a change in plans...

Due to a course change, we were still at sea yesterday instead of being at Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands. So much for the gentoo penquins! An itinerary change is always somewhat disappointing but of course we are thankful that passenger safety comes first. Ronnie wasn't feeling great anyway, so extra sea days are probably good for him. He may be a tad bit better, or at least no worse so hopefully whatever he has is responding to rest, Vitamin C and zinc and over the counter cold medication. 

Yesterday we could see white caps on the ocean, and really felt them last night at dinner but we've experienced much less ship movement today – at least of this writing. I think it was because we were able to move along at slower speeds given our itinerary change.

 

white caps and rough waters (from balcony window) yesterday

Early this morning our cruise director announced that we won’t be going through the Drake Passage after all. We will not be going around the horn; instead, we will be going through 2 channels as we are permitted to pass. We are currently in somewhat of a holding position in the Le Maire Strait, a narrow sea passage approximately 15 miles wide as we try to cut up into the Beagle Channel. I'll make the maps large to hopefully show where we are. We’re using the website www.cruisemapper.com and the Vista's location is circled in red.

  

Vista circled in red

view from our balcony at 5:40 p.m.

We're still 3 hours ahead of US time. The ship staff is busy setting up for a Super Bowl tailgate party in the Vista Lounge beginning at 7:30 p.m. with the game on the big screen at 8:30. We'll probably go for awhile but I doubt we'll make it through the entire game. I'll snap some pictures if it's not too crazy crowded.

By the way, this guy was our shipboard entertainment last night. It was a really good show as he played a lot of well known show tunes with fast moving clips from the popular movies they were taken from.

 

Emilio Valle, guitarist