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Published: February 15th 2023
The Antarctic Experience Day 1
Where Does the Rock End and the Snow/Ice Begin?The Antarctic Experience Day 1
The Daily Program had an earlier start time than usual on February 1, 2023 – 7:00 AM. The entry was “Volendam Cruises Dallman Bay, Antarctica!” Yup, we had finally arrived at the first of the two destinations that led me to take this cruise in the first place, the other being the Amazon River, and this was the first of four days we would be cruising the waters of Antarctica. All our cruising would take place on the Antarctic Peninsula – on the north side of the island continent and that portion closest to the southern tip of South America. Now that I think about it for a nanosecond, where can one go from Antarctica BUT north??? The Daily Program listed the geographic locations where we would be cruising and the estimated time we would be passing specific points of interest, i.e., “Volendam Passes AAA Glacier, “ “Volendam Enters BBB Channel,“ etc. Holland America provided everyone with a map of the Antarctic Peninsula so we could pinpoint our location, and one of the channels on the television is a GPS of sorts. In addition, since the beginning of the cruise and regardless of our zip
The Antarctic Experience Day 1
The Naturalist’s Narration Played on the Forward Camera Channel on the Television So I Could SELECTIVELY Venture into the Cold for a Photo code, the captain makes a daily update on our location, the weather conditions and other pertinent information and makes additional announcements throughout the day as necessary.
Holland America enlisted the services of three Antarctic experts who provided lectures in the World Stage auditorium. Here’s a list of about half of the lecture titles: “The Discovery and History of the Last Continent,” “Key Moments in Scientific Discovery of Antarctica, Once There Were Trees,” “On the Wings of an Albatross,” “Governing Antarctica,” “International Scientific Cooperation in Antarctica” and “Penguins, Antarctica Is Our Home.” The experts also provided ongoing commentary as we traversed the waters near the peninsula that were aired to limited areas of the ship and would be piped to another television channel, the bow cam, that shows real time images from a camera mounted on the front of the ship. As part of their ongoing commentary, the naturalists also pointed out wildlife spotted from their vantage point on the bridge.
Providing specific information about landmarks seems pointless in this blog as they would be meaningless to most, if not all, of my readers IF I could remember one from the other correctly. I, therefore, will offer a summary
The Antarctic Experience Day 1
We Passed Numerous Sizeable Icebergs … of the bits and pieces of information I harvested from my four-day experience in a summary fashion. On multiple occasions, the captain navigated through numerous icebergs to reach a handful of bays where we saw several humpback whales, numerous orcas (killer whales) and, quite literally, thousands of penguins. Some of the humpbacks were sleeping after gorging themselves with krill, and some of the penguins were porpoising, or gathering speed in the water before changing direction to “fly through the air.” They reported that it was great fun! Later during the first day, the weather worsened and the visibility decreased so the captain announced that the low visibility and the iceberg density in his planned destination had led him to reroute towards more hospitable waters. Caution is okay by me. A slight diversion took us past Palmer Station, a United States research station located on Anvers Island, where the “residents” came outside to give us a wave.
The Antarctic Experience Day 2
The captain announced a wake-up at 7:30 AM on Thursday, February 2, 2023 so everybody had a chance to see the sun reflecting on the water. Go figure, I haven’t seen the sun in several days and
The Antarctic Experience Day 1
… However, Only a Few Hosted Penguins now it makes an appearance on Ground Hog Day! Having seen the reflection from the bow camera playing on the television in my cabin, but only half way through my wake-up coffee as he made the announcement, I continued with my morning ritual unabated. By the time I reached the deck, the clouds had recurred. The reflection was pretty, as seen from the bow cam! The seas were calm, and the day was uneventful. One of the coolest events was watching several penguins frolicking near the ship,
The Antarctic Experience Day 3
Captain Jutten gave his morning briefing on February 3, 2023 and told us he had to change the itinerary overnight because of high winds and sea ice but had increased our speed to compensate and that we were back on schedule. Fifteen minutes later, he announced the wind gusts had picked up to 80 knots or 90+ miles per hour, that he had turned the stern into the wind to reduce the lift on the ship and requested everyone stay inside until the winds had subsided. Aye, aye sir!!! Five minutes later, he announced there was a lot of sea ice in the particular path we
The Antarctic Experience Day 1
A Couple of More Substantial Icebergs were on so we would change course again, putting the wind pushing against the starboard side of the ship. That strong lateral wind event happened a few days ago and walking was akin to being in the funhouse at the amusement park! The curtain next to my desk swayed about 7-8 inches away from my desk. The entire morning was extremely windy with barriers preventing exit to the exterior decks on one or the other side of the ship at several different times during the day (and I wanted to see the man overboard procedure). Visibility was compromised virtually all day. This is pretty much what I was expecting for the entire Antarctic portion of the cruise, so the first two days were gravy on the ‘taters. We passed an iceberg a mile or so distant (barely visible and not photo worthy with my phone) that had broken from an ice shelf. According to the captain, the radar showed it at 300 meters (about 900 feet) across and 100 meters (about 300 feet) high – remember, only 10 percent is above the water! The captain made a highly unusual announcement about 9:15 PM that Drake Passage was expecting wave heights
The Antarctic Experience Day 1
Palmer Station – Come On, Billy, Wave to All the Tourists on the Ship of 8 meters (about 25 feet) so he was going to turn the ship back, and tomorrow we would be doing some scenic cruising at an alternate location.
The Antarctic Experience Day 4 and Beyond
The captain gave an announcement that I didn’t find shocking given the weather events of the last few days, the weather at the Falkland Islands included a forecast of 10-meter (32 feet) seas. Authorities at Falkland Islands related to him that the port at Stanley would probably be closed by our arrival time. Like I said with COVID, no point in going there if the doors will be locked! Stanley, and the Falkland Islands, have been stricken from the itinerary. That’s unfortunate, but it is what it is! Mother Nature answers to noone. On the day we were supposed to be travelling from the Falkland Islands to Puerto Madryn, Argentina, the Volendam Captain, one of the ice captains and the three Antarctica experts offered a Final Recap and a Q & A session. The captain summarized the weather as, “It was fantastic the first two days and normal after that.” One question emitted a response that the roughest seas we encountered were 6.5
The Antarctic Experience Day 2
I Never Really Thought About It but Was Expecting Antarctica to Be Less Mountainous meters (about 19-20 feet. The worse “rough water” incident I witnessed personally was a lady losing her balance and dumping her soup down the back of a man seated at the table next to me.
Following the Q & A session, an historical collection of the &*^() questions that had ever been asked was offered. Some made me wonder how the questioner had survived childhood, “Is the full moon we saw last night the same full moon we see at home?” and “What happens to the icebergs when they melt?” Some merely lacked sufficient time for deliberation by the questioner, “Why were all the penguins going up the hill black and all those coming down the hill white?” How would one even go about answering the first two? Sorta reminds me of the comedian’s story about the presenter of a “future cruises” session asking when the company was going to offer a cruise to Denver!!! Yup, they get to vote!!!
Cruising the Antarctic waters was an incredible experience. Pictures cannot do justice to the beauty of the landscape. The weather during the third and fourth days was about what I expected for the entire trip, so the first
The Antarctic Experience Day 2
There Are, Indeed, Plenty of Rocks to Go Around two days were a bonus. The unanticipated lectures by the Antarctic experts were phenomenal. One of the lecturers began his recap presentation with a slide defining the parameters of the “’Vollendam’ Antarctic Experience" as “28 Jan to 8 Feb 2023.” Regardless, I learned more about Antarctica in the XXX days on this cruise than I have learned during the rest of my time on Planet Earth cumulatively. I would recommend this trip to anyone, but be careful. Holland America has had to jump through many hoops to be able to sail the Antarctic. Not every cruise that travels around the tip of South America sails into Antarctic waters. There are lots, and lots and LOTS of regulations to keep Antarctica pristine. If you want to set your boots on the ground, take out a second mortgage! Okay already, I’m done with the ice and the cold. Let’s head north to some warmer weather! Huh? North???
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Bruce J
non-member comment
What an observation that took that nano second too.
At what point all around Antarctica isn't its north side? We all got a good laugh out of that one.