. I already saw Ann's post above so here goes mine.

 

First, there were 44 people on this tour. We met in the Princess Theatre at 6:45am with all our winter gear on and waited until the ship cleared the port for unloading. We left about 7:10am on the tenders, boarded a bus to the airport, went through security since this was an International Airport. We boarded a 4 prop, DeHavilland plane, and quite to my amase we did not encounter any turbolence while we were in the air at any time. Our tour guide was Betsy, Chilean, who grew up in the United States and was well educated with a degree in Dr. of Vetennary Medicine. She worked at Scipps and Sea World as well as a number of places around the World. I have to say she was the best tour guide I have ever encountered and knowledgeable about Antarctica. She spoke continously on the bus, plane and land, explaining just about everything concerning Antarctica. The plane trip was the shortest three and a half hours both ways that I have ever encountered because when she wasn't speaking everyone was either eating or talking to one another. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the trip, I did not encounter one person that was unhappy that they came. We had sunny weather when we left Punta Arenas and sunny weather when we arrived in Antarctica. More to come time to go eat lunch and Samba afterwards. :eek:

 

Sorry,

Easykruz:)

[lindacruises]

Easykruz,

Sounds like Antarctica was worth the investment.

 

What's with your fellow passengers? Do you have any idea why Arlene and Tony have stopped posting? I've really enjoyed lurking on this thread and would love to do this cruise in the future.

[rathgael]

Reading all the posts with interest as we were on the Golden on the previous cruise Santiago to BA.

 

Our disembarkation at BA was sort of OK except for the luggage arrival at the Intercontinental. We could see piles of luggage waiting to GO ON Golden in the lobby of the hotel right up to 5 o'clock!!!!! we did not get our luggage till 5.45. The terminal looked horrendous with pax both arriving and leaving for both ships.

 

We had a 115mph wind just after Stanley but as it was hitting us from the stern that great ship hardly moved up nor down :) hate to tell you but our worst weather was second day out from Val Paraiso :(

 

Bob Oliver is a great Captain------we sailed with him when he was merely a deck Officer on the good old Canberra out of Southhampton UK way back in the 70's:)

 

I love re-living our cruise through all postings Live from the Golden----please keep posting!

 

Elma in Scotland

[Princess Chatterer]

Easykruz, we hit gale force 9 on our Golden Princess cruise sailing northwestward through the Strait of Magellan a few weeks ago. According to the Beaufort scale you must have hit gale force 10 or 11 on this cruise. Your cabin TV would have reported the gale force number at the time.

 

Here's the scale

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort_scale

[DesrtDrmr]

We're really enjoying this thread, and thank all of you for taking the time to share your cruise with us. We followed the thread from the Rotterdam on the previous cruise, and now this one on the Golden..............we HAVE to take this cruise one day, it sounds so interesting.

[LARGIN]

Thanks easykruz... Your "Live From" posts are a pleasure to read.

[Marie-Claude]

Easycruz:

Sounds like you had a great time in Antartica... I'm envious...

 

w0kie:

Thanks for that link... it's great explanation on wind force and right terminology!!

MC