Well, we’re now sailing back through the Drake Passage. Seas are running ~15-20ft with winds in the 40-50 knot range. None of this is exceptional for this part of the world, but it’s certainly atypical of what one usually experiences on a Caribbean cruise. According to reports from the bridge, the visibility in Antarctica is near zero today and with the additional approaching low pressure systems, we would have likely been delayed and/or slowed in our departure from Antarctica. This would have made making Ushuaia on Monday unlikely. At least that’s the “official” story.
However, Libby had an extended conversation with ship’s captain this morning. In that discussion, Libby (who was obviously feeling feisty) passed along my observation that Celebrity seems more willing to turn tail and run than other major cruise lines, such as Holland America (not to mention adventure/expedition ships). The captain smiled and (with a knowing wink) acknowledged that this was basically Celebrity/RCI policy, as he’s sailing under orders from headquarters to avoid bad weather in Antarctica because the company didn’t want any public relations debacles as it exits this market. I’m sure the captain wasn’t expecting this information to be disclosed on a blog—as he’d stopped Libby (a seemingly harmless mother) in order to interact with Emerson (who’s the only baby/toddler aboard the ship).
In any case, I’m not sure that the call to change course was “wrong,” though part of me wonders how many plates of milk do the serve to the officers and crew on the bridge per day.
Tomorrow we’ll be in Ushuaia. We’re looking forward to being back on solid ground. None of us have obviously suffered from motion sickness per se (unlike some fellow passengers based on the vomit bags in the stairwells), but I do think we’re all a little out of sorts and suffering a bit from “cabin fever” too.