Yesterday, today, and tomorrow are all sea days, which is exactly what it sounds like, nothing but you, the ship, and the ocean. We both actually love these days as they can be as restful or as full of activities as we want. Wednesday morning, Christmas Eve, we practically slept through breakfast and threw on our clothes at 8:45 AM to make the 9 AM deadline. It was a beautiful morning, so we sat out on the balcony for about five minutes until we got too hot.

We walked around , looked in the ship stores which were finally open now that we were at sea, and so far have found nothing to spend our ship credit on. We went to sit in the Library, but it is part of the Future Cruise office and had nowhere to relax. Turning in the other direction, we saw the excursion desk, so went over there and canceled the excursion I booked for me alone in Port Stanley in the Falklands. Alan has three treks scheduled but I decided I still need too much physical help to go it alone. I love being on the ship, so this is not a hardship, since we have been to all the South American stops this ship goes to.

After a light lunch (street tacos for Alan and a Thai Spring roll for me, we walked around the outside decks. I did 1/2 mile which for me at this stage of recovery was really good.

Last night was one of the three formal nights on this cruise. This means amazing food in the dining room.

The ship is dressed to the nines for Christmas but it is hard to find a place to take a picture with only a few people.

This morning we did sleep through breakfast and wound up in the buffet after trying to eat in the International Cafe with every child on the ship visiting with Santa. The buffet was crowded and it took about ten minutes to find a table. The food -eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and pastries was actually good, but it was crowded and noisy. We then set out on our quest to find me some socks which at least covered my ankles. I forgot about how cold it was going to be in the Antarctic. We found some in the first shop we went to, not high fashion, think 1956 Miami Beach older gentleman in shorts with Bermuda socks. They should keep me warmer than nothing.

We then went. To the Naturalist’s lecture South of the Icebergs. Very informative.

On the way to lunch we stopped into a second naturalist lecture which was in a bar and very crowded. Light lunch, Cobb salad for me and fish and chips or Alan, then back to the room for naps. It’s a hard life, I know, but someone has to do it!