Breaking News: Today we saw quite a bit of ice and a Polar Bear through a high powered telescope. It was another amazing day and the day is still young. As we mentioned we enjoyed lunch in our room yesterday afternoon and evening. We each had Salad Entrées. A Turkey Cobb Salad for Anne Marie and a Tuna Fish Salad for Keith. They were not only tasty salads but also a work of art. Anne Marie’s salad was featured on the Luncheon Menu and Keith’s was a salad that is regularly available. After lunch Keith rested and Anne Marie took a one-hour walk on the Promenade Deck. We both read and wrote the rest of the afternoon and also watched a movie that we had checked out from the library. The daily Reflections guide has featured some very interesting information this voyage. There is a special expedition notes section so we thought we would share some information from it. A new scientific research facility is under construction in Cambridge Bay. It is scheduled to open next year. Its purpose is threefold: Advance knowledge of the Canadian Arctic, strengthen Canada’s leadership on Arctic issues and serve as an international hub for research in science and technology. The center will bring economic benefits to Cambridge Bay. Went on our verandah for a few minutes to get some fresh air and saw one of the zodiacs being unloaded. We can't say enough how organized the process has been to get guests on and off the zodiacs. Safety is always the number one priority. The guests have followed all of the instructions. For example, there is an art to load the zodiac and also to get each person off. The guests stand only when they are asked to do so and it is done one person at a time. Personnel help the guest onto a step that is place in the zodiac and then two or more crew members help the guest as they go from the zodiac onto the platform. Once inside there are crew members who take you life jacket off, get you through security and even assist as you step through the oblong buckets of water to clean your boots. Some wondered how you could get 900 or so people on and off the ship in an efficient manner. The answer is "Team Crystal" thought of everything. As an example, there were 21 morning departures involving Kayaking, Community Visit, Helicopter, and Fast Expedition Boat and 17 afternoon departures involving the same category of excursions. Programs such as a Community Visit involve several zodiacs so as one is filled and leaves the next one comes up to the landing to be filled. At the same time as the day progresses you have all of the returning zodiacs that need to be unloaded. It worked like clockwork. Just as the crew has been outstanding the guests have really done well to listen and do what they were asked to do. In fact in the mandatory briefing they were told that say you are on a tour and there is a safety issue someone might give a command such as "don't move", "sit", or whatever and that you need to just do what they tell you to do. The organization to get so many guests on and off the ship, to do it over a spread amount of time, and to offer a diverse set of activities has ensured that even in the small town of Ulukhaktok that we never overcrowded the town nor overwhelmed the Inuit Keith took some photos of one of the zodiacs being unloaded. Keith also took photos of a vessel shortly after it was leaving Serenity. Thinking it was a supply vessel with items such as produce. Originally, we had been invited to attend an anniversary dinner with friends Bob and Glo at Prego who were celebrating their wedding anniversary. We were very sorry that we could not attend. We have been blessed to be friends with Bob and Glo but to have sailed with them often on Crystal Serenity since 2008. Butler Jijo organized dinner for us. As we had mentioned we had Jijo as our Senior Waiter two years in a row when he worked in the Crystal Dining Room. He is so very thoughtful as is We ordered from the Crystal Dining Room menu plus added a couple of items. Jijo organized this all for us so it was served course by course. Soup: Two Chicken Broth with Matzo Ball not on the menu but a standard item served in the dining room and actually on the lunch menu from earlier in the day. Salad: A butter leaf salad for Anne Marie with Tomato, Artichoke, Fennel & Edamame and for Keith his standing order salad. Main Course: Seared Se Scallops with Chive Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Zucchini & Mushroom-Marsala Sauce for Anne Marie and Broiled Salmon with Mashed Potatoes, and Sauce Béarnaise. A few sides and one roll, no butter. LOL. The first photo is our Penthouse Attendant Ruti. One of the lecturers who is not on now but we know from previous cruises reminded me of something which I do think of from time-to-time. It was about those brave explorers who sailed on vessels with very few if any amenities and succumbed to all sorts of diseases. We are very fortunate to be able to travel to so many interesting places but to do it with such wonderful on-board amenities. Before going to bed we moved the clocks forward one hour as we are now sailing into a new time zone. When we woke up there was a message on our phone from late last night. It was from the shore excursion desk for an unexpected one-hour zodiac adventure up the Victoria Strait. Several months ago we all had the opportunity to sign up for these not knowing where they would be. You could indicate preferences such as zodiac, fast boat, kayaking and helicopter. At the time we signed up they noted that if you are selected and say no than you would move to the bottom of the wait list, which makes perfect sense to us. We listened to the message at around 6:15 AM and our tour was for 8:15 AM. With Keith still under the weather we passed on it but Anne Marie ran them down to the shore excursion desk so that they could contact people next on the wait list. A minute or so after listening to the voice mail we did get some unexpected scenery of our own. We finally saw some ice of the starboard side of the ship. No polar bear, but Keith spotted a bird. LOL. We also enjoyed a magnificent sunrise. About 45 minutes later we saw lots of ice from the distance. Still no polar bears. We enjoyed breakfast in our room while we continued to enjoy the scenery. Anne Marie got in one hour of exercise. Keith passed on the indoor cycling class. At 9:00 AM, Captain Birger gave an update from the bridge. He noted that last evening that they decided to travel to this area where they knew there was quite a bit of ice. This way they could deploy the zodiacs for the unexpected adventures. As of that time several zodiacs were in one area where they were close enough to the see a polar bear and from there they could also see another polar bear and their cubs. The Captain noted that the zodiacs were at a safe distance from the ice and of course the polar bears. From the ship we could see one polar bear with binoculars. We could also see the polar bear on the television monitor in the Palm Court. We have included photos but they are not clear. It was quite clear on the monitors and with the binoculars. It was also broadcast to our staterooms but very foggy. We had three lectures on the schedule today. Expedition Lecturer sigrid Henjum was first up and she spoke about skiing the Northwest Passages. She spoke about how seven guests and one guide skied from Cambridge Bay to Gjoa Haven and had to deal with not one the ice pack but also with curious polar bears. What added to her lecture were all the photos and the videos that she showed which showed the hear of dogs that took good care of the people and the photos/video of the polar bears. She spoke about how they took care of the dogs and how the dogs would make noise if the polar bear(s) was near. She also spoke about the challenges of the weather elements including the difficult ice. Not easy to walk. There were times you had to take off the ski’s so they would not break. Then with flat ice you could walk in them. They often saw three to five polar bear tracks each day. They could see where the bears had killed a seal and where a fox was just behind them. She would walk in the back with the guests up front. All of a sudden she saw the largest polar bear she has ever seen. She warned the guest to stop with signals. They couldn’t’ see it at first but then she signaled to them. She thinks it was 750 to 800 kilos and 150 meters in front of them. The bear started to walk around them. Eventually the bear comes straight towards them. She pulled out her pistol and they got out a shotgun. They actually had to start walking towards the bear with each person making noise on the whistle and shouting at the bear to show the bear who is in charge. Bear is now 70 meters in front of them. They fired bullets into the air and they were hoping they would not have to kill the bear. Thankfully the bear ran off. Next up was Expedition Lecturer Hector Williams who spoke about the earlier exploration of the Northwest Passage. He focused on which countries visited here first. He focused on which countries visited here first. He began with ships and exploration from the late 1400’s into the early 1500’s. He covered specifics such as the first Englishman to explore the High Arctic and some of the reasons behind this including prestige to open up the new world, to find a more direct to the indies and the idea of treasure hunting. Before the actual voyages he showed what map makers expected the entire area to look like including even imaginary islands. Shortly after the conclusion of this lecture we made our way to the Lido Cafe for some lunch. We spoke with one couple who had gone on the zodiac and was in the first group that spotted the bear. They showed us some photos of the bear. They said it was very cold as they were in the zodiac. At one point another zodiac got close to them and in Crystal fashion someone called out and said would you like hot chocolate. They thought it was a joke but it was not and they were given hot chocolate to warm up with and then the zodiac made its way to the next zodiac to offer them hot chocolate. Changing gears in the afternoon General Nick Halley spoke about the leadership challenges of leading in peace and in war. We watched this talk but it is very similar to previous talks we have seen the General give. We read and wrote in the afternoon. Anne Marie walked for an hour and Keith did just a little bit of exercise. This evening we are back at the Crystal Dining Room and look forward to Hector Olivera's concert. We wanted to close with a comment about human nature. Before this cruise there were some who weren’t sure whether or not to take this cruise because of concerns about the ice. Once this cruise was underway for a few days there were some saying would we see any ice. Well, the good news is today we saw ice. We were safe the entire time. We are reminded that one of the benefits of the ice is seeing the polar bears from a safe distance. Well, today we saw ice and we saw our first polar bear even if it was through a telescope. Today is also a reminder about how beautiful, diverse and amazing that this planet that we call Earth is. It is also a reminder about the diversity of some countries such as Canada given the size of this one country. We also wanted to note how lucky we feel to have the wonderful people who live in Canada as our neighbors. We think to other places in the world where they live in fear with the countries they share a boarder with. Thankfully we have neighbors who we live in peace with and share many common values with.
Keith & Anne Marie Comments are closed.
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