Patty and I had accumulated 26 cruises between 1998 and 2019, an average of 1.2 cruises per year.
In the last nearly three years, we have only managed to complete a single 7-day cruise to Alaska
due to world conditions and the cruise industry being shut down for over a year. Now, we are
getting ready to repeat one of the best cruises ever - down south to Antarctica.
You can view the itinerary and movie from our 2019 visit to Antarctica by
clicking here. Scroll down past the itinerary to find the movie.
You can see our itinerary for this trip by clicking here.
And here is a picture of our cruise route, from Los Angeles in the upper left, to Buenos Aires on the east side of South America.
There are a couple of maps of the trip and a link to the cruise movie at the bottom of this page.
Tuesday - November 29
We were informed that, while Princess Cruises does not normally require covid testing for vaccinated passengers, for our trip, we are
required to show a negative test to board the ship. What a pain in the butt. Anyway, Patty found an outfit that will remotely proctor
a test over the phone, and produce a certificate of negative testing. She also bought us a couple of test kits. So today, about
4:30 this afternoon, I will connect with the proctor and do the test.
The first attempt to connect to the test people from my PC failed. The second attempt from my phone worked, and we went through
the steps to complete the test while the proctor watched me stick the probe up my nose. After 15 minutes, I had a negative
test notification, and shortly after that I had a PDF file with complete results. We will see if it is good enough for the cruise people.
Thursday - December 1
Travel day from Tampa to Los Angeles to near the cruise terminal in San Pedro. Ride to the airport, bag check, security, were all
uneventful. Delta flight to Atlanta, and then on to Los Angeles were also uneventful. We found our ride to the hotel and made it to the
hotel by about 6:45.
Friday - December 2
Embarkation day. Left our room around 10:45, checked out, rode an Uber to the port, and checked in to the ship by around 11:35. Cabin
was not ready yet, so we found a dining room serving lunch, had lunch, and then got into the cabin. Muster drill and watching some TV
filled the time until the bags arrived. The crew cast off lines and we moved into the channel around 5:15, and we went to dinner
at 7:00. It was a good meal, allowing us time to make the show at 9:30, a comedian, Ken Boyd.
Saturday - December 3
Sea day. A casual day started with watching the first knock-out game of the current World Cup - a USA loss to Netherlands by a 3-1
score. Another lunch in the dining room, where we talked with John about reserving a specific table every night for the rest of the
cruise. We will see how that goes.
Sunday - December 4
Cabo San Lucas. We did not have an organized tour here, but we did get off the ship and spent some time around the port, including
having a beer at the Senor Frog bar. We left around 1:30, returned around 4:30, and found the Cincinatti vs Kansas City NFL game
on our TV. We will watch that to the end. Dinner at 7:00 worked just as expected. Our personal table was ready for us, waiters
were attentive until the end, except that desert was delayed a little. We went to the show, an illusionist, pretty good, then
found a spot at Crooners Piano Bar with Andrew Bidi in time for the last set.
Monday - December 5
Sea day. This is a real casual day, getting up late, but in time for a shopping presentation. Lunch, then watched World Cup match
with Brazil vs Korea, which ended 4-1 for Brazil.
One of the activities offered on the ship was Spanish lessons; Patty started going to the presentations today. She will be going each sea day.
Tonight is a formal night - we get dressed up for a steak dinner, then a
Production Show called Bravo. These are called Production Shows because they feature professional singers and dancers in a show that
one might find in big city theaters. We will see how good this one is.
Tuesday - December 6
Sea day. Another casual sea day, another World Cup match. The show last night was good, but not outstanding. Tonight we are
having dinner at the Sterling Steak House, a specialty restaurant featuring steak and seafood. Our private table was away from the
traffic lanes and the whole experience was a bit more personalized. Our food was 10 out of 10. We skipped the show tonight, the
same comedian as the first night. We found a good table in the piano bar and stayed almost to the end. Andrew is pretty good.
Wednesday - December 7
Sea day. Another casual sea day with clear skies, low wind, temperature of about 80 degrees. Last evening, we had almost glass-smooth
conditions in the Pacific Ocean, kind of unusual. Today, Patty is making ornaments at the Arts and Crafts area, already finishing
a 3-D star. I am catching up on e-mail and paying bills. We are expecting a regular dinner tonight, then "The Incredible Vocals of
Barbi McCulloch" in the theatre. Since it was my birthday yesterday and we were in a specialty restaurant, some members of the waitstaff gathered
around our table at the end of dinner and sang "Happy Birthday" to me, and presented a cake made of chocolate. In addition, our cabin
steward left a bottle of wine in our room for me. We decided to skip the show, opting for extra time at the Crooners Piano Bar. Toward the end of the
evening, a family came in with their 100-year old mother. Andrew played "Sweet Home Alabama" and the whole family was up dancing - a
really inspiring sight.
Thursday - December 8
Sea day. Another casual sea day with fine weather. We attended a port talk about the sights in and around Puntarenas, Costa Rica,
our stop tomorrow. Otherwise, a movie in the afternoon and a regular dinner. We went to the normal show tonight, featuring one of
the onboard professional singers doing some of his favorite country songs. After that we went to the top deck for stargazing, but the moon
was too bright and did not allow us to see much else. We skipped other nightly activities because of the early morning coming up.
Friday - December 9
Puntarenas, Costa Rica. Our shore excursion today is to the Jungle Crocodile Safari. We met our group in the theatre around 8:00, waited
40 minutes before moving to the bus, and waiting some more before getting on the road. The bus took us about an hour away from town to
the Safari site, where there was more waiting before getting on a boat. The boat took us up and down the river, spotting a number of
crocodiles on the banks, resting in the mid-day sun. There were a lot of tropical birds as well. After a little over an hour on the river
we were back at the Safari base for a snack and shopping. The hour-long bus ride finished the tour. I got some video footage of the
wildlife - you will have to wait for the movie to see it. We finished the day with a regular dinner and show with a comedy singer.
Saturday - December 10
Sea day. Today featured two World Cup games, Portugal losing to Morocco and England losing to France. Later we are listening to a
Lightning game on streaming radio. The Lightning won the game over the Florida Panthers 4-1. Normal dinner tonight then a show
featuring another comedy singer, doing impersonations and other comedy bits about other singers and songs. He got some laughs, but overall
was not that good.
Sunday - December 11
Sea day. During the night, at about 2:12 AM, we crossed the Equator. We were asleep so did not feel the bump in the road crossing from
the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere. Today is cooler, only about 66 degrees outside, but clear with not much wind and
relatively flat seas. Patty started going to Zumba class this morning, and this afternoon, the ship is picking up the Eagles vs Giants NFL
game on TV, with the Bucs vs 49ers coming up
in a bit (Bucs lost 35-7). We have another formal night coming up with lobster for dinner, then another Productiion Show called Let Me Entertain You.
I believe we have seen this before, but we will go anyway. We did not like the show.
Monday - December 12
Sea day. Another sea day, just like all the others - late start, lunch, casual afternoon, dinner, and piano bar. Lunch today was in Alfredos Pizzeria,
a sit-down place where they make pizza to order. This will be an
early evening because of an early start tomorrow. We did learn that because of political unrest in Peru, some of the shore
excursions are cancelled or changed. We have two excursions tomorrow, both changed to keep us away from downtown Lima.
Tuesday - December 13
Callao, Peru, which is the port city for Lima. We overnight here. Early meeting time for our first excursion. We met our group in
the theatre at 09:30, sat there for a half hour, went out to the bus, and were on our way around 10:15. First stop was in Mira Flores
at the Love Park, staying there until 11:35, then on to Barranco for a tour of the area, leaving there around 12:30 for the Indian Market.
This is a shopping area with lots of small stalls selling almost everything you could think of. We were scheduled to stay until 2:00,
which was the starting time for the first World Cup Semi Final. Not good. We saw another bus loading for return to the ship, and
hitched a ride with them, getting back to the cabin around 2:10, good enough to see ARG win over CRO by 3-0.
The second tour of the day was scheduled for 4:30, and was pretty close to being on-time. We bussed back down to the Love Park, then
to the Magical Water Fountain Park, arriving around 6:40. We toured the park and got in position for the show by 8:00, then back on the
bus and back to the ship around 9:55. We used room service for dinner. The water show was pretty good, but you will have to watch
the movie to see what it was like.
Wednesday - December 14
Still in Callao, departing after dark. This morning we have a small boat excursion to the Palomino Islands. Everything went as scheduled,
except for a short delay waiting for our boat. Once underway, we went several miles into the Pacific to the islands, home of small
penguins and a lot of sea lions and birds. After 2.5 hours on the water, we were back on the bus around 13:00 and back in our cabin by about
13:40, with time to spare before the second World Cup Semi Final, in which France beat Morocco by 2-0. Regular dinner and a comedy show
finished off the evening. You will have to watch the movie to see all of the wildlife on the islands, as well as some of the
passengers swimming with the sea lions.
Late in the day, we were informed by the captian that we would stay in Callao another night and bypass the stop tomorrow at Pisco. This
was due to a State of Emergency declared by the Peruvian Government because of political unrest, rioting, roadblocks and setting
buildings on fire throughout Peru. Some rioters had already been killed by the police, so it was not safe for us to be ashore.
Thursday - December 15
Still in Callao, due to political unrest throughout Peru. The ship shore excursion staff had quickly planned a few tours, but they were later cancelled.
After the second overnight in Callao, Peru, we let go the lines around 14:00 in the afternoon
and headed toward Chile. We are expecting to be there on time on Sunday. We spent a casual day and plan a regular dinner and the show for the evening.
Friday - December 16
Sea day. Aahh, another sea day for relaxing. We learned today of an immigration form required by Chile. The form is online, so should
simply require a download, filling in the blanks, and saving. We also learned, after the captain tried to complete the form, that
it could not be completed until tomorrow, so it was a big deal earlier, but we will have to do all the work within 24 hours of
arriving in Chile. We will see how that goes tomorrow. Tonight it is a regular dinner and the piano bar.
Saturday - December 17
Sea day. Another relaxing day at sea. We were able to complete the Chile immigration form without problems. Watched the World
Cup Third Place game with Croatia defeating Morocco by 2-1. Later in the afternoon, we watched a couple of NFL games, then a regular
dinner and the Production Show "Do You Want To Dance", a pretty good show.
Sunday - December 18
Coquimbo, Chile. We do not have an excursion schedule for today, so it is just like a sea day, without ship movement from wind or waves.
Arrived on time, breakfast, and then the World Cup Final. It was a good game between France and Argentina, with the scores 2-2 after full time,
3-3 after extra time, with Argentina winning on penalties (4-2). The awards and the cup have just been presented - for me, it was worth watching.
We will be in Argentina in a couple of weeks; it will be interesting to see if they are still celebrating when we get there. We are
supposed to get more NFL on TV, satellite reception permitting. We did see the Bucs lose to Cinncinnati. After a regular dinner, the show featured
a guy playing both a piano and an accordion (not at the same time). Later it was the piano bar again.
Monday - December 19
San Antonio, Chile, which is the port city for Santiago. This is the end of the first leg of our cruise;
some passengers will be getting off while new ones arrive. That means that we have new people to be
trained on cruising. We arrived on time, with something like 400 passengers getting off the ship, and another
1100 new passengers getting on. It was a pleasant day; we did not have an excursion planned so stayed on the ship and watched the
movie "Interstellar" in the afternoon. We were supposed to leave around 5:00 late afternoon, but because of sea conditions in the Pacific,
the harbor was closed and we had to wait until close to 9:00 to finally get away. We have a new dining table, closer to a window,
and a new waiter, Nok, from Thailand. This will be an excellent view as we move through Antarctica. The show tonight featured Chilean cowboys,
called Gauchos, with some native music and dance. We left before the cruise director gave his speech about activities around the ship, but could not find
a seat at the piano bar, so we
went back to our room and watched NFL.
Tuesday - December 20
Sea day. We start the educational portion of the cruise with a couple of new guest speakers, each hosting a discussion today. Earlier
today we passed 39 degrees south latitude, continuing south at about 20 knots. Outside temperature is a little cool at about 67 degrees
this afternoon, with the wind about the same as our ship speed, and coming from behind us. Seas are probably 1.5 meters, with lots
of white caps all around. We are experiencing a little more pitching and rolling then before. Regular dinner planned for tonight.
We have learned today that we are required to submit to a covid-19 rapid test on Thursday 12/22. We do not know how this will work
or what happens with a positive test. (We learned later that 22 people out of about 2600 total passengers tested positive, and that
those 22 people and their companions would be restricted to their cabins until testing negative. Small tables were placed in front of
their cabin doors. Room service would provide all meals, and place the trays on the small tables, then leave. The passengers would retrieve
their food from the table, and when finished, put the tray back on the table and call room service again to pick it up.)
Wednesday - December 21
Sea day. What started out as a relaxing sea day was changed by an announcement by the captain that weather problems ahead would
change our itinerary. The planned stop in Punta Arenas was cancelled, and we would proceed directly to Ushuaia, arriving on Friday.
Then we would pass by Cape Horn early Saturday morning and plan to cross the Drake Passage over the next 30 hours, getting to
Elephant Island by noon on Sunday. The cruising around the Antarctica Peninsula would be as planned over the next 4 days, after
which we would head for the Falkland Islands, arriving after two sea days. From there all would remain as planned. Sailing today
is not bad, with conditions like yesterday, and a little rain. For entertainment after dinner, we found space at the piano bar.
Thursday - December 22
Sea day. We started the day with a ship-wide covid-19 test. Kits were delivered to our cabin around 08:30 and the testing was complete
by 09:30. It was a self test with the requirement to document the results with a photo of the test device showing a negative result.
We both showed a negative result.
I was able to get down to two presentations, one on whales in general and one on killer whales specifically. We are navigating the
Magellan Strait this afternoon. We have smooth water, 20 mph wind, and 50 degree temperature, clouds and rain. After dinner tonight, we
again found space at the Cooners Piano Bar.
Internet service is getting very slow and intermittent this far south. We are about 53.5 degrees south.
Friday - December 23
The stop at Punta Arenas, Chile, was previously cancelled, so we proceeded on to Ushuaia, arriving in the morning. Due to high wind,
the dock was closed to us until the wind speed decreased. One anchor was dropped and the ship went into station-keeping mode until
dinner was finished. (Station keeping mode uses the bow and stern thrusters to prevent the ship from swinging on the anchor. We basically stay
in exactly the same spot, without any movement.) We took the opportunity to visit the Future Cruise Consultant this morning, making
arrangements for two more cruises in the next couple of years (Norway in the fall of 2023 and the eastern Mediterranean a year later).
With the internet getting weak, we got Christmas greetings out to family and friends. Once the dock was opened later, the ship maneuvered
around to the dock and we tied up. Getting
off the ship was delayed until the next morning. After dinner, we attended a tribute to the band Queen in one of the bars, performed by one of
the entertainment bands aboard. I thought they did well playing old Queen songs.
Saturday - December 24
Ushuaia, Argentina. This is the last time we can touch land for the next 7 days. Patty had arranged a bus tour of the city for us, so we
got off around 11:30, found the tour kiosk and waited for the bus. The ride started around 12:30 and lasted about 1:15, after which we
headed back to the ship, stopping at a souvenir place for a map. We are back in our cabin around 14:30. We are scheduled to get underway
at 16:00 this afternoon, but the captain reports the winds are too strong, pushing the ship against the dock, so we wait some more.
Before dinner, some of the crew gathered in the atrium for Christmas carols, with passengers singing along.
We went to the normal show tonight, a repeat of the professional singer doing some of his favorite country songs,
then come back to the cabin for football on TV. The internet was pretty much unavailable today.
Sunday - December 25
Cape Horn, Chile. We stay onboard while sailing past "The Horn" and then entering the Drake Passage. The wind decreased enough so we could
leave Ushuaia about midnight. The captain reported that we checked out of Chile around 03:00 and debarked the local pilot around 05:00 this
morning. The captain also reported that we are going directly to Elephant Island, across the Drake Passage today, ariving mid-morning
tomorrow. There was a presentation by Captain Todd McBain showing some scenes from his last voyage to Antarctica, and discussing his
cruising plan for the next four days. The plan is similar to our route from three years ago, with a couple of different areas added.
Our Drake crossing today is about what you would expect with swells around 5-6 meters, winds up to 50 mph, and a general overcast.
The temperature is in the high 40s to about 50 degrees. If I remember the report correctly, sunset is about 10:20 tonight and sunrise
tomorrow is just about 03:05, so there is less than 5 hours without the sun. We are crossing about 57.2 degrees south, moving at
about 21 knots, heading generally south-south-east. The theater tonight featured members of the crew presenting a Holiday Show, with some
singing and dancing.
Monday - December 26
Cruising Antarctica. After 482 nautical miles we arrived at Elephant Island at about 11:00. Weather was foggy, visibility about one
quarter mile, but wind down to about 10-15 mph and the sea relatively flat. Outside temperature is about 39 degrees F. Location is near
61.3 degrees south and 54.7 degrees west. We are moving at 10 knots between Elephant Island and Clarence Island. We can barely see
Clarence Island on our side of the ship, and have seen no icebergs yet. We never really got to see Elephant Island today, and have
learned that weather and ice conditions
will prevent viewing other places in this region. So we are heading for some scenic bays on the peninsula. It will take until
tomorrow morning to get there. The fog disappears this afternoon and we order room service for lunch; we can see lots of icebergs outside
our big glass doors to the balcony. Overnight, the captain finds a nice
ice-free area to navigate - he does not want to hit an iceberg in the middle of the night.
Tuesday - December 27
Cruising Antarctica. This morning we are looking at Charlotte Bay, with take-your-breath-away scenery, icebergs, and reports of whales.
The captain finds a scenic place, stops the ship so one side can look, and then rotates the ship so the other side can see. It takes
a while to do this, so we exit the bay around 14:00 and move on to Wilhemina Bay. We hang around there for a few hours and then exit
to the Gerlache Strait around 18:00. Lunch was room service again, looking outside, the best place to see the scenery. Tonight, because
of weather and ice conditions, we will navigate around Anvers Island overnight.
Wednesday - December 28
Cruising Antarctica. As we are heading for Paradise Bay, at about 09:00, we achieve our most southerly latitude of 64 degrees 58
minutes South, about 1.5 degrees away from the Antarctic Circle, where, a few days ago, there was 24 hours of sunlight. We enter
Paradise Bay around 10:00 this morning with more stunning scenery and reports of whales, and again, we
do not see any. Room service lunch again because of the scenery. We exit the bay around 13:00 and head for the Neumayer Channel
which we enter around 15:30. In addition to the scenery
here, there is a research station that the ship has been talking with on the radio, that has requested some fresh food. Around 16:30, we lower a
rescue boat to shuttle fresh food to the station. We are back underway around 17:30 and head back through the channel. And again, due
to weather and ice we are forced to turn around and exit the channel the way we came in, which we do around 19:00. We will go back around
Anvers Island and head for Deception Island overnight. Entertainment tonight is a comedian.
Thursday - December 29
Cruising Antarctica. We are approaching the south side of Deception Island around 09:30 this morning in 40-50 knots of wind and
moderate seas. We depart the area around 11:00, heading for King George Island, which we missed on the way in a few days ago. It is
windy and rough all afternoon with not much to see. Late in the afternoon, the captain announces that because of weather in the Drake,
we will cancel our planned stop at the Falkland Islands. This is bad news because we had a land tour to visit a large penguin
colony planned, and we may not have another chance to do that. However, we did visit the Falklands 3 years ago and saw a lot of
penguins then, so it is not so bad. For tonight, we will navigate the Bransfield Strait, and look for King George Island tomorrow.
At about 18:00, we make a u-turn and head back the way we came. And shortly before 23:00 we reversed course again and headed
toward King George Island. Tonight is our second visit to the Sterling Steakhouse, and it was quite cool there. We skipped the
magician show tonight and went to the Club Fusion to see the band that played Queen, but there were not many people there and it was
cold in the room so the performance was short and we left.
Friday - December 30
Sea day. This is a bonus day in Antarctica. About 07:30 this morning we head into Admiralty Bay at King George Island. We enter the bay
at around 09:00 and navigate around the bay until about 12:00. According to the captain, there are seven separate glaciers and a number
of research stations around the bay. The scenery is exceptional again. Back out in the Bransfield Strait, we are headed for
Elephant Island. At 16:30, we do not know if we will see the island, or if we will turn north into the Drake before then. We have
time to get there, sunset yesterday was almost midnight. Just as we are sitting down for dinner at 19:00, we can see Elephant Island
emerge from the fog. This completes our scheduled time near the Antarctica Peninsula, and we turn north headed for the mainland of
South America. There is no compelling entertainment tonight, so we watch "Top Gun: Maverick" on our cabin TV.
Saturday - December 31
Sea day. The port at Stanley, Falkland Islands, was previously cancelled so we continue north in 3-4 meter swells, moderate seas, high wind,
and temperatures in the middle 30s. There are more enrichment lectures this morning, room service for lunch, and we get to watch both of the
college football playoff games this evening. Both games include a Big 10 team (UM and OSU) and sadly they both lose.
Sunday - January 1
Sea day. We continue headed north at 20 knots in similar weather conditions as yesterday, except the temperatures are in the high 50s.
Lunch today was in the Horizon Court, the cafeteria onboard. We seem to have moved far enough to the north to be getting internet
service again. At noon today we were at 47.8 degrees south latitude and 55 degrees west longitude. Later in the afternoon, we watch the Bucs
beat the Panthers by 30-24 and clinch a playoff spot.
Monday - January 2
Sea day. Another relaxing day at sea. We continue almost due north at around 20 knots. This evening, we are able to find space in the Crooners Piano Bar
and stay for a while. And finally, we have been watching reruns of Cheers whenever we had some time to kill, and tonight was a good time for
some additional episodes.
Tuesday - January 3
Montevideo, Uruguay. We arrive early, but there is no need to get up early because we do not have an excursion planned for today. Since we
get off the ship tomorrow, it is packing day. This takes up almost all afternoon as we try to find the stuff we have hidden in all the drawers
and other spaces around our cabin. We also fit in watching some of the enrichment lectures we had missed earlier. All lectures were recorded,
and are available on the room TV. We make decisions about giving additional tip money to those staff members that had been exceptionally
good to us over the previous month, then go to our last normal dinner, and decide to call it a day early after a few episodes of Cheers.
Wednesday - January 4
Arrive Buenos Aires, Argentina. Disembarkation day. We head to breakfast in the dining room around 06:30, retrieve our travel stuff and find a seat
in the meeting area by 07:40. Our group is called at 09:15, so we head to a port shuttle bus, and then the tour bus, and depart the port around 09:45.
We have an excursion that will show us some of the best sights around Buenos Aires, and take us to a restaurant for lunch. The lunch spot is kind of
like a dinner theater at home, with a stage for performers, and lots of tables for guests to have lunch. The performance is called a Tango Show. I got
a little video of some of the performances; you will have to watch the movie to see what it was like. After lunch, we are deposited at the airport at
around 15:45, and then spend about an hour retrieving our checked baggage before joining the check in line about 16:45, which did not start moving
until 17:45. We are fully checked in around 18:30, and find a Hard Rock Cafe in short order. After eating, we are ready for the security process
around 19:45, then through passport control around 20:30, and finally a long walk to the gate. There was another bag check at the gate, and we are in
our seats on the 777 around 21:05. Takeoff was right at 22:00, just a little late. We did get a dinner meal and settled in for the next 8 hours and 40 minutes.
Thursday - January 5
Arrive Miami. My watch said 06:40, but we had passed two time zones so it was really 04:40 in Miami. We had waits, sometimes long waits, for passport
control, checked bag retrieval, checked bag rechecking, security, and the long walk to our departure gate. We are finally in our seats at about 09:20;
takeoff was delayed about 15 minutes, but we landed in Tampa in about an hour. I got home around 12:10 after being gone for a little more than 35 days.
The Movie
I recorded over 2.5 hours of video on this trip and it took several weeks to compile that into a movie that you might watch. I finally finished
that task, and now present the cruise movie. Click anywhere on the movie to start playing. Click the four-arrow symbol in the lower right
corner to make it full screen.
Flat Map of the Cruise
This picture represents the actual path of the ship over the water for our entire 33 days onboard.
The ports are marked corresponding with the places in the log above.
Interactive Map of the Area Around Antarctica
This map will take a few seconds to load. Because of a limitation in Google MyMaps, this is only for the most
southern parts of the cruise. You can zoom in or out using the buttons in the lower left corner, and you can
click and hold on the map to move it around. You can make it full-screen by clicking on the little square
symbol in the upper right corner.