South American Adventure - Days 6-7
Day 6: Thursday, March 04, 2010 – “Welcome to the Extended Valparaiso Harbor Tour!”
Still happy to be here… but we do wish we would go somewhere… else, already .Honestly.
Today’s documentation from the South American Travel Vortex is brought to you by – Hordes of Cranky Tourists! Happy to be here? No we don’t think so. You must admit though that after M-A-N-Y hours waiting in who knows how many different airports/hotels/terminals/ports and whatnot that a lot of these folks had had it worse off than us. We who just barely managed to get here by the skin of our teeth and were/are QUITE happy we did. We do think that you all should just go somewhere else and bitch about it for awhile please – thank you – and let us enjoy… the Valparaiso Harbor Tour! Hooray!
OK, enough silliness. Today started off normally enough: up for breaky at nine then back down to our stateroom to watch busload after busload of fellow travelers trickle onboard. The Daily Dribble (Princess Patter) stated that all arriving passengers would be onboard by 11:30 and shortly thereafter we’d be on our merry way… Not quite.
Due to numerous different technical/technological issues the Captain was in a quandary. We did pull away from the pier (I have it on video) and moved back out into the harbor, but there we were to remain – for the next 10 hours or so. At the time Steve and I weren’t yet concerned and we went on our way playing ping-pong, wandering around the ship, occasionally stopping to chat with a new person who might have more info or a different slant on what was going on.
At around 3:00 the Captain came on the loudspeaker to tell us he was very sorry for all that we were going through, but that we would not be leaving the harbor of Valparaiso until all the necessary paperwork and details were sorted out – and by the way our “new” itinerary put our first port-of-call at Ushuaia, Argentina instead of Punta Arenas, Chile and we would not be stopping in the Falkland Islands. So that’s 2 of our 6 ports-of-call gone with the stroke of a pen.
Still happy to be here… but they need to get the internet access up and running soon…
At some point after our light lunch we went back to our room and I (of course) zonked out for a 2 ½ hour nap. I woke to find Steve gone – most likely working out in the gym, so I began reading and editing his earlier entries. Maybe we’ll actually be able to keep these things up to date on this trip. :-)
When Steve got back we went back downstairs to poke our heads into the Wheelhouse Bar to see if there truly was going to be a “Friends of Dorothy” gathering – but alas not. We went down to the main plaza for cocktails (he: some fruity thing [Steve: it was a Singapore Sling], I: what else? A chocolate martini!) and to regroup.
We decided after our drinks that the line for Passenger Services wasn’t too long, so we meandered over and got in line to see about getting our temporary room keys replaced. While waiting in line, we enjoyed the music of the Juan Hermida Tango Band, which played on the main floor of the piazza. Did you know the tango was originally invented as a dance between male workers in the absence of female companionship? Very passionate, and very lively.
Tonight we actually had dinner in our assigned dining room (Amalfi), and it was just the two of us seated at a table for four. Our waiter, Laurentiu, is from Romania, and his assistant Adam is from the Philippines. The quality of food on this cruise is certainly better than on our Baltic cruise, and the coffee is light-years better. But the dining room was over half-empty which makes the atmosphere a little less convivial. On the other hand, the service level is higher since the staff has fewer tables to manage.
After dinner, around 10PM, we headed out to the Promenade deck to get some fresh air. And, to our amazement and delight, the ship was finally sailing southward at full tilt! The Valparaiso Harbor Tour was finally over, and we could finally get on with what was left of our itinerary. There was a definite feeling of relief in the air, and one could sense the spirits of the passengers starting to improve.
Day 7: Friday March 05, 2010 – “Destination: No Longer Unknown”
It was another beautiful, sunny morning, and the first of our first of three consecutive “at sea” days.
After breakfast on the Lido deck, we got around to getting our internet access worked out. 280 minutes of access time cost $100. Sounds expensive, but considering where we are in the world and how much we like to be connected, it’s not a bad price.
The laptop wireless worked beautifully from the room….for about twenty minutes. Then, without our knowing it, the connection went down for several hours. This caused more than a little tension in stateroom D222, but by late afternoon everything worked fine again.
Despite my best efforts, today became a “rest day” from the workout program. It’s been Thursdays ever since I started in early January, but it will now be Fridays. Probably makes sense in light of upcoming events later in March and April.
In the afternoon we enjoyed a wine flight held in the Vines Wine Bar. We sat at the bar and Alfredo took great care of us. Friendly and outgoing, he seemed to give us more than the usual pour for each of our three wines: an Italian Pinot Grigio, a Gewurtzraminer from the Alsace region of France, and our favorite, Cuvaison from the Carneros area of California.
Tonight’s dinner was at Sabatini’s, the specialty Italian restaurant aboard the Star Princess. We asked Marilyn and Scott to join us, and the three-and-a-half hours seemed to go by quickly. The food was plentiful, and except for choosing the main course (secondi piatti) and the dessert, everything else was delivered by the wait staff. Antipasti included many marinated vegetables and cured meats, followed by fried mozzarella, scallop and shrimp mousse topped with caviar, and miniature potato latkes (???!!!). The next course was selecting from one or more types of pizza, then the soup course, which we declined (but our table mates enjoyed the cioppino). Primi piatti came next, which was the pasta course: you could choose from one or more of three different pastas.
[Bear in mind, the portion sizes were ALL petite – there is just no way anyone could eat this much food if the portion sizes were your typical American dishes].
Main course was a veal shank for me, langoustino tails for Allan, and mixed seafood grill for Marilyn and Scott. When we finally got to dessert, I had tiramisu and Allan had a citrus tart. Gird your loins, gentle readers: Allan decided to forego chocolate. Did this have anything to do with the fact that today was his first cigarette-free day in several years????
At the end of the meal, we actually felt stuffed, which was a first for this trip. As nice as the dinner was, we decided that we will not be paying another visit to Sabatini’s for the remainder of the voyage. While the quality and service were fine, the amount of food was overwhelming. Yes, even when doled out in small portions.
We went back to our stateroom, got ready for bed, and turned out the lights. When I looked through the sliding glass doors, I noticed an odd, bright, reddish light in the distance. I put on my glasses, and lo and behold, witnessed a spectacular rising of the moon over the horizon. Allan leapt out of bed, got the video camera, and started filming from the balcony. With a the stars of the southern sky brightly twinkling overhead, and the band of the Milky Way cutting across the night sky, it was a memorable end to a very languid day.
Still happy to be here… but we do wish we would go somewhere… else, already .Honestly.
Today’s documentation from the South American Travel Vortex is brought to you by – Hordes of Cranky Tourists! Happy to be here? No we don’t think so. You must admit though that after M-A-N-Y hours waiting in who knows how many different airports/hotels/terminals/ports and whatnot that a lot of these folks had had it worse off than us. We who just barely managed to get here by the skin of our teeth and were/are QUITE happy we did. We do think that you all should just go somewhere else and bitch about it for awhile please – thank you – and let us enjoy… the Valparaiso Harbor Tour! Hooray!
OK, enough silliness. Today started off normally enough: up for breaky at nine then back down to our stateroom to watch busload after busload of fellow travelers trickle onboard. The Daily Dribble (Princess Patter) stated that all arriving passengers would be onboard by 11:30 and shortly thereafter we’d be on our merry way… Not quite.
Due to numerous different technical/technological issues the Captain was in a quandary. We did pull away from the pier (I have it on video) and moved back out into the harbor, but there we were to remain – for the next 10 hours or so. At the time Steve and I weren’t yet concerned and we went on our way playing ping-pong, wandering around the ship, occasionally stopping to chat with a new person who might have more info or a different slant on what was going on.
At around 3:00 the Captain came on the loudspeaker to tell us he was very sorry for all that we were going through, but that we would not be leaving the harbor of Valparaiso until all the necessary paperwork and details were sorted out – and by the way our “new” itinerary put our first port-of-call at Ushuaia, Argentina instead of Punta Arenas, Chile and we would not be stopping in the Falkland Islands. So that’s 2 of our 6 ports-of-call gone with the stroke of a pen.
Still happy to be here… but they need to get the internet access up and running soon…
At some point after our light lunch we went back to our room and I (of course) zonked out for a 2 ½ hour nap. I woke to find Steve gone – most likely working out in the gym, so I began reading and editing his earlier entries. Maybe we’ll actually be able to keep these things up to date on this trip. :-)
When Steve got back we went back downstairs to poke our heads into the Wheelhouse Bar to see if there truly was going to be a “Friends of Dorothy” gathering – but alas not. We went down to the main plaza for cocktails (he: some fruity thing [Steve: it was a Singapore Sling], I: what else? A chocolate martini!) and to regroup.
We decided after our drinks that the line for Passenger Services wasn’t too long, so we meandered over and got in line to see about getting our temporary room keys replaced. While waiting in line, we enjoyed the music of the Juan Hermida Tango Band, which played on the main floor of the piazza. Did you know the tango was originally invented as a dance between male workers in the absence of female companionship? Very passionate, and very lively.
Tonight we actually had dinner in our assigned dining room (Amalfi), and it was just the two of us seated at a table for four. Our waiter, Laurentiu, is from Romania, and his assistant Adam is from the Philippines. The quality of food on this cruise is certainly better than on our Baltic cruise, and the coffee is light-years better. But the dining room was over half-empty which makes the atmosphere a little less convivial. On the other hand, the service level is higher since the staff has fewer tables to manage.
After dinner, around 10PM, we headed out to the Promenade deck to get some fresh air. And, to our amazement and delight, the ship was finally sailing southward at full tilt! The Valparaiso Harbor Tour was finally over, and we could finally get on with what was left of our itinerary. There was a definite feeling of relief in the air, and one could sense the spirits of the passengers starting to improve.
Day 7: Friday March 05, 2010 – “Destination: No Longer Unknown”
It was another beautiful, sunny morning, and the first of our first of three consecutive “at sea” days.
After breakfast on the Lido deck, we got around to getting our internet access worked out. 280 minutes of access time cost $100. Sounds expensive, but considering where we are in the world and how much we like to be connected, it’s not a bad price.
The laptop wireless worked beautifully from the room….for about twenty minutes. Then, without our knowing it, the connection went down for several hours. This caused more than a little tension in stateroom D222, but by late afternoon everything worked fine again.
Despite my best efforts, today became a “rest day” from the workout program. It’s been Thursdays ever since I started in early January, but it will now be Fridays. Probably makes sense in light of upcoming events later in March and April.
In the afternoon we enjoyed a wine flight held in the Vines Wine Bar. We sat at the bar and Alfredo took great care of us. Friendly and outgoing, he seemed to give us more than the usual pour for each of our three wines: an Italian Pinot Grigio, a Gewurtzraminer from the Alsace region of France, and our favorite, Cuvaison from the Carneros area of California.
Tonight’s dinner was at Sabatini’s, the specialty Italian restaurant aboard the Star Princess. We asked Marilyn and Scott to join us, and the three-and-a-half hours seemed to go by quickly. The food was plentiful, and except for choosing the main course (secondi piatti) and the dessert, everything else was delivered by the wait staff. Antipasti included many marinated vegetables and cured meats, followed by fried mozzarella, scallop and shrimp mousse topped with caviar, and miniature potato latkes (???!!!). The next course was selecting from one or more types of pizza, then the soup course, which we declined (but our table mates enjoyed the cioppino). Primi piatti came next, which was the pasta course: you could choose from one or more of three different pastas.
[Bear in mind, the portion sizes were ALL petite – there is just no way anyone could eat this much food if the portion sizes were your typical American dishes].
Main course was a veal shank for me, langoustino tails for Allan, and mixed seafood grill for Marilyn and Scott. When we finally got to dessert, I had tiramisu and Allan had a citrus tart. Gird your loins, gentle readers: Allan decided to forego chocolate. Did this have anything to do with the fact that today was his first cigarette-free day in several years????
At the end of the meal, we actually felt stuffed, which was a first for this trip. As nice as the dinner was, we decided that we will not be paying another visit to Sabatini’s for the remainder of the voyage. While the quality and service were fine, the amount of food was overwhelming. Yes, even when doled out in small portions.
We went back to our stateroom, got ready for bed, and turned out the lights. When I looked through the sliding glass doors, I noticed an odd, bright, reddish light in the distance. I put on my glasses, and lo and behold, witnessed a spectacular rising of the moon over the horizon. Allan leapt out of bed, got the video camera, and started filming from the balcony. With a the stars of the southern sky brightly twinkling overhead, and the band of the Milky Way cutting across the night sky, it was a memorable end to a very languid day.
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