Amalia Glacier

I woke up at 4:00 and there was certainly some pitching and rolling going on, but not enough to throw you out of bed. When there is rough weather there are 2 things you can do. You can stay in bed and enjoy the rocking motion, or you could go to the Commodore Club, and watch the waves. When we woke up, we chose the latter.

When we got there, the Commodore Club was packed, and not only was our favourite window seat occupied, there wasn’t a single seat available. We waited around for some time, and finally a space opened up. I grabbed it. Brian decided to go to the photography talk.

Luckily, later 2 seats became available, and although we were not by the windows we still had a good view of the channel. It reminded us of Glacier Bay in Alaska, although there is only one glacier here. We had been in Glacier Bay on a sail boat for a week in June, and had watched the parade of monster cruise ships going in to the bay each day, now here we were on a monster cruise ship doing the same thing.

The scenery was very pretty, with snow capped hills and waterfalls. We moved very slowly giving us ample time to soak up the beauty around us.

At 3:00 they opened up the front decks 5 and 6 so that people could get good views of the glacier. The door on deck 9 at the front of the gym was also open. Normally we are the first people to bundle up and go out on deck if there is a good view to be had. However, there we were sitting in the warmth and comfort of the Commodore Club with an acceptable view of the glacier. We chose to remain there, and ordered another drink. I was very worried that this was a clear sign that we had crossed over to the other side, and had become geriatric. Then I thought, that more likely this was a sign that we were finally maturing and becoming sensible in our old age. The view was fantastic, we were not subject to the drizzle and wind outside, and would have much better memories of the glacier from here, rather than having memories of being wet and freezing cold, as we do for so many sights we have seen.

Finally the Amalia glacier came in to full view, and a beautiful glacier it is too. It is huge, and a vibrant shade of blue. We stopped 2 miles away, but it still seemed to be enormous. One of the reasons that we didn’t go any nearer was because the nautical charts end where we were stopped. The glacier has receded so much since the charts were made. We then rotated around twice , giving all sides of the ship a good view. A rescue boat went out with the ship’s photographers so they could take close ups of the glacier, I look forward to seeing their photos. As usual I took loads of videos. The reflection from the windows was a problem, but not enough to persuade me to brave the elements out side.

We were at the glacier for an hour. Dada gave a commentary about the glacier and Patagonia Ice Fields, while we rotated around in the narrow channel.

Compared to other glaciers we have seen, there were fewer ice floes. I wasn’t sure if this meant that the glacier does not calve very often, or that it was due for a major calving. Alas, the former was true. In the whole hour, only a very small piece broke away. The disadvantage of being indoors was we couldn’t hear it crack. When we were on the sailboat in June, the glaciers were a very noisy bunch, and you could hear them from inside the boat. On that trip we had also picked up some ice, and kept it in a cooler on deck for use in our drinks, we couldn’t do that this time.

Finally we turned around again and made our way down the channel. We spent the rest of the afternoon watching the beautiful scenery pass us by. This is such a wonderful itinerary – we have seen the never-ending stormy Atlantic Ocean, we have watched the banks of the mighty Amazon River go by, and here we are in a Chilean fjord. Each view is spectacular in its own way. Life is good.

We had another formal night, and the Masquerade Ball. We passed by the Queens Room on our way to dinner, and watched the parade of the masked passengers. Some wore really fancy masks, some were clearly homemade, and some were very strange and quite scary. The judges seemed to like the masks that had feathers, and bright colours. There were a lot of people at the ball, and it was great to see the Queens Room so crowded. After dinner, however, it was quite deserted, as were the bars we walked by on our way to the theater.

Dinner was excellent again, served by our wonderful waiters Nicholas and Milly. Nicholas used to work on QE2, and has been on QV since QE2 went to languish in Dubai. Milly is very young, and has the most beautiful smile, and giggles a lot. She is a real joy. Szilvia is our sommelier. So together with our great tablemates Keith and Ann, meals are always a very pleasurable experience. However, we do miss Paul and Karla, who are back home by now.

The performers at the show tonight were the Brit Tones. Four British lads who sing Motown and Pop songs. They all have beautiful voices, and a lot of energy. We thoroughly enjoyed the show. It is certainly worth going to see them if they are appearing on a cruise ship near you. One of the members of the group used to be a singer on QV, and the ship’s singers and dancers were in the audience cheering him on.