Day 19 28th January

The temperature is dropping as we steam into the South Atlantic. It is still pleasant but a cool breeze is blowing across the deck so few people are sitting out today. There are mainly just the walkers circling the promenade deck. As I walked I saw a group of dolphins swimming across the ships wake. I assume the passage of the liner disturbs the fish so the dolphins are able to catch them easier. It was difficult to count the dolphins but at least a dozen and perhaps many more.

The sea has changed colour to a dark turquoise or green and there is more swell. It is probably going to get rougher as we approach the Falklands. We can already feel the motion in our cabin. Basically, the higher you are the greater the motion so on deck 11, we do sense small changes in the weather. The tour staff keep warning us that we will only land on the islands, weather permitting. The ship is too large to dock at Port Stanley so we go ashore in tenders which are essentially the liners life boats. They hold fifty passengers or so and you board them via a pontoon which floats alongside the ship. It can be quite bouncy and to land at Port Stanley we have a two mile trip in the tenders.

We had breakfast in Café Bordeaux which tends to be our habit. It is a circular open plan area in the centre of deck 8. It is intended to resemble a

French street

café and it does. It is open 24 hours a day but operates in four different ways during the cycle. In the morning up to 11 am it serves breakfast (i.e. mainly continental breads, cakes and fruit but with eccentric options such as sausage baguettes), from 11 to 5 it offers lunch. In the evening, it becomes a Marc Pierre White restaurant serving dinner for an additional charge until 11 pm when it becomes an all night café offering hot chocolate and sandwiches. It is one of our favourite places. The two headwaiters are both cricket fans and you can get a good conversation if you mention the game. The best things to eat are the cakes.  

Sea days are quite restful and calm with few people out and about the ship. The only busy place is the laundry room which is always busy except when the ship is in port. The entertainment tonight is Bonnie Langford. For those of you interested, the water does go the opposite way down the plug hole.