Wednesday 31st January 2024
Ushuaia
Argentina
06:45 Wake-up call
Please leave your luggage outside of your cabin at 07:30.
During breakfast, we will carry it outside to the pier for you. Please leave your hand luggage inside of your cabin.
After breakfast, please listen for your disembarkation announcement. Disembarkation will be on Deck 3 gangway.
Whew, we made it through the infamous Drake Passage intact (barely). Luckily, we avoided the dreaded “Drake Shake” and got the much calmer “Drake Wake” instead. The crew rated the crossing a 2 on a scale from 1 to 10, which they described as “pretty calm” by their standards. Still, a 2 was enough to keep most people—including Gus—holed up in their rooms for most of the crossing, only venturing out for food or to stock up on seasickness pills.
On our last night, we celebrated the end of the voyage with a Captain’s Farewell, followed by an End-of-Voyage recap and slideshow. The crew, all decked out in their sharp cruise ship whites, received thunderous applause for keeping everything running smoothly and making the whole trip unforgettable.
We were all “awarded” a Certificate of Achievement for landing on the Antarctic continent, which was kinda cool. Not that it was a surprise—it was basically a participation award. But hey, we earned it! Not everyone can get one of these—you have to go all the way to Antarctica, after all. Finally, something worth adding to my LinkedIn profile.
After all the money we spent, I was hoping for something a little fancier—maybe a golden miniature trophy of Shackleton that we could call the “Ernie,” the Oscar of Antarctic awards. But hey, it’s still an award and a nice memento of our trip.
We arrived in Ushuaia—and back to the land of internet connection—the night before disembarkation. After two days of rough seas, some passengers were eager to set foot back on solid ground and hit the local bars. Gus and I, however, chose to stay on board, celebrating in the Polar Bear Lounge and enjoying the final performance by Jeff and Jacinthe.
Here’s to the end of an incredible trip and a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Until next time!
It's Opener There 
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