Antarctic Cruise Day 40 / 40 - Ship to home = 28.5 hours

Antarctic Cruise Day 40 / 40 - It was a long travel day but we're home

Trip day: 40 / 40

Port days: 18
Sea days: 19
Countries: 5
Continents: 4
Ports/Landings: 13

Well, that was a long time.  Even though we were an hour ahead of eastern daylight time, I'll state all times in EDT for consistency.

• 7:30AM - disembark Polaris in Ushuaia
• 10:40am (ish) - launch an hour late out of Ushuaia 
• 2:00PM - arrive in Buenos Aires
• 3:00PM - eat lunch at the Hard Rock courtesy of Viking (thanks Viking!)
• 6:00PM - check-in for our flight from Buenos Aires
• 9:15PM - launch from Buenos Aires
• 6:00AM - arrive in Atlanta
• 8:20AM - launch from Atlanta
• 9:50AM - arrive in Orlando
• 10:40AM - our driver arrived late to pick us up
• 11:55AM - arrive at Kolb Kastle South in The Villages, Florida - we're home

Rounding for clarity, that's 28.5 hours from the ship to our driveway.

We had a significant issue on the flight from Buenos Aires to Atlanta - a ten-hour ordeal.  We paid the small fee to upgrade to seats with more legroom.  We were in the front row of our section in two middle seats in a 2-3-2 configuration.  I had the right seat and Arlona had the middle seat.  The issue was the left seat.  First, let me explain - I am not a small guy.  I am overweight.  But, I can still fit into an airline seat.  The gentleman next to Arlona could not make the same claim.  In fact, besides his own seat, he was taking nearly a third of Arlona's.  There was no way this would work for ten hours.

I spoke with a flight attendant and long story short, we were moved up a section to Delta Premium Select and had a much better flight.  I expect he did as well.  But, my takeaway is that if you cannot physically fit into the seat you booked, then you need to book a seat you fit into, or book two adjacent seats.  This is not a case of fat-shaming or anything like that.  It is the case that he was unfairly invading space that we paid for, but could not use.  In the end, it all worked out and I credit Delta for making that happen.

We were a little concerned about our turn in Atlanta.  We had less than two hours to land, retrieve our luggage, clear Customs, recheck our luggage,  clear TSA again, and make our flight.  Our pilot helped as he flew the plane like he stole it and got us into Atlanta nearly 30 minutes early.  Global Entry meant that we sailed right through Customs.  I have to credit Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airport for outstanding efficiency as the luggage drop was smooth and on the way to TSA.  Even TSA went smoothly as it is a special TSA station just for passengers that have to clear Customs before a connecting flight.

Here we are after getting everything done - more than an hour to spare

We launched right on time out of Atlanta for the short trip to Orlando.  We landed early which was nice.  Unfortunately, due to scheduling issues, our car service called as we were picking up our bags, stating they were just leaving The Villages.  Depending on where they were leaving from specifically, that meant we would be waiting around 45-60 minutes for our ride.  If we had our car there, we could be home before our driver got there.

Hanging out at Orlando International Airport, waiting for our ride

We waited, and finally got home a couple of minutes before noon.  

After some unpacking, and cooking a DiGiorno frozen pizza – one of the few things we had in the house to eat, we headed out to do our civic duty – vote.  Early voting ends on Saturday, so we wanted to take advantage of the smaller crowds.

Finally, we hit the store to restock on food staples and get back into our normal life. Arlona has a tee time tomorrow morning.

Before I sign off on this trip, let me take a minute to reflect on some of the highlights.

• Boarding a brand-spanking-new ship – knowing you were the first customers to sleep in that bed was very cool
• Seeing the ship’s dedication
• Being part of a flotilla leaving Amsterdam featuring all three classes of Viking ships – Expedition (Polaris), River (Mani), Ocean (Mars)
• Having only 61 paid passengers on a 678 (or 666 depending on where you look) foot cruise ship for 23 days
• Having the captain bring the ship to a dead stop in the middle of the Atlantic for an hour so we could watch the whales
• Seeing so many crew from our world cruise and feeling so welcome on the ship
• Participating in the special things Viking did during the transit to Ushuaia for the 61 of us – Baggo, trivia, boat-building, cocktail crafting – it was awesome seeing so much guest/crew interaction
• Volunteer Point in the Falkland Islands – king, Gentoo, and Magellanic penguins as far as the eye could see
• The wild sea between the Falkland Islands and Ushuaia, Argentina – it made the Drake Passage less of a concern given how well Polaris navigated then 30-foot swells
• The Antarctica landings – the work the crew puts in to ensure we all had quality experiences – wow
• The penguins, flying birds, seals, dolphins – just seeing unspoiled nature like this
• The submarine ride, kayaking, Zodiac cruises, and the Special Operations Boat rides
• Seeing the unspoiled beauty that is Antarctica in person as photos can’t do it justice
• Experiencing the Drake Shake on the north transit

Countries visited:

• Netherlands
• Portugal
• Cabo Verde Islands
• United Kingdom
• Argentina

Continents visited:

• Europe
• Africa
• South America
• Antarctica

This was an unforgettable trip and certainly spoiled us.  Nothing can compare to a private yacht like we had for three weeks.

One final note that made this cruise unusual.  As I’ve mentioned before, we live in The Villages, Florida – the largest retirement community in the world with over 140,000 residents.  This cruise is the first we’ve been on since moving to The Villages where we were the only Villagers on the ship.  It was strange as we have met people literally on every other cruise since retiring.

I’m glad so many of you came along for the ride.  While I couldn’t get to every single comment for a reply, I did read every comment and appreciate all the kind comments.  You all rock!

Let me also repeat, because I keep getting asked even though I’ve answered this at least two dozen times now…

Most photos were taken with a Sony RX10 IV camera. It is a bridge camera with a non-interchangeable 24-600mm f4 lens and can shoot at 24 frames per second when tracking moving objects.  I supplement with my Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra cellphone when I need a wider view or when it isn’t practical to carry the Sony.

The other question I keep getting is, “What’s next?”.  Given that we will have been traveling for 227 days by the end of the year, we’re ready to be home for a while.  Other than visiting family over Thanksgiving, we have no travel plans until September 2023.  We will be on the Viking Orion for their Australia, Asia & Alaska cruise from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, through Alaska, & Japan, continuing through Asia to Sydney, Australia.  That will be a 79-night adventure, and of course, I’ll be blogging.

One final thing – we were greeted home with this incomplete, but incredibly vibrant rainbow.  It is good to be home.

Until our next adventure…

Antarctic Cruise Day 39 / 40 - Buenos Aires - Viking Rocks on

Antarctic Cruise Day 39 / 40 - Buenos Aires - a rocking good time

Trip day: 39 / 40

Port days: 18
Sea days: 19
Countries: 5
Continents: 4
Ports/Landings: 13

Ah, disembarkation day.  The end of the trip.  The last time seeing many friends we made on the journey.  It is a bittersweet day.  We're honestly looking forward to being home since this has been such a crazy travel year for us, but this trip was so amazing, it's hard to see it end.  But, end it must since the cruise that left today was completely full.  378 max capacity on Polaris, 378 guests were scheduled to embark.  That's a far cry from the 61 passengers we had from Amsterdam to Ushuaia.

We ate our final breakfast in the World Café. Captain Margaret came by and wished us safe travels.

Viking's first female captain - Captain Margrith Ettlin

Then, it was back to the cabin so we could brush our teeth, toss the last items into our carry-on bags, and head to the Living Room on deck #5 to wait for group Blue 2 to be called.  Soon enough, we were on the coach for the short ride to Ushuaia airport.  Our checked bags were already there.  We verified that we saw our bags and handed in an affidavit confirming that we hadn't packed any of the prohibited items and headed to security.

Viking had two flights chartered on JetSmart.  Ours was perhaps 65% full so there was plenty of room to move about.  Viking booked us on 16F and17A, so we weren't in the same row and were on opposite sides of the aircraft.  This let us both take photos of the Andes and Beagle Channel featuring both the Chilean side and the Argentinean side.

The flight from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires was about three hours.  While en route, a Viking representative informed us that for those of us with long layovers (like our nearly seven-hour one), Viking had reserved space in the Hard Rock café in terminal A for us for lunch.  Woo!

After we landed, we collected our luggage and took it to the central area in terminal C, where we landed.  Those of us that would be flying Delta gave our bags to one set of porters.  Everyone else gave their bags to another set of porters.  Our Delta-bound bags remained in terminal C in a private area and the others were held and then delivered to terminal A.

We had the option to take a bus or walk from terminal C to terminal A. It was a beautiful day so we hoofed it to terminal A.

We found our way to the Hard Rock Café.

The provided lunch featured beef and chick empanadas, a beef steak, fries, salad, and ice cream or fruit for dessert.  It was a nice lunch and much better than milling around a terminal for hours.  Thanks to Viking for really caring about their passengers and helping make a difficult travel day better.

Around 6pm, we walked back to terminal C where our bags were waiting for us. We got checked in, cleared security and immigration/passport control, and headed to the terminal.

As we waited for departure, that gave me time to put together this blog.  We’ll be launching in a couple of hours and then spending a lovely ten hours in the air to Atlanta.  We have a quick turn in Atlanta to clear Customs, so we’ll see how that goes.  I will wrap up this trip tomorrow once we’re home.