Saturday, 8 January 2011 – Cruising

ALL AT SEA

A lazy day cruising in the South Atlantic Ocean.

Before going up to the Lido for breakfast I checked to see if there was a washing machine free in the self-service laundry and as there was I put on a load of washing. Anecdotal reports say that more fights break out in the laundry room than in any other part of the ship, including the bars and casinos. There aren’t a lot of machines and some people put in loads then go and forget them for lengthy periods so someone else will come along and remove the load so they can put their own in. Hence some heated exchanges!

I seem doomed to have accommodation with electrical problems. I spent some time working on my netbook this morning and my cabin lost all power for about two and a half hours.

At 2pm we had our Cruise Critic Meet & Greet up in the Crows Nest. This was a chance for all those on our online roll call to finally meet in person. Patti, the Cruise Director, attended to answer any questions and our main concern was how we could get onto a tender as early as possible in the Falklands so we could do our excursion to Volunteer Point. Normally we would have to wait until all HAL shore excursions have gone ashore on the 20 minute tender transfer, but she has kindly offered to get us off after their own Volunteer Point tours.

Next on today’s agenda (there were numerous things offered but I didn’t do many of them) was to meet our exploration speakers for this cruise. HAL has brought four specialists on board – a geologist, an ice pilot, a political scientist and a wildlife expert. All have spent quite some time working in Antarctica and a couple have consulted on the Antarctic Treaty. Their individual presentations sound very interesting so I’ll make sure I attend them.

This evening I went to the show in the Showroom at Sea, Juan & Eileen Los Gauchos who presented a sample of Argentinean dance and music. Think Las Vegas, not the more authentic show we saw in BA.

Finally, a 50’s & 60’s sock hop in the Showroom, followed by the Adagio String in the Explorers Lounge and bed at midnight. Still got sinus problems but a great improvement on yesterday.