Live from the 2019 Grand South America and Antarctica Voyage

[RuthC]

25 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

The affidiavit is just for completing the biosecurity check.  It is not really a form we fill out, what I signed was just a page with a line for everybody's room number and signature.

Thanks, Roy. So, it's just an affidavit that you have fulfilled the other requirements listed.
That part is no big deal.

[Scrapnana]

6 hours ago, Vict0riann said:

Every time we went ashore on South Georgia, we had to take all our outerwear to the main lounge, where it was checked, pockets vacuumed out, and as we disembarked we had to walk through a chemical bath for our boots and scrub them.   Even more careful than going ashore in Antarctica.

 

There is a Post Office in Grytviken, and I seem to remember they would stamp passports if you wanted.

Rumor has it that someone will be coming on the ship selling stamps, postcards, and maybe some souvenirs while we are at Grytviken.

[Scrapnana]

6 hours ago, RuthC said:

Were you told yet what the content of the affidavit is about? Is there anything about medical conditions, or responsibility if anything should happen to you while ashore?
I'm very curious what the affidavit is for.

Thanks.

We were warned in the briefing that people with mobility issues should seriously consider whether to go ashore due to uneven walk ways and lack of medical help.

[RuthC]

1 hour ago, Scrapnana said:

We were warned in the briefing that people with mobility issues should seriously consider whether to go ashore due to uneven walk ways and lack of medical help.

Thank you for that info; I had wondered about that. Just in case I ever get the chance.

[Scrapnana]

February 7, 2019

At Sea

 

We have returned to a normal schedule of events after leaving Antarctica.

 

My scheduled time to have my clothes checked for going ashore in South Georgia was between 10 and 10:30.  We had to take outerwear and any bags being taken ashore.  I just happened to be heading downstairs at the same time as Pat and Tom so we talked while we were in line.  We happened to be near the front of the line so it went quickly.  One many was checking the clothes and four crew members were scrubbing shoes (just about everyone needed to have the soles of their shoes cleaned).  There was a vacuum in case any clothes needed cleaning.  When finished there was a paper to sign that you had completed the process.  It took a total of 15 minutes from when I left my cabin until I returned my clothes.

 

I was able to get to Knitters and Stitchers for almost an hour.  We had about 7 people come and go.  At 11:15 Pat and I went to the Ocean Bar for Name That Tune.  The rest of our team were not present so we played with two others.  We ended up with 24 points and the winners had 30.

 

When trivia was over we remained there because team trivia would be in the same location at 1 pm.  We ended up with 20 out of 25 but the winners had 21.

1) What was the name of the mansion in Citizen Kane?

2) How many people generally take part in osculation?

3) What is the only sea mammal that lacks an insulation layer of blubber?

4) Which continent is the largest in size and population?  Which continent is smallest in size?  Which continent is smallest in population?

5) Name the 7 countries that border Hungary.

 

When we were finished with trivia (it was a long one, lasting 45 minutes), I was really hungry so I headed to the Lido for lunch.

 

In arts and crafts we made (or at least started on) a braided bracelet. 

 

Had my afternoon ice cream (actually pineapple sherbet) and worked on my socks.

 

Tonight was a Gala Night and my travel agency had a cocktail party in the Crow’s Nest from 7-8.  I played trivia first at 7.  Only four of us present.  We had 16 out of 17 but two teams tied with perfect scores.

1) The French word “encore” literally means what?

2) What is the official language of Austria?

3) What food is thought to have gotten its name because of its resemblance to a dachshund?

4) Amelia Earhart became famous by flying solo across what body of water?

5) Originally, the “M” in MTV stood for what?

 

All were present for dinner.  I had a salad, shrimp cocktail, tenderloin, and strawberries Romanov.  I went to the show afterwards which was “Stage and Screen” by the Prinsendam entertainers.  It was the first of their shows I have been to.  I don’t remember seeing it last year and it was very good.

 

Our pillow gift tonight was a game like jenga.

 

Afternoon trivia

1) Xanadu

2) 2 (its kissing)

3) Sea otter

4) Asia, Australia, Antarctica

5) Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia

 

Evening trivia

1) Again

2) German

3) Hot dog

4) Atlantic Ocean

5) Music

 

Smooth sailing until next time!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Wonderful report.

 

Guess you are all set to go ashore now that you have had your clothes, shoes, etc. all checked and cleaned and you have signed your paper indicating that everything is complete.

 

After I look at your pictures, DH and I will play trivia.

 

No pictures today -- not even of the penguins.

[aSiAnRiCk]

Please stop by the Greenhouse Spa and say hi to the spa manager Bobbie.  She's my partner's childhood friend and we have boarded the Prinsendam few times in Port Everglades to visit her. (well mainly for the free lunch lol ... just kidding!)

 

We were supposed to sail to Antarctica with you (board in Ushuaia and depart from Montevideo) but our guest request did not get approved due to the max capacity for guests for crewmembers.  So we're sailing to Australia and New Zealand on the Noordam instead  :D

[Scrapnana]

8 hours ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

Wonderful report.

 

Guess you are all set to go ashore now that you have had your clothes, shoes, etc. all checked and cleaned and you have signed your paper indicating that everything is complete.

 

After I look at your pictures, DH and I will play trivia.

 

No pictures today -- not even of the penguins.

The penguins have been lying low yesterday and today except for the two on the main desk (their name tags change every day).  The others may be hanging out some place I don't go - the gym maybe???  I did have one picture for yesterday but my blog refused to upload it - not sure why.  I will try again when I add today's post.

[Scrapnana]

February 8, 2019

At Sea

 

I had a little different routine than my normal sea day.  It started with Pat, Patty, Sherita, and I going to the morning “Coffee Chat” with the Shades of Buble group.  Pat and I arrived early and worked on our knitting instead of going to the Crow’s Nest with the group.  Pat finished the baby hat to match the sweater she finished yesterday.

 

Lunch in the Lido and then afternoon trivia.  We had 11 out of 17 but the winners had 13.

 

1) Who wrote “The Eye of the Needle”

2) What university did Shakespeare attend

3) Which African nation is not land-locked – Niger, Congo, Chad, or Birkina-Faso?

4) What are the only two planets without moons?

5) What was the one-word title 1927 movie that won the first Academy Award for best picture?

 

Instead of going to arts and crafts (they were making paper flowers today), we went to the lecture on “The Life of a Whaler at Grytviken” by the expedition team.

 

We were supposed to visit Drygalsk Fjord but the winds were so bad (measured at 80 mph) it was not safe to go into the fjord.  I took some pictures out my cabin window.  It is so dirty I think I will wash it tomorrow when we are anchored (and hopefully have no wind).  Instead we headed to Gold Harbour where we saw an amazingly shaped iceberg.  Again I took some pictures through the window.

 

We were supposed to pick up our tender tickets for our two hours on South Georgia tomorrow starting at 4 but because we skipped the fjord they started a few minutes early.  I went a few minutes after 4 and walked right up and got my ticket.  I chose 12:20.

 

I went to 4 pm Happy Hour in the Ocean Bar and knitted for a bit (I am trying to finish up my pair of socks) and then Tom and Pat came over and sat with me.

 

Evening trivia was in the Showroom at Sea again where the lighting is terrible. We had 12 out of 19 and the winners had 13.

1) For what or whom were M&Ms originally created?

2) What did Frank Henry Fleer invent in 1906?

3) What were the Beatles originally know as?

4) What kind of weather does a ring around the moon predict?

5) In what two cities are monuments known as “Cleopatra’s Needle”?

 

On the way to dinner there was a beautiful scene with the mountains of South Georgia with the moon over it so I went out on the deck to take a picture.  It was not as cold as I expected and the wind had definitely died down.

 

Seven present for dinner.  I had a shrimp appetizer, French onion soup, schnitzel, and a blueberry sundae for dessert.

 

I skipped the show tonight.

 

Afternoon trivia

1) Follett

2) None

3) Congo

4) Venus and Mercury

5) Wings

 

Evening trivia

1) The military (during WWII)

2) Bubble gum

3) Quarrymen

4) Rain

5) London and New York City

 

Smooth sailing until next time!

Edited February 9, 2019 by Scrapnana

[Krazy Kruizers]

It is wonderful that the staff offer so much to do on sea days on the GRand Voyages and World cruises.

 

Great report.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I know what you mean about dirty windows.  There have been times when I thought about packing a squeegee to clean our verandah windows.

 

Love the pictures -- that is an unusual ice burg.

 

Hope the penguins aren't hiding in the gym -- they may end up doing too much work and wear themselves out.

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for the update.

Love the trivia.

Wonderful iceberg picture!

[kazu]

Great pics, Kathi!

 

Sorry you missed the Fjord, though.  You have had many great sights though, for sure.

[Scrapnana]

9 hours ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

I know what you mean about dirty windows.  There have been times when I thought about packing a squeegee to clean our verandah windows.

 

 

I went out this morning and tried to clean my window.  I did get lots of dirt off but it didn't really help.  I'm thinking that it may be double paned and the moisture has gotten between the two parts.  

[Scrapnana]

February 9, 2019

Grytviken, South Georgia

 

Another amazing day!  But, let’s start with a little history.  The area is believed to have been first sighted in 1675 but nobody took much interest until after Captain Cook visited in 1775, claimed it for Great Britain, and wrote about the abundance of seals.  A few years later sealers started coming and almost wiped out the fur seal population by the mid 1800s. 

 

In 1904 the first land-based whaling station was establish at Grytviken by Carl Larson.  Within the next few years, six more whaling stations would be established on South Georgia and at one time there were over 2000 working on the island.  All the stations were shut down by the mid-1960s.

 

Grytviken is also associated with the English Antarctic explorer, Ernest Shackleton.  As I mentioned before, his ship Endurance was lost in the ice and eventually he and his men sailed over 800 miles from Elephant Island to South Georgia. On a later expedition he died on the island and is buried in the whalers’ cemetery in Grytviken.

 

Just like the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the other South Sandwich Islands are claimed by Argentina although they are still part of the British Overseas Territories.

 

OK, lesson over and now for my day.

 

At 9:00 a couple of people from the Grytviken post office came on board with stamps, postcards, and some souvenirs.  From what I could see, they did a brisk business all day.

 

Three of the scientists who work on South Georgia gave a talk at 10:00.  They discussed some of the programs that are carried out on the island dealing with fish, seals, and penguins.  They also talked a little about what life is like on the island with only a couple of dozen people (none of them permanent residents).  They mentioned that about 70 ships come to the island each summer but we were the largest this season (most are expedition ships that carry about 100 people).  Today was one of the nicest days they have had this season - the sky was a beautiful blue with few clouds and a temperature approaching 50F.  They said they only have about five days a summer like this.

 

When the talk was over I got a quick bite to eat in the Lido because I had to be in the Ocean Bar at 12:00 for my 12:20 departure (remember only so many people could go ashore at a time and we had a two-hour time limit ashore).  We were called early at 12:05 and actually were onshore by 12:20. Once again the ship had everything planned very well.

 

I started out for the cemetery first and had not gone more than a few feet before I saw the first seal just sitting in the grass.  As I walked to the cemetery over a very rough path and even having to go through water a couple of times, I came upon hundreds of fur seals and some of the much larger elephant seals. There was also a group of king penguins.  A number of them were moulting and for about three weeks as there new feathers grow, are unable to go to sea to feed and rely on using their fat supplies.  The animals had the right-away so we had to stop if they wanted to cross the path.

 

When I arrived at the cemetery I saw Shackleton’s grave as well as his “right hand man”, Frank Wild, who had been on expeditions with Shackleton and took over for him when Shackleton died.

 

I then headed to the church.  It was pre-built in Norway and shipped to Grytviken where it was put together by the whalers and consecrated on Christmas Day 1913.  It was Church of Norway until handed over in 2013 and is now Anglican.  In one of the back rooms is the library of the whaling station.

 

My last stop was the museum which was very interesting with all kinds of artifacts of the whaling days as well as a number of stuffed animals of the area.

 

My two hours were almost up so I made my way back to the tender.

 

At 4 pm we had afternoon trivia.  We had 18 out of 23 and tied a number of teams but lost the tiebreaker.

1) In what city was Titanic built?

2) Which actress has won the most Oscars?

3) What is the name of the evil lion in The Lion King?

4) Which mammal has the longest gestation period?

5) How many islands in the Philippines? (tie-breaker)

 

After trivia I worked on my photos.  I took 150 today.

 

Evening trivia was once again in the Showroom where the lighting is horrible.  We had 18 out of 18 and tied a number of groups but, as usual, lost the tiebreaker.

1) True or false – dolphins are mammals?

2) What company supplied the Russian court with vodka from 1886-1917?

3) What is the term for plants that live for more than two years?

4) Topaz is the birthstone for what month?

5) What country has the longest coastline in the world?

 

We had an interesting menu and I will include a photo of it tomorrow.  I had a salad, ham, and a pavlova.

 

I did not go to the show.

 

Afternoon trivia

1) Belfast

2) Katherine Hepburn

3) Scar

4) Elephant

5) 7107

 

Evening trivia

1) True

2) Smirnoff

3) Perennial

4) November

5) Canada

 

Smooth sailing until next time!

[puppycanducruise]

What a fascinating day you had.

Such an interesting place, that so few get to visit.

Thank you for sharing your comments and your pictures.

And the trivia is great too!

[Krazy Kruizers]

You could be right about the window -- moisture between the panes.

 

Enjoyed the history lesson.  Sounds like a wonderful walking tour -- creatures included.  Sounds like you made good use of your 2 hours on Grytviken, South Georgia.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Loved the pictures.

 

The seals and penguins are adorable.  Interesting that the one penguin stood in one spot so long.

[Scrapnana]

February 10, 2019

At Sea

 

I finished my socks last night before I went to bed so I started on mittens during Knitters and Stitichers this morning.  About eight attended.

 

We had our first Sunday brunch today – they are only on sea day Sundays – and Pat, Patty, Sherita, Andrea, and I went.  It was very good and plenty of food even with the bits I don’t eat (like sushi and salmon).  We then headed off to afternoon trivia. 

 

Today was Linda’s birthday (the CD) and we all sang to her and Pat had done a watercolour card with penguins on it that we all signed.  We had 14 out of 20 correct and the winning team had 17.

1) What was the name of Poirot’s last case?

2) How many bits in a byte?

3) What are the only two places where dogs produce sweat?

4) What three animals have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (not animated)?

5) Which species is genetically closest to humans – gorilla, spider monkey, orangutan, and chimpanzee?

 

In arts and crafts we did a zentangle drawing.  We did a couple last year and I don’t find it any more relaxing than then.

 

I read for a while and worked on the mittens before getting ready for dinner.

 

Evening trivia was in the Crow’s Nest and it was our worst ever.  We only got 5 out of 21.  The winning team had 10.

1) In what 1880 war were khaki uniforms first used?

2) What General Motors car was advertised as “a new symbol for quality in America”?

3) How did Mama Cass die and for a bonus point, in what year?

4) What is the only bird with nostrils at the end of its beak?

5) What is the standard size of a golf hole?

 

All present for dinner.  I had a fruit salad, Caesar Salad, beef tenderloin and a butterscotch sundae for dessert.

 

I did not go to the show.

 

Afternoon trivia

1) Curtain

2) 8

3) Nose and paws

4) Rin Tin Tin, Lassie, and Strongheart (I don’t think anyone got Strongheart)

5) chimpanzee

 

Evening trivia (we missed all of these plus more)

1) Afghan war

2) Buick

3) Contrary to the popular ham sandwich choking, she died of a heart attack in 1974

4) Kiwi

5) 4.25 inches

 

Smooth sailing until next time!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Those questions at the evening trivia must have been really hard if the winning team had only 10 out of 21 right.

 

Is your daughter going to be the lucky recipient of the mittens?

 

Great report.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I love the looks of those bites at the Sunday brunch.  Sure must be a lot of work to get all those bites set up.  The desserts sound great too.  My DH would eat the sushi and salmon -- no sushi for me but maybe the salmon.

 

The zentangle of the penguin looks interesting.

[Scrapnana]

14 hours ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

Those questions at the evening trivia must have been really hard if the winning team had only 10 out of 21 right.

 

Is your daughter going to be the lucky recipient of the mittens?

 

 

It was a really hard trivia.  We mentioned it to Alice (who did the trivia) and she said she did not realize how hard they were since she had the answers.

 

The mittens are for my trivia partner's soon to be born grandchild.  She bought a cute hat in Peru but could not find any mittens small enough so I volunteered to make a pair from the alpaca she bought.

Edited February 12, 2019 by Scrapnana

[Scrapnana]

February 11, 2019

At Sea

 

My morning began with Knitters and Stitchers although we only had about six present.  Alice (assistant CD) came up with some leftover needles to see if we could use them.  She told us about how she got started on ships.

 

I went to the Lido for lunch and sat with Patty, Sherita, and Andrea.  We then went to trivia.  We had 17 out of 21 correct while the winners had 18.

 

1) Which US President committed the faux pas of kissing the Queen Mother on the lips?

2) What was the title of H.G. Wells first novel?

3) What city has a district called Elephant and Castle?

4) What planet is considered Earth’s twin in size and mass?

5) In watch ads, what time are the watches usually set to?

 

The team all went to the lecture about the Falklands and a little about the history.

Pat had been given some lovely possum fur yarn to start a new baby sweater, so after the lecture we went to the library to run off some patterns.

 

I ate with my other table tonight.  I had a Caesar salad, scallops, and a fruit crisp.

We redeemed ourselves at evening trivia with 18 out of 18 and winning the tie-breaker with about 10 other teams.

1) What international organization was founded by Canadian environmentalists in 1971?

2) What pet was described as loyal, obedient, and low maintenance when first marketed in 1975?

3) What is the closest star to the Earth?

4) Which country’s flag has a white cross on a red field?

5) Which model inspired Billy Joel’s Uptown Girl?

 

We then went to see “Ida” a group of four singers. 

 

It was then time for Name That Tune.  We only had three players but were able to get 27 points and come in second (winning team had 30).

 

I need to get up early for my first excursion in weeks.

 

 

Afternoon trivia

1) Jimmy Carter

2) The Time Machine

3) London

4) Venus

5) 10:10

 

Evening trivia

1) Greenpeace

2) Pet rock

3) Sun

4) Switzerland

5) Christie Brinkley

 

Smooth sailing until next time!

[Krazy Kruizers]

9 hours ago, Scrapnana said:

It was a really hard trivia.  We mentioned it to Alice (who did the trivia) and she said she did not realize how hard they were since she had the answers.

 

The mittens are for my trivia partner's soon to be born grandchild.  She bought a cute hat in Peru but could not find any mittens small enough so I volunteered to make a pair from the alpaca she bought.

 

That is very nice of you to make the mittens for your partner's soon to be born grandchild.

 

Even my DH said that those trivia questions were hard -- and that is rare for him to say anything like that.

[Krazy Kruizers]

The trivia questions are better today.  Glad you all did better as well.

 

What are the ship's penguins up to?  Haven't heard anything about them lately.