AussieBoyTX

Early Monday morning, we arrived at Deception Island, an actually active volcano (last eruption 1969), in the South Shetland Islands. Given the Drake Passage forecast, other ships had altered their plans as well, and we found Sea Spirit already there and Silver Endeavour entering the narrow path to the harbor right ahead of us. L’Austral was also nearby, only a few nautical miles away at Half Moon Island. Silver Endeavour stopped just beyond the entrance to the bay, presumably to allow its guests to explore the whaling station there. Our destination was the far end of Telefon Bay to see the caldera of the valcano. Our group landed first around 9 am and this landing was more of what I had imagined before the trip — the water was smooth, as we were in the bay, but temps were slightly above freezing and winds were 50+ kts and included a bit of driven rain. We also had a low overcast that made Le Lyrial at times impossible to see, a short distance from us. The shore was a kind of volcanic mud that had an interesting characteristic — if you were able to work your boots into the mud, you could feel the heat coming from the earth! That was cool. There were five Weddell seals off to the side that didn’t seem too interested in us — and also didn’t seem to want us around. We went the other way for the easy walk to the caldera. Having seen that, we decided to head back to the ship, like most people, though some did decide to take the hike through the fog along the ridge. We then decided to check out the pool — it was nicely heated and the restaurant manager said we were the first to use the pool this cruise. This was an especially good choice because we became aware that the Breton ham, egg & cheese galette was the upstairs special of the day — my favorite, so I made the effort to be on Deck 6 right as the restaurant opened — and still almost missed out on a table! However, having secured a table I was second in line for the galette and was able to enjoy it with a glass of cider as we sailed from Telefon bay. Our Malaysian friends let us know that the kitchen had taken to making a special dish for the twenty Malaysians on board to share. Today, a prawn porridge. They gave us a portion and it was good, Pretty much as we expected, the noon briefing announced that our afternoon expedition would now be a “drive by” of the Chinstrap penguin colony on the outside wall of Deception Island. It would have been fun to land on the incredibly long black lava sand beach to get close to the penguins and seals, but our Captain was good enough to give us two slow passes before we continued on our way. There were plenty of afternoon activities, but having been on the early expeditions, we were kind of tired and passed on most — but not the bridge tour, now that I was sure that everyone who hadn’t been before had a chance to sign up and the travel quiz, hosted by the Travel Ambassador. The winner received a 250 euro shipboard credit on any cruise booked on board. I haven’t heard back, so I guess we’re not the lucky winners. Anticipating rough seas tomorrow and Wednesday, the final Captain’s toast and gala dinner were held tonight. We decided to eat upstairs, expecting the Deck 6 restaurant to be closed for the Drake Passage crossing. Tomorrow: Drake Lake or Drake Shake?

This trip made Ponant’s Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/ponant_cruises/status/1597525734041407488?s=20&t=DMBFY46jD75gMVEuwipVAQ

For a couple of days, personally, I wouldn't bother. We spent a couple of weeks hiking through TdP a few years ago and although we experienced pretty much all types of weather over that time, I never really thought I had uncomfortably wet shoes. I might carry an extra pair of socks, though.

In a French group,, I saw a departure from CDG at 5:30AM for one cruise last summer. It's only one datapoint, but I'd guess that all departures would be similar.

For us, Antarctica was dramatic mountains and sailing through icebergs, along with the penguin colonies. What we saw did not compare to the King penguin, fur and elephant seal colonies and whaling station on South Georgia. But, I don’t know what we didn’t see in Antarctica…

Thanks. A guest set their pole down and the penguin immediately came over to check it out. They were often right underfoot or within a meter or so.

Sunday, we were treated to two actual landings in the Antarctic Peninsula. We woke to a high overcast, maybe early sunny day and were advised that it was much colder today than yesterday, so dress appropriately. The first stop was at Danco Island, where we had the opportunity to see a Gentoo Penguin colony. The penguins were in fine form and were great to watch. There were also a fair number mating, so that was, uh, interesting. I wound up severely overdressing and was hot even after removing all of my layers. Crazy. The Captain decided to take us on a direct course to Neko Harbour, which wound up with a very scenic cruise between icebergs and mountain ranges. We had lunch downstairs during this scenic journey and enjoyed pork loin and sea bass with a curry sauce. We also noted that the fresh vegetables are starting to become more rare on the salad bar. Not bad after what is it? Eleven days so far? Neko Harbour was a beautiful location with a nice rocky beach adjacent to a glacier and mountains. Clearly, it’s on the cruise ship circuit — stairs had been helpfully carved out of the snow to make it easier for us to get from beach to snowpack. It was once the location for a whaling factory ship between 1911 & 1924. Now, it’s another Gentoo Penguin colony. These Gentoo were especially curious and walked around us and up to us throughout our stay. One Gentoo waddled over to me and decided to take a rest about a meter from me. We also caught a small avalanche that stirred up the water enough to bring in some terns looking for krill. At the evening briefing we learned that the Captain was concerned about the Drake Passage forecast and wanted to ensure that we were on the way to the Drake Monday night, as he was expecting fair weather on Tuesday and rough weather on Wednesday. To help with this our expeditions for Monday would be in the South Shetland islands, with the first stop at Deception Island, an active volcanic island and the second nearby but TBD. I noticed that L’Austral has also changed her schedule and will be at a different island in the South Shetlands. We had dinner upstairs, with a great view of the icebergs as Le Lyrial headed North. I enjoyed a carrot & potato soup, beef Burgundy, gnocchi and a fine Côtes du Rhône red wine. After dinner, our dancers would put on their final show and I’ll let you in on a secret… I posted yesterday’s update before the performance and want to share something about last night’s performance. These dancers joined Le Lyrial while we were on her in July on our Croatia to Greece cruise. So we saw their first performances then and this week is the final cruise on their contract, so now we also saw their final performances. Last night’s performance was enjoyable, but midway through the performance, there were suddenly five dancers instead of four. How puzzling… Then Holy Cats! we realized that the fifth dancer was our cruise director! She had all the moves and high kicks as the rest of the team and did a short solo performance that blew us away. As for tonight, the dancers, principal singer and cruise director put together a show they choreographed themselves — so this show is completely unique to Le Lyrial. it was very well attended — about 100 guests plus additional crew members in dress uniform. The theater felt almost full. The show was only thirty-minutes or so and we were back in our cabin at 10pm to complete our Thanksgiving sales shopping. Tomorrow: Deception Island plus something to be announced. Also, the Farewell Evening, while we’re confident we have amenable seas.

We woke up Saturday to calm waters well within the Antarctic Peninsula — but not before one “little kiss” overnight from the storm engulfing the Drake Passage. It knocked our water bottles over and I fell out of bed. Our first Zodiac tour was at Wilhelmena Bay and the weather was again in our favor, rapidly alternating between almost sunny, overcast and snowy. We drove between icebergs and around swimming penguins. It was quiet and scenic. We also heard (and partly saw) an avalanche. We were back on board around 10am so the second group could get their turn, but the view from Deck 6 remained spectacular. From the Observatory Lounge deck, we could see more penguins including, improbably, an Emperor penguin who moved from iceberg to iceberg as we all tried to capture pictures of him. A bit after noon, we set sail for our second location of the day under sunny skies. It was fun to watch Le Lyrial thread her way between the icebergs, though that did make for some excitement in the restaurants as items shifted with her listing. Deck 6 was open for lunch and it filled immediately. We ate downstairs and had quiche Lorraine, a veggie burrito, club sandwich and Ponant burger. In the distance, we saw a pair of orcas. We were hoping they might come visit with us, but they had other plans. On our sail to Fournier Bay, we actually happened to catch a glimpse of m/v World Traveller tucked in a cove. It’s the first cruise ship we’ve seen since we left Ushuaia! The afternoon Zodiac excursion wasn’t as interesting for me. We did see a couple of lone gentoo penguins and a single crab eater seal. We also motored around some newly calved icebergs and enjoyed the deep blue color. However, weather remained fine and it’s hard not to enjoy anything in this weather. Back on Le Lyrial, we stopped for hot chocolate and exchanged pictures with friends. We had reservations to eat upstairs, so enjoyed eating as we passed mountains and glaciers in the setting sun. Sadly, the Bordier cheese buffet did not include our favorite Reblochon — we were about to go discuss this with the restaurant manager (not really) when some humpback whales came alongside the ship to play. They stayed with us for over an hour, giving everyone a chance to watch them. The evening ended with our dancers continuing their farewell tour with another show. Tomorrow: Landing on Antarctica

Thanks! No, it hasn't been cold at all, but it has been windy. The supplied parka is well made and warm. Today, I wore a fleece under it and was almost too warm. If the waterproof pants are also windproof, that will be helpful. We brought along some hand warmers -- that's helped when we're on a Zodiac for an hour and not actually moving.

There are gala nights. I think you'll find my comments from last week helpful:

Black Friday begin with rough seas overnight and we had some things fall off shelves and tables. Although some were fragile, fortunately nothing broke. We finally mitigated the problem by moving everything to the floor and we slept well the rest of the night. We had a lazy morning, starting with breakfast in our cabin, followed by watching the waves and ocean spray from the Observatory Lounge. There are more naturalist briefings today, along with bingo, dancing and live music. Captain’s noon announcement suggests 40 kt winds perpendicular to our travel direction with 6.4 meter seas for the next 24 hours. We had fish & chips for lunch, which were fine. And we actually have an obligation this afternoon — a mandatory biosecurity inspection of our boots and outerwear. So I guess our arrival on the Antarctic peninsula is nigh! There weren’t many activities scheduled for the afternoon, so we relaxed in the cabin bit a bit before the boot inspection and expedition update. At this point, we were entering the Antarctic peninsula and the winds and waves abated a bit and the sun also came out. Nice! At the briefing, there was a little bit of bragging about our decision to come to Antarctica early. A ship that left about a day after us was making very slow progress and might take four days to make the passage that took us three days (already a day longer than we expected) Everyone ate on Deck 2. The chicken consommé would have been good for anyone still with an unsure stomach. The starter was a wing of skate. It was not to my liking, but it was otherwise popular at the table. I was able to offer my portion to someone wanting more. I had the veal for the main, which was well prepared. Others had salmon, which also got high marks. We had ordered a cheese plate, which was kind of meh — the good news is that the Bordier cheese buffet is offered tomorrow. We will be looking for Roblochon! We made a quick stop at the bar for aperitifs and then to the cabin to quickly check on any outstanding black Friday sales. Saturday: Zodiac tours in the Antarctic peninsula

The Commandant Charcot is an elevated experience onboard, along with the special destinations offered only on it (like the Weddell Sea Emperor Penguins that @swyftal got to experience). One way or another, you should give CC a try. Otherwise, we like the sisterships. They're luxurious, capable and comfortable -- and the pricing works way better for us.

Thanksgiving Day began beautifully — we had fairly calm seas and sunny skies as we got closer to 60 degrees South. We began the day with breakfast in bed and then made it out for a lecture on penguins hosted by one of our naturalists. Aside from being informative, she is an illustrator and had lovely Audubon-style and cartoonish penguin images. it is one of my favorite lectures so far. We went to the Observatory Lounge on deck 6 to catch up on our reading and to watch the city-sized icebergs (and the “ice cubes”) passing the ship. At noon, we got the Captain’s briefing and he noted the weather was getting worse in the Antarctic peninsula, Drake passage and along our path. Winds forecasted in excess of 40 kts and seas greater than four meters. So, for safety reasons, Deck 6 restaurant would be closed today and tonight, and we were asked not to go outside. Indeed, the crew taped off the exterior doors in the lounge just a few minutes later. What he either didn’t mention (or I didn’t hear) was that seas and the ship’s stabilization systems would slow our maximum speed to about 12 kts — something I learned from a prior bridge tour — pretty much ensuring a third day at sea. At this point, I guess the guests see this as a challenge — the Deck 2 restaurant was completely packed at 1:30 pm with everyone enjoying a late lunch. We had pizza twists and shared a Ponant burger. We relaxed in the cabin after lunch and watched a couple of ocean documentaries. First was “Beyond the Polar Circle on Le Boreal” with Andrew Daddo and the next was a National Geographic doc on the wall of sharks at Fakarava. We dove the south pass at Fakarava a few years ago, so that was particularly interesting for us. The seas did not prevent me from completing the spa package I started yesterday and when that was done, it was time for dinner. The Thanksgiving dinner had been moved downstairs and those participating were gathered in the back corner of the restaurant. We decided to have the regular menu, so missed it — but those who did participate said it was well done with turkey, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, pecan or pumpkin pie and a souvenir menu. From the regular menu, I had seared tuna, lamb and pear Belle Hélène. All were great! We were back in our cabin at nine and did some reading before going to bed. Tomorrow: A “bonus” Black Friday at Sea

It turns out our Captain and Expedition Leader chose wisely and our sea day Wednesday was spent skirting the storm they forecast yesterday. The seas and winds were similar to the first night, but most of us either now had our sea legs, or were properly medicated so everyone was out enjoying the many activities on offer. We were also enveloped in a heavy, almost fog-like overcast, making it even easier to relax inside. We noted a complementary bottle of Champagne was offered to the guest who spotted the first iceberg larger than Le Lyrial. In addition to the naturalists talks, bingo, trivia, Parisian tea, Argentine antipasti, wooden games, live music, Country dance class, pilates and probably some things that I don’t recall, we needed to put a dent in the substantial ship-board credit we have accumulated. First, we found La Boutique was well-stocked with cold-weather gear like North Face fleeces and Vuarnet glasses, along with a large selection of Ponant-logo wear and logo wear made from sailcloth. There were also some jewelry and watches that consume even the most extensive SBC, but we passed on those. Next, we had bookings at the Sothys Spa. On Mediterranean cruises, we found the spa was completely booked up by the time we sat for the first dinner and even thought about looking at the spa menu — but there has been a lot more availability here and we’re each able to confirm scrub/massage/facial packages and maybe a visit with the hairdresser as well. The scrub is not my thing, but the massage was very good. And not to forget, there is a nice wine cellar aboard. I’m the only one in our party who drinks wine, so it’s a last, though enjoyable, resort. After a late lunch of a green salad dim-sum and Adobo-style pork (and desserts, of course), we went back to chill and enjoy the cabin. We came to dinner downstairs at 8pm, as our Captain gave us the overnight weather forecast and “oh, by the way” the first iceberg larger than Le Lyrial was just now passing off the port side of the ship! Everyone ran to the windows to try to get a picture. I had a lemongrass soup, a fish sashimi and a really well prepared pork loin with mustard sauce, followed by a chocolate & pear slice. There was also a pasta carbonara that looked ultra-rich and tasty. We got back to the cabin at ten and found an invitation to a Thanksgiving Dinner on Deck 6 on Thursday. How nice! Tomorrow: Thanksgiving at sea.

On Tuesday, we began our day at the massive King penguin colony at Saint Andrews Bay. We got a bit of a late start due to a wardrobe malfunction (one of our boots had delaminated yesterday and we had to seek a replacement). The weather, again, was perfect. Above freezing, sunny and light winds. Again, our landing site was swarmed with curious King penguins and Fur seals. Just beyond there were several Elephant seals basically ignoring us. The walk to the colony was pleasant — we tried to stay inland of the penguins and seals and we only had one stream to ford — unfortunately, the water was just high enough for most of us to fill our boots with glacier water — refreshing! But it was worth it. From the hill, we could see countless King penguins filling the beach. How many were there? I don’t know. Maybe 100,000? The juveniles were gathered around pools of water while the adults filled the other areas. One pool in the distance had two Elephant seals fighting, completely surrounded by penguins. On our return to the landing area, two seals got a little territorial and even through we gave them a very wide berth, they still let us know that they were interested in us. Back on Le Lyrial, we had lunch downstairs. I wasn’t particularly hungry, so had pizza, which hit the spot. I even skipped dessert (what’s up with that?). We had a couple of hours before our next stop at the former whaling station of Grytviken, so relaxed in our cabin until we were notified the ship had med South Georgia’s biosecurity inspection and we were free to come ashore. We were let off at the cemetery, so we could immediately see Shackleton’s grave and then were left to wander the station — asbestos plus many buildings were removed, so this was safe enough to wander around — so long as we took care not to step on any of the many seals lounging on the paths. I thought this was fascinating and spent over three hours ashore exploring the station and checking out the post office and museum. The museum had lots of interesting artifacts and I loved exploring it. Back on the ship, we received the daily briefing — a substantial storm is going to be passing through our path in the next couple of days, so the Captain & Expedition Leader made the decision to cut South Georgia short by a day and attempt to get us to the Antarctic peninsula before the roughest of the seas. In their opinion, this gives us the best probability of time on-shore, as well as comparatively smooth seas. Makes sense to us, so tomorrow will be a sea day. And considering we have had five days of absolutely perfect weather to this point, we have nothing to complain about. We had dinner on Deck 2. I enjoyed a lovely zucchini soup, caprese beef and a chicken breast that was covered by a nut mixture that reminded me of baklava (of all things). We were still up when the show in the theater started. About fifty guests, plus the naturalists and some of the ship’s officers attended. And it dawned on us that these are the same dancers we saw on Lyrial over the summer! Tomorrow: A Day at Sea (AKA: we need to spend some of this ship-board credit)

Monday brought us to South Georgia’s Fortuna Bay where we had yet another day of spectacular weather — temperature above freezing, sunny skies and winds “only” 25-30 knots. Our morning activity was to see the seals and King penguins and it was a bit more exciting than I expected. The seals were curious about the activity and came to inspect / welcome the visitors. We got off the Zodiac and several seals were only an arm’s reach away — cool / scary. 😉 We meandered between marching King penguins and mostly lazing seals (plus one Elephant seal resting in the tall grass. It was easy enough to tell when we were encroaching on their personal space. We took hundreds of pictures as we worked our way to the penguin colony — but the colony may have been the highlight! Thousands of King penguins and way, way off in the center lots of young King penguins still in their gray / brown feathers. Because the ship can have only 100 guests ashore at any time, it was soon time for us to reluctantly turn back and give other guests their turn. We had lunch downstairs — a great pumpkin soup and a steak that was well prepared for me. Soon enough, it was time to trace Shackleton’s footsteps on the final six kilometers of his journey to rescue his crew stuck in the Antarctic after the Endurance was crushed by ice. More than eighty guests decided to attend, along with some crew members. We enjoyed it, although it was much longer than we expected and even more difficult than we expected. If you were dressed appropriately for the weather (for me, given how hot it was, this would have been shorts, maybe long pants, a T-shirt and hiking boots. Wearing the galoshes and carrying the parka and waterproof pants amped up the difficulty. Safety first and all that, but anyone considering this walk needs to take this into consideration. Overall, the walk took us about four hours, with a couple of small breaks and we ended up at the Stromness whaling station — just as Shackleton. We were back on board Le Lyrial well after six — but supposedly just in time for the Pata Negra tasting (I missed it) and the briefing on tomorrow’s activities (I missed it). Really wishing these briefings could be watched from the cabin. We were able to have dinner upstairs (the carved pork loin and cannelloni were both good) — service started at 8 due to all the other things going on and we prepared for tomorrow, with two seemingly easy excursions on the calendar. Tomorrow Grytviken

We had few obligations Sunday, on our second sea day. Those who wanted could start the day with yoga or a lecture on Ice & Glaciology. After breakfast, we had coffee in the lounge and played Trivia with the cruise director. After that, we decided to check out the future cruise sales desk. Ponant has revamped future cruise sales and have dedicated a full-time person to the desk — previously, this was the front desk manager’s responsibility and was time consuming. The “Travel Ambassador” is available for something like six hours on sea days and was able to generate an Option on the spot — our prior experience was that would take a day or two. If you’re not a European paying in Euros, the Option still goes to the local / reservations office for final pricing in local currency as well as special regional benefits. At noon, we met in the theater for a briefing on our activities on South Georgia. All of our briefings have been led by our Expedition Leader, who is American who doesn’t speak French, so there are no translation issues for us. He has led over a hundred Antarctic expeditions and has done expeditions for Ponant for several years. He is accompanied by eleven or so naturalists who all speak French and also English to varying degrees of fluency. On our expeditions so far, the Naturalists have been readily available to answer questions we might have and have been helpful in getting us geared up correctly for our landings. Lunch downstairs was a crispy piece of fish, though an Ponant burger also made an appearance. In the afternoon, the dancers hosted some wooden games in the Main Lounge, followed by the hugely popular Tea Time serving crêpes — the line was out the door! At five, we attended a lecture on Shackleton in the theater and then it was almost time for dinner. Indeed, we had a surprise waiting for us. We were passing Shad Rocks right as the sun set, making for a potentially great photo-op. It was pretty dark, but with my longest lens, I could see the silhouettes of many pairs of (probably) shad. We won the lottery and got a reservation upstairs, so ate casually for the first time since Ushuaia. And one final surprise — as Le Lyrial approached South Georgia, our phones all went forward an hour to be on South Georgia time. This was an urgent enough matter that a ship wide PA announced that we are staying on Ushuaia time, so set your phones back to Argentine time. Tomorrow: South Georgia and a hike in Shackleton’s footsteps.

Saturday gave us another day at sea has we headed towards South Georgia, but it was not as “relaxing” as one might have expected — we began with a lecture on “Antarctic Sea Puppies” at 9 am, followed by a recap of our outings in the Falklands. If those didn’t interest you, Bingo and Trivia were offered in the Main Lounge We had lunch downstairs and all enjoyed crispy fried fish, but were tempted by the possibility of another Ponant burger. The afternoon wound up being quite packed! First, we had a long presentation on the biosecurity requirements to land on South Georgia and then we were sent back to our cabins to inspect all our outerwear for seeds and other things stuck on our clothing from Falklands or even home. Then, helpfully, the schedule had us come to the main lounge by deck for boot decontamination and outerwear vacuuming. ProTip: Velcro is not your friend. Nonetheless, we completed our work correctly the first time — noting the boots retain all sorts of debris that’s difficult to coax out from the grooves. On each cruise, I keep hearing that such-and-such event favors the French-speakers, but in this case, the schedule was highly favorable to English-speakers, as the biosecurity briefing in French completely overlapped the decontamination event and half the ship appeared at the same time for their turn. It took easily 90 minutes for them to complete their decontamination. In fact, the French / non-French ratio has messed things up a little bit. the deck six restaurant has been in high demand and reservations are required. We have not been successful in getting a reservation yet, as the early risers have scarfed them up. A crew member noted that they don’t usually need to take reservations for deck six, but English-speakers do tend to prefer the buffet. Also in demand — bridge tours immediately filled, as did Dinner with a Naturalist. At dinner on deck two, we had a realization that there has been a nuanced change on Ponant’s crew mask policy. Now, only crew members with extended direct contact with guests wear masks — basically the restaurant wait-staff and spa team are the only crew members left wearing masks. We enjoyed dinner — the pork was great, as was the tagliatelle. The potato soup was also a hit and I had Ponant’s classic Egg 65 as a warm starter. We went to bed and missed the Karaoke night hosted by our Cruise Director and dancers. Coming up, another day at sea.

Sure, no problem: 1. When going from ship to Zodiac, there is a box, so you step from ship, to Zodiac wall, to box, to Zodiac floor. 2. There actually three crew members to help you get on board. Two are on either side of you as you leave the ship and a third is by the box to help you get into place and to manage the things you've brought along, like backpack or walking stick. 3. French bread and pastries are always freshly made -- I don't think anyone has ever complained about the bread, regardless of how they felt about the rest of the journey. 😉 Between meals, there is the "Anytime Menu" which has a cheese plate as one of the options. There are heavier options like grilled salmon and cheeseburger. 4. In Antarctica, there are no toilet opportunities on Ponant expeditions. The briefings have made it sound like it's an Antarctic tourism thing, not a Ponant thing and guests are encouraged to plan for two hours without a comfort stop. 5. Expect the internet to be very slow and be surprised when it isn't. It's generally fast enough for me to web browse, but not fast enough to stream video.

Ponant does not prohibit drones from coming on the ship. As you suspected, drones can’t be flown from the ship. I’ve had a drone with me on most Ponant cruises and it has never come up. On every cruise’s page under “Important Trip Details,” you can find the following text: Warning about the use of drones: the use of drones aboard PONANT ships, whether they are sailing at sea, at a port of call or anchored, is strictly forbidden. The use of drones on land in the Arctic and Antarctic regions is also strictly forbidden by international polar regulations. In other regions, it may be possible to use drones on land if permission has been obtained from the relevant authorities of each country and each region travelled through, as well as a pilot’s licence that should be obtained from your home country. Passengers are responsible for obtaining these permits; they should be able to present them at all times. Passengers who do not obtain these authorisations expose themselves to the risk of legal proceedings.

Friday morning brought us to the Falkland Islands and Le Lyrial dropped anchor in calm water with partly cloudy skies. Everyone had recovered from yesterday’s storm and was excited for our first Zodiac expedition onto New Island, one of Falkland’s westernmost islands. The exercise to go ashore went smoothly. The guests had been divided into four groups and every fifteen minutes, a group got ready to go ashore in the Main Lounge and subsequently went to the marine deck to board the Zodiac. The training we received on Thursday paid off and most of us remembered how to safely board and get out of the Zodiac. New Island was an interesting landing site. We landed on a sandy beach next to a shipwreck and staged ourselves there for a ten minute walk to a penguin colony. But first, we had to explore a little museum and shop hosted by the island’s conservators. We bought a tea towel and were delighted to find the museum accepted Apple Pay — who carries actual cash on an expedition anyway? The walk was easy through lush looking grass. On the way, we saw several geese with their young before cresting a rise and finding hundreds of gentoo and macaroni penguins nesting on a rocky face descending to the ocean. There was a lot of activity as the birds were stealing nesting materials from each other and protected their eggs from the patrolling cranes and skraws. We stayed as long as we could and were among the last Zodiacs back to Le Lyrial. In fact, the ship raised anchor only a few minutes after we boarded and we were off, heading to our second landing on a northeastern island. We had lunch downstairs. I had a lamb curry, which was excellent. The Ponant burger also got good marks. Activities were offered while underway to our second expedition, but we decided to chill in the cabin until it was time for our group to go ashore. Well, that almost turned out to be a problem — the ship made it to our destination ahead of schedule and it was decided to begin the expedition early. Because of the non announcements in the cabin rule, we had no clue until we just happened to hear a “last call” for disembarkation announcement! We scrambled to main lounge and found the Hotel Manager in a jovial mood just telling us to relax — he wasn’t going to let us miss the boat, so to speak. The landing was on another white sandy beach and we were met by the island’s rancher, who has four thousand head of sheep, raised mostly for wool. She was full of information, including which colonies already had chicks and that the lush-looking grass, actually wasn’t so lush. It had been imported from Scotland, and grew well in the Falklands, but had a low nutritional value. The weather was spectacular — almost 60 Fahrenheit and sunny. It was so warm, I would have worn shorts and a sweatshirt if allowed (we were not allowed) and I wound up sweating heavily under the required gear. On this island, the penguins were almost exclusively gentoo and had few predatory birds bothering them at this time. We were hugely entertained by their coming and goings into the ocean. Again, we stayed until the last Zodiac and boarded Le Lyrial just in time for the conclusion of afternoon tea and mulled wine. We had a cocktail and went back to our cabin to prepare for the Captain’s welcome and Gala Dinner beginning at seven. The welcome has held in the theater and our invitation was helpfully staggered by decks so that all the guests didn’t show up at the same time to get their picture with the Captain. As we waited, we were entertained by a Central American duo on guitar & harp. They were quite talented! There was also some discussion among guests about yesterday’s weather and who was affected by it. Some people who claim never to get sick said they were hit hard and some, who don’t claim such immunity weren’t affected at all. Personally, I’m not seasick immune but felt no bad effects at all (aided by a scopolamine patch). It didn’t really matter, as we were all past the bad symptoms, but it was something else to discuss other than the weather. The Captain’s welcome began precisely at 7:30 and we were seated for the Gala Dinner by 8 pm. We all chose the Classic Dinner, though I did substitute Ponant’s famous Crispy Egg for the fish hot starter. It was all well prepared and the crew were on their game keeping wine glasses full and bread offered between each course. Still, the Gala Dinner is time-consuming and we finished right before 10. The Captain and his table were still enjoying desert as we left. A “mini show” was offered in the main lounge supposedly starting at 9:30, but since most guests were still enjoying their dinner, it was postponed to start later — in any event, we missed it, as it was past our bedtime. Coming up: a day at sea.

Honestly, I wouldn’t stress about it. Tonight is the Gala Dinner and it sounds like you wouldn’t be out of place — yes, some women are wearing dresses, but there are plenty who are not. Most men are wearing blazers tonight, some with ties. A handful of us just have dress shirts — including me, due to some logistical issues (I forgot to pack a blazer). I’d rather have the blazer, but I don’t feel out of place. And, yes, there is the obligatory tuxedo-wearing guy. He’s looking sharp (and IMO overdressed).

Our plane arrived on time Wednesday around 11 am and again, we were met by plenty of people to help us collect our bags and get to the right bus. It seemed that most of the French-speakers opted for a National Park tour, but we went into the mountains for a “traditional” meal of roast lamb, salad, berry ice cream and a lightly-spiked coffee. It was very good! We also saw a sled dog kennel and a whiskey bar. After a couple hours at the restaurant, we headed back to the ship just in time for embarkation at 4 pm. The bus arrivals were staggered so that we weren’t waiting in line. It took less than ten minutes for us to meet the Captain, get our COVID tests and vaccinations confirmed, swipe our credit card and see our cabin (the exact cabin we were in on Le Lyrial in June). We also found we had met several of the crew members before, including the cruise director, several from housekeeping, spa and restaurant staff and even the sommelière (sic). We saw a couple of others only briefly as they left at the end of their contract. Finding nothing out of order in the cabin, we went to the Main Lounge for cocktails and found our Australian Ponant Yacht Club friends who sailed on the repositioning from Europe! From there, we went to the theater for the Captain’s Welcome, Life on Board presentation and safety drill. It was well past seven by the time that was done and we watched the ship leave Ushuaia and then we went to dinner on Deck 6. The highlight was a hand-carved pork loin (and for me, a carrot and cumin soup). We were exhausted and were in bed by ten. Overnight, winds and seas picked up as we left the Beagle Channel and we experienced 3.5 meter seas and a 35 knot crosswind that gave the ship quite a bit of simultaneous rolling and pitching action, with the occasional wave hitting our window. Thursday, our day at sea began with breakfast on deck 2, immediately followed by an overview of the expedition hosted by the Captain and Expedition Leader. This is when we noticed a fair number of guests were seasick. The numbers of seasick guests increased throughout the day, peaking at the “boot camp” (where “convenience” bags were helpfully supplied) around noon before setting down to calmer seas midafternoon. At boot camp, we got boots to borrow for the trip and a parka to keep. BTW, the 2022 parka has removed the Russian flag in favor of the Nunavut territory flag. We rested for most of the afternoon, taking a break only for one of our naturalists talking about birds of the South Atlantic. At six we attended the mandatory Zodiac training followed by dinner downstairs — the buffet was closed for safety reasons. In any event, our table was served by the Deck 6 team, so we hardly noticed a difference. After dinner, as a nod to the seasickness some were feeling, I took a prophylactic gin & ginger from the Main Lounge before retiring at 9:30. Tomorrow: Falkland Islands.