Day 28
ANTARCTICA, DAY 2
It’s getting light very early, and when I woke at 5 AM I already thought I may have overslept. The commentary was not scheduled to start until 7 AM when we approached the Neumayer channel. We would spend most of the morning scenic cruising in this channel.
ON THE PROMENADE
The skies have been generally overcast, with occasional glimpses of blue peeking through. It was quite chilly this morning as I walked on the bow, I could only spend a few minutes out there before I had to put on my gloves.
I retreated to the Promenade deck and was sheltered from the wind. The temperature was still cold but much more tolerable. A group of ladies were on the loungers all bundled up and enjoying the view.
I walked to the stern, took the elevator up to the Lido deck and walked out by the Seaview pool. There were a couple guys swimming in the heated water. Someone set up a GoPro filming the passing scenery with time lapse photography.
NEUMAYER CHANNEL
Lined with snow covered mountains on either side, the Neumayer channel is filled with small icebergs, or growlers. As we made our way slowly down the channel, the commentator would point out the occasional seal. They were so far away they were not much more than specks, even with binoculars. Toward noon we came across a couple of whales swimming by the ship and I managed to catch the tail fluke of one as it dove beneath the surface.
WATERBOAT POINT
Later in the afternoon as we approached Waterboat Point, we spotted an expedition ship, the Ocean Nova, moving towards us in the channel. We waited until she passed by us before we continued north past the Chilean Antarctic Base – Gonzalez Videla Station. Judy and I cruised here before in Dec 2018 on the Seabourn Quest – you can read about that day HERE.
Coming within a few hundred yards of the Chilean Station, it was easy to spot the thousands of Gentoo penguins all over the point and around the station. Most expedition ships will make a call here, as it is on the Antarctic continent itself, and the boat ramp makes for easy zodiac landings.
Earlier in the day, we came across a sailboat, which was launching its own zodiac boat for a shore landing. Some of these are privately operated and others are run by commercial tour companies. I am not sure I would want to venture across the Drake Passage in a craft this small.
As we continued cruising, we saw numerous whales “logging” which means floating near the surface, their backs visible and not much else.
We passed by one larger iceberg, which was significant enough for the Captain to come across the general announcing system and alert everyone about this interesting sighting. All day, we passed by numerous smaller chunks of floating ice called “growlers” and “bergy bits”.
The seas are calm, but the wind can be brisk at times, creating some very cold wind chill temperatures across the open decks. We spent most the day cruising up and down the channels inside the area circled on the map above.
WINTER WONDERLAND
The theme for tonight’s dinner was “Winter Wonderland”. The dining room was decorated with paper snowflakes hanging from the ceiling. The tables were set with turquoise place mats and napkins, with alternating blue and white chair covers.
THE MAINSTAGE
There wasn’t a live show tonight as they showed the movie Planet Earth II on the large screen on the Mainstage. Adagio and the HAL orchestra were on stage playing along to the movie’s soundtrack, which was quite loud. At times it was hard to tell when the musicians were playing live. While the movie was very good, it is not a substitute for live entertainment, despite the presence of the musicians onstage. HAL would be better off showing this in the afternoon and sticking to live performances in the evening.
GREAT WHITE WAY PARTY
My penguin costume made another appearance during dinner and the Great White Way Party. This will probably be its final outing of the cruise as we have other costumes ready for future special events.
The Crow’s Nest had extra bar tenders and Happy Hour pricing for the Great White Way Party, but aside from that, there wasn’t any visible decorations in the Crow’s Nest or anything else to indicate this was a special event. The dance floor was full and everyone was having a good time.
