South America - April, 2013

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SOUTH AMERICA CRUISE VACATION – APRIL 2013



Thursday, March 28^th – my vacation actually begins this morning, as I pack up the SUV and steer towards I-15 south….five hours from now, I’ll be pulling up in front of Richard’s home in Long Beach, where I park it for the next three weeks . Early tomorrow, Prime Shuttle will be taking us to Orange County Airport down in Santa Ana, and at 8am we will be settling our butts into first class seats, for the flight across country to Atlanta…..bring on the free booze!



Finally got on the road at 10am and after a quick gas stop to fill up, I was cruising south on I-15 in no time. A very uneventful drive driving across the desert and I arrived in Long Beach at 3:30pm. The rest of the afternoon was spent getting him ready for the trip by first dropping off his cat at the Pet Hotel and picking up his dry cleaning (we have three formal dress evenings onboard). We spent the evening going over our joint checklist of “must pack” items and then crashing early.



Friday, March 29^th – I was up and awake by 4am and I guess I made enough noise that Richard finally dragged his butt out of bed a few minutes later. Prime Shuttle was in front of the house by 6am and we finally bid adieu to Long Beach and headed out on our next world adventure.



Checking in at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana was a no-brainer due to my diamond status with Delta and before long, we were boarding our 757 jet eastbound for Atlanta. The flight was long enough that I was able to watch the movie “Jack Reacher” starring Tom Cruise; consume a halfway decent inflight breakfast and down at least three coffees with Bailey’s Irish Cream, before the wheel s touched down on the tarmac at Hartsfield. This was my first opportunity to use the new international terminal F in Atlanta and the brand new Delta Sky Lounge was a delight – we spent three hours in there, catching up on emails and preparing for the upcoming overnight flight to Buenos Aires.



9pm and our flight was called. Once again our butts settled into first class seats on the A330 but horrors of horrors, they didn’t have the mojito mix or the mint onboard – talk about disappointment! I had to settle for vodka tonics instead. Dinner on the 10-hour international flight was marvelous – I had the baby back ribs, Richard choose the sea bass…..4 courses later, we were ready to kill the overhead lights and burrow down under our duvets and feather pillows and try to catch some zzzzzz’s. I had some old fool sitting behind me who, every time he had to go to the bathroom (and it was at least 5 times during the flight), would grab the back of my chair and fall against it – totally disturbing me. Needless to say, I didn’t get much rest and was ready to kill the stupid mutt.



Saturday, March 30th – an hour out of Buenos Aires, the cabin crew brought round much-needed coffee and juice, along with a sweet onion quiche for a light breakfast prior to arrival. Richard had managed to grab a few hours of shuteye and was feeling far better than I was, but it sure felt good once the plane was on the ground in Argentina and we were able to stretch our legs with the long walk to Immigration. That was far faster than I remember from previous visits to this capital city and within 10 minutes, we were collecting our luggage in baggage claim. Richard’s bag had been torn badly in one corner but thankfully none of the belongings were lost. We spent almost 20 minutes trying to locate a Delta representative to report this damage but to no avail. Finally we had to leave as we had car service waiting on us just outside the terminal, and the longer we waited to fix the luggage problem, the more the waiting time costs would sky rocket. I had Richard take a bunch of photos showing the damage and decided to deal with that issue later on.



The Hilton rep with a limo was waiting for us immediately outside of customs and as tired as we were, it felt good to collapse into the leather seats and be transported to the Puerto Madero area of town where the Hilton sits next to the Marina. Took about 30 minutes with no traffic – not too surprising, with this being Easter weekend and the entire country on their 7-day holiday break. It was hot and muggy – temperature in the low 80’s with humidity to match – I was sweating like crazy by the time we arrived at the hotel. It was still early, 9:30am, and of course our room was not completely ready, so we dropped our bags with the concierge and headed up to the Executive Lounge for some cold drinks to relax for a while. Within an hour we were escorted to our executive level room and as always, it was great. Lots of room, fabulous bathroom – Richard insisted on taking photographs of the square-shaped toilet – and I couldn’t wait to dive into the shower, it felt like years since I had had one – travel does that to a person.



After showering, doing a little unpacking and relaxing once more in the lounge, we went down to the lobby to wait for our Premium City Tour, scheduled for the rest of the afternoon. I had booked this just prior to our departure, and we ended up with approximately 20 other tourists to see the sights of BA. Having done this previously I did have high expectations, but these were not to be reached. It wasn’t that good a tour and I felt bad for Richard who has never been here before. What made things even worse was my foot. It chose this particular time to begin hurting and became quite swollen. It was the worst episode since my last surgery in August – I can only assume it was due to the two days of solid travel. For most of the 4-hour tour, I passed on the majority of the sightseeing stops and for the ones I did attend, I was limping and obviously in great pain. By the time we returned to the Hilton at 6pm, I was basically crippled and couldn’t wait to grab a plastic bag of ice and get it wrapped around my foot. What a bummer! This I don’t need at the beginning of a 3-week trip.



We did make it back up to the Executive Lounge for cocktails and snacks, but I was in too much pain to spend more than an hour there before returning to the room and getting off my feet. At least I got a solid night’s sleep – I really needed it after two days of travel and not much rest on the plane.



Sunday, March 31^st– we slept in late mainly to give my foot the best chance of recovery before leaving for the dock. The ice pack the previous evening helped a lot, but I was still in pain and limping when the hotel limo drove us over to the check in desk at Holland America cruise lines at 1pm. I was swallowing pain meds like candy. A pleasant surprise awaited us at the terminal: as we had Verandah Suite accommodations, we were ushered thru security in record time and within an hour we had arrived at our stateroom on deck 9, just 3 levels before the top Sky Deck. What a fabulous cabin we had been assigned, approximately 300 sf including a large lanai and a whirlpool bath – it’s gorgeous. We knew it would be at least an hour before our luggage got to the room, so we took off to explore what will be our home for the next two weeks. Thankfully we had at least four hours before we sailed, giving us time to acclimate and hopefully get “our sea legs”.



First seating for dinner was at 5:30pm and our upgraded cabin again gave us an upgrade to a terrific table in the main dining room – we are seated at a table for 6 right next to the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the stern of the ship. The views are to die for. We met our table companions a few minutes later, Nancy and Mary from Indiana, two retirees who are cruise-crazy women. Richard and I were seated across from each other right next to the windows and just as we placed our orders for dinner, the ship got underway. We watched the tugs and the pilot boat steer the Veendam away from the docks and out past the breakwater. Just as the sun was setting behind the skyscapers of Buenos Aires, we cleared this breakwater and steamed out into the Rio de Playa (Plate River), which is the widest river in the world, measuring 170 miles across from Argentina to Uruguay. BA is situated on the banks of the Rio de Playa, some 200 miles inland from the Atlantic ocean, so our entire first night on board would be cruising down this waterway. We spent 2 fantastic hours talking with the Indiana ladies and enjoying our 4-course dinner (yes it was marvelous food), before pushing back from the table and heading to the showroom to see what entertainment the crew had planned for the evening. We had two empty chairs at our table and were wondering what happened to the proposed occupants, but more about them later!



There wasn’t much going on in the showroom this first night onboard, more information about upcoming entertainment and land tours, so Richard and I called it an early night around 10pm and headed back to our cabin. We unwound sitting on the verandah watching the lights on the Uruguay side of the river dance along the horizon in the dark, before finally crawling into our “dream” beds for the first night at sea.



Monday, April 1^st– we had booked our first shore tour and had to be up and around by 6am in order to grab an early breakfast and be ready to depart when the ship docked at 8am. There were only 21 of us in total for the full-day tour of Uruguay, so Richard and I each selected a window seat in order not to miss a thing, plus take great photos thru the large bus windows. We pulled into the capital city of Montevideo promptly to a cloudy skin and maybe a promise of rain, but the temperature was still mild in the high 70’s with equally high humidity. And then we were off for a guided tour along the southern coast of this smallest of all the South American countries, and we had a great guide who obviously loves his country deeply – he had more information to impart than any guide book. First we drove almost 2.5 hours inland which we both found rather boring and I fell asleep at least twice, but once we arrived at our first sightseeing stop in Maldonado, I was wide awake in a heartbeat. This city was founded by the Spanish in the 1530’s and when the first party of Spaniards first arrived, they were attacked and slaughtered by the local Indians. Many died and most managed to escape back to their boats, but one was left behind. Apparently this lone survivor Francisco Maldonado was around long enough to found the city and give it its name. Some of the most beautiful homes you can imagine have been built here along the beaches – the vast majority are owned by Argentinians who call these buildings their summer homes. As summer is fast coming to a close, most were boarded up for the winter but apparently many are for rent when the owners are absent. Richard and I really like this country – it doesn’t fit the image of a typical South American dictatorship at all – it’s a republic, which I guess makes all the difference. The beaches are squeaky clean, very little graffiti on the walls – and the locals are extremely friendly.



From here we drove another hour to Punte del Estes which is the beach location most often chosen by the population for their summer vacations. Again incredible homes, one of which was the residence of George W. Bush when he made his presidential visit here a few years ago. This was our lunch stop and we found ourselves in a quaint beachside open-air restaurant Lo De Jere, overlooking the marina. Spinach and goat cheese quiche started us off, quickly followed by the catch of the day baked in a casserole of parmesan cheese, leek and light cream. White and red local wines were freely flowing and we were partaking of each with liberal abandon! Dessert was almond and vanilla ice cream bar, topped with hot raspberry and chocolate sauces. Once we were able to waddle back to the bus, we took a different 2-hour route back to the docks and shortly after we boarded, we set sail and headed for the open ocean.



Dinner that evening was our first chance to meet the couple who finally completed our 6-person table – she is a Purser for Delta Airlines. Needless to say, she and I bonded immediately when she found out how much I fly on her airline. She regularly flies between Seattle and Beijing and told us to let her know when we were headed that way and she would bid for that same flight. That could prove interesting to say the least!



After yet another fabulous 4-course meal, Richard and I headed once more to the showroom to watch “Bob Mackie’s” Salute to Broadway. The costumes were definitely Bob Mackie but the performers left much to be desired. Richard and I decided it was a typical cheesy shipboard show, but it beats walking the plank I guess.



Tuesday, April 2^nd – Woke up this morning to the first full day of sailing as we head further south to the bottom of the world. Just before we left, Richard had obtained transdermal patches of Scopolamine to ward off sea sickness. He had given me one to wear last night but by mid morning, I wasn’t feeling at all well. Nausea, headache, exhaustion and a general overall sensation of weakness. I did eat some breakfast but within a couple of hours, I was throwing it all back up again. Don’t think it was sea sickness, I think I had an adverse reaction to the Scopolamine patch, but it made me miserable. I spent the majority of the day in bed, trying to sleep off whatever was bothering me. As a result, I missed the first formal night onboard, but there are plenty more to come.



Wednesday, April 3^rd – and a happy birthday to me! – woke up today feeling much better. Still not 100%!b(MISSING)ut compared to yesterday, a world of difference. Today I celebrate turning 30 for the second time or course – now comes the next portion of my life – one can only hope it is as crazy wonderful as the first portion. I found a birthday card from the captain and crew on my door as we left for breakfast – obviously someone is paying attention around here.



We are currently about to dock at Punta Madryn, Argentina which is about 900 miles south of Buenos Aires. This city was founded in 1886 by Welsh miners and still has a very European flavor to it. In about an hour, we leave for the Tombo Penquin tour and this requires a 2.5 hour drive inland from the docks to one of their national parks.



It’s 6:30pm and we just returned to the ship 30 minutes ago from viewing penguins in their protected natural habitat. First we had to endure the most boring 3-hour drive, a total distance of 130 miles due south along the coast and all we saw for this entire time, was endless flat pampas as far as the eye could see, on both sides of the bus. Occasionally a small hillock would appear on the horizon just to break the monotony, but the only description which comes to mind is “god forsaken nothingness”…..Only 3%!o(MISSING)f the entire Argentine population live here – I can see why! But eventually we arrived at the rookery and I got to hike about a mile each way down to the actual beach, where we were awarded with swarms of little “head waiters” appearing to be attending a mass convention of some sort. With the amount of visitors this rookery gets on a weekly basis, not too surprising the penguins have no fear of us – actually they just about ignored everyone. While I was taking a few photos of some of them, one or two turned their heads to stare back at me – must be my new cherry-red hair dye, obviously which caught their attention. A small herd of the camel-like vicunas were also grazing down on the beach and a couple of sea lions were frolicking in the shallow surf……got some great photographs.



We had left the ship with very overcast skies and a threat of rain. By the time we reached Punta Tombo, the national protected penguin park, those clouds had cleared away and we had marvelous sunshine and bright blue skies for the remainder of the day. It even warmed up into the high 70’s and it was 61f when we left dockside. Only had two hours to enjoy the rookery, the beach and the birds/animals before we began our long drive back to Punta Madryn and rejoin the ship.



Richard just left the cabin to go attend a Peter Max oil painting display down in the Art Gallery on Deck 7. Yours truly is about to take a hot shower and wash my hair, before we join our comrades for yet another marvelous 4-course dinner. Later on Devlin the Magician is performing in the Showroom – I seriously doubt he is of David Copperfield caliber, but what can you expect onboard a cruise ship?



Richard has taken up Tai Chai classes morning and evening on the Promenade Deck. Not sure if it’s for the health benefits or the stunningly gorgeous Spanish girl teaching these sessions…..either way, he’s hooked…..too funny. My current exercise is lifting glasses of chilled Mojitos with extra mint leaves up in the Crow’s Nest Bar, with 360 degree views of the entire ship. The bar tenders and servers are cute – that’s my excuse…..LOL



The ship’s funnel horn just sounded announcing our departure, and I can feel the ship slowly sliding away from the pier. The sun is setting over the pampas to the west and clouds are closing in over the bay. I have my laptop out here on the lanai, watching the land slowly recede into the mists and in the next few minutes, we will clear the headland and again venture out into the vast Atlantic, turning right and once more steaming south towards Antarctica……snow, ice and glaciers here we come! Whoopee!!!



Thursday, April 4^th– Richard’s 7:30am wakeup call to attend his early Tai Chai class, finally got me upright and peer out of the glass doors to see a grey and misty morning. The further south we go, the colder and more overcast the climate becomes, and we are still 800 miles before the tip of the continent at Tierra del Fuego. Current temperature is 59f but thankfully no rain yet. The sun is trying to break thru the heavy cloud cover – no doubt things will look much better after I’ve had my coffee and juice. I don’t make any decisions until java is running thru my veins. We have the next two full days at sea, sailing due south to our next port of call, Punta Arenas – arriving early Saturday morning.



We went to breakfast late and by the time we finished, we were just in time for the “How to use your Digital Camera” workshop session. That lasted an hour and we both learned a lot of tips and tricks we had no idea our cameras could do. Most of the modes of my Nikon have never been used previously, but they certainly will in the coming days – amazing what you can learn when you haven’t read the original manual, huh?



The weather has turned for the better…..cloudless blue skies and brilliant sunshine…..even the ocean looks a deep blue and very inviting….bodes when for our passage around the Horn in the upcoming days. Temperature is hovering around 72f….it’s a glorious day to be sailing.



It’s just 4pm and having enjoyed a typical English afternoon tea (with scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam of course) we headed back to the cabin to relax before we get ready for dinner. We attended a shipboard Art Auction earlier – Richard went to view the paintings, I was there for the free champagne, but we all have our priorities, right? He didn’t buy anything, I had 3 flutes of the bubbly, so we both had a good time all round.



Our cabin is situated just 4 doors down from the self service launderette, so before dinner I took the opportunity to get all our soiled clothes washed and ready for another week. Plan to do this again same time next week, just before we finish the cruise in Valparaiso, Chile…….that way, I don’t have to do laundry again when I get back to Vegas.



Friday, April 5^th – woke up to a beautiful sunrise but the temperature is dropping – down to 50f this morning but once the sun is above the horizon, it should get a little warmer. We are now 270 miles from our next port of call, Punta Arenas, where we will enter the Beagle Channel and dock very early tomorrow morning. Today is another “at sea” sailing day but Richard and I have lots planned to keep us occupied. They are showing “Skyfall” in the At Sea Theater this afternoon and as I haven’t yet seen the latest James Bond movie, I can’t wait.



Following breakfast, we opted for the Kitchens of the Veendam tour which proved to be quite an eye opener. On average 6,000 meals per day are prepared here and the organization of the kitchens/store rooms/personnel is incredible. A staff of 80 is required to keep these areas moving 24/7 and we got the opportunity to meet Colin Jones (a Welshman) the Executive Chef, who was in the process of supervising the building of a solid chocolate dragon, which will be the centerpiece of the dining room tonight. It takes two hours to create this delicacy and ends up weighing close to 60lbs when finished. These kitchens feed 1,200 passengers and 540 crew members every single day, and I found the list of average weekly consumptions mind boggling:


<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt; border: 1pt solid windowtext; border-image: none; width: 144.9pt; background-color: transparent; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt;" valign="top" width="193">
Meat and meat products
5,500lbs
Poultry
2,000lbs
Fish
1,200lbs<td style="border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; border-style: none solid solid; border-color: #000000 windowtext windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt; border-image: none; width: 144.9pt; background-color: transparent; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt;" valign="top" width="193">
Seafood
1,500lbs
Butter and Margarine
1,100lbs
Fresh Vegetables<td style="border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: #000000 windowtext windowtext� padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.25in; background-color: transparent; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt;" valign="top" width="120">
8,000lbs
Potatoes
2,500lbs
Water Melons
1,800lbs
Eggs<td style="border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: #000000 windowtext windowtext� padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.25in; background-color: transparent; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt;" valign="top" width="120">
13,500
Dairy
3,000 quarts
Sugar
700lbs<td style="border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; border-style: none solid solid; border-color: #000000 windowtext windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt; border-image: none; width: 144.9pt; background-color: transparent; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt;" valign="top" width="193">
Individual Sugar Packets
20,000
Rice
2,100lbs
Flour
2,000lbs<td style="border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; border-style: none solid solid; border-color: #000000 windowtext windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt; border-image: none; width: 144.9pt; background-color: transparent; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt;" valign="top" width="193">
Ice Cream
200 gallons




My foot continues to be a real problem. I’m rubbing the prescription pain crème on it two or three times a day plus taking pain meds, but I continue to limp and have a lot of discomfort – bummer, huh? Tomorrow is a very special day and I can’t have anything preventing me from getting the most out of this particular land tour. We booked five tours in total at the different docking stops, and tomorrow’s is the absolute highlight of them all. But I won’t spoil my travel blog by jumping ahead….you have to wait until we return tomorrow evening, to hear all about it!



Spent a delightful 2.5 hours in the theater this afternoon, watching “Skyfall” – what a fabulous movie – I was shocked by the ending with the death of M. Hard to believe Judi Dench won’t be in upcoming James Bond movies, but I’m sure Ralph Fiennes will make a great replacement.



Saturday, April 6^th – we had a wakeup call scheduled for 5am but it was hardly necessary – the howling winds and boat movement were enough to keep us awake most of the night. It was pitch dark outside – this far south, sunrise isn’t until 8:14am, but we got ready for our day’s excursion and headed to the restaurant for an early breakfast. It was here the captain made the announcement: Punta Arenas had closed the port and we would continue to sail. All shore tours were cancelled (we will be fully reimbursed of course) and now we have no idea what the itinerary is for the next 3 days. We were supposed to fly 275 miles north into Patagonia today, to visit the Andes and glaciers and then tomorrow, we were going to the Beagle Channel National Park but now, both are cancelled. The weather is getting worse by the hour. Winds have been clocked at 70mph and the mercury is hovering at freezing. Forecast is for even higher winds with corresponding waves as high as 50 – 60ft…..obviously this tells the story – we probably won’t make landfall for a couple of days, and we won’t be “rounding the Horn” after all. Richard and I are so disappointed but there is nothing we can do – weather is beyond anyone’s control and we are now in the “Roaring Forties” otherwise known as the Southern Ocean –the wildest and most dangerous stretch of water in the world. We are currently cruising the Magellan Strait with land on both sides……just think, Magellan himself discovered this very passage in 1531….talk about stepping in the footprints of history! Now we wait for further announcements as to what, if any, arrangements are being made for new ports of call in Chile, as we begin our sail north into the Pacific.



It’s 5pm and we are cruising thru the Chilean fjords heading north up the coast. Our captain has told us that we won’t make landfall until at least sometime Monday morning, as there is a cyclone in the Southern Pacific just west of us, and it’s headed our way. He is keeping to the islands and fjords at the tip of the continent, to protect the ship and passengers from high winds and waves which could be extremely dangerous. The weather has been weird all day – hour to hour, we range from clear sunny vistas to thick mists blotting out the land on both sides of the ship. We are just above freezing and everyone is walking around in heavy sweaters and blankets. Still no word on any new ports of call and our next regularly scheduled one is over 900 miles away. That would mean at least 4 more days at sea and as we have already had 3 counting today, there won’t be very many happy folks onboard much longer!



The ocean remains calm as we zip zag thru the fjords – they really are spectacular and certainly on a par with Norway. The boat feels the most stable since we left Buenos Aires – can this be the calm before the real storm? We shall see.



Sunday, April 7^th – in the early morning hours, Richard and I were jolted awake by the rumbling and swaying of the ship – we could hear the wind howling out on the lanai and from the motion, we could tell the waves were high.



It’s now just a little after 8am, still pitch dark outside as sunrise isn’t for another 25 minutes, but we are certainly in the grip of the predicted storm. Winds are being clocked at 65mph with an air temperature of 40f. High seas really rocking this boat- I’ll be hanging on to the rails for dear life when we go down for breakfast later on.



Still no word on any new ports of calls before our regularly scheduled one this Friday – geez that’s five days away and the last one before we dock in Valparaiso – this is not the week I was looking forward to, for sure. My Kindle is loaded with books and they are showing “Lincoln” down in the movie theater this afternoon. At least that kills a couple of hours. Probably also attend a couple of computer classes as well today – they are teaching advanced editing and organizing of digital photographs. And of course there’s always Happy Hour in the Crow’s Next when all else fails, right? Cheers…..



Attended three back-to-back computer/camera classes in the morning – actually learned a few new tricks and can’t wait to get an internet connection to download the free Photo Gallery software package…..it’s really powerful.



We are still cruising the Chilean fjords and to be honest, the scenery doesn’t change much at all – you see the first 100 snow-capped mountains, you seen them all! ‘Enuff said. Spent the afternoon watching the Lincoln movie and fell asleep twice….I wasn’t that impressed, obviously.



Finally got some good news. The captain made an announcement late in the day that he has arranged to make port at a new stop on Thursday – we will be there for an entire day. No word yet on what tours will be available (if any, as it’s so last minute) but at least we will be able to get our feet onto dry land after so many days at sea – there is a god after all.



Monday, April 8^th – this morning between 8-9am, the ship is supposed to stop at Brujo Glacier, but it’s now 8:15am and dawn has barely broken…..still no sign of any glacier, but after the way this cruise has gone recently, can’t say I’m too surprised. The prospect of yet another 3 days at sea is somewhat discouraging, but I’ll find mischief to get into, no doubt.



A very quiet day overall…..it seems like everyone can’t wait for dry land, these endless days at sea are driving everyone nuts…..Richard and I included. I attended 3 more computer classes and was able to install Photo Gallery and Skydrive to my laptop…..can’t wait for internet connection in Santiago to utilize these new programs.



Richard took me to dinner at La Cirque to celebrate my birthday but neither of us were really impressed with the food. The steaks were excellent but the rest didn’t do much at all.



Tuesday, April 9^th – woke up to wild weather. We have left the Chilean fjords far behind and are now out in the Pacific, some 20 miles from land. It’s raining, very misty and visibility is extremely limited - needless to say, the boat is far from stable and even the satellite signal to the television is unstable. Might as well head up to the Crow’s Nest and drink, not much else to do around here!



I decided to attend an acupuncture session later in the day, and what I heard convinced me to undergo a session in an attempt to relieve my foot pain and swelling. Yes it’s expensive at $150 a session which lasts approximately an hour, but the results so far are definitely worth it. She inserted 40 plus needless in my feet, lower legs and ears, followed by 20 minutes of relaxation. Once she removed these needles and massaged my injured foot, I immediately noticed a big difference in pain intensity. I can only hope this lasts for the coming days.



Wednesday, April 10^th – awoke to the feeling of the ship slowing down as we approached the port of Chacabuco which is the unscheduled port call in an attempt to make up for the ones we missed. It’s raining hard with heavy mists and I doubt the temperature is much above 38f, but the main thing is that we are finally going to step out onto to terra firma after six long miserable days at sea…..I can’t wait!



The best news of all? My foot is at least 90% improved from this time yesterday – obviously acupuncture does work and lives up to its reputation. The swelling is down by 50% and I can actually walk without limping – how great is that? I plan on seeking out professionals in the Las Vegas area as soon as I get home next week. No doubt it will be much cheaper there and now I know how much it helps my foot, it will be a regular thing going forward.



We have to use tenders to reach land today as the ship is moored about 400 yards offshore out in the Darwin Channel. Not much to see or do but Richard and I just want to feel solid ground beneath our feet……we are both sick to death of rocking and rolling on this damn boat. Shortly after 11am we made our way down to B Deck where the tenders were running shuttle service to the dock and as soon as we stepped out onto the gangway, we were greeted with pouring rain and blustery winds – talk about cold! We had found a golf-size umbrella in the cabin closet and once we were on dry land, I decided to give the locals my rendition of Gene Kelly’s “Singing in the Rain” while sheltering under it. I even threw in a soft shoe shuffle….a couple of Chilean bus drivers laughed, so they obviously knew talent when they saw it. It felt so good to breathe clean, cold air after so many days insulated onboard – I really didn’t care that it was raining like an Indian monsoon and cold as a witch’s tit – I was breathing deeply and finally coming alive. Richard decided to ride a shuttle bus down into the town, but after 30 minutes and not wearing a coat, I was freezing to death so decided to return to the ship. He returned an hour later, soaked to the skin and almost suffering from hypothermia.



It’s now almost 2pm and we set sail once more in about 3 hours. Richard is up in the gym working up a sweat and I’m watching CNN with total delight – the DOW is up 147 points so far today, so all’s right with the world.



Tonight is our third and final formal dress for dinner night and at 10:30pm, the chefs will be presenting their desert night, with all manner of chocolate creations – this is something that is done once on each cruise leg. I assume there will be multiple deserts to sample, so something to look forward to.



Thursday, April 11^th – our last chance to be on dry land today before our cruise ends on Saturday and as this is a full day tour of the Lakes Region of Northern Patagonia, we intend to make the most of it. Once again we are moored offshore and will need tenders to take us to the dockside in Puerto Montt.



Weather looked promising as we left the ship at 10am but it slowly began to deteriorate once we started driving inland. This part of Chile has the majority of lakes and volcanoes and we were scheduled to visit at least two of each during the 7-hour trip. We began by driving some 90 minutes to what Chileans call “waterfalls” – we would describe them as raging rapids – maybe a class IV river. The entire region is obviously volcanic and the hardened lava rocks make for very interesting formations. A great photo opportunity and then we were off to the largest of the volcanoes “ Orsono” which tops out at 7,000’. It is snow-covered year round. This is where the tour started to go downhill when our useless tour guide announced that due to snow and ice on the volcano ascent road, we would not be visiting it after all. This being said only minutes after she had told us the volcano is snow-covered year round – go figure! That did not sit well with the majority and certainly not with Richard and me as you can imagine.



So it was on to the local farm/restaurant where lunch was planned for the group. The vegetables were right out of a can, the mashed potatoes were flakes from a box and let’s not even discuss the dried-out, overcooked piece of salmon. We both took one bit and promptly pushed our plates away. Better off drinking the bottle of white wine on the table instead – which we did. Rather than explain why we weren’t eating their food, we walked outside to be greeted by a hailstorm in full force……can this cruise get any more interesting and disappointing, I ask you? Half the day had passed and we had seen exactly one point of interest, followed by a disgusting lunch, what next? The guide started back to the ship but as we were two hours earlier than expected, she thought we would be delighted with a stop at some small town to go shopping…..wrong again. I stayed on the bus to read a book – Richard went to sit on a park bench and enjoy a little sunshine for the next 90 minutes.



FINALLY we made it back to the docks and had to stand in line for yet another 45 minutes while the ship’s tenders were brought around to ferry us back onboard. God what a cluster fuck. Not only has this cruise gone from great to good to bad to worse, but my foot has returned to swelling up once more and giving me hell in the pain department. This is NOT going according to plan at all. I have to use a hiking stick to help me limp along and needless to say, I’m far from happy!



Upon returning to our cabin, we find a note from the captain/cruise line offering us a 25%!c(MISSING)redit towards another cruise in the next 12 months, to make up for the two missed ports of call and not sailing around the Horn. Not good enough but it’s a start. I fully intend to tell Holland America exactly what I think once I return home and I don’t think they will be too pleased at what I have to say.



Friday, April 12^th – what a wild night we just endured. Now we are clear of the Chilean Fjords and sailing north out in the Pacific unprotected by any land, the swells have been incredible all night long. This rust bucket rolled from side to side for hours – half the contents of the cabin shelves ended up on the floor and how Richard and I weren’t thrown out of our beds, I will never know. Between the wild ride and my aching foot, I didn’t sleep at all and now this morning, I feel like death warmed over. Will this fucking cruise never end?



I wasn’t in a good mood at all when I went down to the front deck to close out our onboard accounts in preparation for disembarkation early tomorrow morning. The office manager just happened to be working and made the mistake of asking me if I was enjoying myself. That was probably the last straw and by the time I had finished giving him my response, we had another $200 credit relating to the missed ports of call, plus an additional 20% credit for the missed volcanoes on yesterday’s tour. I’m still far from satisfied and once I return stateside, I fully intend to get more refunds from both Holland America and Vacations to Go for the less-than-expected 14 day cruise. I’m definitely on a rampage here.



Tonight we will say goodbye to our dinner table mates and according to the paperwork, we should be off this tub no later than 9am tomorrow morning, right after breakfast – personally, I can’t wait. I haven’t been online for two weeks, my foot is killing me and I have been seasick – come on Las Vegas…..I want to go home! LOL I have high expectations for the transfer/tour drive between Valparaiso and Santiago tomorrow, but obviously won’t be too shocked and amazed if they are dashed to the ground once more. After this trip, nothing will surprise me anymore. We shall see.



Just before going down to dinner, we stopped by the front desk to collect our final statement…..a very pleasant surprise…..they had credited us both with an additional $250, wiping out the entire cost of yesterday’s lousy tour plus a little extra – I’m smiling.



Saturday, April 13^th – the alarm sounded at 5:45am after yet another bad night of the boat rocking and rolling and my bed rolling from side to side. I can’t wait to sleep in a bed which doesn’t move! We finished our last minute packing of hand luggage (our suitcases had been collected late last night), and we headed to the Rotterdam dining room for our final breakfast onboard.



I knew this morning would be clusterfuck #264 as the original docking time of 7am came and went with no sign of land and no slowing down of the engines. Our pre-arranged car service was scheduled for 9am outside of customs and baggage claim in Valparaiso, but obviously that wasn’t going to happen. Believe it or not, we FINALLY disembarked at 11am more than two hours late, but as this tub has been chronically late during the entire cruise, I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised.



It was warm and sunny as we left the luggage shed and thankfully the car service had been notified of our late arrival into port and were waiting for us. Another couple from Florida were using this same transfer service and once we had all our bags loaded into the van, off we went for our first view of this massive and very important port city.



I was going to finish this when I returned to the states, but after coming down with the worse bout of flu in my medical history, I just don’t have the energy to do it. So as a result, I will close it here and probably in our upcoming chats, I can fill everyone in on the final missing two days.



Enjoy this massive blog….it was a blast creating it.







Cheers……

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