South American Adventure: Part 3: Days 5 & 6
Day 5 – Wednesday, February 1st –Buenos Aires and Aboard the Crown Princess
Today was a transition day, out of the apartment and on to the ship. Therefore, the morning pace was very relaxed. Allan whipped up some eggs for breakfast, and we had that with the leftover steak from yesterday’s late lunch at Desnevil. I’ve really enjoyed having this apartment: going grocery shopping, seeing Diego (the building manager) as we’ve gone in and out, sleeping with the sounds of the neighborhood emanating from the courtyard, and such. - I agree, the apartment was really nice. - AFK
Chuck and I took the last of the recycling to the recycling bin, which is done in an interesting fashion here. In what would be a car parking spot on the street would be a large container (plastic, about the length and height of a VW Bug). The gray ones are marked Basura (garbage) and the yellow ones are marked Riciclable (recyclable). You take your items and deposit them in a large slit on the sidewalk side of the container. Then, during the evening at hours posted on the container, they are emptied. The city seemed fairly clean, so this method seems to work here.
By noon we had the apartment cleaned and our bags packed. Diego gave the apartment the once-over, flashed a thumbs up, we left our keys and headed out to travel the few miles to the ship terminal. Most of the roaming city taxis are smallish, so given the heaps of luggage that we had, we took two taxis. Our driver, Guillermo, was a jolly, bearish man who got us through the miserable traffic and smiled through my more miserable Spanish. - Yes, Guillermo was very sweet, and seemed very good natured. He didn't let the monstrous traffic jam we encountered rattle him much. He tried to engage us as much as possible in conversation but alas, my Spanish is limited primarily to random words here and there and the occasional useful phrase. - AFK
The cruise passenger terminal (officially the “Terminales Portuarias Argentinas Benito Quinquela Martin”) is modern, but is in the middle of the port area. One must traverse a sea of trucks to reach it, and then you are bussed to your ship. Nevertheless, the staff were very friendly, and despite the long line, we turned over our bags, went through security, got our room keys (really Sea Passes), and were on board the Crown Princess in about half an hour. Given the large number of passengers checking in, that’s not bad.
The Crown Princess is well known to us. We did our 11-day Baltic cruise (2009) and our 17-day Transatlantic cruise (2011) on this ship, as well as an overnight from Seattle to Vancouver last September. The 11-year old ship isn’t the largest in the Princess fleet, but it’s still impressive: 952 feet long, over 113,000 tons, with a passenger capacity of 3,052. Our cabin, D601, is a mini-suite on the Dolphin deck. It has a full-size bathroom (with tub), a walk-in closet, bedroom, a set of shelves and cabinets as a divider, two televisions (that we never watch) and then a good-sized living room with a long sofa, a free-standing chair, and coffee table. Outside is a large, uncovered deck with room for two chaise lounges and a table. We love these cabins because they offer the maximum amount of room for a relatively attractive price.
Our cabin steward, Reynaldo, is from the Philippines (as are so many crew members on this ship) and he’s friendly and good at his job. No towel animals (yet), but our room is made up twice a day and chocolates left on our bed at evening turndown. We try to keep the cabin picked up, but over the course of a trip like this, we start piling up books, souvenirs, receipts, and such.
We grabbed some excellent panini sandwiches at the International Café, Deck 5 next to the Coffee Bar (a favorite of ours, and it’s NOT the buffet), and returned to the room to unpack (our bags were delivered in short order). Reynaldo brought us some extra hangers, and two glasses of champagne (which I drank). And then we napped for several hours.
Since the four us chose Anytime Dining (as opposed to fixed dining times), we headed down to the Michelangelo Dining Room for dinner at about 7PM, where we enjoyed a multi-course meal of appetizer (spring rolls for me, shrimp cocktails for Allan), soup, main course (fettucine Alfredo for me, pork tenderloin with apricot for Allan), dessert and coffee. Portion sizes have shrunk, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But they look lost on those large white plates. And the food quality, while good, doesn’t match what we’ve had on Celebrity.
Boarding in Buenos Aires provided an unusual experience: the ship wasn’t sailing away until the next day, so many people went off the ship for dinner or other city experiences. We were fortunate enough to have booked a tour of several milongas (tango dance venues) offered by tangotrips.com. Mike found this recommendation, and it was easily the highlight of the trip to date.
Our driver, Jorge, met us at the cruise terminal on-time at 9:30PM, and drove us to the first milonga, Club de Tango Gricel on the Calle la Rioja, where we met our “tango guide” Joe Foley. Joe is a personable young man who moved to Buenos Aires five years ago from Manchester, England and is an avid tango dancer. He appears dancing in the first photo in a black shirt in this link: http://www.intelligentlifemagazine.com/places/dancing-to-the-music-of-time
The four of us didn’t know what to expect, and when we walked in were surprised at the very large hall with many tables surrounding a large and well-lit dance floor. At the far end was the bar. The music wasn’t live - recorded tracks were used. It was surprisingly busy, even on a Wednesday night, and mostly made up of middle-aged and elderly men and women. The women seemed to put a lot effort into make-up and dress: the men were simply dressed. - Alas, I was the only peacock among the males - dressed in black slacks and a sort of fractal patterned black and white dress shirt. - AFK
According to Joe, the way the milonga works is that the gentleman signals to the lady that he’s interested in dancing with her. If she expresses interest back, they dance what is called a tanda: a set of three or four songs. In between each song, they couple engage in pleasant small talk.
Non-tango music is used to break up each tanda (Allan was surprised to hear ELO’s “Last Train to London” as breaker).
What wasn’t on display on the dance floor was the kind of flash and intense action that one normally associates with tango. This was couples dancing with a structure. As someone put it, the man provides the frame for the woman to look good in. They dance cheek-to-cheek, with one pair of arms out and the other pair around each other (the leader about the waist, the follower on the leader’s shoulder). But it was in the feet that the differences appeared: careful steps by the leader, with opportunities for the follower to do their own variation. I don’t think I’ve ever watched people’s feet as much as at the milongas (and enjoyed it all). There was even a male couple who were quite good and were part of the dancing throng.
What Steve failed to convey above is just how closely the two dancers' upper bodies are entwined. They appear to be one body - moving as one except for their feet as Steve explained. It's an incredibly sensual tableau and there was a kind of quiet, contained ecstasy or bliss on some of the dancers' faces that was almost sexual, yet not. The couples at the first milonga were generally older, moved more slowly - with a sort of languid grace about them. They were very different in style from the dancers at the second milonga we visited... - AFK
We stayed at this venue for about 30 minutes before going in two cabs to our next venue, the Buenos Ayres Club on Calle Peru in the San Telmo neighborhood. The crowd at this milonga (and it was crowded) was mostly in their 30's, and it also featured a live band (including a male singer). If I enjoyed the first milonga, I loved this second one. Certainly the men were more attractive (as were these younger women), but the live band was the added perk: it was comprised of a pianist, a bass player, two violinists, and no fewer than three concertina players. I don’t think anyone in that band was over 35, except the singer. And the crowd really responded to them.
This milonga also featured a Queer Tango night once a week (which we missed). Given the sensuous and passionate dancing of these young straight couples, I’m not sure I could have stood the extra intensity of male-male couples (well, I could have). It wasn’t like an “intense concentrating passion”, but one of sheer bliss on their faces as they danced to tunes that were popular in the 30s and 40s, when tango was king in Buenos Aires. I’ve never seen anything quite like it, and was quite taken by it. There will be a collection of classic tango music in my iTunes soon. - There were two men in particular, at this second venue, who danced with various women, whose movements were sooooo sensuous and beautiful that it almost became too much to watch. It made you want to jump up and join in with them which of course was impossible. Thrilling to be sure. I did manage to capture one of the two couples in a particularly spirited section of their dancing in a short video that I posted on Facebook. If you haven't seen it DO check it out. - AFK
The live band played only an hour (I wanted them to continue and continue), and soon thereafter we left. We thanked Joe for the wonderful night and Jorge took us back to the cruise terminal, via some areas we hadn’t seen in the previous few days. Buenos Aires really is a terrific city, and at night has some beautiful old buildings illuminated. The old post office department building has blue lighting (although darker than the blue of the Argentine flag, Jorge pointed out).
We got back to the ship after 2:00AM, and headed off to bed. But that marvelous music kept playing in my head…
Day 6 – Thursday, February 2nd –Buenos Aires and Aboard the Crown Princess
Since Mike wanted to eat breakfast in the dining room (which closes at 9:00AM), we had to be down to breakfast by 8:30. Given our late arrival last night, we were running on less than full batteries. This came into play later in the day.
One of the things that Jorge pointed out to us last was the beautiful Teatro Colón, an opera house built at the turn of the previous century. We decided to make that our goal for the day. But rather than taking a taxi, we walked the 1.1 miles to get there. The weather was pleasant and the temperature cooler (particularly in the shade), so at first the walking was fine. We peeked our heads into the Estaćion Retiro train station, a large shed of Victorian-era design, but nothing else worth reporting.
By the time we had to cross the Ave. 9 de Julio, our energy was flagging. We got to the opera house, bought tickets for a guided tour, and managed to get some cold liquids down our throats (as well as sit a spell to give our feet a break). Again, many beautiful old buildings surrounded the square where the theater is situated.
At noon, our English-speaking guide led our group of thirty or so people into the beautiful opera house. While there were no crystal chandeliers, the large chandeliers were still impressive and numerous. The grand staircase wasn’t as grand as, say, the Paris Opera, but a red carpet led up to the surrounding galleries. This was very much in the style of European opera houses, which isn’t surprising, since the original two architects were Italian, and the final one Belgian. Construction began in 1890, and wasn’t completed until 1908, with the premiere of Verdi’s “Aida” occurring there. The opera house was met with a better reception than the opera itself.
The ceiling featured a dome of stained glass, made in France, that featured the muses of the arts. It was impressive and beautiful.
Upstairs was a spectacular space called “The Golden Hall”. It was in this cavernous area that the elite society of Buenos Aires came to see, be seen, and make deals, before the opera and during intermissions. Lots of marble, gold, and those enormous chandeliers. The overall feeling, however, was light and airy. It wasn’t overly ornate or gaudy.
Finally, our guide led us into the auditorium itself, and even I have to admit that it was stunning: above the rows of six hundred seats in the stalls were another seven (!) ornate balconies seating an additional two-thousand people. And that doesn’t include the “chicken coop” at the very tip-top of the highest balcony, where standing room only was available. According to our guide, the newly-arrived Italian immigrants filled the “chicken coop”, and were supposedly the ones best equipped to understand the Italian lyrics being sung (most of the audience spoke Spanish and French).
Another surprise in the opera house were the “widows’ boxes”. These were set along the main floor, at a level somewhat below the stalls. Since women couldn’t be seen in respectful society in a venue like this for their first two years of widowhood, they could attend the opera by entering in the same door as the orchestra and seated in this boxes. Sightlines were non-existent, but they could at least hear the music. At some point years later these boxes were used for assignations.
The fire curtain was down on the enormous stage, but one could see natural light coming through windows of the rear wall that backed on to the Ave. 9 de Julio. According to many opera buffs, this opera house has some of the finest acoustics in the world. During the prior decade, when the Teatro was being refurbished, care was taken to not change anything that might possibly affect the sound. This included making sure the curtain was made of the same material, as well as the red velvet seat covers. There are also grates in the stall floors under the seats that weren’t placed there for heating, but to aid in the acoustic properties of the floor. - The grates were there primarily to transmit the sound to a hollow space beneath the floor of the auditorium that acted as a resonance chamber to assist the sound in reaching the rear of the concert hall. - AFK
We finished our tour dazzled and hungry. Allan was keen to return to El SanJuanino, and we made yet another mile-plus walk to get there. I’m afraid I led us on yet another “death march”, as we were exhausted by the time we got there. Exhausted and cranky.
Lunch was fun (empanadas again!) and revived our spirits and energy. After lunch we took a taxi back to the cruise terminal, bused to the ship, and settled in for a long nap.
The nap was rudely over by the announcement on the ship’s PA system that it was almost time for our safety drill. Hard to believe, but they managed to get all 3,000+ passengers on to the Promenade deck public rooms and corridors. The drill seemed to take forever because all of the announcements were done in English, then Spanish.
Sail away was scheduled for 6PM, but since the captain wanted to put more fresh water aboard, we were delayed until nearly 7PM. Chuck, Mike, and I watched from the deck directly on top of the Bridge, so our sightlines were unobstructed. I was amazed how the giant ship was carefully guided out of a very tight berth by three tugs. A couple of sharp turns, and the Crown Princess headed into the open waters of the very muddy Rio de la Plata.
We dined at 8PM, but didn’t have the same table, waiter, or assistant as last night. Service felt…off, despite the friendliness of the staff. And the food was…fine. Nothing stood out, although Allan and Mike had the veal scaloppini that they said was good. After dinner we enjoyed some fresh air on the Promenade deck, and then headed off to bed.
The lights of Buenos Aires were well behind us, but the memories of our time there remain very bright.
Today was a transition day, out of the apartment and on to the ship. Therefore, the morning pace was very relaxed. Allan whipped up some eggs for breakfast, and we had that with the leftover steak from yesterday’s late lunch at Desnevil. I’ve really enjoyed having this apartment: going grocery shopping, seeing Diego (the building manager) as we’ve gone in and out, sleeping with the sounds of the neighborhood emanating from the courtyard, and such. - I agree, the apartment was really nice. - AFK
Chuck and I took the last of the recycling to the recycling bin, which is done in an interesting fashion here. In what would be a car parking spot on the street would be a large container (plastic, about the length and height of a VW Bug). The gray ones are marked Basura (garbage) and the yellow ones are marked Riciclable (recyclable). You take your items and deposit them in a large slit on the sidewalk side of the container. Then, during the evening at hours posted on the container, they are emptied. The city seemed fairly clean, so this method seems to work here.
By noon we had the apartment cleaned and our bags packed. Diego gave the apartment the once-over, flashed a thumbs up, we left our keys and headed out to travel the few miles to the ship terminal. Most of the roaming city taxis are smallish, so given the heaps of luggage that we had, we took two taxis. Our driver, Guillermo, was a jolly, bearish man who got us through the miserable traffic and smiled through my more miserable Spanish. - Yes, Guillermo was very sweet, and seemed very good natured. He didn't let the monstrous traffic jam we encountered rattle him much. He tried to engage us as much as possible in conversation but alas, my Spanish is limited primarily to random words here and there and the occasional useful phrase. - AFK
The cruise passenger terminal (officially the “Terminales Portuarias Argentinas Benito Quinquela Martin”) is modern, but is in the middle of the port area. One must traverse a sea of trucks to reach it, and then you are bussed to your ship. Nevertheless, the staff were very friendly, and despite the long line, we turned over our bags, went through security, got our room keys (really Sea Passes), and were on board the Crown Princess in about half an hour. Given the large number of passengers checking in, that’s not bad.
The Crown Princess is well known to us. We did our 11-day Baltic cruise (2009) and our 17-day Transatlantic cruise (2011) on this ship, as well as an overnight from Seattle to Vancouver last September. The 11-year old ship isn’t the largest in the Princess fleet, but it’s still impressive: 952 feet long, over 113,000 tons, with a passenger capacity of 3,052. Our cabin, D601, is a mini-suite on the Dolphin deck. It has a full-size bathroom (with tub), a walk-in closet, bedroom, a set of shelves and cabinets as a divider, two televisions (that we never watch) and then a good-sized living room with a long sofa, a free-standing chair, and coffee table. Outside is a large, uncovered deck with room for two chaise lounges and a table. We love these cabins because they offer the maximum amount of room for a relatively attractive price.
Our cabin steward, Reynaldo, is from the Philippines (as are so many crew members on this ship) and he’s friendly and good at his job. No towel animals (yet), but our room is made up twice a day and chocolates left on our bed at evening turndown. We try to keep the cabin picked up, but over the course of a trip like this, we start piling up books, souvenirs, receipts, and such.
We grabbed some excellent panini sandwiches at the International Café, Deck 5 next to the Coffee Bar (a favorite of ours, and it’s NOT the buffet), and returned to the room to unpack (our bags were delivered in short order). Reynaldo brought us some extra hangers, and two glasses of champagne (which I drank). And then we napped for several hours.
Since the four us chose Anytime Dining (as opposed to fixed dining times), we headed down to the Michelangelo Dining Room for dinner at about 7PM, where we enjoyed a multi-course meal of appetizer (spring rolls for me, shrimp cocktails for Allan), soup, main course (fettucine Alfredo for me, pork tenderloin with apricot for Allan), dessert and coffee. Portion sizes have shrunk, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But they look lost on those large white plates. And the food quality, while good, doesn’t match what we’ve had on Celebrity.
Boarding in Buenos Aires provided an unusual experience: the ship wasn’t sailing away until the next day, so many people went off the ship for dinner or other city experiences. We were fortunate enough to have booked a tour of several milongas (tango dance venues) offered by tangotrips.com. Mike found this recommendation, and it was easily the highlight of the trip to date.
Our driver, Jorge, met us at the cruise terminal on-time at 9:30PM, and drove us to the first milonga, Club de Tango Gricel on the Calle la Rioja, where we met our “tango guide” Joe Foley. Joe is a personable young man who moved to Buenos Aires five years ago from Manchester, England and is an avid tango dancer. He appears dancing in the first photo in a black shirt in this link: http://www.intelligentlifemagazine.com/places/dancing-to-the-music-of-time
The four of us didn’t know what to expect, and when we walked in were surprised at the very large hall with many tables surrounding a large and well-lit dance floor. At the far end was the bar. The music wasn’t live - recorded tracks were used. It was surprisingly busy, even on a Wednesday night, and mostly made up of middle-aged and elderly men and women. The women seemed to put a lot effort into make-up and dress: the men were simply dressed. - Alas, I was the only peacock among the males - dressed in black slacks and a sort of fractal patterned black and white dress shirt. - AFK
According to Joe, the way the milonga works is that the gentleman signals to the lady that he’s interested in dancing with her. If she expresses interest back, they dance what is called a tanda: a set of three or four songs. In between each song, they couple engage in pleasant small talk.
Non-tango music is used to break up each tanda (Allan was surprised to hear ELO’s “Last Train to London” as breaker).
What wasn’t on display on the dance floor was the kind of flash and intense action that one normally associates with tango. This was couples dancing with a structure. As someone put it, the man provides the frame for the woman to look good in. They dance cheek-to-cheek, with one pair of arms out and the other pair around each other (the leader about the waist, the follower on the leader’s shoulder). But it was in the feet that the differences appeared: careful steps by the leader, with opportunities for the follower to do their own variation. I don’t think I’ve ever watched people’s feet as much as at the milongas (and enjoyed it all). There was even a male couple who were quite good and were part of the dancing throng.
What Steve failed to convey above is just how closely the two dancers' upper bodies are entwined. They appear to be one body - moving as one except for their feet as Steve explained. It's an incredibly sensual tableau and there was a kind of quiet, contained ecstasy or bliss on some of the dancers' faces that was almost sexual, yet not. The couples at the first milonga were generally older, moved more slowly - with a sort of languid grace about them. They were very different in style from the dancers at the second milonga we visited... - AFK
We stayed at this venue for about 30 minutes before going in two cabs to our next venue, the Buenos Ayres Club on Calle Peru in the San Telmo neighborhood. The crowd at this milonga (and it was crowded) was mostly in their 30's, and it also featured a live band (including a male singer). If I enjoyed the first milonga, I loved this second one. Certainly the men were more attractive (as were these younger women), but the live band was the added perk: it was comprised of a pianist, a bass player, two violinists, and no fewer than three concertina players. I don’t think anyone in that band was over 35, except the singer. And the crowd really responded to them.
This milonga also featured a Queer Tango night once a week (which we missed). Given the sensuous and passionate dancing of these young straight couples, I’m not sure I could have stood the extra intensity of male-male couples (well, I could have). It wasn’t like an “intense concentrating passion”, but one of sheer bliss on their faces as they danced to tunes that were popular in the 30s and 40s, when tango was king in Buenos Aires. I’ve never seen anything quite like it, and was quite taken by it. There will be a collection of classic tango music in my iTunes soon. - There were two men in particular, at this second venue, who danced with various women, whose movements were sooooo sensuous and beautiful that it almost became too much to watch. It made you want to jump up and join in with them which of course was impossible. Thrilling to be sure. I did manage to capture one of the two couples in a particularly spirited section of their dancing in a short video that I posted on Facebook. If you haven't seen it DO check it out. - AFK
The live band played only an hour (I wanted them to continue and continue), and soon thereafter we left. We thanked Joe for the wonderful night and Jorge took us back to the cruise terminal, via some areas we hadn’t seen in the previous few days. Buenos Aires really is a terrific city, and at night has some beautiful old buildings illuminated. The old post office department building has blue lighting (although darker than the blue of the Argentine flag, Jorge pointed out).
We got back to the ship after 2:00AM, and headed off to bed. But that marvelous music kept playing in my head…
Day 6 – Thursday, February 2nd –Buenos Aires and Aboard the Crown Princess
Since Mike wanted to eat breakfast in the dining room (which closes at 9:00AM), we had to be down to breakfast by 8:30. Given our late arrival last night, we were running on less than full batteries. This came into play later in the day.
One of the things that Jorge pointed out to us last was the beautiful Teatro Colón, an opera house built at the turn of the previous century. We decided to make that our goal for the day. But rather than taking a taxi, we walked the 1.1 miles to get there. The weather was pleasant and the temperature cooler (particularly in the shade), so at first the walking was fine. We peeked our heads into the Estaćion Retiro train station, a large shed of Victorian-era design, but nothing else worth reporting.
By the time we had to cross the Ave. 9 de Julio, our energy was flagging. We got to the opera house, bought tickets for a guided tour, and managed to get some cold liquids down our throats (as well as sit a spell to give our feet a break). Again, many beautiful old buildings surrounded the square where the theater is situated.
At noon, our English-speaking guide led our group of thirty or so people into the beautiful opera house. While there were no crystal chandeliers, the large chandeliers were still impressive and numerous. The grand staircase wasn’t as grand as, say, the Paris Opera, but a red carpet led up to the surrounding galleries. This was very much in the style of European opera houses, which isn’t surprising, since the original two architects were Italian, and the final one Belgian. Construction began in 1890, and wasn’t completed until 1908, with the premiere of Verdi’s “Aida” occurring there. The opera house was met with a better reception than the opera itself.
The ceiling featured a dome of stained glass, made in France, that featured the muses of the arts. It was impressive and beautiful.
Upstairs was a spectacular space called “The Golden Hall”. It was in this cavernous area that the elite society of Buenos Aires came to see, be seen, and make deals, before the opera and during intermissions. Lots of marble, gold, and those enormous chandeliers. The overall feeling, however, was light and airy. It wasn’t overly ornate or gaudy.
Finally, our guide led us into the auditorium itself, and even I have to admit that it was stunning: above the rows of six hundred seats in the stalls were another seven (!) ornate balconies seating an additional two-thousand people. And that doesn’t include the “chicken coop” at the very tip-top of the highest balcony, where standing room only was available. According to our guide, the newly-arrived Italian immigrants filled the “chicken coop”, and were supposedly the ones best equipped to understand the Italian lyrics being sung (most of the audience spoke Spanish and French).
Another surprise in the opera house were the “widows’ boxes”. These were set along the main floor, at a level somewhat below the stalls. Since women couldn’t be seen in respectful society in a venue like this for their first two years of widowhood, they could attend the opera by entering in the same door as the orchestra and seated in this boxes. Sightlines were non-existent, but they could at least hear the music. At some point years later these boxes were used for assignations.
The fire curtain was down on the enormous stage, but one could see natural light coming through windows of the rear wall that backed on to the Ave. 9 de Julio. According to many opera buffs, this opera house has some of the finest acoustics in the world. During the prior decade, when the Teatro was being refurbished, care was taken to not change anything that might possibly affect the sound. This included making sure the curtain was made of the same material, as well as the red velvet seat covers. There are also grates in the stall floors under the seats that weren’t placed there for heating, but to aid in the acoustic properties of the floor. - The grates were there primarily to transmit the sound to a hollow space beneath the floor of the auditorium that acted as a resonance chamber to assist the sound in reaching the rear of the concert hall. - AFK
We finished our tour dazzled and hungry. Allan was keen to return to El SanJuanino, and we made yet another mile-plus walk to get there. I’m afraid I led us on yet another “death march”, as we were exhausted by the time we got there. Exhausted and cranky.
Lunch was fun (empanadas again!) and revived our spirits and energy. After lunch we took a taxi back to the cruise terminal, bused to the ship, and settled in for a long nap.
The nap was rudely over by the announcement on the ship’s PA system that it was almost time for our safety drill. Hard to believe, but they managed to get all 3,000+ passengers on to the Promenade deck public rooms and corridors. The drill seemed to take forever because all of the announcements were done in English, then Spanish.
Sail away was scheduled for 6PM, but since the captain wanted to put more fresh water aboard, we were delayed until nearly 7PM. Chuck, Mike, and I watched from the deck directly on top of the Bridge, so our sightlines were unobstructed. I was amazed how the giant ship was carefully guided out of a very tight berth by three tugs. A couple of sharp turns, and the Crown Princess headed into the open waters of the very muddy Rio de la Plata.
We dined at 8PM, but didn’t have the same table, waiter, or assistant as last night. Service felt…off, despite the friendliness of the staff. And the food was…fine. Nothing stood out, although Allan and Mike had the veal scaloppini that they said was good. After dinner we enjoyed some fresh air on the Promenade deck, and then headed off to bed.
The lights of Buenos Aires were well behind us, but the memories of our time there remain very bright.
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