heffy2

We've arrived to Point Wild and the first zodiac groups are off.  I'm waiting for my group to be called.
More to come on our approach and the beautiful scenery here where Shackleton's men spent 135 days waiting rescue.

After dinner I suited up and ventured upstairs to see if there was any marine life out there.  It's pretty cold now so looking for wildlife requires dressing up for the occasion.

No sign of anything so I might as well enjoy the view from my suite.

From on board the Silver Wind.

A23a is a very large iceberg that broke off in 1986.  It quickly grounded and stayed in place until 2020 when it floated free and began moving.  Over the course of 2023 it has really picked up steam and began making a move North to where we found it, or the Captain and bridge team found it, today.

It's hard to capture the scale of an iceberg this large.  It just goes on and on.

Once again the deck 5 bow area was open for our viewing pleasure.



There is little point trying to capture all of it in a photo because you can't unless you are in space which is where scientists are following it using satellites.  It's 3,900 square kilometers or 1,500 square miles in size.






Naturally I brought my 360 camera with me.

Top side on whale watch this afternoon.


In the distance appeared a mirage that almost looked like land yet I knew there was no land out here.


More small bits of ice were present in this area.


The wind was ferocious but that isn't a mirage. 

It's a really big iceberg.


It's iceberg A23a.

I decided to eat lunch in a venue that is currently jackets required.

The Grill for lunch.

Wholey iceberg.

South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands are sub-Antarctica so not actually part of the continent.  
Elephant Island is 150 miles off the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, part of the South Shetland Islands.
 

Pulling it all together on my 14” MacBook Pro with 4TB SSD is Adobe Lightroom Classic.  In the past I’ve had laptops with smaller SSD and used external storage but that’s a pain.  My laptop is a critical tool in my photography toolbox so I splurged for the larger internal SSD.
I color grade each photo individually.  I have a work flow down from years of travel blogging.  I quickly rate each photo giving it two or three stars then based on how many photos that yields I run quickly scan through them a second time to whittle it down to a manageable number.  Then I more carefully color grade each of the three star rated candidates usually dropping a couple more where the focus was off or there is something else I don’t like.
I prefer to go through my photos of the day on that same day.  The benefit of forcing myself to manage the plethora of photos I take on a daily basis in near realtime is that they are fresh in my head.  I can easily recall comments that a guide has made associating it with that moment.  It also helps to break it down into small pieces rather than going home and having a mountain of photos that I’ll get to someday.  Someday never seems to come.  
A benefit to posting threads like this one in near real time is that it documents the journey for me.  I can come back and re-live this trip years from now just as I have gone back and reviewed my other threads like a visit to the Galápagos Islands.  That was an amazing experience.   However it’s also amazing how quickly you can forget small details that are captured for me (and others) to come back to when ever I feel the need to re-live the experience.
There is a level of effort to the manner I post a live thread but as a solo traveler it’s gives me something to do.  

Here is a discussion of the camera kit I put together for this sailing.

My main camera is a Sony A7R IVA.  
I brought two lenses for this voyage.  A general purpose Sony f4 24 - 105mm G OSS and the Sony f2.8 70 - 200mm GM OSS II.  In addition to these two lenses are a 1.4x and a 2x teleconverter.  
I always bring my trusty old Sony RX100M VI pocket camera.
Lastly I have my Insta360 One X3 360° camera.
Plus of course my iPhone 15 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra but I rarely use those for the photographic effort of this voyage.
 

Day Eleven - enroute to Elephant Island
Position report:


Balcony observations:

The Captain had suggested earlier to expect a slight increase in swell to 4m.  It arrived late afternoon or early evening.
After dinner I saw dozens of seabirds playing along the waves and soaring between the peaks and troughs.  Collectively as a group they moved along the surface hardly ever flapping their wings.  It was quite mesmerizing to watch.

I have found references to Antarctic Petrels and to Cape Petrels. 

I think they may be Cape Petrels.

Very striking patterns.

An Antarctic Prion following a petrel.  This gives you an idea of the size difference.

It was getting dark and I've pushed the ISO of my camera to have any sort of shutter speed to work with but the results are evident.  I'll try again tomorrow in the daylight if they are still out there.

Until tomorrow it's another beautiful night aboard the Silver Wind.

It's been a pretty nice day overall.




More icebergs.

Day Ten - Sea Day enroute to Elephant Island
Position report:


Balcony observations:

Another beautiful sea day.

On with the daily recap.
Various expedition team members had put together some short presentations that ranged in topic.  Sort of a mini-enrichment series.  Very interesting.
They also announced a charity fundraiser silent auction of some items offered by the South Georgia Heritage Trust.


 
https://www.sght.org
 
 

I brought my 360 camera as well with the 3m pole.

Selfie time!










 

The daily recap was scheduled for 18:15 in the theater and it was almost time to head down when... an announcement.  
We've been invited to the bow on deck 5 for a special iceberg viewing.
Normally closed to the public because it is a working crew area the Captain has made an exception for this occasion.

The ships position having anchored at Gold Harbor.

Our hour is up and it's time to make our way back to the Silver Wind.

How a penguin enters the water...

Waddle...

Waddle...

Getting ready to flop, gotta time it just right with the waves...

Almost time...

... and flop.

Paddle, paddle, paddle...

Phew!  Made it.

More bergie bits present in this bay.

As we began our departure from St Andrews Bay I was given a view towards the sea from my suite.  You can't see it very well in the photo but the horizon is littered with icebergs.

I'm so glad I upgraded to a balcony suite for this sailing.  Not a bad place to post this thread from.





We had an escort out of St Andrews Bay.

More Kings.

Our progression.

 

After an hour or so it was time to head back to the ship.

It's difficult to capture in photos the shear numbers.



Fur seals coming ashore.

It's a penguin pool party!

Off to the main beach.

What a gorgeous day!


King penguins wall to wall.




Some elephant seals taking a break.


Andrew thinks this may be the beach master.




 
 

In some ways at least for fly in cruise guests a cruise from Galveston and Houston Hobby airport is much like flying into Orlando and cruising from Port Canaveral.  The distance and cost for the commute is similar. 
Orlando has a ton of hotel options near the airport being the mouse capital of the world.  Hotels near Hobby airport are to be avoided.   Galveston Island hotels don't lend themselves to cruise guests so you'll see many comments about staying in between Galveston and the airports.  
Galveston is getting a new cruise terminal so with that con erased it's even more similar to a Florida port.  The biggest drawback for Galveston as a cruise port is the location at the top of the Gulf of Mexico.  To reach anywhere you have to sail across the Gulf both coming and going where as Florida cruise ports are closer to the Bahamas and the Caribbean.    CocoCay for example is an overnight sail from all east coast Florida ports.  Nothing is close to Galveston like there is from Florida.   With a ship like Harmony those sea days across the Gulf aren't really a bad thing.
Oasis class can't tender so there are very few Oasis capable ports within reach of Galveston for a seven night itinerary.  That means there is no east - west "butterfly" alternating itineraries offered for Oasis class from Galveston.  Every week visits the same ports.  That has zero impact when flying in for one cruise as long as you like the Oasis class ports that are offered.
The Texas liquor laws are a minor inconvenience on boarding day only and only until the ship reaches international water a few hours after sail away.
I've done a few cruises from Galveston on two different cruise lines.  Apart from the plane ride I wouldn't hesitate to sail from Galveston again.
February Galveston Sail Away Time Lapse
 

Day 2 - Nassau
After a late night enjoying the ship I woke up with us almost docked in Nassau.  Arriving right behind us was Freedom of the Seas.



We docked at the outermost pier which is nearly finished in terms of the construction that has been going on on all the piers in Nassau.

While the extension that is being added is still under construction at least this section of the outer pier appears complete.

Walking around the ship I discovered the Flowrider surface was being replaced.

This new top mat doesn't have the ridges the original mat did so this should be a welcome update for all Flowriders.

While near the Sportplex I discovered it was Bumper Car time and there was no line!

I had to replace the sound in this video to avoid a copyright issue but you can get the idea.
While in the Sportplex I made a reservation for the Virtual Reality game Zone Zero.

Later after a Kümmelweck in cafe270 I stopped by NextCruise.  YOLO!  Staying on for a B2B!  

For the record, beverage package prices on board:

We often hear claims of a lack of transparency but with this letter presented to us at check in it seems pretty transparent to me.

While unpacking my luggage I spotted a familiar shape coming into the port.


It's Vision of the Seas!


Here is a time lapse I quickly grabbed as I finished unpacking.
After lunch and a few diamond beverages it was time for our departure which I also captured from my balcony.
On the way out I noted some Royal fans here to see us off!


A time lapse of course: