Wow!!!! Ken, Wonderful photos!

Fantastic, as always!! What a wonderful sunset!

Thanks for sharing these wonderful pics. Makes me wish we were there.

Ken, pictures are GREAT!

The Zodiac driver(and naturalist) is Russ Manning from UK. He was on our voyage two years ago - we all called him "Russ of Antarctica" - he's spent many summers, and at least one winter, on the Seventh Continent.

It's probably much warmer in Antarctica now than it is here - where the mercury is at ONE ABOVE.

Ditto all the above, BUT I don't think we've seen a sunset photo before - just awesome!! Thanks so much Ken!

Last year, when I showed DH Antarctic pix, he swore it was 10+ degrees colder just looking at them, and that's happened to me also this time!

Once again, wow! The sunset picture was incredible.

Typical print quality photography from Ken. Thank you. Awesome shots.

The internet wasn’t available today and Anne borrowed my laptop to write her daily missive. It’s damn hard to write as entertainingly as Anne does and internet isn’t as available as on most Regent, so I’ll hold off on my travelogue with photos until I get home and I’ll post the link for the 1 or 2 interested people. Jim
Anyway, HERE IS ANNE:
Good morning from the Brown Bluff on the seventh continent! There’s a reason fewer than 200,000 people have visited .. it’s called a successful landing. We are slated for the second group this morning. The current landing site is simply too rough. The expedition staff is bringing the early arrivals back to the ship (and brining them with sea water enroute). Now for a communal identity crisis .. the green dots who did not get ashore have blue dots to go ahead of the red dots when we try another landing. Everyone clear?
Meanwhile, all the ladies are at DEFCON1 in their choice of layering (maximum Michelin man, cleverly coined by Grant) and the men are figuring once they get seriously summoned, the will throw clothing on in 5 minutes. I have scandalized the passersby with pulling off my outermost layer (DEFCON2 at present) in the library. We are the lucky ones, though .. the blue-green dots were standing in full attire for at least 45 minutes in the gangway area and have now been released. Lord only knows where and the conditions for the green only dots ashore. But enough about this morning’s adventures.
On a scale of 1 to 10, yesterday was a 15 in Antarctic exploration history. We had successfully navigated the infamous B-15 iceberg overnight through calm seas to reach Elephant Island. A quick breakfast and gearing up for a landing and we were soon on the Edmund Hillary with Ngaire, Ken, Olivia, Ken, Shirley and two new friends for a one hour zodiac tour.
The sun sparked, the chinstrap penguins trumpeted, the seals were lazing on land and a few were slowly swimming nearby. As we approached land, the unmistakable scent of guano wafted over all of us. Phew! We first headed to the site of Shackleton’s camp. We sighted a rare leucistic Chinstrap penguin. A near-albino with ghost coloration and dark eyes. Trying to get clear pictures from a moving Zodiac is a challenge, but a few folks got a clear shot of that remarkable bird.
We saw the icebergs and glaciers in varying shades of white, light opaque blue, clear medium blue and one that was positively neon blue with the sun hitting it from behind. Back aboard, we saw several small calvings of the glaciers. Several chinstrap young grouped up and finally pushed one another in the water. They porpoise in groups and were flitting in and out of the bay. We got an extended tour and were out for a total of 90 minutes. I was struck by the very different textures of ice and snow. One glacier resembled corduroy cloth, glistening with a fresh, clear ice coating. Light conditions were superb. Our expedition leader Susana summed it up by saying it was the best day she’s had on Elephant Island in 20 years.
Once aboard, we got the call: Two humpback whales on the starboard bow! It was a mother and calf practicing their swimming. Both fluked and the expedition staff went nuts. It’s probably the first documented sighting of that particular mother and calf pair. Russell got a crisp picture of the baby’s flukes. Next up was ‘build your burger’ lunch. We eyeballed the offerings coming back from the pool deck and plotted our course for the Group Onion Layers for Lunch – Yes! menu (GOLLY). A few swipes of the Prussian inspired elbows and we managed to secure a heaping plate of crispy onion rings. Mmmm.
Following a few more rounds of POOCH, we assembled for Liar’s Club down in the main lounge. The staff stumped us, 5-0, but we were the true winners. As Nigel’s granny would say, we learned: “Don’t let your dingle dangle dangle in the dirt; be sure to keep your dingle dangle tucked beneath your shirt!”
We were dusting ourselves off from this trouncing when the ‘ding dong’ chimes sounded. Whale at the bow! We headed straight to the bridge. A humpback whale was breeching, doing back flips, swimming upside down, doing flipper slaps, fluking and spouting and then doing it all over again. It was amazing. This went on according to Susana for 23 minutes! Gary got several pictures as did others; I simply stood at the wing bridge and enjoyed the show. I’ve never seen anything like it, nor has the staff this season. The whale finally did the big dive and the show was over.
It was then time to quickly hustle down to the Seven Seas Society party, where our own Jim and Pat Bittle were honored for the most nights aboard (couples division) with over 600 nights. We drifted up to the Verandah to once again put on the feed bag. Afterwards, we reassembled in Shackleton’s Bar, where Grant and Tom started to work on the theme song for the B deck, better known onboard as ‘the hood’. This of course led to house tours, as we descended down and saw both sets of interior décor. It’s just amazing how well our fellow passengers have decorated their cribs in such a short period of time. We then trooped back up to Promenade Deck for the ‘movin’ on up’ east side tours of the SP and D cabins. I’m not sure which triggered more desire: the funky green desk or the thermostat.
Off to bed at that point as we had early morning landings on PASSAGES. We are now moving to an adjacent bay to land the bluegreen and red dots no where near the protected rookery in the Argentinean section. Start doing your weather dances. We are feeding Ngaire with tea as she does her best to invoke the weather juju. Cheers, Anne

Spectacular adventure! Definitely THE BEST experience of a lifetime. Everyone has posted terrific photos-we have all loaded up our media, put on our boots, weathered the cold and wind. It only gets better and better here down under. We tip our hats to all of you who are not with us - you are here with us in spirit. What an awesome trip this is!!!!!

WONDERFUL SeaMail!!!!!

Your adventures keep getting better and better. I love all this, but I already know I wouldn't be able to remember which dot group I belonged to. :mecry:
You all couldn't possibly be sober, could you?

Betty, I'm still laughing out LOUD after reading your comment about sobriety - my reaction, but maybe I had better read Anne again more than 2x!!

WHAT an adventure!

Another missive from Anne:
You’ve heard of the twelve days of Christmas? Twelve step programs? This trip is specializing in twelve steps needed to get dressed and undressed for the excursions. The day was so disjointed not one game of POOCH was played all day. Once it was clear Brown’s Bluff was a complete bust, we motored over to Esperandza bay (Hope Bay en inglise). The order of disembarkation was upended. The quite predictable result? Lots of upheaval for those longing to set foot on the seventh continent. Fortunately, the weather held out long enough for all of us to set foot on the beach. We set out around 11:45 am.
A one-hour zodiac tour preceded stepping on terra firma. We rode on the David Attenborough with Chris at the outboard motor. The Adelie penguin chicks are approaching maturity, meaning they will leave the protection of the rookery and swim out to sea. They will next return in later years in breeding condition. We were in the last zodiac with Jim, Pat, Al, Betty, Olivia, Grant, Dina. We saw the young penguins gathering up courage to take to the water. Several posed for us on pieces of ice. As Dina correctly observes, penguins have the cuteness award all sewed up. We moved down to another group of penguins who had a whole new series of tricks for our edification and entertainment.
Finally, the radio crackled “Any more for the shore?” Chris revved up the engine and we headed to the actual landing. Along the way, we saw one last group of youngsters make their virgin voyage into the sea. They were none too certain about the merits of water based travel, let alone how to swim. Loud calls echoed along the shore amidst the thrashing, bobbing and swimming of the young penguins. It was ‘show time’ for that particular group of youngsters. Swim and master the process of living, or die waiting for parents who have moved on. Watching those youngsters head out into the world was an incredible experience. After that, we pulled into the landing where Susana hopped about to tell us what to expect. We landed and had a toast with Nigel, Chatelaine of the Champagne on this trip.
Members of the One More Continent club indulged in lots of congratulations and pictures. Sunny skies, light clouds and an easy landing added to the luster. Grant and Dena had the highest marginal propensity to set foot on new continental terra firma, having seen three new continents over the past three months. We have now completed our touchdown on terra firma on all seven continents. Jim and Pat Bittle are in the Master Class of the One More Continental club. They will have set foot on all seven continents in twelve months during the Discovery cruise! Woo hoo!!
Upon our return, we headed up to the pool deck for an extravaganza of surf, turf and all manner of side dishes. Fresh grilled lobster, tenderloin steaks, cheese fondue, shrimp, halibut, … the list goes on. We gorged, to say the least. A cheer when up when the ‘ding dong’ pronounced we would, in fact, make our second scheduled landing starting at 5 pm on Madder’s Point. This time, the attempt was to separate each of the red dots and the green dots into hikers and non-hikers. ‘Divided we fail’ comes to mind. As it turns out everyone who wanted to hike could do so no matter which tender they took.
We had to suit up again around 4:30 and this time rode over on the Ernest Shackleton with Jen. The landing area was very rocky and the staff had a human chain of handholds to get us up and onto a more level walkway. The place was simply covered with snow, Adelie penguins and more guano than the eye could take in. It was easy to tell which birds preferred to toboggan their way along, as they were sporting bright red streaks all over their bellies.
The ‘mucho suarte’ force was with us one more time. We saw another surreal landscape, complete with a fabulous glacier. The fog was hovering above the water and closing in during the afternoon. The youngsters were not ready to fledge and were anxiously awaiting their parents’ return from the ocean waters. Around 5:30 pm, the parents arrived in droves, leaping onto the rocks. The ‘chick chase’ started in earnest. The chicks called for their parents and vice versa. When the chick found its parent, the parent took off, with the chick screaming at maximum volume as it gave chase, looking for yet another meal. We then made our way back onto the slippery climb and got our first shot at the Guano-matic. Whew! What a wonderful day. Even better, the briefing was to be held over the loudspeaker instead of assembly time in the main lounge or turning the TV to Channel 2.
We spent an hour deleting all those ‘near miss’ and ‘huh?’ photos. It was approaching seven o’clock, so off to Shackleton’s for a drink and dinner with Olivia, Sandy, John, and Richard. The band had mastered ‘We are LCT’ so we headed over to give it a rousing premiere on Explorer II. We are working on the variants of The Penguin, including The Penguin Stroll. Given the expected wake-up time of 5 am for a 6:30 landing, we headed up for sleep. A late ‘ding-dong’ only in the public areas let us know we would be landing a little later than expected.
Cheers, Anne

The photos are fabulous. Plus, Anne, your reports are the best! I would so love to be on this trip. Keep having fun.

Anne said her head isn’t in tune with writing her daily missive so I’ll substitute with the day’s entry from my developing travelogue.
Feb 12 Deception Island
Due to heavy fog our speed overnight was reduced giving us nearly an extra hour of sleep. The ding dong awakened us at 6:15am to be ready for a 7:30 landing and Discovery (red) was scheduled to go first. Suddenly, at 7:00, we heard the 15 minute advisory and, since everyone rushed to get into the cold weather gear, there were no lines because everyone didn’t come at once. It was a short run to shore on Whaler’s Bay, a volcanic beach inside of the caldera of an active volcano. The caldera began human tenancy in the early 1900s as a whaling station that lasted into the mid 1930s. During WWII the area was used by the British as a base to watch for German naval activity which never appeared. The place was twice ruined by volcanic activity causing large mud & ice slides to destroy most of the base. We wandered up an incline to Neptune’s Window, a cut in the caldera’s upper rim, for great views of both the interior and the sea outside. It was overcast, windy and drizzly so we kept bundled up. We then explored some of the building and whale processing ruins and returned to the landing area to watch some friends (fools) taking a swim in the water. They were the only wild animals at this location. Occasionally there are thermal warm water spots to make the dip comfortable, but not today. Being Floridians who consider water temperatures below 86 degrees to be unacceptable for human swimming, we declined going for the certificate. We returned to the ship to relax while the Endurance (green) group went ashore. As we sailed out of the caldera, hot chocolate and gluwein were served on the pool deck.
Feb 12 Yankee Harbour
After lunch there were some more Pooch games while arrived at Yankee Harbour and the Endurance group had their landing. During the past couple of days we’ve had some high Pooch scores including 118 (Pat) and 124 (Anne.) It was in the mid 30s with wind and alternating sun and cloud. There was an incredible glacier several miles in length in a semicircular layout, it was easily far larger than the Pious XI glacier in the Chilean Fjords and it was a magnificent sight to see. It took about 6 shots with the camera to attempt a panoramic photo. The Endurance group (us) debarked at 4:30 and the zodiac ride to the land was the longest yet. We arrived at a rocky beach that was absolutely filled with Gentoo penguins, the prime reason for the visit. The rookery was huge and quite noisy with the parents trumpeting for their chicks and chicks clucking for their food. We spent about an hour watching these cute, noisy birds and corrupting our sense of smell from the guano. In the distance on the sea side of the island we saw some whales but couldn’t identify the species. We encountered numerous fur seals on the beach and, on the ride back to the ship, stopped at a slim piece of land to view 2 Weddell seals napping. Upon return to the ship our life vests and rubber boots were collected, giving us some more room in the cabins. We could also stow away all the cold weather gear except whatever we need on deck because our next stop at land will be Ushuaia. The Captain warned that rough weather was forecast and the portholes would again be covered. By dinnertime the ship was rocking and rolling and continued so through the night. There was minimal dancing after dinner.
Jim

Great reporting of a fabulous trip!

Wonderful song written by Gary and performed by the b deckers.

B-Deck Boogie

We are the proud B – deckers
We’re here as South Pole Trekkers
We get no respect
It’s what you’d expect
From all those upper deckers

On B deck our room is small
About like a narrow hall
We have little light
With port holes shut tight
Good thing we’re not very tall

Sambuca’s our favorite drink
Brazil, no Italy, I think
We party at night
With all of our might
Don’t shower but we never stink

We play pooch on our days at sea
Rarely win but good sports are we
Bid or not we lose
Don’t know which to choose
Game’s over and it’s time for tea

We’ve seen some penguins and seals
And had lots of real good meals
But best of the bunch
Was the pool deck lunch
Where four beauties showed their heels

And when it is all said and done
We’ve all had a lot of fun
We’ve made some new friends
Now it’s back home again
Bon Voyage to everyone

CHORUS
B deckers unite B deckers unite
Together we’ll fight for our nights
B deckers unite B deckers unite
Like penguins we’ll never take flight

Thank you for the wonderful reports - I'm going to miss my daily visit from the ICErs. Wishing all of you a happy journey home.

You've made all of us long to visit the 7th continent!

I must echo what Margo said. You all have taken us on one incredible journey. Thank you.

And now we have an entire month to wait before the MAYANS leave. Meanwhile, we still have the Journals from the Ray and Penny on the WC and Debbie in South America.

Safe travels home everyone. I am ready for more photos and my fingers are crossed that your luggage will be traveling with you.

Can someone post the link to Debbie's blog if they have it? I had forgotten that she was on Mariner right now.

Thank you for some wonderful reports and pics - safe travels back home to one and all!

Wendy, I just added the link to Debbie and Clay's journal our blog list. You can find it here.

The internet was down when Anne finished her missive so I'm sending it for her.
Jim
Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! Our cabin stewardess had thoughtfully placed a plate of heart-shaped cookies and a card showing a couple looking at a heart-shaped iceberg. The text? “I only have ice for you”.
We’ve had a couple of moderate to moderately rough days coming back from Yankee Harbor. The B Deckers again had the added experience of Arctic winter and the endless night for about a day and a half due to closed porthole orders from the bridge.
I don’t know about you, but one joy of travel is escaping home repairs and housework. We have not been so lucky on this cruise. The first night on the return from Yankee Harbor for this upper decker was filled with household repairs. I found myself dreaming about a bowling tournament. When I realized there actually WAS a bowling alley in our room, I lurched out of bed and swayed, trying to determine why was anyone bowling. Gary groggily said “It’s in the bathroom”. Sure enough, the shampoo bottles were doing a fine imitation of pins and balls as they crashed around. Once secured, I settled back to light sleep. Next up was the rattling of keys to Davy Jones’ Locker. I circled on all fours, looking for the rattles. Hmm .. coke cans in the fridge? Struggle to the bathroom, find towel and stuff in refrigerator. Rattle repair complete. By this time, dawn was creeping through the curtains.
We awoke to a ‘stabilizer off’ breakfast as the stern of the ship rolled in the seas. Wave heights ranged to about 7 meters and calmed throughout the day to probably 5 meters. Gary rallied the troops, lined up a pianist, lined up Michele as the back-up pianist and got ready to premiere the ‘B Decker Boogie’. There were two looming issues: first, the B Deckers had the same fitful sleep we did and second, the ship was rolling in the ‘stabilizer off’ position. Not to be deterred, the performance pressed on. What the B Deckers lacked in volume they made up for in turnout, safely seated to avoid falls brought on by the rolling seas. The pianist, Bob from Australia, was hoping to do a shipwide performance. That was unanimously voted down by the B Deckers. Ah well … a fine performance it was by all concerned.
No outdoor barbeque was in the offing, so we decided to toss Junior in the La Verandah grill a challenge. We needed the GOLLY lunch repeated. The race to prepare one grande platter of onion rings was on. After the main dining room kitchen staff ran around like chickens to meet this need, someone else claimed the steaming platter containing those tasty onion morsels. Hmm … do we summon a posse to catch the thief, by GOLLY? Heavens no .. let the kitchen staff create two miracles in one lunch. Finally, after much patience, the grande platter of onion rings arrived. They were wonderful, and we completed them at 1:53 pm, just in time for trivia.
Grant Heathman Productions earlier laid down the Bittle Educational Advancement Test challenge (the BEAT). This was designed to determine if memory or unparalleled disk drives filled with trivia storage drove the Bittle All-Inclusive Trivia champions (the BAIT). Dena served as independent advisor to the research staff and carefully culled 18 questions for prime-time usage using the ever popular three-team, four-body format. Participants were advised questions had been taken from the UK version of Trivial Pursuit, and the decision of the judges was FINAL. The Bittles are trivia champs for a reason: strategy and execution. First, they strategically split up so they had a 2 out of 3 chance of winning the challenge. Questions were posed and answers decided. Our favorite question (see how you home gamers do with this one): Name the performer in a TV program that starred a very strong swimmer whose friends called her ‘Suzie’.
As the answers were read out, one question managed to elicit a controversy amongst the judges. The championship was hanging in the balance. Instead of a 11-10-9 outcome and a Mrs. Bittle victory, it was decided to go 11-11-9 and go to the tie break. The East Coasters had the advantage with the question relating to the water route used to get to Sing Sing prison. In LCT ‘happy is good’ fashion, two titles were awarded: Mrs. Bittle leading her team to a Dena decided victory while Gary lead the Bittleless team to a Grant tie-break victory. After considerable clamor, Heathman Productions decided to run another round of trivia for the masses this afternoon.
Two rounds of POOCH in the afternoon, as new records were achieved. Ngaire is currently holding high score with 128. We got ready for the captain’s farewell party and the outcome of the photo competition. Our very own Grant Heathman scored the ‘best in show’ for the photo competition. They will be sending a copy out in a special Regent photo frame when the frame shipment catches up with the ship. We gave Grant a big round of applause in the dining room. The chateaubriand at dinner was among the best I’ve tasted. This was due, in no small part, to the captain’s decision to put the stabilizers out during dinner.
We headed off to the lounge for dancing and drinking. Once again we enticed the penguin dancers and a lounge waitress into the LCT penguin dance song, and the band played us off to sleep with ‘YMCA’. Cheers, Anne

Such great reports from fellow ICERS no need for me to repeat the same things, except to say today we have DRAKE LAKE, calm seas with sunshine.

I will however report the finals of the POOCH tournament.

59 games were played during the course of ICE with most days 3 tables full of POOCH players. For each game played the following points were earned.

First place was awarded 15 points
Second place was awarded 10 points
Third place was awarded 5 points.

The more you played the more points you racked up.

Our grand prize went to Al (of Al and Betty) with a total of 170 points.

The person who went over 100 points the most was Gary with 7 wins over 100.

The person with the top score of 128 was Ngaire

Brad the President of the Pooch Addiction council will be advised of the tournament scores.

The Bittle's are becoming strong Pooch players to add to their trivia expertise. We will need to be sure David, the Pooch Sommelier deadens their senses with some good wines on MAYAN'S.

LCT'ers swim in Deception Island, Antarctica. Photos are in order of entry into the cold water.


Pam


Andrea


Dena


Grant

Yowza!!!

Very brave one and all!!

Oh. My. Goodness! I see goosebumps on top of goosebumps!

Brave? Crazy? Simply LCT'rs.

Oh my those pics make me SHHHHIVVVVEEERRRRR! :eek:

I have SO enjoyed reading these posts and viewing these incredible pictures. Greg had to come in here and see why I was busting out laughing - Anne, you are such a hoot!!!

Very cute pictures!! I am amazed that anyone would have brought a suit with them in the first place!

OK, I'm the first one to admit that I'm a wimp in cold weather but still...you guys are CRAZY!!!

Final and blessedly short post from Explorer II and the ICE cruise:

First of all, it's 6 am and the internet account is still functional. As background, I have shied away from the smaller ship experience. This trip has made me a convert.

For me, this was the best crew we've ever had and that makes a huge difference. The crew show last night was a tribute to the crew's considerable show talents. Four strong and fabulous singers, a breakdance, traditional Filipino dances and the grand finale, Angelina, performed by six able bodied seamen. Afterwards, those of us in the Shackleton Lounge were treated to one of the expedition staff's impromptu concert. Wow! Not only is he very knowledgeable and capable on the landings/lecture circuit, he's got a wonderful voice and did the songs from memory.

The trivia rematch turned into a complete tie. Heathman Productions, the Bittles and the Bittleless teams will just have to sail together again and go for the 'winner take all' challenge.

Bags did not have to go out before 2 am; result? No stress about getting settled in right after dinner. We were in the harbor around 2 am and thankfully had an end to the rocking and rolling. Five hours of sleep felt like twenty for this sailor.

Today, we have breakfast and then disembark for the train excursion (the alternative being nothing open in town before 10 am) and then out to the airport to wait for the incoming A&K passengers. Santiago was oversold so thirty six Regent air folks chose to go home via Buenos Aires. They are leaving directly for the airport from the ship.

All in all, the most unique trip we've taken on Regent. I liked it better than Norway, given mostly better weather and a congenial ship's company.

Would I do it again? Tough question. As always, we are guided by our own preferences. I am not a cold or bad weather person, nor am I a fan of too many sea days. On this trip, you get a healthy dose of all those elements. I figure we spent at most 24 hours cumulatively on land for 14 days. As interesting as the destination was, that's a lot of roadblocks in my way to booking a repeat trip in the near future.

The ship is changing hands when it returns to Europe. We are staying tuned to learn how that changeover goes. Rumor has it they will be selling the inside cabins and under Swan Hellenic it will sail with 400 passengers. That would have to mean two separate seatings for dinner, etc. I am thrilled we got to sail on her with 200 passengers and such a talented crew. Glad we listened to our inner wanderlust and did this trip this year.

Anne forgot to mention that we're docked across from Le Diamant, formerly Song of Flower. The trip has been fantastic and yesterday's sailing was very smooth across the Drake and we even made an excursion to within 12 miles of Cape Horn (couldn't go closer without a pilot.) The show last night was far and above better than Krew Kapers. Regent should grab this whole crew and Captain when this ship is sold. Now we have a long day to spend waiting for flights. The LCT gang certainly left its mark on this ship.
Jim

We have been hanging on every word posted from E II. Your posts have been magnificent. Having done the trip with Ngaire last year, it's been like doing it again without the calories. I'm SO GLAD you had a great landing on Salisbury Plain and that you managed to get ashore on the seventh continent! We consider our trip last year a trip of a lifetime. We'll probably never surpass it (although we intend to try on ROAR 2). So we would be reluctant to book another Antarctic trip for fear it would be anticlimactic. Pat

Thank you so much for the fantastic postings and pictures. I probably will never make this trip since I am basically a wimp, but I loved reading about your adventures and seeing the pictures from the calm and warmth of my living room. :)

Merril

:hello1: Thanks for all the ICE~mail, y'all. It was great hearing about all your wonderful antics. Looking forward to more postings of your activities. Waiting for more pix, when you get them posted. Safe journeys home, everyone.