The weather yesterday could best have been described as inhospitable. Today has been much better. So, yesterday I spent some time doing other things, and today, especially in the morning, I spent a lot of time outside.

Yesterday morning we had a strong wind from the stern as we hoover off Cuverville Island. The good news is there are plenty of penguins and humpback whales.

This was the scene yesterday morning.

I did go through the trouble of viewing it from up above. See that rock in front of us? All of the level areas with lots of grey are coverd with penguins. You couldn’t smell them as there was a fairly strong wind arriving from the left.

Penguins everywhere.

Aren’t they cute?

After our early morning penguin-viewing, we went for breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill where we had whales breaching a hundred meters outside the window. There’s a blue blob above for instance.

There was some decent tail action but as we were about six feet from a window rather than six inches from a window photos really didn’t come out well.

All of my photos are taken with an iPhone 17 Pro. I stopped carrying an SLR about eight years ago because I don’t have the patience to upload or process. The quality on the 17 is twice as good as the IPhone 15 I just traded in. Most of my photos are rubbish, I just choose to share the good ones. You can tell when it switches to digital zoom as things get grainy.

I sat through three talks yesterday morning as it was a very rainy day.  Dedicated wildlife watchers were still out on the bow, though, as there have been penguin and whale sightings all morning.  As we then had 30 knot winds and were moving around considerably the bow balconies on 5, 6, and 7 are closed but 4 was still open. And, as always, the promenade was open.

There are a number of folks following along on my writing elsewhere and social media who are on-ship, and there are some who are planning future voyages.  There are places Holland America doesn’t go anymore that past cruises could go (such as the lagoon in Deception Island where a Russian cruise ship ruined it for everyone).  There are places that can be visited in an expedition ship that cannot be visited in a cruise ship.  There are places where a small ship can dodge icebergs but Captain Kevin cannot even though Oosterdam is more maneuverable than other similar-sized vessels.  And ultimately it’s the scientific community and Antarctic treaties that dictate what we can and cannot do.  

And there are places where we’ve had things happen and seen things before where others haven’t.

We’re sgetting a great experience and at the moment we’re “planning to see” as much or more than the Oosterdam December 2025 voyage and prior voyages and a bit more than what direct competitor voyages (Celebrity, Princess, NCl0 were seeing this year.

So, choosing not to Sunday morning quarterback the captain, when the captain says “we are hoovering overnight” that really means from about 8pm to about 4am when most guests are either dining or sleeping, although there are many who are going without sleep for the four days we are down here.  I take him at his word – we’re hoovering overnight because it’s windy on the other side of the rocks, not just to save fuel.  Other than that we haven’t hoovered (I’ll repeat this – we’re only hoovering at night, otherwise he’s driving from place to place so we can view wildlife even in the inclement conditions).

We’re not a polar class ship.  Quark had their polar cass ship sitting southwest of us in Lemaire Channel (not confused with Lemaire Island – the two are 20 miles apart).  Silversea had their ice strengthened ship sitting in Paradise Bay, which we skipped yesterday, and the 450 foot long Hamburg is there as well (note – we saw this ship today, on January 21).  Interestingly the Seabourn ship we met up with Monday “hoovered” with us last night and a handful of expedition ships were following us this morning. We later learned that the Seabourn ship’s captain trained with Captain Kevin on Holland America Konigsdam.

A little sad we missed Lemaire Channel, but here’s what the guidebook tells us about Lemaire Channel.

”Perhaps the best-known fjord in Antarctica, Lemaire Channel cuts a path between the continent’s mainland on the east and Booth Island on the west.  It is almost 11 km (7 miles) long and renowned for its spectacular scenery, with near-vertical peakgs rising close on both sides.  Wandel Peak, on Booth Island, is 980 m (3215 ft) high.  The channel is deep too, measuring about 150 m (492 ft) most of the way.  Ice sometimes chokes it closed so if you are lucky enough to make it through make a point of spending your time out on deck.

”The current that flows through this passage is strong enough to drag in large icebergs that sometimes block traffic.  The ice also provides excellent platforms for resting leopard and crabeater seals, so keep an eye out for dark objects (this is the part I’m sad I missed).”

It goes on to talk about the humpbacks and minkes as well as shags and gentoo penguins in small numbers, but then points out that you go there for the landscape.  Yesterday’s cloud ceiling during the cloudy half of the day was about a thousand feet though.

But there are a lot of places like this.  The intention was we would make three stops Monday and overnight in Paradise Bay, but I’ve lost count of what we actually did Monday.

So, some slides from the morning briefing yesterday from Captain Kevin.  I’ll note that the Q&A included some second guessing of the captain of which I reference above 🙂. One passenger suggested we remain in Antarctica for an extra day because “we won’t be able to stop at the Falklands.”

The first slide I’ll share was the ice forecast for the northern peninsula.

Thanks to the suggestion of a passenger, the cruise director is dispatched to the screen with a pool cue to point out anything interesting.

We’re told we’re missing Esperanza as sea ice is flowing over from Weddell Sea and the marine map bears out nothing more than an ice breaker up in Hope Bay.

Nonetheless, everyone who has been here has experienced the changeable weather.  Yesterday’s weather as observed on Windy.com –

This really looked ominous. Thankfully it has improved. The map showed a low pressure system well to the west of us which actually traveled over us during the night. It showed 42 knot winds just “outside” of the islands but with hurricane-force winds closer to the low. By today, it moved off to the east.

Here is what the weather looks like now. Note how the peninsula now has blues.

We ended up spending the rest of the day yesterday trolling around the bays and islands more in the open than not, but still sheltered so the wind wasn’t horrible. It was a real treat though during the midday and early afternoon though because in the lower-visibility conditions there were a ton of humpback whales feeding. Many, many times the Captain took the ship to full stop and we just drifted as they breached around us. I went out on the veranda several times and listened to them coming up – you would hear a rush of water and sometimes a groan when they came to the surface. Usually they traveled in packs of two or three but sometimes they would be solo and the whole bay we were in you could see several groups splashing at once separated by a quarter mile or so in between each group. It was truly magical.

As I wasn’t one of the folks standing patiently with a big huge lens this is the typical type of photo I got.

And sometimes a bit of this.

By comparison in today’s daylight –

My new wallpaper!

Or really, a more realistic version thereof…. Conditions were much better for whale-viewing today but there were fewer whales (although still a lot, and likely more than a Cape Cod whale watching trip; definitely more than I saw off Kaikoura in 2015).

Eventually by mid-afternoon yesterday I headed up to the treadmill for nearly an hour (!!!) on the treadmill. Treadmill running on a ship of course can be tricky as it moves underneath you; there was a bit of dancing around and I had to focus directly in front of me. However, the view was great. Especially when the snow started falling.

I kept staring at this flag or just beyond. At one point, there was a pod of three whales less than a tenth of a mile in front of us which kept breaching every thirty seconds or so. I watched them move from left to right across my field of vision for about ten to fifteen minutes. When I finished, I realized many

Person on the treadmill made headless for anonymity purposes. Anyway, it was a bunch of this.

Obligatory post-run selfie outside!

So, after treadmill time I’ve been enjoying Oosterdam’s hydrotherapy pool. They have a large fifteen foot by twenty foot hottub with jets, bubbles, and a large spray from overhead which is good for soaking and warming up. Granted, after a run you don’t need hot water…. But it’s nice to go to the gym, shower, and soak in the hottub. And then head outside to the Seaview Pool and sit in the hottub there in the falling snow!

This is me outside on Sunday. I don’t have a photo from yesterday.

This of course is the view of the pool on today’s glorious morning! Note the snow-penguins at the end of the deck still there from yesterday. This afternoon there was actually a polar plunge out there which I magine wasn’t too bad as long as you soaked in a hottub beforehand. The water in the pool is probably around 75 or 80 degrees Fahrenheit so it wasn’t that polar, but not exactly pleasant to be out in the open air either – it’s barely above freezing.

I’m going to skip ahead to today’s update and come back and talk about our evening activities and wining and dining later (spoiler alert – the steakhouse has Caymus so that made me happy).

First, some updates on current and future conditions.

We’ve spent the past few days trolling around the area circled in red above.

Today we started in Charlotte Harbor; through the morning and into mid-afternoon we left Charlotte Harbor and slowly motored to the edge of the immediate peninsula islands. We are now crossing the strait to Deception Island where we hope to arrive around 6:30 this evening.

See? Here.

Chatting with my friends Andy and Hetty in England they provided their update from following cruisemapper which showed our path as above. Looking on MarineTraffic, I think we’re still, at nearly 5pm, about fifty nautical miles from Deception Island, so I think 6:30 in Deception Island is wishful thinking. I think we’re aiming more towards 8 or 9pm at this point which should be fine as it will still be daylight but it will certainly make an early morning tomorrow difficult.

Captain Kevin said “the kids” will drive the ship as we sleep and take us to Admiralty Bay. I think this is probably a hundred mile run so if we leave Deception Island and maintain only ten knots for whales that may be hard to do as well.

Then we will focus on crossing the Drake Passage. Forecast for Thursday night is holding at 6 meter waves which is fine with us, calming a bit by Friday afternoon.

Anyway, back to this morning.

I had my first outdoor meal.

Charlotte Bay is supposedly not known for wildlife although there was some there.  I spent some time on the bow chatting with Adrian and Graeme from the expedition team and they explained that most likely the whales we were seeing there were resting – they weren’t moving a whole lot.  They eventually explained this over the PA as well.  Out in the main channel there is a fairly strong current so as they explained the whales tend to get tired out feeding there.  Then they talked about whales sleeping vertically and a number of other subjects which I’m not too certain about (and didn’t really pay attention anyway).

I’ve been wandering around here with a heavy sweater labeled “US Antarctic Program South Pole” that a friend gave to me twenty years ago.  I’ve been wearing it mid-winter since then, and I think now it’s time to retire it.  No, neither of them visited the south pole but Graeme did come within 250 miles of the pole.  There’s not much at the pole except a US research station and a handful of others.  It’s flat, cold, and wind blows the snow everywhere even though it never snows there.  And it’s always dark for half the year.

One of the things we visited before lunch was this iceberg – it has fallen apart over time and most likely one of the columns will collapse entirely at some point.  I think we came maybe 50 or 75 yards away from it. I was on the bow for most of this and it was absolute mayhem. So many people came out so when I decided to leave I had to wait in line for about ten minutes.

I thought this view was particularly interesting as it showed a crack just above the waterline where water had filled in and frozen in dark blue.

On this scenic cruising often the clouds descend low and obscure things a bit.

And occasionally there’s a penguin.

This little guy was actually with a group of others who mostly got off the ice.

He just sat there stretching and posing for us!

In the mornign the best thing about visiting Charlotte Bay was the still water and the reflections on the ice.

The ship also used it as an excuse to do fast boat drills – and go collect some glacier ice. Like yesterday’s drone photos, they have a permit for this.

This has already shown up on Holland America’s social media. I imagine some of the views are going to show up on a television commercial coming soon to a screen near you as well.

Or on Carnival’s annual report as both Carnival and Seabourn are Carnival lines. Isn’t it beautiful?

What a great day it has been. The nicest thing about the past few days – only having to worry about a handful of things, rather than the usual family and corporate whack-a-mole at home. And it isn’t even like the usual vacation or retirement touring where you’re trying to figure out when you have an excursion or getting shuttled from place to place. You’re just walking out on deck and experiencing it.

I still want to write a bit about the variety of dining we’ve had over the past few days in particular and a handful of other things, such as how The Boss taught me to play craps and we did royally well, but for now I’m signing off. Tomorrow morning is going to be fairly busy but there will be more downtime to read and write starting tomorrow afternoon.