The night made for an interesting attempt at sleep as we rolled back and forth on the bed as the waves buffeted the boat. Today will be a full day at sea in the treacherous Drake Passage. The swells are high enough to crash waves in the front of the boat regularly but we learn this is a brand new boat with the latest technologies.  “But didn’t they say the same thing about the Titanic?” Leanne points out. No evidence of seasickness yet as all seven of us manage to keep our breakfast down.  Well, at least for now.

After breakfast we have a mandatory briefing to go over the rules and regulations when we leave the boat for our expeditions on land and at sea in the Zodiac boat cruisers.  We then get fitted for our waterproof boots provided by the cruise.  There are places where have to get out of the Zodiac in knee deep water so giant rubber boots are a mandatory prerequisite.

John has a goal of performing / singing on all seven continents.  He has already checked off Europe (Helsinki, Finland), Asia (S Korea and Japan), North America (Carnegie Hall) and Australia (Sydney Opera House). Leanne had contacted the ship ahead of time and asked if John could perform and opera concert for the passengers. So Leanne and Kyle track down Michael and Martin who are in charge of programming and expeditions to discuss John’s concert. We tentatively agree on the 10th but may need to do it later in the cruise as John is battling a cold.  

The staff offers wonderful lectures to pass the time and get our minds off of our uneasy stomachs.   At least two of the teens are a fine shade of pink as they all get used to the boats swaying. With pretty much nothing but sea in the horizon it turns out to be a great day for something quite frivolous — naps. 

After lunch, we have our first lecture on the Antarctica Treaty.  In the first half of the 20th Century, eight countries laid claim to Antarctica (US, UK, Argentina, Chile, Norway, France, Australia and New Zealand).  Apparently all you have to do was have your explorer put down your countries flag, issue a postage stamp and set up a tent to make a claim.  Things got pretty messy with overlapping claims so in 1959, everyone agreed to the Antarctica Treaty where no country could lay claim to Antarctica. The treaty also contained provisions that no one could permanently live here and the only activity allowed was scientific research bases. 

In the afternoon, we have to bring all our cold weather gear down to the ship hull to have them vacuum sucked to ensure none of the passengers are inadvertently introducing new elements, bacteria, viruses or the like into the environment.  The cruise takes the preservation of the Antarctica environment very seriously.

Justin, Leanne and Kyle visit the bridge which is the command center for the ship. It’s cool that it is open to the passengers during the day.  As we walk in, there is a noticeable absence of the captain or his crew.  Kyle says, “Hmmm..must be one of those ships that drives itself.  I hope it’s got iceberg avoidance technology.” We look around and it turns out the Captain was up there just in his office. 

The Drake Passage is a bit of a rite of passage for explorers to Antarctica. Well that’s assuming you don’t want to shell out $30K per ticket to fly from Punta Arenas, Chile. It’s not for the faint of stomachs but so far the weather forecast is in our favor. As we constantly rock back and forth, side to side, it’s hard to believe “this is nothing.” According to the staff, todays Drake Passage movement was a 1.5 on a 10 scale. Kyle’s jaw drops in shock as he can’t even imagine what a 9 or 10 would be like. 

The second lecture of the day is on penguins.  We learn about the three types of penguins we will be seeing (Gentoo, Chinstrap and Adelie).  We learn about penguin’s behavior, mating and diet.  There will be no shortage of penguins in Antarctica as we will come to see for ourselves.

Each day on the cruise there is a daily recap where we look at pictures the ship’s photographers took, look at weather forecast maps and hear about the plans for the following day.  Then the staff will give two mini-lectures on a topic. From the daily recap, we head to dinner.  

We are quicker on the draw and get a table that all seven of us can fit.  Dinners are plate service which gives us a chance to catch up on the day’s activities.  The food is really good.  Compared with Carnival Cruise and their 3,000+ passengers, making food for only 170 passengers allows the chefs to make really high quality meals. 

Kyle has a tendency to wake in the middle of the night with a mission of finding a midnight snack.  At around 2 am, he goes and sits in the lounge to have his snack. Kyle sees another passenger is also up but he is bundled up in his Antarctic gear pacing frantically around the lounge and the rest of the ship.  Seems strange to Kyle but he tries a polite hello when the guy is walking by but gets no return response.  Oh well Kyle thinks and he quickly heads back to his cabin and back to sleep.