I could feel the ship rolling and pitching all night. Every now and then there would be a very loud thud when a wave would hit hard...typical in a forward cabin in rough seas. At 1:30 am I woke up to use the bathroom and found out Bob was awake. He had been up several times and wasn't feeling well. With meclazine in his system I wondered if this wasn't something more than sea sickness.
I slept fine and actually enjoyed the rocking motion of the ship. I didn't want to wake Bob so stayed in bed myself as long as possible. I had sort of planned to go to "Coffee with the Cruise Director" at 9 am, but when I looked at the clock it was already 9:30! (I can't remember when I've slept that late!) I quickly dressed, put the "do not disturb" sign on the door and went up to the buffet. I had a yogurt/granola parfait and then went to the port talk on the Falkland Islands.
By the time I got to the theater it was packed. I did manage to find a single seat down on the floor. EXC Guide, Kevin, talked about some of the sights in the city of Stanley, but the main attraction in the Falklands was the penguins. Kevin stated that the population of Stanley was less than 3,000 but the Falkland Islands are home to over a million penguins!
Five different breeds call the Falkland Islands home...gentoo, rock hopper, magallenic, chinstrap, and the kind we were most hoping to see...the king penguins. I had booked our independent tour over a year in advance with Patrick Watts. All of the ship tours were sold out so the only option to someone who hadn't planned ahead was to take a shuttle for $20 to a beach where penguins could be seen from a distance.
I stuck around in the theater for "Ask the Captain" at 11:00 but I only stayed through a bit of his presentation on the mechanical side of the ship. I could hear people coughing all over the theater. I cut out a little early before the Q and A started and got to the buffet before the crowd and found a table. Laurel had texted me that she had gone to the same talk and was going to meet Kent at the cabin before coming to eat. I kept waiting on them to arrive but never saw them. As I was leaving, I checked the opposite side of the buffet and there they were. 😕
On the way back to check on Bob, I stopped at the Mix and bought him a can of ginger ale. He still wasn't feeling great and it was definitely more than just sea sickness...tummy troubles on top of the cold he already had. A cruise ship is pretty much a petri dish of germs! Deni, our room steward, saw me as I was going into the room and said he had my laundry. Not bad since I had just sent it out yesterday around 3 pm. Everything came back on hangers or neatly folded in tissue paper.
I left Bob to rest and went to the future cruise presentation in the Explorer's Lounge at 1:00. We already have two future cruise deposits apiece and also have a Princess cruise booked so no new bookings for us. Laurel was at the talk and was heading to the lecture on penguins and sheep. For me, mid-afternoon lectures are just an invitation for a nap so I went back to the room. If I was going to sleep it might as well be in a bed.
After resting, I met Laurel to go to the Backstage Tour in the theater. We all agreed that the singers and dancers on this cruise were outstanding and it was fun to interact with them personally.
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| The monitor where performers can keep track of what is happening on the stage. |
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| Two of the dancers. |
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| A view of the theater from the stage...and our favorite balcony seats! |
The captain made an announcement that he was trying to make good time to the Falklands so he could get within the protection of their bay to get out of the rough seas. He thought we would arrive by midnight and then be at our anchorage by 6 am tomorrow morning. The waves seemed to be a "little" calmer, but still to the point that ever so often the waves completely washed over our cabin window.
Bob hadn't eaten anything all day so I convinced him to order room service. A bowl of chicken noodle soup was just what he needed...or so I thought. He ate a little but not much.
I went to the buffet with Kent and Laurel. We had a nice dinner and sat talking for a long time afterward. Since it was Valentine's Day, the server brought by a plate with three chocolate covered strawberries at the end of the meal. The dessert section also had heart shaped sugar cookies dipped in red frosting. I picked up one to take back for Bob. This certainly wasn't one of our more romantic Valentine's days together.
Before going to bed, I went to guest services to ask about our onboard credits. We just don't spend much on a cruise (especially when our gratuities were already covered) and I was curious if any of the credit would be refunded. The girl I spoke with was very confused but in the end it sounded like most of our left over credit would be put back on our credit card (which in fact it was.)
Our backpack is loaded for our day in the Falklands tomorrow. The room service card is hanging on the door with our breakfast order to be delivered between 6:00 and 6:30 am. The question is...will Bob be feeling well enough to go?
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