July 24 - Cruising Prince Christian Sound
The last
day or so, the Captain has been talking strategy regarding how we would cruise
Prince Christian Sound. Normally, we
would enter the Sound from the East and exit the West side. Weather forecasts indicated stormy and windy
weather at the East entrance (30 mph winds and large swells). The Captain decided to go around the South
end of Greenland – Cape Farewell - and enter the Sound from the more
calm West – go into the Sound for a while and then turn around and exit the
West entrance. People would be able to
see the fantastic sites of the fjord safely and comfortably.
Woke up around 6 AM to a pretty bouncy ship – the ship had been rocking and rolling since late yesterday – barf bags were out and we were all traveling by “rail”.
The Captain made some impromptu announcements
indicating that the chop would decrease in a couple of hours and he was
correct.
I made my way
to the Windows Café and today executed the perfect breakfast. I procured the cottage cheese and sour cream
first – then I ordered the waffle. The
last item to go on the plate would be the scrambled eggs (just a large
spoonful). This kept everything at the
correct temperature. The breakfast was
delicious.
At 10 AM, I
went to hear Captain Les Evans talk about the “Magic of the
Concorde”. Ellen and I actually met him
and his wife on our shuttle back to Quest from Reykjavik. Despite the motion of the ocean, he had a
good turnout. I have to admit that I
didn’t get everything he said (speaks softly with a British accent) and though
I knew most of what he was speaking about, the graphics were interesting. I didn’t stay for the whole thing because I
wanted to get a seat in the Windows Café. Come early or sit in the cold.
I had some
tuna and egg salad (really good on this ship) along with a little salad.
The crew had already started setting up for the White Night's Party on Deck 9 and the last tables would come later to provide seating on Deck 10..
As the Captain had promised, Quest entered the Sound from the West side. There was some sea ice in that part of the Sound.
We watched the
partial transit of the Prince Christian Sound from the Living Room
– got some really good seats. The last
time we came through from the East, there was a lot more in the way of snow,
ice, and glaciers. The trip this time
did have fantastic mountains but little "arctic" stuff. There were just a few dribbly
waterfalls. Still, I took a lot of
pictures and the mountains are still awesome.
As far as I could tell, we were the only ship in that part of the
Sound. Weather conditions in the Sound were calm,
Even though it is in the low 40s outside, the ship is still holding its “White Nights” Party on Deck 9. The tables were set up in the early afternoon and people were out there when the food lines opened at 5:30 PM.
We changed and ate Dinner at the Discoveries Restaurant, which had a special menu. We got in line and sat down at Table 2. We both had the fried mushroom appetizer. Ellen had the “whiskey marinated salmon” appetizer, which she does not want to order again. There was a mix up in our salads (tossed and Cesar) which came late. Mine was composed of fufu lettuce and a strange version of Ranch dressing. The main course, the standard salmon was good – I also got a side of creamed spinach which was very creamy but OK.
We went outside to get dessert – we both had the crepes in Grand Marnier with ice cream - served by the Hotel Manager or designate. We ate inside and the best I could do was take a few photos of the White Night’s Party. The singers and dancers were in coats and sweatshirts and people had already gone inside to escape the cold.
It was a strange Party in that this was the
first time we had been at one in daylight (sunset is around 11 PM in this part of the world) and in freezing temperatures. I think that the ship thought that the grand scenery of the Sound would provide the perfect backdrop for the party - it did but the temps cooled off some of the excitement.
Next stop was our warm Stateroom.
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