At Sea

March 9^th, 2024

I was still disappointed about the penguins, but hopefully we will see them tomorrow.

We really haven’t found the perfect lounge to sit in during the day, but Skywalkers night club works out well.

I love the décor.

Even the carpet and ceiling look lovely.

The only issues are that the tables have a fixed lamp in the middle, making it hard to place your lap top on them, and there are no convenient outlets.

Still watching the view is great, and best of all there is no piped music. That’s my one complaint about the commodore club.

At about 10:30 the captain gave an update on the weather. There are near gale force winds at the moment, and the wind is going to get stronger and stronger and will be a force 8 by the time we arrive in Stanley tomorrow. The seas are getting rougher and rougher, so it will be a bumpy ride. Not that I am a pessimist, but I had the strong feeling that he was setting us up for a scenario whereby we would not be able to lower the tenders tomorrow, so we would not be able to go ashore. This would mean no penguins. I tried to think positive thoughts that the forecast was wrong, and that the weather would be just fine.

We thought of having lunch in the International Dining Room as we haven’t been there yet. When we arrived there was a queue and a long wait for a table, so alas it was the buffet again. That seems to be the only restaurant where you can be served your lunch, which is disappointing on a ship with so many passengers.

Today’s schedule was again full of all kinds of activities and talks. There really is something for everyone. I was wondering if I could bring the cross stitch table cloth I am working on to the Knitters and Knatters. Then I thought the better of it. I need to focus on my stitches, and I would probably not get much done if I was listening to all the nattering. Still, I may have learned some interesting gossip. However, they may not accept cross stitchers, maybe knitters are very picky. Well. I will probably never know.

Instead of stitching and nattering, I joined Brian at another of the Spanish classes. They really are fun. I am not sure I am learning any new vocabulary, but it’s a good chance to practice what I know.

The other night I saw that there was a Milky Way martini on the menu in the Crooners Lounge, so this evening was definitely the chance to try to see if it was up to QE2 or even QM2 standards. I like the Crooners lounge – it is a bit like the Mid Ships lounge on Queen Victoria and you can sit there and watch what is going on in the atrium and wave at people you knew if you knew anyone else on board.

Well the martini was a bit of a disappointment.

Not anything as nice as a real one on the Queens, and although it did have a chocolate swirl, there was no sign of a Cadbury’s Flake, or even chocolate sprinkles. I don’t think it was even up to the standard of a Chocolate Affair martini. However, it was certainly drinkable, and the piano player, Gavin Burke, is great. Sitting there sipping a martini, listening to the piano, and watching the passersby in the atrium all made for a perfect way to end the evening. Even Fernando the cruise director stopped by to say hi!

By the time we returned to our cabin, the ship was bouncing quite a lot, we are certainly in very rough seas. Fingers crossed for a penguin encounter tomorrow.