The Joy of the Sea

Sea days that is.

After the hectic pace of the pre-cruise touring
due to the flight difficulties, it was such a
relief to arrive at the ship. I'd heard
nightmare stories about embarkation in Buenos
Aires, as the port is an industrial one and not
set up well for passenger ships. That part was
certainly true, but Princess did everything they
could to ease the process logistically. They had
people with their pre-cruise transfers arranged
for staggered arrival after a city tour, and for
the most part it wasn't too bad. There were
times where the line outside the ship was a bit
long (and hot and steamy), but fortunately I
arrived and was able to board with very little delay.

It was such a relief to unpack and have
everything organized again. Just makes you feel
like you're "home" instead of constantly in
transit. Then it's time to relax! Or not. As I
sit here typing, there is one of a series of
computer lectures going on behind me in
Tequila's. There are Ceramics at Sea classes,
scrapbooking, lots of photography and computer
offerings, and the usual choices of trivia,
games, etc. For those interested, the computer
speed has been pretty good and the computer lab
is usually busy. I'm posting via wireless and
it's also some of the best speeds I've
experienced on a ship. Never cheap, never fast
as broadband, but it's been reliable and fast so
far. Keep your fingers crossed so I can keep these coming!

Our Cruise Critics group had arranged a casual
get-together for sailaway which had fairly good
attendance, followed by our "official" get
together arranged for 10AM in Skywalkers our
first day at sea. While Princess doesn't offer
the sponsored parties as does Celebrity and Royal
Caribbean, they are happy to set aside a place
and time for you with advance notice to their
offices in California. One person on a roll call
should be the contact person and set it up. We
had good attendance with about 40 of the roll
call members arriving, and were fortunate to have
both the Cruise Director (Franky) and our Captain
(Phillip Pickford) attend our gathering. I do
think that the Captain's attendance was a bit of
PR as we had a small fire incident earlier that
morning, but as you'd expect especially on the
Star Princess, it was handled quickly and
efficiently. I was impressed that Captain
Pickford kept us well informed with timely,
informative and calming announcements. I'm
completely comfortable in his most able hands, especially in these waters.

There's something especially nice about having a
day or two at sea before you start having port
calls, but all aboard are looking forward to Port
Stanley in the Falkland Islands tomorrow. Some
more than others, however, as most of the penguin
tours were sold out long before embarkation. One
absolute on this itinerary is to book your
excursions, private or through the ship, well in
advance of sailing. The most sought-after were
sold out even before December. Many disappointed
people upon boarding, though fortunately there is
an alternative bus run by Port Stanley to one of
the colonies. So we're keeping our fingers
crossed that the seas will be amenable to tendering in the morning.

The port lectures, both by the historian and the
port lecturer, have been packed beyond capacity
in the Princess Theatre, and have been
excellent. Princess does do a nice job with their naturalists.

Seas have been good, though rolling. Last night
there were a couple big rolls, but nothing too
dramatic for this part of the world. But anyone
motion sensitive definitely should take
preventative measures (meclizine or patches or
similar) along with having remedies such as
ginger available. Just be prepared.

Tomorrow's a big day as we land in Port Stanley,
Falkland Islands! Of course, the big draw there
are the three varieties of penguins – King
(second in size only to the famed Emperors),
Gentoo and Rockhopper (smallest of the "crested"
penguins). There isn't a single location to see
all three, but you can see up to two at a
location. Other highlights of this island
include historical and battlefield tours from the
Falklands War between Argentina and Britain in
the 1980s. This tiny island group with only
3,000 residents is proud of their British
heritage and it should be apparent everywhere. I
understand there are some traditional British
pubs where you can have a nice, enjoyable meal and a pint or two.

But I'm off on a private excursion to see the
King Penguins at Volunteer Point. There are only
a couple tour operators who have permission to
take visitors to the site, as the number of
people visiting is tightly controlled. Princess
has an excursion there, but it's quite
expensive. We've arranged early tendering so
should have several hours with the penguins
tomorrow. Look forward to my report on the 14th
of the tour and some pictures!

Have wonderful dining companions and great
conversation each night so far. We're closing
out the restaurant for dinner, which to me is
always a sign that you've got a great
table. We've clicked from the first and am
looking forward to two more weeks of
conversation. This is the first time in a very
long time that I'm one of the least traveled
people at my table. We're having fun trading
travel stories! Two of our companions are
originally from Albania (did you know their
language is a Latin language? Neither did I!),
the rest of us from the Western US. But we all
have a lot of miles under our belts and it makes
for a great time. In talking with others, seems
to be a fairly universal theme on this cruise.

I'm off to take care of some other logistics, and
perhaps a short nap, as the Promenade Bar turns
into a terrific Piano Bar at night. I'm not
going to miss it tonight! Fortunately, we pick
up an hour before our arrival tomorrow morning,
so a late night won't have me dragging for the
penguins. I also hear the disco was hopping past
1AM last night too! This is an active bunch!

Hope you're enjoying – next post on the 14th.