Antarctic Cruise Day 19/40 - sea day - more shenanigans and a fire?

Antarctic Cruise Day 19 / 40 - sea day 7/11 - more shenanigans

Trip day: 19 / 40

Port days: 6
Sea days: 12
Countries: 3
Continents: 2
Posts: 3

When you want something on Viking, all you have to do is ask.  It is a rare occurrence when they say "no".  Case in point - breakfast today.  Like we did on the world cruise, we inquired about the possibility of having biscuits and sausage gravy for breakfast.  Restaurant Supervisor, Erjol, said he would look into it.  This morning, when we came into the World Cafe for breakfast, he said that all we have to do from now on is ask, preferably the evening before, and it will be ready for us - and it was ready today.  So today, we enjoyed a hearty biscuit and sausage gravy breakfast.  Their biscuits were more like scones, but the slight sweetness from the scone and the savory sausage gravy worked really well together.

We will be enjoying this again

After breakfast, we attended a talk delivered by Captain Olivier and Staff Captain Xavier.  In 2015, both men worked for the French cruise company, Ponant.  Olivier was the captain of the Ponant L’Austral and Xavier was the safety officer on the Ponant Le Boréal.  Both were sailing in the Falkland Island area.  On November 18, 2015, a massive fire broke out in the engine room of Le Boréal, disabling the ship.  They recounted the story of seven hours of firefighting.  They pumped so much water onto the fire that the disabled ship listed 12 degrees to port.  Powerless, drifting toward rocks, and in danger of capsizing, they were able to drop an anchor and at least hold their position. L’Austral was ordered to assist and within seven hours was with Le Boréal.  

They had given the abandon ship order, loading all passengers into two lifeboats with crew mainly in life rafts.  Some passengers had already been airlifted by helicopter.  Ultimately, nearly 400 souls aboard Le Boréal were rescued with no injuries.  Eleven intrepid crew members, including Xavier, stayed aboard the crippled vessel, ultimately saving the ship from capsizing and allowing it to reach port under tow. Once the ship was righted, it was loaded on a heavy transport vessel and taken to a shipyard for repair.  

Within six months, it rejoined Ponant's fleet.  It was an incredibly engaging story from two accomplished seamen that we are lucky to have aboard the Polaris.

Immediately following that was another crew versus guest Baggo.  I'll spare most of the details, but Entertainment Manager, Arann's incredible four bags in the hole from the top step (resulting in 8,000 double-score points) completely wiped the guests out today.

Trivia went better, scoring another win, thanks in large part to our partners whose French background played well into today's trivia.  There was another picture trivia as well featuring company logos.

1. Bacardi
2. McDonald's
3. Bic
4. L'Oreal
5. Wendy's
6. Red Bull
7. Pepsi
8. Volkswagen
9. NASA
10. The Olympics

Our misses today:

• What is a beaver's home called?
• We guessed nest - beavers live in a lodge
• How many legs are on a standard full-sized snooker table?
• We guessed six – it is eight
• What gift was given on the 8th day of Christmas?
• We said ladies dancing – it was maids a-milking

This afternoon, Viking held what they somewhat incorrectly called a “scavenger hunt”.  In reality, it was more akin to the show, The Amazing Race.

28 passengers participated, divided into seven teams of four.  Each team was given a clue that would lead them to a location on the ship.  Each location had a challenge that had to be completed.  Points were amassed throughout based on the performance of the tasks.  Right as we were getting ready to start - suddenly, over the loudspeaker: CODE BRAVO, CODE BRAVO, CODE BRAVO - WASTE DISPOSAL AREA - FIRE TEAMS RESPOND.  The long and short of it was that we had a steam pipe leak that set off a smoke detector.  After the Captain's talk this morning, there were a lot of nervous looks. In the end, it was quickly resolved and the game continued.

The tasks were:

• Bow – identify relative directions to various landmarks based on the landmark and its listed distance.  That last part was the key as for some, you had to route around the globe.  We didn’t do well on that task.
• Embarkation deck a – one team member had to don a kayak dry suit, complete with boots, gloves, and a life vest.  Faster times meant better scores.  Additional points were given for creativity.
  
  
  
  
• The Hide – your plane crashed on an island and the pilot was killed by the Amazon warriors.  Creatively describe what happens next.  Also, identify ingredients in a drink that you sample.
• Expedition central – correctly match the ten bird names to the ten felt bird models, plus identify the ingredients in a cocktail that you sample.
  
• Explorers’ Bar – identify five different music samples – either name, composer, or singer.  Also, identify the ingredients in a cocktail that you sample.
  
  

  

  Arlona noticed this rainbow right off the port side while we were in the Explorer's Bar
  
  

• The Library – the entire team must don life vests in the proper way and fasten all straps.  Also – answer three safety-related questions.
• Science Lab – use the microscope to identify several items that match photos on a guide sheet
  
  
  
  
  
• The Aula – use paper clips on a string to define the lengths of several animals or parts of animals.

Afterward, everyone met on the Finse Terrace where they were hosting a Viking Explorers’ Society reception.  It was a fun way to spend the afternoon and Viking, as always provided a terrific party on the Finse Terrace.  They ultimately announced the game winners.  While we didn’t win, it was still a great time.  The third and second-place teams got wine.  The first-place team got champagne and a private dinner with the Captain.

Awesome bartenders, Eriona and Alejandro on the Finse Terrace

In between all the fun, we also practiced with our cocktail contest team.  It's starting to come together. Our boat-building partners are making progress on the boat aesthetics so everything is looking good.

Tonight, we set our clocks back once again, this time, for the last time.  We've been at sea for a week.  Four more days until we reach the Falkland Islands.