Saturday, January 24, 2024 – Montevideo, Uruguay

Montevideo is one of my favorite ports, but I just couldn’t go out again.  I was tired and there was plenty of office work to catch up on. The World Stage entertainment was outstanding:  May Roman & Williams Malpezzi, a couple of dancers, their training rooted in ballet, but creative modern dance, their specialty.  They took us through a lot of genres and were just wonderful to watch.

Sunday, January 25, 2026 – At Sea

No one came to the desk.  I started catching up

On logging and blogging and Pat and I played Bridge and cane 2nd N-S again.  Lifford Shillingford was on the World Stage singing jazz and blues, and I like that.

Monday, January 26, 2026 – At Sea

Toya stopped by the desk while I was transferring photos with my USB cable and was happy to learn how to do that.  It was quite a busy day at the desk. We went to the preview Antarctica presentation on the World stage and met the HAL presenters, Ian and Vonda. We also got the captain’s take on the weather we would face in Antarctica and Joanne was a tad rattled by his predictions.

Dee was at a President’s Club Dinner and so Joanne got to eat in the Lido with her younger friends and Pat and I went to the Lido for a delicious stir-fry and a chicken pot pie.  We just chatted away right through the entertainment.

Tuesday, January 27, 2026 – Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

It was a bright, sunshiny day in the Falkland Island, unlike the rest of the times I have been here.  A lot of people went off on penguin viewing tours and were mostly disappointed.  Dee, with her experience, chose wisely and was on one of the last Bluff Point, penguin tours.  It’s a private operation and the owners are getting too old to want to keep it going.   Me, I just went into town to be able to say I had set foot in the Falklands.  I met up with Barbara Zion and Toya and we offed in search of a good British Pub lunch.  The place is pretty bleak, as to architecture, and the signage such that’s even hard to tell the pubs.  We ended up in the Victory Bar, which didn’t have much identification, but this sign gave us a bit of a clue:

Husbands, shmusbands, this is our kind of place.  We three girls went in and had the best fish and chips ever.  I guess they have no trouble getting fresh fish.  The local beer was good, too.  I counted seven DV people in the place.  I also made the acquaintance of a bubbly fellow passenger, who is giving away fairy threads as blessings.  I’ll be her next blessed recipient.

Back on board, there was a production show, called “Songbirds” a tribute to the female songwriters of our time.  Good, as usual.

 Wednesday, January 28, At Sea

This is our last regular sea day before the Antarctic Experience, and it’s rough weather.  Joanne spent the day in bed, with green apples and peanut butter, as the ship made headway through the waves.  We rolled for a few hours and then the captain was proud to announce that that was over, but we would be pitching for another five hours or so.  Joanne was not much comforted. Pat, Dee and I had no trouble at all.  Pat and I continue to do well at Bridge.  We are consistently coming second-N-S.  Sometimes it’s a 2-3 tie.  I don’t think we’ll ever catch the two guys who come first.  They are about 20 percentage points in front of us.

The World Stage entertainer, Doc Dixon, had to compete with “A night of Music” and the music won.  We loved the ad for it at the entrance to the dining room: 

When we started out at 9:30pm, all the venues were done, except the Ocean Bar.  Tells you a bit about the ship’s population, that. There wasn’t a seat in the Ocean Bar, so I gave up and went to bed. Tells you a bit about me, too, I guess.

Thursday, January 29, 2026 – Antarctic Experience

Everyone got into position for some Antarctic wildlife viewing, even though it was raining and still pretty rough. Joanne stayed in bed, I manned the desk and no one came. Then I went to meet Gina in the Crow’s Nest and got my fairy threads, while watching for anything.  Gina is a very sweet, interesting person, a sailor, at one point, but she prefers power boats.  She is spreading joy in her part of the world, which happens to be this ship for now.  I, for one, am very joyful. 

The weather kept improving as to wind and water, but you still couldn’t see anything. I spent most of the day in the Crow’s Nest, working on my logs and blogs and ready to view.  There was no view.  The captain got on the blower to tell us there were penguins swimming off the starboard side but it was so foggy you could barely see them – or anything else.  That lasted all day.  I got a lot of work done.

Linda McMillan and Bob Eckert joined me for Happy Hour and had dinner at the table with us.  They are good company.  We need to plan some adventures.  Lifford Shillingford was on the World Stage again but we didn’t get up from the table in time.

Friday, January 30, 2026 – Antarctic Experience

And this is the big wildlife viewing day, and I am writing this from the Crow’s Nest, all caught up.  And what a day it is.  The weather is bright and sunny and the wildlife is out playing.  We are seeing spritzes from whales and penguins, a tail of a whale and a sea lion lolling on an ice floe.  At least I am told we are seeing all that stuff.

Cougarville Island – finally saw penguins, lots and lots of them.  I couldn’t believe how close to shore this big ship got. It doubtless has to do with the fact that it’s a perfectly calm day, so the underwater cameras can keep us safe.  We got so close you could see the penguins with the naked eye. Our onboard naturalist says they come back here every year looking for their mates, they call and call and if that doesn’t work after a few days, they just waddle off and find another mate.  Sort of like us.  The Dance Duo of May Roman and Williams Malpezzi were on the World Stage and they are true eye candy in many genres.  We are trying to figure out if they are an actual couple.  They keep the mystery.

Saturday, January 31, 2026 – Antarctic Experience

Nobody came to the desk.  I haven’t figured out whether these days are Sea Days or not, as they are titled “Antarctic Experience” and everyone is going around in toques and puffer jackets.  Pat and I played Bridge and didn’t do as well.

We had a wonderful time at dinner with May and Roman.  We have new friends now and we still don’t know if they will ever get married, but they sure are having fun.  We learned a lot more about the training regimen of professional dancers and I have new found respect for my late lovely friend, Pat Finot.