1/30/2008 AT SEA ON THE WAY TO PORT STANLEY, FALKLAND ISLANDS, UK

From: Sherman Rootberg
Date: Jan 31, 2008 4:58 AM
Subject: 1/30/2008

1/30/2008

AT SEA ON THE WAY TO PORT STANLEY, FALKLAND ISLANDS, UK

Just the usual fun and games as on most sea days. It was grey, foggy, rainy, and generally cold and ugly. I will not be back to this part of the world. It was good to see once but that is more then enough.

At 10:00 AM there was a demonstration of the new Vista computer operating system. Because they knew it would draw such a large crowd, they held it in the Stars lounge on a big screen instead of in the computer café as is the usual case. So besides us, two other people showed up. We learned that you probably need to buy a new computer to use it. If you already have one that is fast enough and has enough memory and a good enough video card, it will cost at least $400. This was more info then I needed.

At about 5:00 PM we had a galley tour from Virtuoso. We met the same head chef that was on the Voyager two years ago. The tour was done very well and in groups of only about 16.

After that we went up to the Observation lounge at the bow of the ship on the twelfth floor. We sat by the big windows facing forward and just watched the ocean roll by for a while. We didn’t even have drinks. It was still grey, rainy and foggy but very calm. Just a long low rolling sea. Very pleasant.

At 6:00 PM we went down to the theater. There was a show with the troop of singers from the ship. It was songs from the 007 Movies. A couple of the singers were terrific. Far better then anything we have seen on American Idol. The orchestra and lighting was very good two. It was a very good show. Bobbi had too much Lemon Drop Martini. She was very happy.

We were invited to dinner with the hotel manager this evening. So we waited in the Mariner Lounge until it was time. There was A trio doing 50s songs as usual. Bobbi had more Lemon Drop Martini. Bobbi was even more happy. She laughs a lot when she is happy. Now she was laughing a very, very lot.

At dinner she ordered Steak Tar Tar for an appetizer. It was not on the menu. It was on tomorrows menu. By now she had wine on top of her happy martinis. She told the waiter it was okay to bring steak tar tar anyhow. The hotel manager had them check to see if they could make some. They did have enough for four very large servings and we had three. Dinner was excellent as usual.

The hotel manager said that they had really bad weather when here last year and they could not even stop at Port Stanley. He had only been with Regent for two years and had never been to Stanley. He also told us about the big problems with cruising South America. Supplies do not show at ports. Shipments are pilfered. Suddenly there are rule changes and bribes are required at ports. Safety can be an issue. Seaborne will not go there any longer.

The internet and the phone were out last night and I don’t have time for pictures now and besides Bobbi didn’t take any. So this is it.