This cruise was inspired by my mother in laws desire to go back to Antarctica to see the penguins, ever since she took a cruise circumnavigating South America in 2010 on board ms Prinsendam she has often reminisced with us about how amazing it was to see these little black and white flightless birds as they passed through the region. So while we were on a cruise in the Caribbean in January 2016 we received a flier in our cabin advertising an Antarctic itinerary. It caught our attention straight away because it was in our price range, so after speaking to the Future Cruise Sales Team on-board we decided to take the plunge and booked it there and then as a surprise. Our little plan was very favourably received and then to complete our line-up we were later joined by Nicole’s eldest daughter Pip who seized her opportunity to fill the empty bed in Maria’s cabin.
A cold climate cruise is a completely new venture for us so we have been busy researching what to wear while in the Antarctic area, the advice seems to indicate that layers are the way to go. This little saying caught my eye while reading a review.
There is no bad weather in the Antarctica, there is just inappropriate clothing!
However, it won’t all be cold because while also looking at the temperatures for Buenos Aires at that time of year we have discovered it should be very hot and humid so we will need to pack for the heat as well.
Celebrity Infinity is also a new ship for us, we have been on her sister Celebrity Constellation but only the once and just for a couple of nights. I am looking forward to cruising on one of Celebrity’s older ships and having the chance to compare it to with our favourites in the Solstice class.
We don’t actually set foot on Antarctica as this cruise is merely a sail past which last two days and it is an opportunity that we could not let pass by. I am hoping to be able to utilise the zoom lens on my camera to capture what promises to be some amazing scenery.
| DATE | LOCATION | ARRIVAL | DEPARTURE |
| Sunday, January 21, 2018 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | 5:00PM | |
| Monday, January 22, 2018 | At Sea | ||
| Tuesday, January 23, 2018 | At Sea | ||
| Wednesday, January 24, 2018 | At Sea | ||
| Thursday, January 25, 2018 | Ushuaia, Argentina | 9:00AM | 9:00PM |
| Friday, January 26, 2018 | Cape Horn, Chile | 6:00AM | 8:00AM |
| Saturday, January 27, 2018 | Schollart Channel, Antarctica | 11:00AM | 1:00PM |
| Saturday, January 27, 2018 | Paradise Bay, Antarctica | 2:00PM | 4:00PM |
| Saturday, January 27, 2018 | Gerlache Strait, South America | 5:00PM | 7:00PM |
| Sunday, January 28, 2018 | Elephant Island, Antarctica | 2:00PM | 6:00PM |
| Monday, January 29, 2018 | At Sea | ||
| Tuesday, January 30, 2018 | Port Stanley, Falkland Islands | 8:00AM | 5:00PM |
| Wednesday, January 31, 2018 | At Sea | ||
| Thursday, February 1, 2018 | Puerto Madryn, Argentina | 7:00AM | 4:30PM |
| Friday, February 2, 2018 | At Sea | ||
| Saturday, February 3, 2018 | Montevideo, Uruguay | 9:00AM | 4:30PM |
| Sunday, February 4, 2018 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | 5:00AM |
We have a pair of cabins right next to each other and all being well will be able to open them up into one large one like we did on the Baltic cruise on Celebrity Eclipse. We are in 7176 while Maria and Pip are in 7174 and they are located towards the aft of the ship very close to the stair and elevator lobby.
I set off in the hope that I will be able to make a post every day but given the area we are travelling the internet might well be rather poor due to the satellite connections and I have in fact read a few stories where on previous cruises it has been almost useless so we will just have to wait and see and be optimistic about it.
Well that was the plan up until a week before we set sail, on the Saturday before we left we received an email from Celebrity informing us of an itinerary change due to a propulsion problem with the ship.
Due to a technical issue with the ship’s propulsion system, as a precaution, we will have to reduce our maximum speed by a few knots. We assure you, there is no safety issue with the vessel; however, due to the speed reduction, we have to modify our itinerary. Some ports of call will have shortened visit times, while some will have more time.
We also had to remove our visit to Puerto Madryn, Argentina from the itinerary. Due to the cancellation of this port of call, we are issuing each guest a refund in the amount equal to one day of your vacation.
So reading between the lines we will now leave Buenos Aires half an hour earlier and arrive at Ushuaia 5 hours later than previously scheduled losing 4 hours of port time.
We pass Cape Horn at a slightly more sociable hour but have a whole sea day crossing the Drake Passage so lets hope its the Drake Lake we cross.
Port Stanley is now a day later but we do get an extra 3 hours there and we have lost Puerto Madryn from the itinerary completely which is a little disappointing.
And an extra 30 minutes at Montevideo which will make all the difference…..
Our revised itinerary is as follows with the changes in yellow.
| DATE | LOCATION | ARRIVAL | DEPARTURE |
| Sunday, January 21, 2018 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | 4:30PM | |
| Monday, January 22, 2018 | At Sea | ||
| Tuesday, January 23, 2018 | At Sea | ||
| Wednesday, January 24, 2018 | At Sea | ||
| Thursday, January 25, 2018 | Ushuaia, Argentina | 2:00PM | 11:59PM |
| Friday, January 26, 2018 | Cape Horn, Chile | 9:00AM | 10:30AM |
| Saturday, January 27, 2018 | At Sea | ||
| Sunday, January 28, 2018 | Schollart Channel, Antarctica | 7:30AM | 8:30AM |
| Sunday, January 28, 2018 | Paradise Bay, Antarctica | 10:30AM | 12:30AM |
| Sunday, January 28, 2018 | Gerlache Strait, South America | 1:30PM | 3:30PM |
| Monday, January 29, 2018 | Elephant Island, Antarctica | 10:30AM | 2:30PM |
| Tuesday, January 30, 2018 | At Sea | ||
| Wednesday, January 31, 2018 | Port Stanley, Falkland Islands | 7:00AM | 7:00PM |
| Thursday, February 1, 2018 | At Sea | ||
| Friday, February 2, 2018 | At Sea | ||
| Saturday, February 3, 2018 | Montevideo, Uruguay | 8:00AM | 4:30PM |
| Sunday, February 4, 2018 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | 5:00AM |
We have since discovered they are concerned about vibration on one of the azipods and will do further investigating when the ship gets back to Buenos Aires.
So all we need to do now is get to Argentina to join the ship.
Just finished a fantastic trip arriving home march 5th ( it was much warmer than the uk). Luckily we made the Falklands and for many it made them seeing all the local penguins
Very envious of the fact you managed to get to the Falklands. Glad you had a great cruise. We have been pricing up doing a similar itinerary for 2019 on NCL though. The aim is to see Ushuaia in daylight and also to get to the Falklands.
We are on this excellent cruise on 18th Feb ( hopefully enegine problems will not cause cancellation as happend on Millenium in 2009 ( Aukland to Sydney)) . The Millenium class azipods have weaknesses in that the bearings do not like rough seas .I am disappointed ( polite version) at the cancellation of Puerto Madryn and the Unesco wildlife site Peninsula Valdes – we were advised 2 days ago. Also praying for good weather / visibility.
Any advice on clothing for the cold this trip?
Ian & Wendy Cox Winscombe North Somerset ( some 36+ cruises to date)
What a small world, you are just down the road from us. I’m surprised to hear they have dropped Puerto Madryn from your cruise also. As for clothing, we have been advised layers are the way to go. I’ll let you know what it’s like when we get there.
We used the principle of layers on Alaskan and cruises from Canada but are not sure how much colder it will be on this trip – monitoring your blog with interest!! Taking bridge cameras rather than DSLR for the photos ( the zooms are long and and built in!)
Fantastic cruise. We did this some years ago on the same ship. Bon voyage and fingers crossed for favourable conditions at Port Stanley.