Timmer's 2024 Oosterdam Antarctica Cruise

 We rose at 6am as we had an estimated disembarkation time of 7:15pm. I had my last congi for a while and just after 7am our Pink 1 color was called.  We disembarked the ship for the final time and caught the shuttle bus to the terminal.  I expected to have to get our luggage there but it was to be sent directly to the airport. Would it really be there? We boarded our bus and did a three hour city tour with good commentary and two stops.  The first was at the cemetery to see Eva Peron's grave (we'd seen it previously 8 years ago) and a second stop at Caministas Street for some last minute shopping in this colorful district. Eva Peron's Final Gravesite We were then driven about 45 further miles to the international airport where there were  piles of luggage for both outgoing and incoming passengers.  I quickly found my luggage but Angela's came about 30 minutes later on another truck.  Fortunately we have airtags in our luggage so we can track them. ...

 After a short overnight sailing from Montevideo, Uruguay, we were awakened by the PA announcements that the ship was not cleared.  This was repeated until finally at around 8:30am we were free to leave the vessel permanently or just for the day.  If one wanted to stay out all night, that was okay, but you had to be back on board by 7:30am on Monday morning. As for us our tentative plan was to stay on the ship and have a spa day.  We went up for breakfast and ended up visiting with Ann & Paul.  We decided to get off the ship and check out the wind damage to the port and then take the HOHO  bus for a city tour.  We entered the terminal and saw a small section with lots of ceiling damage.  The whole vendor area was totally intact.  We purchased tickets for the Red bus (Grayline) online ($25/person) and were quickly escorted to the unmarked stop a block away from the cruise terminal and in front of the police station. We took the tour which ...

 This morning I remember hearing Ed, our Cruise & Travel Director, give the 7am "The ship has been cleared and you are free to depart the ship" announcement.  Then I rolled over and fell back asleep for another hour plus.  With the second announcement I decided it was time to get up for the day. After breakfast we filled laundry bag for the last laundry of this voyage and handed it to Ali our stateroom attendant.  We gathered our things and headed off the ship for a day of exploring. As we were walking the pier I noticed that we were joined in port by the Costa Fascinosa.  It's a pure white painted ship of about the same length as the Oosterdam but 30,000 tons heavier.   After we passed through the little park inside the port, we were handed a tourist map and decided to use it as a basic guide for today although we wanted to do three things:  Visit the Carnival museum which didn't open until 11am, get a haircut and visit the MAM (Mercado Agricultur...