Catlover54

Wines

Below is the included complimentary wine list for this cruise (subject to change).  When the ship resupplies, the list is more likely to change a little (but it usually overlaps with that of some of the other SB ships).  However, we have no resupply ports scheduled until the end of the cruise, so this is it (unless the head somm, Nimish, is holding some back).  There is also a decent extra charge wine list with 2-3x markups (but then guests with loyalty status can get a significant percent reduction in price).  

As has been the SB practice  for several years at least, this list is not presented to guests when they sit down to dine (you have to specifically ask for it -- maybe ask for it twice, to then get a copy, but it will happen if you persist). 

Instead, at each meal, either 1 or 2 included wines of the day are offered when guests sit down.  If they don't like the offerings after a taste (or because they had them before and didn't care for them) they can ask for something else that is still complimentary and keep going back and forth until something is found (this may take time). 

Some "free" wines are quite drinkable, even though they are inexpensive, others not so much (taste is  subjective, and retail prices are available for all to look up on the fast  Starlink internet we have while cruising). 

SB also offers (for extra charge), a couple  sit-down small group wine pairing luncheons and dinners, a Bordeaux tasting, and similar extra fee events, run by the somm.

Every day, mornings and afternoons, expedition team members are available in the bow lounge (deck 6) for answering questions, showing guests things of interest on maps and computers that are stationed there, and/or just to chat with.  Drinks and snacks (self-serve) are also available there.  Fortunately no overhead background music is pumped in there (unlike in the beautiful Constellation lounge (deck 9), where pop music is pumped in 24/7 if there is no performance). 

If you're considering booking a suite forward on deck 6, keep in mind that there is a steady though usually stream of pax coming and going from the Bow Lounge (a lot more when there are sitings or scenic cruising). The plus side is that you are always close to the lounge. 

Both the Bow deck lounge and the Constellation lounge have access to the outside. 

DAY 12, sea day, 12/27/24  -- new course:  bound for Elephant Island to meet the Venture

It is sunny and beautiful out, but with winds at 20 mph and it is chilly at 36F/2C.  We've been traveling at a rapid clip of 20 mph (requiring a lot of railing holding by me, combined with an inelegant penguin gait).

Like yesterday, the daily Herald schedule  ( available in paper and on the Source app most of the time), shows multiple offered educational lectures, trivia, and evening musical entertainment options.  I've heard two talks so far.  I can't remember everything in them and can look at them and/or information I'm interested in in detail on the TV, or through my excellent Starlink.

We had been heading for King George Island, to drop off the young man needing more intense medical attention than available on the ship , with a planned arrival tomorrow.  However, In his daily briefing, the captain announced that because the air strip at King George is currently not usable, the new plan for the young man's care, is for the ship to head for Elephant Island and rendezvous with the SB Venture there.  The Venture  will then transport the man to Ushuia (the Venture has completed its Antarctica tour, and was to be headed home anyway, though I don't know if any of their itinerary was cut short). The other alternative would have been for us to take the young man to Ushuia on the Pursuit , but that would mean aborting the remaining 10 days of our cruise.

Elephant Island is famous because it is where the men from the Shackleton crew had been stranded on their infamous journey over 100 years ago, after their ship the Endurance had broken apart in the Antarctic ice (no, there are no elephants there, but it is an elephant seal zone). We have been hearing a lot of talks about the miraculous rescue of those men thanks to Shackleton's creative and complicated (and dangerous) efforts.  

The i- map below shows the relation of Elephant Island (our new destination) to King George Island (our prior destination to drop off the young man) 

Ushuia (not shown) is off to the 10 o'clock position, and South Georgia from whence we came is off to the 2 o'clock position. 

Venture is coming to Elephant Isle from the south and Pursuit from the NE.

It is terrific, and reassuring,  that SB is taking such care to assure the young man gets the best care possible ASAP. 

A performer, Simon, of the singing duo Simon and Valentina (who usually perform evenings in the Deck 9 Constellation lounge) fell yesterday during bumpy seas, and per one of the expedition team, tore some lower extremity ligaments (I'm not sure of the medical details, but he is not getting evacuated, unclear why not).  He reportedly sang for the audience while in a wheelchair yesterday (I did not see it, as I was at a different concert). 

South Georgia was just a magical place, and we felt so privileged to be able to see it.

From two days ago, an old whaling town (no visitors allowed due to asbestos in the walls)

Visitors on deck 9:

I think this is a bird called "skua" (it's a scavenger, and a great Scrabble word):

Searchlight at the bow of the ship:

Dedicated expedition team drivers:

SB staff showed its excellent service quality last night in the dining room .  We had come into the Restaurant for a late dinner and got seated in an area where it did not take us long to realize the location would not work for us.  At a table a few feet away, a group of six from the Taiwanese or Chinese contingency was hooting and hollaring, yelling "More! More!" , and otherwise behaving obnoxiously at close to 90 db.    Perhaps it was just a cultural variant, but this was not likely, because others from the same ethnicity were quietly eating their dinners nearby and behaving totally appropriately. Whatever it was , we did not like it. We saw the offending group was eating dessert so we hoped they'd leave soon, but no, they kept getting more and more wine poured and getting louder and louder, literally screaming at each other in bursts of what we assumed was Mandarin. 

DH talked to the assistant manager and he assured use he would move us to a table far away from the drunks -- right after he had moved the older German couple behind us, which had apparently also complained (as the latter left for their new table, they apologetically told us they had already endured that group at lunch in the Restaurant, and were tired of it).

The staff moved all the contents of our table to our new, distant table (wine glasses, water, bread plates -- the whole works).  

Kudos to SB staff!  The group could keep happily screaming at each other in their location without a confrontation, and we could have a peaceful dinner far, far away.

Everywhere you looked on the Salisbury Plain there were penguins.  The white blobs are the bibs of the king penguins, the brown blobs are the growing chicks.

The penguins went all the way up to the snow pack area.

DH's composite 2.5 minute video views from the Salisbury Plain off South Georgia Island yesterday (Zodiak drive-by)

DAY 11, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, Sea Day 

This was the first night this trip we allowed ourselves to actually sleep in (i.e., until 8AM).  It's foggy and a bit rainy outside (36 F/2 C with a  14 mph wind), so we won't be spending much time out on the decks or the balcony.  The fog horn sounds every couple minutes, and there is a bit of creaking in the walls of our suite, but otherwise it is peaceful and comfortable as I lie on my foam-toppered bed slowly rocking back and forth looking out at the sea,  trying to decide which of the five different scents of bubble bath gel SB provided me at the start of the voyage I should use this morning ("orange and bergamot" is my favorite).  It doesn't get any more  decadent than this.  

The Herald printout shows many available organized events (3 educational lectures -- also available in the suite -- , trivia, a scavenger hunt, musical events of course, and a Hanukkah Candle Lighting at 6PM.

DH finally went to the gym, deck 7 aft behind the spa (which surprisingly only had two other people in it mid-morning despite it being a sea day).  Even the "guest laundry" (deck 5)  isn't that busy.  We don't use it because we get "free laundry" as one of our SB status benefits (other than to do a rare  ironing touchup).

Around 3 AM last night we had heard an emergency blast for ship medical personnel, and this morning we learned that unfortunately a young man (unclear if crew or passenger) became too ill to be cared for just on the ship.  Therefore, the ship is diverting its orginally planned course, which was to be past a very large iceberg on the way to Antarctica, and instead we are rapidly heading for King George Island, where better medical facilities are available to care for and triage him.  

For those of you who don't know anything about King George Island (I have never been there) , I read there is a whole research station and village there with several hundred people. The photos below show its location in relation to the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, S. America, and South Georgia.

It has an airstrip, and that is where the cruise line Silversea bases its "fly into Antarctica" charter flights before short cruises to Antarctica.   People who cannot handle the often rough waters of the Drake passage, and/or people with little time, find that cruise option appealing.

Of course we all hope that the young man will be ok.  Unexpected diversions (both minor, such as this one, and more major ones) are not uncommon on cruises, both expedition and non-expedition, and it is good to know that the health and safety of people on board is a priority.

The SS offered flight/cruise (I know this is a SB forum, but maybe others will find it useful anyway to understand options):

Day 10, Christmas Day 12/25 (cont'd) 

Our last excursion at South Georgia Island ended a couple hours ago.  We did a drive-by Zodiak tour of the Salisbury Plain shoreline for about an hour (couldn't land because of bird flu, which was disappointing, but we still got a lot out of cruising by the shoreline full of seals and penguins). 

We'll now be cruising for a couple sea days, bound for Antarctica, and DH will have time to sort more pictures and videos in between multiple lectures and expedition team presentations (I hope).  He still hasn't made it to the gym, which shows how busy he has been (on most cruises he goes every other day). 

SB has some secular Holiday lighting and 'triangles with lights and balls'  up throughout the ship (Christmas trees), with Santas and gingerbread themes.  The ship has  also been playing a lot of secular Christmas pop music in hallways, lounges, and restaurants, a lot in Broadway musical style, some in big band style.  Last night was a sing-along (e.g., Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer type music) in the Club (very well attended) moderated by our CD dressed as an elf, and someone came dressed as Santa.

This was all in good fun but wasn't really our thing (though we checked it out after a terrific duck dinner in the Restaurant), so we did our own celebrations in our wonderful suite, using the very good Internet to access music and programming we prefer.

Turndown service Christmas gifts:

I'm not sure if these  wooden triangles are just for Christmas, or are always there: 

This is the main tree:

I believe this is a female elephant seal (please advise if incorrect) (DH):

Seal just back from a swim:

A molting king penguin (when molting, the penguins aren't waterproof for several weeks, and  thus cannot get food until the process is finished) (my iphone)

The king penguin is not sure what species the creature mid-photo is:

Or this one ( !! )

Zodiaks are stored on Deck 9 :

Abandoned whale-processing machinery:

(More DH photos)

of Grytvikn (which refers to the "little pot" seal camps used), with the leftover equipment):

We have started seeing icebergs more frequently:

This is how guests  who are a bit more fragile are helped *out* of the Zodiak during wet landings:

Quite a few guests were able to go kayaking:

Between the penguins and the seals, it's easy to forget about other wildlife.  These two (I do not know the species yet) didn't want anything to do with us cruising by:

But these macaronis were happy to wave hello (or goodbye, depending on perspective, or were just randomly flapping):

The "Image Masters" Zodiak is shown below, with the hard-core  (4 figure upcharge per person, but the advantage is that it is totally oriented  to photographers and they go out early and have more time, compared with mere mortals on a regular  Zodiak).  DH, not on Image Masters, also said his regular guide  talked too much, and waved her hands around too much which interfered with some shots, and/or spun the boat too quickly too often, all of which he found a bit annoying.  He said on his next Zodiak run if that happens he will politely ask for a "moment of silence" so the sounds of animals, rather than those of humans non-stop talking, can be better heard.

In the "Image Masters" drive-by Zodiaks, the guests can also rotate their positions, so all photographers have opportunity for a good shot:

3 hours ago, SLSD said:

Catlover, All of your posts have been outstanding.  Thank you for taking the time to write them.  

I am glad you are enjoying.  Though there are a few bumps in the road (like my having to deal with a fear of getting in/out of a Zodiak), overall the trip is turning out way, way better than anticipated, and is 5/5. DH and I are soooo glad we booked this.

 My guess, based on prior interest you have posted in the past, is that you and your DH would also like it a lot. 

Though we are now on Day 10, 12/25, Christmas Day, I'm still not caught up on posting highlights from Days 8 and 9.  There is so much to do!

This morning there was a lot of fog so the "Shackleton long hike" was cancelled, and instead we are stationary at the Salisbury plain, waiting for it to clear enough to do a Zodiak drive-by (unfortunately due to bird flu risk, we will not be able to land).  This is an area where there are 100k penguins in a huge, famous colony.

(These are, of course, from DH)

In the afternoon yesterday DH did a Zodiak-only tour, driving by cliffs with wildlife including the lounging blubbery seal above.  He also saw  macaroni penguins (shown mid-argument in the last picture).  

I decided not to go in the last minute, because the procedure for getting into the Zodiak that afternoon looked a bit precarious for me (e.g., over 1 meter rapid drops of the boat due to choppy waves).  The last straw for me was when I saw an older but enthusiastic lady (who did not have adequate support when she was getting into the bobbing Zodiak) unceremoniously slip and plop down onto the edge of the boat, with enough force that would have left someone like me, who is especially vulnerable to fall injuries, with painful contusions if not a fracture, so I played it safe and instead enjoyed vicariously through DH's images.

20 hours ago, frantic36 said:

@Catlover54 great photos as usual. Both your DH photo of the ship, ice and Penguin are definitely iconic but your church photo is also great with a serene quality.

 

We never got to go into the graveyard as there was a big group of Elephant Seals lying in the way and it wasn't safe to try. The crew made sure we kept a safe distance.

 

Poor baby seal in your video got to experience the rough and tumble of life.

But fortunately that baby fur seal, despite getting bonked by Bull-Dad running by, seemed to recover and continue scampering towards the fun.

The babies were everywhere, both at Grytviken yesterday and Fortuna Bay today,  many playing, a few motionless little blobs but alive if we watched them long enough, and a few, sadly, were likely dead.  Nature is tough.

This family of a Bull, one of his many female harem members, and a pup were doing just fine.

I'm on the Pursuit right now so am quite busy, thanks to SB, but I am making time to review your lovely post-voyage photos in between activities.  Thank you for posting!

I wish more people would post trip reports with photos after their cruises, as you are doing, rather than just not posting at all while on board because it is too time-consuming.  There is a nice middle route, and you are showing it. 

I had suggested to DH, who likes taking photos on trips, that he sign up for Image Masters, but he thought it would just be a professional photographer teaching  people how to take pictures, which didn't seem worth it  to DH (since he has his own ideas for his own camera and lenses, which do not include using the huge, superlong lenses  some carry).  Obviously, however,  it is more than just a regular photography lession (i.e., having a dedicated and first Zodiak going out, and the opportunity to be on a mostly empty landing site, is very nice).

The other advantage is that you are with a leader who knows the importance of taking good photos to the people onboard the Zodiak who are paying a lot extra, i.e., knowing when not to talk so one can hear and record nature sounds instead of listening to chattering humans, and how to direct the Zodiak.

On a Zodiak drive-by of a wildlife bluff on our ship yesterday, where DH was with a generic (non Image Master) group of cruisers, and the driver/expedition team member constantly talked about the wildlife, never stopping.  She also broadly waved her arms around constantly (which blocked the potential for many shots), and she repeatedly spun the boat round and round instead of standing still for a bit, so it was difficult for guests to get a fix on an image.

Next time DH might consider signing up for Image Masters, to help be with a Zodiak leader who understands what photography-oriented guests value.

Thanks again!

More wildlife photos and video to follow when internet is better ( currently cloudy). 
 

Meanwhile we are sailing to Fortuna Bay for tomorrow’s excursions.

(My iphone again)

We Zodiaked into Grytviken village this morning, which used to be a big whaling center, and then had 1.5 or so hours to walk around before our return Zodiak run.  Old rusting whale processing equipment is still lying around, now part of the accomodations for fur seals and king penguins (engineer DH enjoyed studying the old equipment).

Now the area is only a research center (no more whaling or seal meat processing).  But there is still a small church (built over 100 years ago), a gift shop (more recent vintage), and a post office (some guests were keen on sending a postcard or other mail postmarked from Antarctica, perhaps for grandkids or similar).  

To my surprise, there was even a toilet for cruise guests (so I should have had a second cup of coffee after all -- that info had not been part of our briefing, and in general, I just assume that on expedition landings there are zero facilities of any kind). I had also heard that in Antarctica men aren't even allowed to 'improvise', 

Though I did go up and into the church, and over to Shackleton's grave, DH and I spent most of our time and 2.0 miles (flat) walking around and observing the abundant fur seals, king penguins, and ducks.  

We were told in our seal lecture that over 90% of all fur seals in the world are on South Georgia.  The bulls are very territorial, and though a couple were not happy to see us, the vast majority of the animals were indifferent to our intrusions.

Every trip, DH takes a "Carpe Diem" picture of some kind.  This is his for this trip:

The seas have calmed, Congyu Wang (personally humble and reflective) again performed brilliantly  last night (mostly pieces by French composers), and we have arrived in South Georgia. 

My  first sleepy iphone views from our balcony suite:

43 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

Love all these pictures. Thank you for sharing 

I am glad you are enjoying them!

Seas remained rough all day, with waves 7 meters.  At one point we came to a sudden halt with a big boom.  The captain announced that the bridge had seen a big pod of whales ahead, so as to protect them from injury by the ship, the crew turned off the stabilizers and also stopped the ship until the whales had moved on (decks were closed off due to the weather, and it was quick, so we were unable to see the whales).

Tomorrow we will be landing in Grytviken in the morning (hopefully), the site of Shackleton's grave and a deserted whaling village.  In the PM, we will be Zodiaking along the coast of Hercules Bay to view macaroni penguins.

Last night our energetic and upbeat  CD Dave Resultan (originally from the Philipines) gave a solo vocal performance.  He has a beautiful voice, and performed mostly Broadway style pieces.  However, as a treat for the many Taiwanese we have on board, he also did a song in Mandarin, and another in Tagalog, and he finished with his own rendition of Bridge over Troubled Water.

Dave relayed a bit of his life story, including how he came to the U.S. as a teen with his mom, a nurse, and how just 15 months ago he had to undergo open heart surgery due to a congenital heart defect his partner (also a nurse) had discovered while practicing auscultating his heart.  He is happy to be "Alive!", and that was the name of his show. I was sitting next to an older lady who was almost bald, with just the beginnings of grey stubby hair regrowth, suggesting she had undergone chemo not that long ago.  Not  surprisingly, she was tearing up during the story.  Many of us here have likely also had life-threatening experiences, and we truly appreciate that we not only survived, but are healthy enough to enjoy such a wonderful cruise.