Voyage From Valparaiso

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We slept well enough on our second night in country. In the morning our hotel stay included another ample buffet breakfast similar to yesterday’s breakfast. I again enjoyed the tiny Polish style sausages, but who knows, these may be Chilean Sausages because they seem to be reappearing everywhere we have breakfast. One new treat was cherimoya juice. For me I can only say it tasted somewhat like pear juice, only much better. I partook of several glasses.



We readied our luggage with HAL tags for boarding, and decided to go down early and wait for our ride to the ship, scheduled to pick us up at noon. While waiting we spotted another couple that we had first spotted at the Eurotel, deduced they had taken a tour similar to ours, and evidently had spent the night at the Hotel San Martin (HSM) as well. They too were waiting for their lift to the ship. Noon came and went, and there was no sign of our ride. About ten after noon the porter that had helped us with our bags came over and informed us that our ride was here. I may have mentioned that we are not travelling particularly light. We each have a large suitcase filled to the fifty pound limit, and are sharing one medium suitcase weighing in at 45 pounds plus an additional carry on for each of us (plus Sharon’s laptop for blogging). Due to our luggage, they had ordered two small taxis for us, one for Sharon and one for me. We asked them if someone else was coming to pick up the other couple, who had booked through South Excursions also. Evidently the ball got dropped somewhere. Everybody did manage to get the ship, by putting one of our carry-ons in the second taxi. The other couple was travelling much lighter than us. The porter at the HSM was most helpful at getting the situation resolved with the drivers especially since they didn’t speak much English. This was the only issue we had with the Pre-cruise package we booked with South Excursions and was very minor since we weren’t delayed much. Overall we were very pleased with the package and especially with our guide.



We boarded without incident, dropped our carry-ons in the room, and rushed to the formal dining with about ten minutes to spare. Low and behold, we shared a table with the couple from the hotel. I had the bay shrimp appetizer, beef and lentil soup and buttermilk fried chicken breast. Sharon got the bacon cheese burger without the bacon, cheese or anything else but bun and burger. We both had chocolate mousse cake for dessert. When we got back to the room our baggage had already arrived, which we later learned was unusual as many passengers were missing one or more bags until late in the evening. We unpacked and stowed the luggage under the bed. We then went out of our lanai cabin door and went to the fire drill. It seemed to take more time that it should have for everyone to report in, and the captain made it clear that the ship would not be sailing with anyone that hadn’t attended the safety drill. He also informed us that our departure would be delayed about two hours (until 7pm) due to loading of fuel which was continuing from the fuel boat off our port side lanai cabin. And I thought if you had a port side cabin that that side should be the one with the pier on it… but not necessarily. The captain explained that because we needed to load two types of fuel, it was taking extra time. The normal (heavier) fuel can be burned north of 60 degrees south, but beyond that only the lighter fuel is allowed on board all vessels travelling in these southernmost waters. The lighter fuel is the regular diesel one might use in a diesel truck. This means we must use up all of our heavy fuel before venturing below 60 degrees south! The captain assured us that once we were ready to leave, and he did this in his distinctively Dutch accent, that he would “put the pedal to the metal.” When leaving for the drill Sharon asked if I had the room keys and I of course said yes. However, I realized I didn’t have them as we got close to the Lanai door and had to go back around to let her in. We met our neighbors at this point who were also having trouble getting in their door. It appeared the key wasn’t programmed properly since their light was turning red instead of Green. So much for the convenience of getting out of the crowd following the drill.



After the drill I began typing the previous days’ blogs, and Sharon went to mass.



On my way to mass I noticed someone familiar talking to a group of people in the Atrium so tapped her shoulder on my way by. As it turns out, Ruth was also planning to go to mass so off we went. The priest on this trip is from San Francisco but has a very Italian name that I’ll have to learn so I can post it later. He spent some time before mass asking everyone where they were from and told us since it was the first day he wouldn’t give his normal 45 min sermon. He also explained about not shaking hands during the Peace section and that we should bump elbows. He then started mass which was interrupted just before communion by the Captain with an update on the make up drill for those who missed the first one, a long list of personal hygiene items, and that we’d be leaving about 7. The priest started laughing during the Peace greeting and then told us that a couple had walked into the back of the theater during it, gave a very strange look, and then walked out. We guess they’re still trying to determine what new Catholic quirk this was. We had a nice mass and it was great to see Ruth again (we met 5 years ago on a similar cruise on the Rotterdam where we had several discussions on widowhood). Since John didn’t join me for mass she still hasn’t met him but I’m sure we’ll get that taken care of soon.



{John] Dinner started with me having a jumbo shrimp cocktail, while Sharon waited for the entrée. The priest walked by our table and told Sharon to have them charge it to him. The shrimps were tasty, but the sauce was too little and not strong enough to suit me. I then had the cheese tortellini soup in a beef bouillon broth, while Sharon waited for the entrée. We then both enjoyed a prime rib dinner. Although I was promised strong horseradish, the sauce did not live up to my expectations. The prime rib was superbly cooked, and even Sharon said the hers could have been more pink… it looked really well done, but, that was what she ordered. Sharon had the lemon tart with blueberry compote, while I had vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce.



I decided to check out the casino on the way to the theater. I had already passed a very lonely looking blackjack dealer several times during the day, and still nobody was playing at the tables. Meanwhile, Sharon had gone to get seats and played the single game of Bingo they had prior to the show. However, she didn’t come close to winning. The show was started by the DJ Alex who made everyone stand up for a song neither of us can remember and then continued with YMCA. Almost everyone was standing up and laughing thru this. He then taught us the choreography we’d need for the show. It basically consisted of clapping and pointing whenever we saw anyone in the show do it. It was kind of funny to see the IT (aka geek) guy trying to do it at the end. The show then started and was basically a get to know each of the entertainers. Some of them were quite good so hopefully we’ll get some good shows during this cruise. After a busy day cruising, we decided to call it a day, and a very satisfying first full day of our cruise.

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