The Cape Horn and Sea Day March 12, 2014

When things go bump in the night… and bump and bump and bump.  The seas are rocking and a rolling and when Bernie comes back with the coffees (and two hot almond croissants) he comments that there are people crashed in Explorer’s on the couches.  I think quite a few people are having a hard time with the motion.  The sickness bags are out too at every possible place.

I certainly can feel and see the motion but I should be fine but do take two ginger tablets just in case. 

When we look outside we see Albatross, the largest sea birds that spend most of their lives at sea.  There are tons of them out there first thing this morning, and we try to deal with the elements but damn it is windy and that is not comfortable.

When we look out again it is snowing, then hail, then rain, then go figure sun!  The tv channel shows winds at around 45 to 50 knots and it is hitting us on the side and the ship is bobbing.

I am sitting in bed watching Captain Phillips on the stateroom tv and even though I am not into violent movies I can’t stop watching.  I cover my face but have to peak thru my fingers to see what is going on.

Bernie has gone to morning trivia and then I join him for Motown Trivia (we didn’t do that great at either) and when I head down to the International Café they are so busy.  I see Thais and Beatriz and I say “wow this is crazy” they giggle and say “oh yeah” and I respond “don’t these people know about room service”. 

Lunch in Café Caribe is a Mexican Buffet so we head up and I am surprised at how busy it is.  It is quite good and you have to sit near the aft cause if you sit near the mid ship doors in Horizon Court you will freeze every time the doors open. 

I should add that they have closed off the Promenade deck due to safety as the spray and bouncing of the ship is just too dangerous. 

The Captain comes on for the noon announcement and informs us that because of the wind we just can’t safely go around the horn today.  Plus if we did go slow and safely around the horn we would be so late getting into Ushuaia.  This is too bad but I trust the Captain, and we have been around the horn before and the last time we froze out there and the weather was much much nicer.

We are back in the cabin mid afternoon, we thought about going to see Twelve Years a Slave which is being shown in the Princess Theater but it is packed in there and we decide to just relax in the cabin. 

Barb and Craig have invited us to their cabin for drinks at five and I decide since they have never been around the horn I need to improvise.  So I draw a picture of a horn!  Yup a horn.  So we all pose with the picture and say “see we have been around the horn”  and really the land in the distance looks like the horn too.  We enjoy a great time with friends and this to me is really what cruising is all about.

We are down in Vines to enjoy the rest of our wine from the other night and we head to our table at 8 pm and we see it is just getting set up.  Mark welcomes us and we enjoy a lovely meal, I had the lychee watermelon salad, the gazpacho soup, and the barramundi for my main.

I am so not into doing much after dinner and we wader around a bit but we both decide to head back to the cabin around 11 pm.  

Sea Day and Around the Horn – February 26

After a great sleep we are feeling refreshed, after a latte and a bite in the International Café we sit up in Crooners and chat with friends.  Lots going on around the ship, especially shopping.  Bought a nice fleece jacket with penguins on the back for $18 and Bernie got a nice windbreaker with fleece lining. 

Bernie wants to do trivia and I am not really interested so I relax and read and chat with fellow passengers.  For lunch we head to the dining room and I had a lovely stuff pepper. 

Gail and Russell meet up with us in our cabin for a trivia game and some good laughs until we hear we are coming close to the horn so we bundle up and head up on deck.  It is cold and windy but wearing appropriate clothes helps. 

Gail and I

Now it is confusing to explain how we go around the horn, we are going east to west and we are just passing deception island, the island is called this because many times ships thought this was the end of South America when in fact it is not, therefore called island of deceit.

We are sailing on the north side of Cape Horn going around the horn counter clockwise.  Joe Mae our speaker is talking over the loud speaker about what we are seeing and the history of the area.  Have to say we really enjoy his talks.  His lectures are well attended but we choose to watch them in the cabin as they are replayed there.  Then when I do fall asleep it isn't so obvious and I am comfy in bed.

The ship photographers are out and they are trying to get their quota of pictures so we are trying to help by posing and getting our friends to pose too.

After about an hour up on deck we head back to the cabin to change and get ready for dinner.  Tonight’s menu is called Candlelight menu, one we have not experienced and it looks good.  I had the mushroom stuffed chicken, but they did have a lobster tail and lobster cake that looked very good. 

I should note that the Captain did come over the in cabin speakers to notify us that we may be delayed in our arrival tomorrow in Ushuaia as there is a political protest group occupying a ship at the berth that we need to dock at.  Word is that they have agreed to leave the berth at 7 am so our arrival will be delayed by an hour.

our waiter even got in on it

Tonight is Oscar night and we have arranged to have a group of us sit together in the Vista lounge to enjoy the show together.  Just prior to the show is Oscar Trivia for which we didn’t do too too bad at but still did not win.  A group of us gather and we bring out the feather boas for the show.  Great fun, good laughs and great people.  The show starts around 10:30 but sadly the sound is just so overpowering that we can’t really hear well.  After about 45 minutes we decide to head back to the cabin and we watch a bit on the t.v. but we are both having a hard time staying awake.