I'm typing this in Ushuaia, Argentina. I'll be updating posts since we left Montevideo and headed toward the Falklands and Antarctica since I haven't had internet since then. Here goes...
It was toasty in Montevideo. Think of a hot, sweaty August day at Disney World in August and you have the idea. One day and around 365 miles later, it was 30 degrees colder. Clearly, while it is summer in the southern hemisphere, we're heading far south of the equator.
Before leaving Montevideo, we had the obligatory muster drill. It involves having everyone go to their life boat (also called tenders), getting checked in and then getting instructions on how to put on our life jackets and what we should do in an emergency (follow instructions and don't panic.)
The entire embarkation process in Ft. Lauderdale, including the muster drill, was less than pleasant or organized. I'm happy to report that this muster drill was only 20 minutes and we lucked out and happened to be standing on the port side in the shade. No one in my group passed out so that's an improvement.
Most passengers had been to Montevideo. Actually, most passengers on this cruise have been to every cruise destination in the world. I think of myself as a frequent traveler. I've flown over 2,000,000 miles. I've cruised over 200 days. I get around. But compared to my fellow passengers, I'm a newbie. I met a woman yesterday who was wearing her HAL President's Club pin. You have to sail 1,400 days to get to that level. She's about my age. I've heard some fascinating stories about destinations and adventures I've only dreamed about.
The buzz on board over the last few days was that Rio is geographically beautiful. Montevideo is small, welcoming and felt safe and that Buenos Aires deserves its title of "Paris of South America." Personally, I'd rank them BA first, Montevideo second and Rio third. If you're more a crowds/beach/party kind of person, you might prefer Rio to Montevideo. Everyone I've informally polled agrees that Buenos Aires tops the list, hands down.
As always, I looked forward to two sea days as we headed toward the Falkland Islands and Antarctica. This trip reminds me that it takes me a couple of weeks to really settle in to the cruising lifestyle. I mean that after a couple of weeks I get rid of the ants in my pants. I relish sitting on my bed for an hour, just looking out at the sea without FOMO. (Fear Of Missing Out)
Here are some observations from the two days at sea.
- CruiseCritic.com is a great website with lots of helpful information and they're happy to sell you a cruise. I took advantage of one of their free services - Roll Calls. If you're going on a cruise you can look up your sailing and join a discussion group of others you'll be traveling with. I mostly just stalked the group but a lot of people worked together to set up non-HAL shore excursions.
A couple of women who started the group did a HUGE amount of work to make sure we got to meet each other and enjoy our cruise. One created a 100+ page document that not only lists helpful information about the cruise (formal/theme nights, itinerary, port weather and highlights, and bios of each passenger in the CruiseCritic Roll Call, along with photos. That's how I found out there's a couple on board from the Orlando suburb next to mine.
In addition to the helpful booklet, these ladies have organized a variety of activities (meet and greets, slot pulls, etc) for while we're on the ship. They gave us a schedule, coordinate it with HAL so we have places to meet and refreshments, provided name tags for us and deliver reminders to each cabin. They're not paid, they just do it for fun. I'm very grateful.
That's a long intro to say that I went to my first CruiseCritic Meet and Greet the day at sea after Montevideo. I got my name tag and met some nice and interesting people, including the couple from Longwood who live five miles from my house.
Highlight for me though, was spotting a whale. The first live critter I'd seen in three weeks of cruising, unless you count the hundreds of jelly fish that surrounded the ship while we were in port in Montevideo.
I let out a yell and everyone rushed over to see a whale, a couple of hundred yards to the starboard side of the ship, occasionally breaching as we sailed past. Then someone yelled "dolphins!". I don't know what they were but there were dozens of large critters swimming and leaping next to us. To me they looked like porpoise. I now know they were penguins. - There is information available on the ship giving our position, weather, etc. I find it interesting and just a bit scary that as we sailed off the coast of Argentina, the water depth was over 14,000 feet.
- A lot of people were very annoyed when rumors spread that we wouldn't be the only cruise ship in port in Port Stanley, Falkland Islands (also known as the Malvinas Islands). The Celebrity Eclipse, whose size "eclipses" us, has over 3,000 passengers. That means tendering to a small dock takes much longer and once on shore, the small island will be inundated with people. I don't know why HAL chose not to adjust our itinerary to avoid this but they didn't.
- I did more eavesdropping. One guy, a Canadian, was talking about his "deckal". I had no idea what he meant. Neither did the person he was talking to. I figured out he was referring to what American's call a "deeeecal" or decal. Some day I hope to learn to speak fluent Canadian, eh?
- In my cabin there is a large mirror that backs the desk and faces the couch, where I spend a fair amount of time. Sometimes naked. I need to put more mirrors in my house.They provide a stark reminder to stay away from the desserts.
If you've been lying awake at night worrying about what I might miss from being away from home for 25 days, here's the answer: not much. My friends, of course. And I'd love to have an electric kettle in my cabin but can't because of fire danger. I also keep forgetting to charge my toothbrush since I'm used to always keeping it plugged in at home. But that's about it. At this point I'd be content floating around the world forever. - Every day, I laugh out loud because I'm just overflowing with happiness. I feel well, I have absolutely nothing to worry about and people are going out of their way to take care of me.
I love strolling in to the dining room, being seated near a window with a view (imagine having every meal with an ocean view) and having charming young men wait on me.
Then, I get a big smile when I go back to my cabin after my two hard working cabins stewards have made up the room.
I smile again when I sit in one of the venues with live music. I love to watch people ballroom dancing in the afternoons. One woman in particular just glows as she dances. It is clearly something she is passionate about and the dance hosts make sure to keep her on the floor. I'm guessing she's in her mid-80's. - We've had a couple of days of moderately rough seas. Nothing dangerous and only slightly rougher than I prefer it. I did sit down rather abruptly yesterday when the ship zigged and I zagged. Luckily the chair was sturdy and the only damage done was a large and colorful bruise on my thigh. Another sign that it was rough was at Guest Services where they had Saltines and green apples out. Luckily I rarely get seasick. The vertigo when I go on land after time at sea is another issue.
