First post

We are soon to head out on another of our adventures.  This time it is a 70-day Grand Voyage around S America and Antarctica on Holland America's small ship, Prinsendam. We will be the Ensemble Travel Group's onboard Hosts for about 30 passengers. We love the small ships and are really looking forward to Prinsendam; all my clients that have sailed on her give wonderful reviews and many book her repeatedly.

Our Ports of Call will be:  Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US; Key West, Florida, US; Santa Marta, Colombia; Isla de Providencia, Colombia; Puerto Limon, Costa Rica; Enter Panama Canal Cristobal; Exit Panama Canal Balboa; Fuerte Amador, Panama; Manta, Ecuador; Callao (Lima), Peru; General San Martin (Pisco), Peru; Arica, Chile; Iquique, Chile; Coquimbo (La Serena), Chile; Santiago (Valparaiso), Chile; Isla Robinson Crusoe, Chile; Puerto Montt, Chile; Puerto Chacabuco, Chile; Darwin Channel Chilean Fjords; Amalia Glacier Canal Sarmiento; Strait of Magellan; Punta Arenas, Chile; Cockburn & Beagle Channels; Ushuaia, Argentina; Cape Horn & Drake Passage; Wilhelm Archipelago; South Shetland Islands; The Antarctic Sound; Pt. Stanley, Falkland Islands; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Montevideo, Uruguay; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Salvador, Brazil; Recife, Brazil; Fortaleza, Brazil; Belem, Brazil; Crossing the Equator; Santarem, Brazil; Boca da Valeria, Brazil; Manaus, Brazil; Parintins, Brazil; Devil's Island, French Guiana; Bridgetown, Barbados; Ponce, Puerto Rico, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

We have been to some of the ports before and just returned from an Antarctic Adventure cruise on MS Fram.  I am particularly interested in the ports in Brazil including over a week on the Amazon; we have never done any of that. The southern parts of Chile including the fjords and around the Horn and the Strait of Magellen have been high on my 'must do' list.  It will be interesting to compare how Prinsendam handles the waters of the Drake Passage in comparison to Fram as we head south to the Antarctic. Although we won't be making landings in Antarctica there are opportunities for me to get some more penguin photos on the Falklands and Punta Arenas, Chile.  On our last trip the penguins were on the eggs; it was too early for the chicks... I'm hoping to see some this time.

We have been through the Panama Canal several times including earlier this year on our Royal Princess World Cruise and each time I find it just as fascinating. It will be interesting to see how much progress has been made in a year on the canal expansion project.

As the Ensemble Hosts, we will be leading two private excursions for our passengers in Montevideo, Uruguay and Santiago, Chile. They both sound wonderful, but I won't spoil the surprise for any of those passengers that might read this early.


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