Day 24, Neko Harbor, Antarctica -Day 4

Day 24, Neko Harbor, Antarctica, Day 4 – Dec 13

The Expedition Team had the Zodiacs in the water soon after our 6:30 AM arrival in Neko Harbor. The weather was OK, not as nice as it was the first day, but it was certainly pleasant enough to go on an open deck with only a jacket.

We are in the Purple Group, which would go first at 8 AM. Based on our experience from yesterday, they may start calling groups early, so we tried to be ready at 7:30 AM and would be ready to walk out the door at 7:45 AM if necessary.

Landings Cancelled

At 7:50 AM Jan announced that due to the amount brash ice and bergy bits in the harbor, there would not be any landings today. The expedition team said later that while they may have been able to get people ashore, there was a risk of changing conditions that might make returning to the Quest impossible. This was too risky, so they cancelled the landings and would offer 1-hour Zodiac tours of Neko Harbor per the current color group schedule.

Zodiac Tours

Immediately after making this announcement they called our group, Purple, and we headed down to The Club for our life preserver inspection and to change into our boots. As it turned out, we were faster than most today and would be in the first Zodiac. We later learned that about 1/3 of the passengers had decided to forgo the Zodiac tours which made the process go faster.

NOTE: The prospect of sitting in a Zodiac for a 1-hour tour over a freezing harbor didn’t sound too appealing at first, but we had a great time on the tour and the parka and puffer jackets kept us quite comfortable. We could shift our position on the Zodiac easily and the drivers allowed us to stand under certain conditions or we could turn around and kneel in the Zodiac to get a better perspective. Throughout the day Jan was enthusiastically reporting on the rave reviews to encourage people to not pass up on this wonderful opportunity.

After we boarded the Zodiac and shoved off, our driver reviewed the safety procedures and explained that we would be circling the giant iceberg that was nearby. The iceberg was easily 200 feet out of the water and over 400 yards across – maybe bigger.

Humpback Whales

In a few minutes we spotted a pair of humpback whales blowing near the surface and we headed off in that direction. For the next 15 minutes the whales swam near the iceberg, occasionally blowing and diving giving us a great view of their flukes. At one point they probably closed within 50 feet of our Zodiac before disappearing under the water.

By this time, there were several other Zodiacs nearby, and we moved on to the other side of the iceberg, so the other guests could get a little closer in their Zodiacs.

Throughout our tour we remained dry and comfortable and our expedition leader gave us an interesting commentary about the wildlife we observed and fascinating insight about the icebergs. As we were wrapping up our tour, our guide was able to take everyone’s picture with the iceberg in the background.

Back on the Ship

Back on the ship we changed out of our boots and headed back to our cabins to change before going to The Seabourn Square for an Irish Coffee and pastries.

Caviar on Ice

The highlight of the afternoon at 5:30 PM was one of Seabourn’s Signature events – “Caviar on Ice” – which was the same arrangement as the Caviar Sail-Away when we left Punta Arenas on December 5th. They set up a caviar station on the forward edge of the pool and placed a table with champagne on one side. On the other side of the Caviar Station they offered vodka shots featuring a variety of 6 different types of vodka. I can’t comment much on the caviar or the vodka since I am not much of an aficionado on either, but based on the reactions of many people who were in line to get multiple servings it must have been pretty good. Staff was also circulating around the pool serving caviar in small, hollowed out potato halves.

I wore only the inner puffer jacket but I should have worn the outer shell as well, since it was quite cold around the pool despite being sheltered from the direct wind.

Other stations around the pool were serving cheese, crackers and meat, carved salmon on bread and steak tartare.

Daily Recap

The daily recap and briefing for the next day started in the Grand Salon with Iggy giving an overview of the day and showed a few slides with pictures or our expected landing area in Yankee Harbor. After Iggy’s presentation, several other expedition members gave brief presentations on a variety of topics of interest for about 10 minutes each. These included a discussion of cold water endurance swimmer Lynne Cox who swam for 1 mile in Neko Harbor back in 2002 – without a wet or dry suit – and wrote about her adventures in a nice book: Swimming to Antarctica.

They also showed a video of an iceberg breaking up and rolling over. While I couldn’t find the exact video they showed on youtube, you can find similar videos if you search on “Iceberg Death Roll”.

They wrapped up a little after 7 PM which causes a big rush at The Restaurant and The Colonnade resulting in maybe a 10 minute wait.

Dinner with the Bridge Instructors

We had received an invitation to dine with the bridge instructors, Harry Nuckols and Mary Poplawski at 7:30PM so we went to The Club for a cocktail before heading down to The Restaurant.

I have heard that if you are particularly interested in a hosted table to let Guest Services know and you may receive more frequent invitations. Every night, you will spot officers and guest entertainers hosting tables throughout The Restaurant. Be aware that they assign seats at the table with nametags and you will not be sitting next to your partner, which always helps with the conversation.
We were joined by another couple for a table of 8 which is a nice size for dinner.

Dinner was wonderful, the conversation was lively and we all had a good time. Unfortunately, after the waiter extolled the featured Thomas Keller desert “The Creamsicle” (vanilla ice cream and orange sorbet in a dark chocolate shell on top of a pistachio olive oil cake) which resulted in everyone at our table placing an order.  Unfortunately he had to return in a few minutes and inform us that the desert was “sold out”. We will have to try it another day – if offered.

The Grand Salon

The entertainment in the Grand Salon was a variety show that lasted a full hour rather than the usual 45 minutes. The Seabourn Singers; Tom, Stephen, Jade and Aoife opened the show with an Abba hit “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!”followed by the dancers, Uliana and Oleg, who performed a Tango and a Paso Doble. Next up was the assistant cruise director, Jessica Poole who sang “Can’t Help Lovin That Man” and “Shiver me Timbers”. The wonderful magician “Hector is Magic” from Spain was next with more amazing card tricks and finally the Seabourn singers closed the show with and outstanding performance of “I’m so excited.”

This entry was posted in Antarctica

• Caviar on Ice
• Neko Harbor