It’s Sunday and we’ve arrived in the protected waters off of Castro Island, our tender port for the day. We arrive in the Lido just after 6:30 to discover that the main buffet is not yet open (we later learn, that unlike yesterday, it opens at 7:00 AM today; although, the continental buffet is now serving. Sharon gets her chocolate croissant and I get some rolls, slices of ham and slices of cheese with some grapefruit juice. It’s our third morning at sea, and evidently most passengers have remained healthy, so we’re allowed to serve ourselves from the buffet. The hand washing machines still seem quite novel to us, you stick your hands in both holes, reaching in up to your forearm, then after a bit some tepid water begins to do an oscillating spray of ... read more

We get to sleep in because we’re having a sea day… a wonderful sea day… But we can’t languish too long in the cabin because as it will turn out, we’re having a pretty busy sea day. The best laid plans often succumb to the need for sleep. I had planned to rise and try out the gym at 6:30 AM when they open, but I guess that will need to wait for another day. Sharon went to mass while I transcribed notes we had written for the blog… Sharon’s laptop didn’t quite have enough juice to last 2 full days in the land of the funny round wall plugs, so we had to resort to that old fashioned form of communication: pen and paper. At mass Father (name?) proposed that their congregation organize a flash ... read more

Well more about Sharon’s special memorable greeting by some natives upon arriving in Valparaiso a bit later. Today’s story begins with breakfast at Eurotel, which offered us an ample buffet spread, including scrambled eggs, an egg and sausage soufflé, and very tasty tiny polish style sausages. There was also the typical continental fare, including meats, cheeses, breads and cakes, fruit and cereals. We filled our bellies, having been warned by Yosthon of much walking ahead of us (even more than yesterday). Yesterday would have warranted at least a 3-walker warning on Holland America’s (HAL’s) tour disclosures, so that would mean HAL wouldn’t have a symbol for what was facing us today! Yosthon arrived promptly at ten, along with Hector, our driver for the day. Later we passed Santiago’s Central Station… I’m pretty sure Yosthon mentioned this ... read more

Well it’s time for John and I to hit the high seas again (hopefully they don’t get too high when we round the Cape) so that means it’s time for another Blog. I’m sure you’re now all jumping up and down with joy about reading it (ok maybe not all of you so if not just ignore it, smile next time you see me and tell me you enjoyed it, and then you’ll never know what fun you missed out on). This time we’re heading far south to South America (Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay) and Antarctica. Yes I know it’s winter as most of us have been reminded in the past few weeks with the white stuff covering the ground but it’s actually summer down there so off we go to celebrate my upcoming milestone birthday ... read more

Or as the locals might say, “Bump-ah to Bump-ah in Bah Hah-bah”. Despite gaining an hour during our journey from Nova Scotia overnight, we seemed pressed for time this morning. We hustled up to the Lido for a quick breakfast. Continental service starts at 6:30, but hot breakfasts aren’t available until 7:00. We had an 8:00 AM meeting time in the Showroom for our excursion, but needed to clear immigration first, starting at 7:30 AM. Actually it was closer to 8:00 AM before the immigration folks from Homeland Security were onboard. There were more than one disgruntled passengers waiting in line, into and through the casino and to the Explorer’s Lounge where lines were separated into the U.S./Canadian line and Other Non-U.S. citizens. We finally got up to the immigration agents, who were asking everyone where ... read more