Aboard the Akademik Ioffe

With the exception of our Drake crossing days, our daily schedule on the Akademik Ioffe looked fairly similar each day.

We usually followed a schedule similar to this:
7:00 am - Kayaker meeting in the library
7:15 am - Smoothies with Dave
7:30 am - Breakfast Served
9:00 am - Morning excursion
12:30 pm- Lunch Served
3:00 pm - Afternoon excursion
6:00 pm - Happy Hour
7:00 pm - Dinner Served
8:45 pm - Fireside chat

We had no trouble staying busy during our time on the ship. Each morning we’d wake up and meet with the kayakers to hear about our options for the day. Once we were briefed we’d head to the bar to grab our delicious smoothies and chug them on our way to breakfast. I even noticed our smoothie man, Dave adding ginger, known to help with motion sickness, to the smoothies during our Drake crossing days. Smart! Breakfast was a buffet style with coffee, tea, and water available at each table. We’d usually try to get through breakfast fairly quickly so we could get a head start on getting our kayaking gear on. We’d spend the morning paddling around one beautiful location or another. Every stop was breathtaking. We’d return to the ship for a buffet lunch, announcements, and a bit of downtime before heading out for our afternoon excursion. Often times on our afternoon return they’d have some sort of hot beverage waiting for us on deck. This always made for a nice transition to the bar for happy hour drinks and pre-dinner conversation. Somewhere in there, we’d usually manage a shower and a quick change for dinner.

During dinner, there was always soup on the table and a well-stocked salad bar available. We had our choice of three main dishes, meat, fish or vegetable. I tried all of the options at various times and was always happy with the meal. Meal times were used for announcements since this was one of the few times we were all in one place. After dinner, we’d head back to the bar for our evening entertainment. The staff did an excellent job of keeping our spirits high with stories, a staff talent show, and even a hula hooping show. We’d head to bed exhausted and thoroughly happy every night ready to start the next morning bright and early!