Friday, January 20, 2023
We went to the Gallery Bar to play some more table shuffleboard. The score is now 3-2. I’m still hanging on to my lead.
The Gallery Bar is next to the Casino, shows sports on its TV screens, and features interesting artwork. The bar is always busy.
We decided to go to the Lido for dinner. I had a salad and Chuck had a little of the braised beef and the chicken parmigiana.
During dinner, we got an email from Holland America that said our cruise consultant that we have done business with for 15 years was leaving Holland America. Such disappointing news. Even though we never met face to face, we felt like we knew her. We have been assigned a new consultant. I hope she is at least half as friendly and efficient as our previous one.
Also, during dinner, the ship lurched, and some large bowls fell off the serving line. Really loud crash. Our salt shaker fell off of the table but it didn’t break. Still in the Drake Passage.
We also saw part of the Lido pool area entrance blocked off and water was sloshing around. We asked an officer what happened, and he said they were swabbing the deck. I call BS on that explanation. I’ve seen them swab decks before and there wasn’t that much standing water. The pool was empty and there was way too much water on the deck. I think the pool sloshed over and soaked the deck when the ship lurched, and they emptied the rest of it so it wouldn’t happen again.
We played some slots and then went to see Daniel Ka who is a magician and illusionist. He was pretty good. However, there was some strobe lighting that really hurt the eyes went it went off.
Before the show, Kevin, our Cruise Director, told everyone to stop saving seats in the main stage for long periods of times. I mentioned before that the morning and afternoon talks have been very popular and very hard to get a seat unless you go early. Seems that people are going as soon as they get up and putting their stuff – books, sweaters, etc. in the seats they want and then go about their morning until the time of the lecture. Old people equivalent of putting pool towels on the deck chairs to save them. Tomorrow’s talks on penguins and marine mammals will be standing room only so I doubt anyone will heed his admonishment.
Once the show ended, I called it a night. Chuck went back to the casino for some poker.
I really slept well last night. It may have been hard to walk around but the rocking ship helps me sleep. However, at breakfast, I heard about a woman who was tossed out of bed and had to get a couple of stitches on her ear because it hit the bedside table.
The Captain announced that we had passed the 60-degree south latitude at 3:00 a.m. so we were officially in Antarctica waters.
I found a seat for Jim’s presentation on penguins. I didn’t realize how many species of penguins there are.
After the presentation, I worked on some of my photos and then went to the sale in the shops. I found a shirt I liked.
As the afternoon progressed, we got closer to Deception Island, an island in the South Shetland Islands close to the Antarctic Peninsula. This island is the caldera of an active volcano.
The Captain announced that there were Gentoo penguins in the water and on the shore of the island. Everyone rushed out to the decks – me included.
Deception Island –
After we finished watching the penguins, it was time to get ready for the evening.
Fondest Travel Memories 