I thought it couldn't get any better than what I saw yesterday. I was incorrect. I woke up at 4 a.m., dawdled, showered, dressed and was in the Crow's Nest by 5:30 a.m. I was not the first, by far. The best seats in front were already taken but I got an excellent seat, in the front, toward the port side.
The weather started as partly cloudy which made for a wonderful sunrise as the sun came up over the mountains. We saw easily a dozen whales in the first hour and oodles of penguins.
I left the Crow's Nest at 9:30 a.m. and had a light breakfast. It felt like lunch time because I'd been up so long.
Next was cards with Carole, in the Hudson Room, next to a large window. She was bummed because she hadn't seen a whale yet. As we played I spotted a couple and once she got the hang of it, she started spotting them. It was hard to focus on cards with the amazing scenery slowly moving by.
I was heading back to my cabin but realized there was an equally spectacular view from the starboard side so found a comfortable place to sit. Seals on bergie bits (tiny icebergs) and a research station overrun with penguins. Lots of penguins in the water. A nice lady named Mary from Hilton Head joined me and we had a grand time watching the view.
I took a break then spent the afternoon doing more scenery and animal watching, followed by a bowl of soup for dinner and an early night.
One thing that has enhanced my experience in the Antarctic is the experts on board. We have a small team of speakers doing 2-3 lectures each day. Plate techtonics. Wave action. Birds of the Antarctic and much more. Lectures are done live in the main showroom and then replayed on the tvs in our cabins. Each is about 45 minutes long and educational without being boring. These lectures are an xample of how they ramp things up on the world cruise. The speakers are scientists who do research in Antarctica.
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