I followed Marcie's link; is that Ken lying flat on the deck, aiming his huge lens upward?

YAY for internet onboard!!!

Denise I have sent you an email responding to Anne's ?s. This board is the best.
------------
Helen

Hi Helen,

I received your email and sent it to Anne for you.

In addition to the Poochers photo on the Explorer II log, there is a picture of a woman who bears a strong resemblance to Olivia's sister Sandra shaking hands with the Captain on Feb. 2. Maybe they can confirm (or deny) when they get Internet access tomorrow!

I have heard from Michele that Olivia is in fact, alive, well and on board the ship!

another report from Anne:
----------------

Explorer II is a marvel of technology. We expect tomorrow to have paid access
to internet accounts (fifty cents per minute). A few of the LCTers are doing
yeoman's duty and testing it out today. Woo hoo! We also have the highest
technology for penguin poop removal - the GuanoMatic. One can operate this
either singly or in pairs. Lots of possible humorous replies come to mind. One
new regulation has come into effect since last year's Hanseatic trip. We now
have to vacuum our outerwear if it's been used prior to landing on South
Georgia. In addition, any who wore the rubber wellington boots need to get the
high-speed hose treatment at the pool deck. The recommendation from those who
have gotten the boots cleaned is 'skip the pool from here on out'

We are gearing up for our landing at South Georgia tomorrow. We just saw about
7 dolphins leaping alongside the port side of the ship. Earlier today, the
Prinsendam (Holland America) passed along our starboard side. As she passed,
the bulb at the front of her bow was breaching the water. Much bumpier ride,
methinks, than the one we are enjoying.

Evidently the shutters have come up for those in the porthole cabins sometime
today. The Clan of the Cave Bear have ended their hibernation phase for
hopefully the last time. Weather is comfortable, wind is low and skies are
clear. Earlier today, spitting rain and clouds.

We had the mandatory pre-landing information session with our Expedition
Leader. There IS more than one way to get on and off a zodiac, BUT there is
only one way to do it on Explorer II. Most of the lectures are broadcast
simultaneously on Channel 2. This means you can snooze in comfort if one's
interest in the topic is outweighed by one's need to sleep. There was another
outdoor barbeque for the german sausage and Becks beer appetizers prior to
lunch.

Last night we rallied and enjoyed dinner with several folks (LCT and non-LCT).
We decided to attempt to break the record for number of folks simultaneously on
the dance floor. Our cruise director set the bar at 18 people; the expedition
assistant said it was 45. We were not to be deterred. We eventually got 50+
folks doing the latest line dance, The Penguin, set to "Taking Care of
Business". The band decided to close up shop and the hotel director asked him
to play on. Following one more rousing number, the captain came on the speaker
to remind us the folks in the suites above us were trying to get to sleep. Of
course, we graciously offered to invite them to join in the fun. No soap ..
and the band packed up. It was a perfect end to a sleepy day.

I must commend the staff onboard. They are making every effort to learn our
names and our preferences. I forced myself to get up in time to make the
laundry cut-off this morning and was greeted by our ever-smiling stewardess
Melinda. We got Ms. Understood's request re: tracking down the textbook. We
put a posse together and scoured the entire library. So far, the book is still
MIA.

Things are picking up aboard Explorer II. Seven dolphins started dancing off
the port side, and now a large iceberg has been spotted off the starboard bow.
We have the B&K party to kick off this evening's festivities. Signing off for
now to go get my camera in action ..

Cheers, Anne

Just love reading your reports Anne!! So happy you're having fun doing the "Penguin" on the dance floor....I remember when we did that on the Mariner 2 years ago too! Such fun! Keep reporting in....we all love your reports!

Sorry Helen's book hasn't shown up, maybe it still will.

Suzanne it sure looks like Sandra - think you are right!!!

My thanks to the "posse". At least if it doesn't turn up it won't be for lack of caring enuf to look. We had several nights of closed portholes and barf bags (which can hold a significant amount of popcorn to take into the movie theater if you have a mind to)but even tho there was very significant motion, not many were ill. I think it is a hardy group that sets sail for Antarctca!
-----------
Helen

Thanks for posting, everyone! Sounds like an amazing trip to date. I can't believe someone is wearing shorts!!!

Knowing Anne and some other members of the group, I bet they are also doing the turtle on the dance floor! There is always someone in the crowd who will take every opportunity to wear shorts. It drives Bert crazy when we go to a nice restaurant for dinner in Naples and the tourists are wearing shorts. Great posts-it's like being there without the motion sickness!

Yesterday's landing at Salisbury Plain in S. Georgia was too fantastic for words. We were blessed with perfect weather, but we are having a serious storm today - snow, rolling waves and whitecaps and much rolling and bobbing. Our landing at Gold Harbour at 5:00 am had to be stopped, so now we are on our way to the Antarctic Peninsula. Looks like the poochers will have a full day of fun.

Incredible trip!! I don't have time to read the posts so forgive me if I repeat something. Yesterday was absolutely awesome and today is equally as exciting but for a different reason. The Captain just now said we are experiencing a Category I storm. We are holding on and hunkered down. We are passing HUGE ICEBERGS along the way. Uh-oh, things are flying around here in the library right now. Verrrrry rough. I hope this post goes through...I do love this ship. Enjoyed taking a plunge in the pool yesterday with Anne, Pam, & Susan (new LCTer) after a terrific day with the KING Penguins on So.Georgia Is. We were entertaining the entire ship! There were so many cameras pointed at us, I'm sure you all will see this event. We are enroute to the Antarctic Peninsula now. Editing to add: Olivia is alive and well with us! We are enjoying her & her sister & BIL immensely.

What an experience! Thanks for posting-we are all enjoying this trip with you.

That's terrific that you now have internet - looking forward to hearing about your further adventures. Salisbury Plain is one of many high points on the trip - I'm so glad you had good weather.

Others have reported on today's storm so we will just say that yesterday was spectacular at Salisbury Plain (where we were greeted by thousands of king penguins) and Grytviken. We're just riding the storm out and hoping it ends soon.

Amanda, look a little more closely at the person wearing shorts (and crocs) :)

Here are a couple of photos. Even though we now have internet access, it's really hard to upload photos for posting. We'll try and e-mail a few more to Karen and see how that works.

Grant...incredible photos!!

Thanks so much for sharing.

Nancy

Mark just said that the picture looks fake and that's quite the compliment!! WOW!

another report from the ICE from Anne just in:


-------------------------
Remember the 'it must be five o'clock somewhere'? I can vouch for the fact it
was five o'clock here, all right, but as in 'AM'. . Thanks to the ARSE squad,
announcements are now affectionately called 'ding dongs' by all those
authorized to make them. For all of us Seinfeld fans, we keep thinking of
Lloyd Braun and his miraculous but short-lived career selling computers
whenever we hear the bell on the PA system. Today, they started at 4:30 am.
The Endurance Group (a/k/a the green dots) were first up for the zodiacs. Can
you guess where the weather report is going? It's a low pressure cell and that
is evidently not a good thing. Richard is our weather map man but I haven't
seen him lately to give the full interpretation of that observation by el
capitan: The captain's 'ding dong'ed us around 6 am again this morning with
"I'm sorry for those of you who could not go ashore [to Gold Harbor] and I'm
more sorry for those of you who did! I am most sorry, though, for the
expedition staff. Hot beverages and a hot shower are in order for all".

We have gone from the sublime to the ridiculous in weather. Yesterday
afternoon the last remaining members of the ancient tribe of water nymphs
surfaced in the 86 degree pool, recreating their famous synchronized swimming
routine to the amazement (a/k/a horror) of the guests on the pool deck.
Russell summed it up nicely for the audience by noting "On other cruise lines,
you have to pay extra for this entertainment".

This morning, a mere 16 hours later, we were hoping for sunshine and got liquid
sunshine - rain instead. That has now morphed into snow and temps in the high
30's. They landed a few parties and the swells unfortunately picked up.
Landings were cancelled. Our next door neighbors, Darla and Fred, were able to
land and said the penguins and elephant seals were spectacular. Tom Keenan
could hear the penguins from the deck of the ship, but we could barely make out
the outline of the shore. Those of us left aboard were spending time making
snowballs on the pool deck.

Speaking of the pool deck .. let me go back to the B&K party adjoining the pool
deck where the last update ended. We all enjoyed the B&K party. The senior
staff all attended so we got to meet them. Our captain had the honor of
pulling the first name for the preliminary winners on the B&K free cruise for
2008. He pulled the first name and it was .. the captain! For the rest of us,
they are better known as Michele and Don. They had not yet arrived, so the
captain pulled the second name and it was .. the captain again! This time, a
first, it was us! I then pulled the captain's name again, better known as
Richard Swan (new pooch addict), who then pulled Tom & Pam, who then pulled
Andrea, and the last of the preliminary winners are Ken & Shirley (non-LCT).
After that, we lumbered over to the restaurant and eventually enjoyed a nice
malbec with dinner. Grant was in fine form keeping us entertained. Several of
the others headed up to La Verandah for a speed dinner and more photo/deck
animal sighting opportunities.

Yesterday morning we arrived at Salisbury Plain in picture perfect weather. We
did not, though, have picture perfect seas. We drew the first landing around
10 am. The zodiacs had to be landed stern first (Class 5 landing) and we had
to roll into rolling surf. We enjoyed the beach and the penguin rookery. I
got several great shots of baby seals in the surf, penguins trumpeting,
preening, molting, marching, feeding their babies, jumping in the surf, heading
back on land, sleeping, slapping each other, making X rated movies and peeking
at the eggs incubating on top of their feet. Fortunately, I did not get a
single shot of guano. Nature is nature .. several remains of penguins, full
grown seals and sadly a few baby seals and penguins were along the walkway to
and from the rookery.

We reboarded the ship, had lunch and then it was time for water nymphs. We saw
Olivia and told her to 'write home' as the LCTers were asking after her. She's
doing very well.
We saw lots of penguins and seals bobbing for food as we lined the deck
railings watching the waters alongside the ship. Finally, we arrived at the
whaling station (don't ask me to spell it) where Shackleton completed his trek
to rescue the remaining men from Elephant Island. My god .. those mountains
are steep and a half. How in the world he and his men completed that crossing
in 36 hours is still a mystery.

The sunlight was perfect; the mountains fully visible and the glaciers
sparkling along the way from Salisbury Plain. Great scenery and great
photography conditions .. all of those with massive photo lenses were grinning
from ear to ear. Seals were bobbing around in the water. We landed near
Shackleton's grave, where our historian gave a rousing tribute to Shackleton as
we downed a glass of hooch. A whole pod of fur seals and elephant seals lay
nearby. The fur seals are pretty aggressive as they still have youngsters in
tow. The youngsters were picking fights with one another at record pace. We
got many 'nature in action' photos. One mother was outraged by one of the
other guests and took off after her, closing the gap with surprising speed.
The naturalists intervened, but that seal made three runs before she decided to
fully give up the chase.

From the fighting fur seals, we saw a small band of inactive, molting king
penguins. There were a handful of fur seal babies taking to the water. They
alternatively explored a piece of metal in the water and how to fight each
other. Next came the elephant seals .. or rather, didn't come the elephant
seals. The old saying 'tonnage rules' seems to apply to these guys. They were
lying anywhere they wanted. One fur seal subadult thought he'd go poke one of
the elephant seals. The naturalist said 'geez .. does he want to get rolled on
for a certain death?' The minute the elephant seals harrumphed, the fur seal
beat it to a safer path. Their holes are enormous and deep, making walking on
the grass a bit tricky.

We dragged ourselves away as the light was fading to quickly tour the remains
of the whaling station buildings, the church and the museum. We caught one of
the last tenders back and got ready for Michele's birthday dinner. It was
Ngaire's dream menu .. dover sole, veal loin and chicken cordon bleu. She did
it justice! A rousing three-language birthday song accompanied by the popping
of balloons overhead and a HUGE cake completed the celebration.

We all turned in early, knowing our 4:30 am 'ding dong' was but hours away.

At present, we are seeing the skies lift a little bit. Hopefully, we get
better weather for this afternoon's fjord sail-by. Sandra just walked by. She
doesn't know if she's on the A&K blog or not. We'll try to pull it up for her
for a positive ID later on today.

Saying goodbye as the steam is rising off the swimming pool as the snow hits
the water ..

Cheers, Anne

Sounds like the amazing experience continues! Masaki would have his scopolamine patch, his relief band, and his meclizine and I'd be freezing my butt off.

Grant, you crazy man you!!!

Ahoy LCTers! Just a quick post as they've disabled Word for drafting and the satellite has been in and out.

Seas are calmer. We maxed out at somewhere between 9 and 10 grade seas. At present, sea conditions are at 4 or 5. Much better!

Yesterday Jim & Pat Bittle did 'easy' trivia for all of us die-hards. Three teams competed; two tied with 5 correct out of 15. Goes to show how few of the Regent trivia quizzes the rest of us remember. In double overtime, the Drennan faction beat the Keene faction by knowing that the cashew nut is the only nut to grow outside of its fruit. We earned precious tokens for that win.

We resumed our dinner dancing. Our waiters donned the penguin suits, and soon Ngaire was dancing while Ken was serving the after-dinner snacks to the delight of those in the main lounge. We peeled off to bed a little too soon; the penguin waiters led the remaining dancers in another round of "The Penguin". The waiters have promised to show up in the penguin gear again.

POOCH update: After 29 games, Al's the big winner on % of victories. Pam and Susan have tied for top score of 114. We played on for a few rounds in the afternoon.

Today, we've had one (or more?) fin whales surfacing to breathe. They are big, honking fish. Yesterday's lunch was a terrific outdoor boullabaise (misspelled) and today looks like grilled fish outdoors. We've got a high weather condition so clearer, colder and calmer seas.

That's about it from Explorer II. Hope all are well!

Cheers, Anne

Others are doing a great job of posting but thought I would just drop in and let you know I am really on board. Been busy with one thing or another.

Met some really nice new LCT members on this cruise it is always fun to see old friends but to get to know some new people as well.

Ken is in heaven with all the boys and their cameras and there is a really good photographer giving lectures which he is really enjoying.
Lots of man speak camera talk going on.

Food has ranged from great to average. Last night the surf and turf, lobster tail and filet was truly outstanding. The lamb has been from N.Z. and that has been excellent also. Dover Sole was on the menu too and outstanding.

The weather forecast looks good so we are hoping for 3 wonderful days in Antactica. With this area of the world you never know until you actually get there.

Need to get Ken to post some pictures from the next few days.

Here they are:


Jim and Pat


Turdley was the center of attention at dinner


Grant and Andrea



The girls take the plunge!

Tom and Pam

Russ and Susan

John and Sandra (Olivia's sister)

Oliva and her new friend

Rich and Andrea






Olivia and the Captain

Great pictures, Ken! Grant, I love your Vandelay t shirt, lol. Olivia, that picture of you with the penguin is wonderful!!

great pix! I love the one with the penguins following everyone to the Zodiac. And the Vandelay shirt
-------------
Helen

Hey, there are pictures of Olivia! She's actually there! :D

Yes, Masaki and obviously having fun!!! ;) ;) I was beginning to doubt she was really onboard - the pictures are wonderful -

Wonderful pics! :)

Oh, that shot with the Captain was really fun! I just wrote out a nice long posting about my wonderful cruise so far, and the amazing sunset we just had tonight and poof! it was gone. More tomorrow, but expect some really spectacular photos. Gotta go now, as we are first off the ship tomorrow a.m.

These pictures really bring it all to life for us. Olivia, that's such a cute picture of you with the Captain and the penguin both! Thanks for sharing!

Great pics Ken. Glad to see proof that my sisters and BIL are alive and well. Plus, looks like O has a couple of new friends.

Joe

Great photos! Love the ones of Olivia w/ the penguin and the captain and the pool shot - brave ladies! Can't wait to hear about the Antarctica landings.

Hi Joe!!! Looks the sis's are having fun - Tony and I love the Harrison/Phillips families :hug: :hug: Joanna and Tony

Incredible evening last night. All the men keep leaving the table as the sunset was shining so beautifully on the icebergs. REally calm sea.

This morning was a zodiac drive on a sunny bright day with calm seas. Huge icebergs everywhere and little chinstraps jumping in the water and making a lot of noise. Truly incredible conditions particularly for this landing. I am sure you will see many posts about this moring.

Great pictures!!! So glad everyone is having such an incredible time.

Nancy

Really great pictures - sure does bring it to life for the rest of us, as do the posts. Thanks everyone - glad you are all having such a great time.

More Pics:


Last night's sunset.


From the bridge, we are in Antarctic waters.


Our Zodiac Driver gives us a class on icebergs.


Chinstrap Penguins.


More Chinstraps.


Anne & Olivia on a zodiac ride at Point Wild.




This Humpback Whale stayed with us for about 30 minutes and breached many times.

Ken these photos are AMAZING beyond words... :lct:

Ditto Sue - Ken's photos are incredible! Better than National Geographic :app: :app: :app: