The swells and choppy seas continued through the night as we headed further south towards our next port. After breakfast, we attempted to go for our walk, only to find that most of the outside doors on the lower promenade had been roped off with signs on the windows warning of high winds. There were several crew members working outside doing paint touch-up and deck scrubbing. As long as we stayed clear of them, we still were able to get in some walking. All of the teak lounges had been stacked and tied down to the railings, and all of the beach towels were put away. Waves hitting the sides of the ship were quite impressive at times. Keeping in the sun and out of the wind, it really wasn't all that bad. Of course, we did have to get out the heavier vests and jackets, which will be put to good use in the following week or more. And those soft fleece scarves and gloves we got last night will come in handy too. Barb likes the fleece cap, and will be wearing it a lot.
And just in case some of the guests did not bring enough warm clothing, an Antarctica marketplace was presented in the Lido Poolside today. Although we did not see it, Heo said they were selling hoodies, t-shirts, and lots of cold weather gear. If it all has the HAL logo printed on it, then we would get an additional 15% off of the price. Will have to check it out sometime tomorrow.
Another new speaker, Gabriela Roldan, gave a lecture on the Falklands today. She must be Argentinian since she refers to the islands as the Malvinas. To this day, there is still resentment with Britain over the ownership of these far away islands. Dr. Peter Carey gave more insight into the wildlife restoration on the islands. And we discovered this morning with a closer look at the books we were gifted, that Dr. Carey happens to be one of the authors of the book. That should make it even more interesting knowing it was written by someone who actually has lived in this area.
At his 12:30pm talk, Captain Jonathon said we were 768 miles from Montevideo and 300 miles closer to the Falklands. We had been experiencing near gale winds clocked at 33 mph, a force 7 on the Beaufort Scale. He expected the winds to subside somewhat, bringing it down to 22 mph, but the swells would continue. The sea temperature was 61 degrees, and we can expect rain tomorrow. With this all said, now we really wonder if it will be possible to tender us ashore? We have been here twice, but did miss tendering once. Some people we know have never made it due to the high winds. And to complicate matters even more, another ship will be at anchor tomorrow. The Celebrity Eclipse (launched in 2010) will be here as well. She is a big one at 122,000 gross tons, with 2852 passengers, and a crew of 1271. Unless the majority of the guests will be on tours, we expect the cafes, pubs, and restaurants to be over-flowing.
For the second time in a few days, we got a reminder to "cover your cough" message in or mail slots. Stop the spread of germs that make you and others sick. Now we are curious as to how many people are already sick? We have brought 2 quarts of liquid disinfectant hand soap, which we use religiously. Now that this has been brought to our attention, we are hearing and seeing people that are coughing, sneezing, and blowing their noses. In this age of "super bugs" we sure hope they are not spreading among the population of the Amsterdam.
Dinner was slow in arriving tonight, maybe since cordon-bleu was the most popular entrée ordered. At times when that occurs, we have been informed that they ran out of it. Six of us ordered it, so when it finally arrived, it looked as if it was just cooked. Hot and tasty, we think it was hastily put together. One of us had the raspberry layer cake with vanilla ice cream, and the other enjoyed a plate of the new watermelon. It was a toss-up as to which one was better.
Around 9:45pm every evening, the bright light strips on the waiter's serving stations go on with a timer. They can be blinding, and we think it is their way of hurrying us along, so they can close the dining room down. In the old days, something we find we are saying often, we would never be done eating until 10pm. Now that the shows begin at 9:30pm, the staff hopes everyone will exit the room, and attend the show. Greg and Heo do leave every night, but the rest of us stay and chat. Once again, we discovered we were the last to leave the dining room. By the way, the entertainer this evening was a unique illusionist and visual artist, Ruben Vilagrand. Not familiar with the name, we will rely on Greg's impression of his talents.
Every night, we have a pillow message, some of which are corny, but some are good. This one was one of the good ones: Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save. – Will Rogers - He has a good point!
Bill & Mary Ann
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Report #82 Day at Sea January 27, 2020 Monday Sunny & 66 degrees
