This installment will give you a little background about the things that
made this a great adventure.
THE CREW AND STAFF: From the Captain on down this was the greatest bunch of people you would want. They were so pleasant, helpful and catered to your every need and request. The bartender walked me to my room more than once because I was trying to hold onto my grape juice and the ship as the same time during rough seas. (I always took grape juice back to my cabin for morning.) Me and my grape juice were walked to my cabin by room stewards, dining room stewards, even the Expedition Leader helped me one time. And I never asked for help. Our room steward was the sweetest little girl; we trained her the way we wanted our bed, the extra towels we needed, etc. She always had the biggest smile and "HELLO" and called us my name. The dining room staff soon knew your preference and catered to us as if we were royalty. I impulsively hugged one young man after he had helped me; then, whenever he saw me, he would come up to me and give me a hug. Many of these room and dining room staff were Filipinos. To look at them, you would think they had the best job in the world, always cheerful and smiling. CABIN: As I said before we were given free upgrades several times until we were on the 5th deck, the best you could have except there were suites on the 7th. Our cabin was spacious; we have had smaller hotel room. The bath had a tub, shower, vanity and lots of storage space. In fact, there was ample storage space throughout the cabin for all the contents of 4 bug suitcases and our carrryons with space left over. We had twin beds, each with their own bedside stand. There was a love seat, with an oval glass top table in front of it. Across from it was the "kitchen" with refrigerator, desk, TV, and cabinets, top and bottom. Then, there was the veranda with sliding French Doors. There were even two deck chairs on the veranda. We only sat there to take our pictures, too cold. THIS WAS HEAVEN!!!! All we had to do was open the doors,step out and we could see the icebergs, the mountains, the sea animals, the birds and we could BREATHE in the atmosphere of Antarctica. We could see everything, take our pictures and not have to put on layers of clothes and go to the outside decks. One thing, we made a pact that we would not open the doors and go out unless the other person was in the cabin. FOOD: TOO MUCH. But, I guess that is what cruises are all about. We skipped breakfast most of the time. For lunch, there was a buffet with many salads desserts and at least one main dish. Plus, you could order from the menu, choice of soups and entrees. For Dinner, you have two choices; eat in the main dining room or at the Lido Lounge. The Marco Polo Dining Room served 7 courses with at least 2 choices for each course. And it took between 1 1/2 to 2 hours to eat. Wasted too much time for me. The Lido Lounge served a light buffet; soups, salads, main dish or two and several desserts. You could eat quickly and go to the library, read, play cards or use the computer. We used the computer everyday to send messages home, but there was always a line to use the computer so you couldn't hog it. PASSENGERS: This was surprising; there were only about 25 English speaking passenger out of 138. The rest were German. But, we loved it, we got to know each other well, sat together for meals, had our own lecturers. We were a close-knit group with great camaraderie. Among the group there were 3 teacher, a cancer research scientist, me, and more that I can't remember now. This is getting too long and I have to eat lunch. Will pick up on the LECTURERS later in Installment #5. Sarah |
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