Mathmagicland
Disneyland - the original since 1955
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2014
Day 10 – Rite of Passage –
Yesterday, the captain had shared he expected we’d have 16-18-foot seas starting around midnight as we left the Shetland Islands for our return crossing of the Drake Passage. So, guess who wakes up at midnight to peek outside to see what’s happening with the ocean?
Calm seas -
And 30 minutes later, we can just see a tiny little bit of a whitecap here & there, but nothing close to 16-feet seas, thank goodness! Also, one of our last looks at icy Antarctica -
The AbD guides declared last night that today & tomorrow would be two more Pajama Days on board. We’re not going off the ship, so why not be comfortable? The plans for the day included a Marvel movie marathon in the theatre, a ping pong tournament in the lounge, name that Disney Tune game, and presentations by two of the Expedition Naturalists. We are also encouraged to order any photos or photo packages we want, that were taken by the Ponant photographers.
The green apples were back in the buffet, so I asked to have one sliced up for me. This is what the chef came back with, the most unusual apple slicing I’ve ever seen.
I asked for ginger ale with lunch, and found that the ship was completely out…guess along with that run on green apples last night, folks were also getting ginger ale. Well, not to worry, as I had a stash of three cans back in the fridge in my cabin…courtesy of my stateroom host keeping it restocked throughout the cruise. My friends also had some in their cabin, so we were set in case it was needed.
And, was it needed? No – for the expected mini-Drake-Shake never materialized. We were extremely fortunate in that we had the Drake Lake on both crossings for this cruise. There was a bit of wind in the early morning, but nothing to negatively impact the crossing. I’ve had rougher cruises out of New York.
Our morning Naturalist presentation was supposed to be Lison sharing on Antarctica discovery, but she had a bit of a cough. So, Lars stepped in to share about the 1911 Race to the South Pole between Robert Scott and Roald Admunsen. Since Lars is from Norway, Admunsen was from Norway, and there is the well-regarded Fram Museum (Norway Arctic exploration with Admunsen’s polar ship) in Oslo, it was the perfect topic for Lars to present.
Captain Fab had a noon announcement – we were 294 miles out from Antarctica and 374 miles to go to Ushuaia. The closest land to us at this point is the bottom of the ocean, 11,500 feet/3500 meters below us. Wind conditions, which weren’t really that much at all, will continue to lessen, and it is expected to be calm tomorrow. It is a balmy 43 degrees outside.
Our afternoon presentation was Singing with the Whales, by Tom – the Penguin Guy knows whales along with penguins! Another interesting session by the naturalists; I wish we’d had more while onboard. Here’s a funny thing about these presentations – they are scheduled at a specific time. When that time hits, the movie in process is paused, the presentation happens, and then the movie starts up again afterwards. It reminded me of the legendary NFL Heidi game – if you’ve not heard of it, Google it to see what that was all about.
By 4:30 pm, we once again had no wind and a perfectly calm Drake Lake.
The ship offered a raffle prize – for 10 Euros per ticket, which went to a Crew Welfare fund. This was a large, maybe 18x30, nautical chart of the area we had sailed on this cruise. One of the crew members hand-illustrated it with different sites and wildlife we had seen during the cruise. It was beautiful to see in person.
At almost midnight on this day, we still have the Drake Lake -
At our evening briefing, Captain Fab said we are making great time across the Drake, so will have an opportunity for a little surprise in the morning before we had back to Ushuaia. What will it be?
Yesterday, the captain had shared he expected we’d have 16-18-foot seas starting around midnight as we left the Shetland Islands for our return crossing of the Drake Passage. So, guess who wakes up at midnight to peek outside to see what’s happening with the ocean?
Calm seas -
And 30 minutes later, we can just see a tiny little bit of a whitecap here & there, but nothing close to 16-feet seas, thank goodness! Also, one of our last looks at icy Antarctica -
The AbD guides declared last night that today & tomorrow would be two more Pajama Days on board. We’re not going off the ship, so why not be comfortable? The plans for the day included a Marvel movie marathon in the theatre, a ping pong tournament in the lounge, name that Disney Tune game, and presentations by two of the Expedition Naturalists. We are also encouraged to order any photos or photo packages we want, that were taken by the Ponant photographers.
The green apples were back in the buffet, so I asked to have one sliced up for me. This is what the chef came back with, the most unusual apple slicing I’ve ever seen.
I asked for ginger ale with lunch, and found that the ship was completely out…guess along with that run on green apples last night, folks were also getting ginger ale. Well, not to worry, as I had a stash of three cans back in the fridge in my cabin…courtesy of my stateroom host keeping it restocked throughout the cruise. My friends also had some in their cabin, so we were set in case it was needed.
And, was it needed? No – for the expected mini-Drake-Shake never materialized. We were extremely fortunate in that we had the Drake Lake on both crossings for this cruise. There was a bit of wind in the early morning, but nothing to negatively impact the crossing. I’ve had rougher cruises out of New York.
Our morning Naturalist presentation was supposed to be Lison sharing on Antarctica discovery, but she had a bit of a cough. So, Lars stepped in to share about the 1911 Race to the South Pole between Robert Scott and Roald Admunsen. Since Lars is from Norway, Admunsen was from Norway, and there is the well-regarded Fram Museum (Norway Arctic exploration with Admunsen’s polar ship) in Oslo, it was the perfect topic for Lars to present.
Captain Fab had a noon announcement – we were 294 miles out from Antarctica and 374 miles to go to Ushuaia. The closest land to us at this point is the bottom of the ocean, 11,500 feet/3500 meters below us. Wind conditions, which weren’t really that much at all, will continue to lessen, and it is expected to be calm tomorrow. It is a balmy 43 degrees outside.
Our afternoon presentation was Singing with the Whales, by Tom – the Penguin Guy knows whales along with penguins! Another interesting session by the naturalists; I wish we’d had more while onboard. Here’s a funny thing about these presentations – they are scheduled at a specific time. When that time hits, the movie in process is paused, the presentation happens, and then the movie starts up again afterwards. It reminded me of the legendary NFL Heidi game – if you’ve not heard of it, Google it to see what that was all about.
By 4:30 pm, we once again had no wind and a perfectly calm Drake Lake.
The ship offered a raffle prize – for 10 Euros per ticket, which went to a Crew Welfare fund. This was a large, maybe 18x30, nautical chart of the area we had sailed on this cruise. One of the crew members hand-illustrated it with different sites and wildlife we had seen during the cruise. It was beautiful to see in person.
At almost midnight on this day, we still have the Drake Lake -
At our evening briefing, Captain Fab said we are making great time across the Drake, so will have an opportunity for a little surprise in the morning before we had back to Ushuaia. What will it be?
