Unexpected Adventures



Crystal came up with the idea of offering Unexpected Adventures as part of their excursions. We had to sign up for them in advance with 4 options - zodiac, high speed boat, kayak or helicopter. We chose the first 2. We have never been in kayaks so doing so in the Arctic did not seem wise. And the helicopter option is $600 for less than an hour, we did not need to do that either. We were told we would be advised of our trip 12 to 24 hours before it happened. As luck would have it, we were in the first group of zodiacs, needing to meet at 8:10. Even after a long day the day before and having lost an hour due to time change, we made it. We can sleep when we get home!


Hot Chocolate Zodiac

For this adventure I finally put on a thermal top. I wore our water proof boots since they are extremely warm. I had on a gator and a hat as well as warm gloves. Hand and feet warmers were in my backpack jic. When we exited the ship onto the loading platform, snow was coming down almost horizontally, oh boy! Ten of us got into the first zodiac and off we went. Our driver works for the Canadian Coast Guard on an ice breaker. She works a month on, month off, so this was what she chose to do with her month off. She loves being on the water. Our first order of business was to get the hot chocolate zodic to us for some warmth. Crystal thinks of everything. We headed out amongst the sea ice. Some of the formations were beautiful. There were 12 zodiacs out and about, it was a wonderful experience. We hoped to see wildlife but even without it, it was great. All we saw were some birds. We were out for 50 minutes then went back for the next group. They put 600 of us out on the water that day, it was amazing. 

Our room attendant, Valentina, was all excited that they were taking crew out as well. I was reading in our cabin when the bell chimed. She said Mel had offered her my jacket as all she had was a light wool coat. She was very excited and grateful when I said of course. The only hesitation was because I planned to walk the deck that afternoon but figured I could wear Mel's. When I did walk later I found that my Disneyland jacket that I brought with me was warm enough. There was no wind since we were not moving. As I walked I saw a zodiac with a lot of black jackets and one passenger jacket, figured it must be Valentina so I took a few pictures. She is thrilled to have those also! I also saw a zodiac with a bass and violin, music on the ice, crazy!


Valentina with the Shackleton in the background. 

Later in the evening the attendant's supervisor rang our bell to do some inspection. She thought our cabin was empty. I mentioned to her that I had loaned Valentina my jacket. She said she was so relieved as she knew what outer wear Valentina had and it was not adequate. I mentioned that the color of the jackets this year is pretty horrid. Last year they were red. When I first saw our jackets on the sofa in our cabin, I thought they were our life preservers. They could have done better. But the supervisor told me that last year's jackets were very heavy and came down to people's knees. They were hard to move in and so large that half the passengers left them on the ship rather than take them home. This year's design is much better. It has a poofy liner that is very warm. The orange parka to put over it is water and wind proof. Very well designed jackets. Not sure where we will ever wear them again, but nice. It was a great day of Unexpected Adventures. 


It snowed!!!



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