A Day at Sea

February 15, 2015

We met at 7:30 on Deck 7, which was what Princess called the Promenade Deck, the open walkway all the way around the boat.  Today, because of 30 knot winds coming from the southwest, Deck 8, the front deck, was closed to foot traffic.  We planted ourselves in front of the stairs to Deck 8 on the lee side.  There were regular walkers who did laps on the deck who learned they had to turn around when they saw us because we were in front of the closed sign.  We talked to one of them who said she did hour laps three times a day so she could eat whatever she wanted on the trip.  

Today was a full day of sea birding 8 am to 6 pm with a 3 hour lunch break.  Those of us with the equipment got fantastic photos of albatrosses and petrels.  Those of us without the proper equipment got photos of water, clouds and birders.

 

 

We did see some fantastic sea birds, some in great numbers, birds that live most of their lives on the water far from any coast, breeding on islands.  James and I had been on only a few pelagic day trips off of Oakland and Monterrey, so we had a lot of learning to do on this trip.  We were looking at a family of birds, the tube noses, albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters, which we had very little experience with.  The advantage to birding on the huge boat was that it was steady enough to use telescopes.  I found it difficult to find the birds in the distance using a telescope so I mostly did not use them on the boat.  The more experienced birders seemed to find them useful.

I should include some information about the cruise.  First, I should say that never in my life did I think I would ever take a cruise on such a huge ship.  The Golden Princess has 17 levels and accommodates 2600 people.  Also on board are 1100 crew members.  Service and a luxury experience seems to be what the cruise is about.  The room steward was in our room about three times a day, once to make the bed, once to turn the bed down and put chocolates on our pillow.  She trained us to not leave our jackets on the bed when we went to dinner.  

One of the birders found herself one morning eating breakfast with passengers who were not with our group and found out that most of them were cruise veterans who had been on as many as 20 cruises.  They told her they found it to be relaxing and liked not having any responsibilities.  Activities that none of the birders took advantage of were the lounges, the swimming pools, the art gallery/auction, the shopping (jewelry, wine, cosmetics and clothing), music and entertainment every night, and the restaurants that required an extra fee.  A few of the birders did buy manicures, massages, and a few souvenirs.  One used the fitness center; another watched part of a movie outdoors later in the trip when it was warm.  One played poker a few nights in the casino.  I am sure as a group we took advantage of less of the amenities we already paid for, and, except for special coffee drinks, a few beers, and bottles of wine, spent less extra money than the average passenger.

Food of course could be had at any time and the food was decently prepared and usually quite fresh.  They had for example fresh breakfast pastries and muffins every day.  I did end up eating a lot of potatoes and beets in an effort to eat more vegetables.  Fruit at every meal at the buffet was watermelon, cantaloupe, a green melon, oranges, apples, and pineapple.  Bananas, peaches, and plums showed up only a few times.  There was quite a variety of food, but there were definitely foods that I like to eat that were missing.  No broccoli surprisingly.  Lots of desserts, mostly with cream, no pies.  So, the food was decent, but not exciting.  I would not go on a cruise for the food.

They were very conscious of hygiene on the boat.  We were cautioned to wash our hands frequently.  At the entrance to the restaurants and the buffet they had hand sanitizer stations which we had to use before they would allow us in to get food.  One of our colleagues commented that she felt like we were all probably helping to develop super resistant strains of bacteria.

Birds for the day:

Northern Royal Albatross
Southern Royal Albatross
Black-browed Albatross
Salvin’s Albatross
Northern Giant Petrel
Stejneger’s Petrel
Juan Fernandez Petrel
Great Shearwater
Pink-footed Shearwater
Red Phalarope
Chilean Skua

And a mammal, South American fur seal.

Other sharper eyed birders saw: Humboldt Penguin, Buller’s Albatross, Southern Giant-Petrel, White-chinned Petrel, Wilson’s Storm-Petrel, Peruvian Diving-Petrel