Life on Board

 We have an extra day at sea because the Falkland Island visit has been cancelled due to high winds.

On board Oceania Marina is a five star hotel. The food choices are enormous and during the first few days one wants to sample everything. For about five evenings during the twenty day voyage we will be eating at one of the specialty restaurants. The service in restaurants is superb. One orders food and it comes within a few minutes. There is a separate Sommelier in each restaurant who is please to take your card to pay for any alcohol.

When you board at the start of the voyage you are provided with a card that is linked to your designated credit card, it opens your room and is a passport when you go ashore (they keep your passport for the duration of the voyage).

Internet has been better than expected and Hugh was even able to talk to his wife Caroline,via WhatsApp, who has just had a knee replacement. However you can only have one device connected at a time. Whether the internet will work in Antarctica remains to be seen.

The talks on board are mostly excellent. One was on Albatrosses and how they fly. There are about 12 different Albatross types in the Antarctic region. In the Northern hemisphere there are only three. I remember seeing one on the passage to Hawaii in Polyandra in 2005. Some fascinating facts I learned about the Albatross. Once they become  airborne they lock their wings like a glider. Their resting heart beat is about 50/minute. In flight it is 70-80 but when taking off from water it is around 230/minute. This indicates how much energy they use to take off from water and why they nest on cliff tops so that they can launch without the energy needed to take off from a flat surface. Albatross have had tracking GPS attached which has shown the vast distances they travel. They have also been used to track illegal fishing vessels. (A bit like a spying drone).

The intermediate bridge lessons are worthwhile and there is a duplicate bridge tournament every afternoon.

There is a show every evening at 9.15. I would only rate most of the shows so far a fairly good. If you have seen Broadway or London shows one has been spoiled.

There is an excellent gym with very modern equipment and nearby sauna and hot pool. There is a swimming pool which is not getting any use at present as the outside temperature is down to below 10C.

About 150 people on board joined in Miami. We have been told that many of them had a virus illness and some are still coughing. This means people are wearing masks in the elevators and when in lectures or shows. I spoke to a staff member who sounded very congested and was working at the internet help desk. He told me he had tested negative for COVID but had been put on antibiotics. He was wearing a mask! You have to expect respiratory viruses to spread easily in crowded situations like on a ship. 

Every day you meet interesting people. Last evening Hugh and I had dinner with a couple from Houston, Texas. They were Democrats and did not have any guns in their house! She had been a social worker in Texas in an earlier life and his last job was as an anti-cyber specialist for an oil companies information system.

The organisation of staff and information to passengers is excellent. New talks and activities were arranged after the Falkland’s cancellation. 

There is continuous upselling of products - spa, drinks etc. There are some people on board who have done many cruises with Oceania including one lady I was told had twice been round the world. There are about five tiers of membership with increasing privileges and financial inducements. The marketing is continuous and sophisticated. it was similar with Cunard but Cunard was not quite as intense. 

I am glad to be experiencing this but do not think it will be a regular habit. Perhaps a cruise with special focus - like classical music or with stops in places one wishes to visit. However I like my European capital habit to be an independent traveller exploring a city on ones own or with a companion.