South American Adventure - Days 8, 9, and 10

Day 8 - Saturday, March 6th, 2010: “Toss your cares and curls away!”

Today began as do all our days at sea; Steve got up and looked to see if there was anything interesting to see out our balcony window, then puttered around the cabin showering and whatnot. I, being “Lizard Boy” slowly emerged from my slumber and stumbled into the shower.
Breakfast was as usual in the Horizon Court buffet. Yes, I still eat mountains of bacon and eggs for breaky but that may soon change. After breakfast it was up to Deck 15 for a bit of ping-pong then back to the room.

I spent the next hour or two using the “XP Mode” in my Windows 7 laptop to download and install drivers so we could connect our cameras to the laptop to download photos and video. This was rather a tedious process, but successful. Steve went up to the gym to work out while I did this and was quite pleased he wouldn’t have to buy a CF card reader for his camera or more flash cards.

At 3:00 we went down to the Amalfi dining room for the first wine tasting event of the cruise. This was the “first tier” tasting – informal and inexpensive. There were a few pleasant wines. We had a bottle of the Côte-du-Rhone later with our first formal night dinner. Very nice. [What was less than nice was the eventual chattering of 200 people as the sommelier tried to describe each wine]

Steve went down to the spa at 5PM for a facial and a haircut. You’ll see from our formal pictures taken before and after dinner that his skin is glowing (really). [Steve - The woman who did my spa treatment, Julie, was delightful. Originally from Toronto, she’s worked for six years on Princess ships. The scalp massage was followed by an arm and hand massage. She used hot towels on my face to open up the pores, then did a nice close shave. The facial afterward was heavenly, and I walked out of there with shorn locks and glowing skin. And the bags under my eyes went away…at least for a few hours.]

We met a nice couple from Seattle onboard, named Bruce Woolvington and Tom Jewell, who we ended up spending a lot of time with on Sunday (more on that later). We ran into our friends Marilyn and Scott after dinner and snapped a few pics of them in their formal wear. They’re very sweet.

Our fair weather finally gave way to gray skies on Saturday and there was only a hint of land off in the distance so we didn’t take many photos/videos. We would make up for that on Sunday…
One last note about Saturday - we each received a letter from the President of Princess Cruises stating the following:

1. Due to the difficulties and confusion encountered surrounding our embarkation in Valparaiso, and because 2 of the 6 ports of call had to be cancelled and our actual cruise shortened we would be receiving a shipboard credit equal to 3 days of the cost we paid for our cruise.
   
2. In recognition of all the technical difficulties encountered onboard after the cruise actually started (which is still ongoing…) we would receive a credit equal to 25% of our cruise cost good towards any future cruise booked by February 2012.
   [We later found out that when Tom Jewell read this letter, he tore it in pieces]

Day 9 - Sunday, March 7th, 2010: “Through the Straits of Magellan”

This day finally provided one of the highlights of this cruise itinerary: going through the Straits of Magellan and seeing the beautiful snow-capped mountains and glaciers.

We had breakfast delivered to the room so that we wouldn’t miss entering the Straits (which according to the Princess Patter would be at 8:30). As we entered the Straits, the water became calmer – almost glass still. The weather was certainly colder, and it was a good thing we packed hats and gloves!

After getting showered and dressed, we headed up on deck to get even better views of the spectacular scenery. We ran into Tom and Bruce, and then managed to pick up yet another gay in this floating village, Daniel from just outside Quebec City, Canada. This is the same guy I’d seen when we boarded, and who I kept seeing in the gym. Reminded me of Phil Strable…but with a very thick French-Canadian accent!

The Gang of Five, as I coined our little group, went to different parts of the upper decks to photograph the spectacular scenery. Daniel had a Canon camera several models later than mine (a Rebel Xsi), and thanks to Canon’s wonderful engineering, we swapped lenses for a few shots (he had a 55-270mm zoom that allowed me to take some stunning high-mountain glacier shots).
Reports of the fickle nature of weather in this part of the world were not untrue. It went from cold and dry to cold and drizzly and eventually to cold and drizzly and blustery. We five walked toward the front of the ship, and it felt like wing-walking trying to get there and back.
But it was all worth it. At every turn through the Straits, more snow-capped peaks would appear. People reported seeing whales, but we must have missed them. However, we did see some sea lions cavorting in our wake. Even though it was late summer here, it was obvious that some of these mountains never got enough sunshine to melt all the snow. We also saw blue-ice glaciers cascading down the mountainsides. Alas, we never got close enough to enjoy them leisurely, as on an Alaska cruise, but at least we did see them.

In early afternoon we five had lunch in the Portofino Dining Room. I have to say it was one of the most annoying meals we’ve had, as the staff wanted to rush us out of there. We ordered all courses (including dessert) at once, and the moment one course was done the next would be instantly placed before us. As we were leaving, the waiter said, “Next time don’t be late”. It was a rare low on what’s otherwise been a very positive service experience aboard the Star Princess.
About an hour after lunch, I went to do my workout, which seemed harder to do than in the past. Probably all those evil carbs I’ve been eating since we got aboard! Daniel was also doing his workout. He told me he’s 55 and retired. He looks great, but he said he would be enjoying the cruise more if a friend of his from Canada had also made it down to the ship (see Day 1: Earthquake in Chile and travel woes).

After working out, I called Allan to meet me in the spa area and we enjoyed a relaxing time on the stone benches that Allan is so fond of. I must admit, after today’s workout, it felt good to me as well! I think I actually fell asleep at one point, which means my snores must have echoed like mad on the tile walls…

After this lovely bit of relaxation, we decided to visit the Passenger Services Desk. This was at their request, as they didn’t seem to have our credit card information for the onboard account. This despite the fact that it was given to them at booking, then at check-in. Yes, we were told, another computer glitch. And when we were re-issued card keys (third time, but who’s counting?), mine wasn’t reflective of my Captain’s Circle Gold membership. Yes – they also seemed to lose that information as well, which would entail a visit to the Captain’s Circle Desk to “verify your membership”. Did I mention my new key would no longer allow my internet account to be accessed? Yes, another visit to the Internet Café would be required to get it squared away. It’s a good thing our offices aren’t run in this manner.

After pre-dinner drinks, we had dinner for two at our usual table in the Amalfi dining room. Alas, our regular waiter Laurentiu wasn’t there, and I missed his personal recommendations on food.
We went back to our cabin to watch the Academy Awards. It seemed strange to watch this event live from nearly the bottom of the world, and I was fairly unhappy with the snarky script given to hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. However, we were pleased that Oscars went to “Up” for Best Animated Feature and Original Score, and to Christoph Walz for Best Supporting Actor. The dance number to the five nominated original scores was amazingly energetic and interesting. George Clooney seemed to have a puss on his face the entire night, and Meryl Streep seemed to be just enjoying it all. Thank god that Jack Nicholson wasn’t sitting front-and-center as in years past. It was also interesting (the first time) to see the South American commercials during the telecast.

We went to bed fairly late, but didn’t manage to stay up for the last hour of the awards. “The Hurt Locker” won Best Picture, Sandra Bullock for Best Actress, and Jeff Bridges for Best Actor. None of the three were a surprise, as Hollywood manages to telegraph these things at other award ceremonies earlier in the year.

Day 10 - Monday, March 08, 2010: “Ushuaia, the town at the bottom of the world”

“How dear of you to let me out of jail!” – Eleanor to Henry, “Lion in Winter”
Today was our first day in port since leaving Valparaiso. After a very late night Sunday watching most of the Oscars starting at 10PM, trying to catch up on the blog (me-Allan), and getting to sleep around 2AM we got up around 8:30. We made our way upstairs for a hasty breakfast then downstairs to head ashore via tender as the ship was anchored in Ushuaia Bay and not at the pier.

[Ushuaia, pronounced oo-soo-AYE-ah according to locals, claims to be the southernmost city in the world.] The Celebrity Infinity was docked at the pier already so we weren’t the only ship in town. The infinity is the sister ship to the Millennium which we sailed on in 2006 for our Mediterranean Cruise.

The weather was surprisingly pleasant as we left the ship – partly cloudy but enough sun to give hope for a day of wandering in town and lots of photography.

We walked from the pier up two blocks to the main drag – Avenida San Martin and turned left to stroll, window shop and snap photos. I got coffee in a small shop featuring artisan chocolates (which strangely – we never returned to) and we stopped in a gift shop that had some beautiful local arts and crafts and bought several gifts and souvenirs there. I thought it was odd that there were so many higher-end clothing shops and lots of shoe stores. We did stop in another store named Kenvingston (New Zealand brand – Argentine manufacture) that had lots of rugby attire where I got some great socks, but alas the adorable checkered boxer shorts in the window were only for niños, so no luck there.

After looking for a straw hat for me in one of the tackiest tourist traps I’ve ever seen (not finding one but finding a few other essential items) we walked out and down to the end of the avenue where the shops petered out (about 7 or 8 blocks), then turned right to head up the hill for better views of the mountains and the bay.

[While there were two cruise ships in town, which would usually swamp most towns, there didn’t seem to be overflowing hordes of tourists on the sidewalks. And there were plenty of locals out and about as well. Many groups of younger people as well, who seemed to be trekking in this part of the world. That had to be the case, as we saw at least three hostels on our walk around town.]

Great shots were had from our higher vantage point and we headed back east toward the center of town.

Returning to the center and back down to San Martin we found a bank with cash machines where we were able to get some Argentine Pesos. We could not get any foreign currency on the ship which we thought was really odd after having no trouble exchanging currencies onboard on either of our last two cruises.

With local cash in hand we found a lovely modern-ish restaurant named Tante Sara with a menu that was diverse enough and reasonable enough to suit us both. After waiting a few minutes we got a table and both ordered sliced beef sandwiches with fries (Steve’s with fried onions and peppers and mine with bacon, egg, and cheese – heaven!). Lunch was very good and we would both happily return.

Another short walk and we found ourselves at the Museo Territoriale (Del fin Mundo). We paid our 20 pesos entrance fee, checked our daypack and went in. The museum was quite small, but had many interesting artifacts from the earliest days of the settlement and lots of sad history to wade through.

We left the museum ready to return to the ship around 3:00 and none too soon – as the weather was just then turning colder, windy, and wet.

By the time our tender left the pier it was raining pretty hard and the swells in the bay were larger as the wind blew strong.

Back onboard we walked up to the Piazza to see about a glass of wine before heading back to our cabin for a nap, but everything was closed (crew get some time off after all ;-)). We napped for awhile and then got a ring from Tom and Bruce who wanted to come down and have a drink with us in our room. When they arrived a few minutes later they gushed about how spacious and luxurious our cabin was (it is a mini-suite), and we settled out on our deck for some chat amidst the beautifully long and slow sunset in the Beagle Channel.

The light on the cliffs bordering the channel was really extraordinary and I got lots of great pictures. Alas, when it came time for us to swing by the penguin haunt that the boys had visited earlier in the day the light was failing and all I got was some blurry video of little blobs on the faraway beach.

At about 8:30 we all wandered down to the Amalfi Dining Room and had a lovely dinner together.

After dinner Tom and Bruce finally got their eagerly anticipated upgrade and dashed off to move into their newly assigned balcony cabin. Steve and I headed back to our room where Steve quickly fell asleep and I spent the next couple of hours writing most of this blog entry – followed by several hours of trying unsuccessfully to fall asleep (damned Chantix!), and then a fitful slumber filled with traumatic dreams of work… meh.