Here we are rocking and rolling again.  It has been really moving at night.  And while I had been sleeping quite well, the past two nights have been a different story.  These swells are deep and they change from pitch to roll and then back.  At this point, we really, really just want to see and step upon land.  But looking at our speed and distance? That is not happening until Monday, we’re pretty convinced.

So, on with our day.  Breakfast, hanging out in the lounge, searching the internet for more articles on the cruise.  We are everywhere now – and unfortunately it is the first error-filled story that is being circulated the most.  Mark has written a very well balanced piece for the Daily Telegraph that was published yesterday.  The comments are hysterical.  But also Ed has now found the mole.  The guy gave his name to one of the Cruise Industry trade pubs – and he’s Australian!!! We thought for sure he would be British because the original article appeared in the UK Times.  But no.  What a jack ass. He is still stirring the pot with erroneous information and making the situation harder for all of us.

The whole thing is being blown out of proportion.  We’re down to only 1 Russian Hunger Striker. The other 2 have disappeared, we’re thinking they are hiding in their cabin and ordering room service.  We sure would be if we pulled that stunt and then gave it up.  The Chinese have quieted down now too. Only 2 people – the interesting dresser and her husband – are walking around with their 100% signs.  It is rather calm – although there is still the rumor that either the Russians or the Chinese are going to refuse to leave the ship on the 3^rd.  Guess that is why the Captain mentioned in the briefing that there would be Coast Guard and Police boarding the ship in Ushuaia.  We’ll either be spectators, or long gone to the airport for our charter flight at that point.

We have plenty of time to blog and search today – nothing happening until 11:15 when we have a virtual tour of the Galley and Provision area.  We were thinking it was a really smart way to handle a “tour” since it is so small down there!  But actually it is because the seas are so rough, it’s a safety issue. If the seas calm down, then Eddy (the Executive Chef) will schedule in person tours.  Sweet thought, but that’s not happening.  We’ve checked our wind/sea state app – it’s going to get worse this afternoon.  The presentation is fun though – all the photos were just taken yesterday – and a nice little time killer.

Then it is lunch, where Brandon, in his noon announcement confirms our prognosis on the rough seas ahead.  He actually says the conditions will “degenerate” towards the afternoon.  Dramamine already onboard.  We also calculate that we are 40 hours out of Ushuaia, making our arrival time about 6am Monday.  This will go over big when they finally announce it to the rest of the ship. 

In the afternoon we have a showing of the Documentary Blue Planet – Open Ocean that we choose to watch in the room while we begin to pack for our eventual travels on Tuesday.  Back up to the lounge at 4 for Javi’s presentation on Exploring Ushuaia.  Sort of a non-starter though as we aren’t going to have much time to explore!  But still full of great info about the shops, the restaurants and all the tours you could take….if you are spending a couple of days there.  And, of course, Javi is just adorable so we always want to hear him talk.

Oh, and btw, the Hunger Strike is now over.  The Strikers are all up here for Javi’s presentation laughing and talking. Although the large lady is walking around looking like a sad sack.  She deserves an Oscar!  We think something is up – either they got their 100% or they just wanted the publicity and got that.  Don’t know if we’ll ever find out – but we do have it on very good authority that they were ordering food from room service the entire time.  Uh huh.  Just as we figured.

Spoiler Alert:  We do find out eventually that the company gave the Russians a free Antarctic cruise.  Not so the rest of us jamooks.  We negotiated for 75% cash and they wouldn’t budge.  Needless to say, that leaves a very bad taste in our mouths – sadly so, because the ship and crew were some of the best ever.  Oh well….what to do?

Tonight is the big Captain’s Farewell before our briefing.  Can’t figure out why they are doing it tonight.  Maybe to avoid the big blow up tomorrow when we don’t actually get into Ushuaia?  Don’t know, but whatever the case, it is a nice evening – caviar and vodka shots (aha! That’s why the Russians stopped the Hunger Strike!!!), piano music from Henri and drinks and chats with everyone.  The Captain explains about our delay and when to expect the pilot – he is still shooting for late afternoon/early evening tomorrow. We’ll see.  Gennadiy shows us some of the photos he has taken and his amazingly awesome video, all of which we will be able to download a few days after the end of our trip.  We now have the QR code! So excited.

Dinner is the gala finale – and an excellent one at that.  Beef tartare that was fabulous, Arancini equally good (so much better than that crap we had in Sicily) and Surf and Turf for dinner.  Oh my God!  Huge lobster, tender filet.  The best meal yet.  I forgot to take a picture – it was so yummy we just dug in!  Sweet Cherry has found a bottle of the most excellent Pinot Grigio for me – 2 glasses tonight, and 2 tomorrow night.  Just love her!

(Footnote:  The Russians are all here, drinking, laughing, eating and generally just happy, loud and merry.  Hmmmmmmm….)

After dinner we decide not to go upstairs with Allan – we’re in the mood for a cozy evening in the cabin, which is exactly what we do, watching Dark River and Schitt’s Creek until bed time.  Bring on Sunday!