Days 0 & 1

Day 0 & 1
Usual situation on the LIE, still cab driver Saywar Muhammad (that was the name on the license) did a good job to get me to JFK in good time. Just as well as the flight which alleged to be American Airlines was actually LAN Chile which is, of course at a different terminal. Still again, kudos to JFK the AirTrain got me there in short order.
The flight was not full and was as comfortable as any 10 ½ flight can be in Economy. I had a spare seat beside me so that wasn’t so bad. We left on time and arrived on time and that must, these days be some sort of a record.
Arrival was well organized by the cruise line by the authorities in Chile are no better than anywhere. They charge a ‘Reciprocity Fee” to all US and Australian citizens because both those countries charge for visas to enter theirs. Then, I had a half-eaten pack of peanuts which was destined to cause a major incident but which, in the end was easily dealt with. They were more interested in the paperwork than the peanuts!!
We boarded a bus to Valparaiso and were engaged by a chatty tour guide who tried to teach a bus load of bleary eyed seniors (My goodness I feel young amongst this lot), some Spanish and also something about Chile. I didn’t envy her; she didn’t get a lot of response. We stopped a roadside place for bathroom break and to sample the local food and some sort of high –sugar brandy which they have. I sampled this last time I was here so passed on that. It tastes pretty awful and is very strong. I am pretty sure it is the same place we stopped at when we were here a couple of years ago. It has one moth-eaten male llama in an enclosure and I swear I recognized him and he recognized me and we shared our mutual dislike of one another. They are bad tempered spitty things not cuddly and wooly at all.
Arrived at the ship which looks very spiffy, photos to follow), there were endless checking in processes including promises that I did not have any awful disease. Then a bit of a wait to get to my cabin which, since I was at sea, is now called a stateroom. Lunch was offered in a Terrace café which was very nice and a buffet which was a heart attack waiting to happen. Note to self, better take it easy on the food or spend longer in the gym. I met a few of my fellow passengers, many seem to be Canucks from Toronto and all of them seem to be prehistoric in age.
Meanwhile, being entertained by a small string quartet (we used to call them the ‘prickly heat trio’ in my day). At this point I wonder if I am going to survive 19 days of this without ‘going postal’!!
My baggage was a bit late arriving at my stateroom and my camera was in that so I am a bit short on photos for now but I will do better later on.
Things got better and we all attended Safety Drill wearing our lifejackets although the age of the passengers certainly doesn’t bode well for them getting into the lifeboats in an emergency. I am certainly below average age!!
Still it all brought back memories of when I used to do this sort of thing and it always served as a chance to eye up the single women on the cruise and exchange notes amongst fellow officers afterwards.
Immediately after that we sailed with a small mariachi band playing on board.
In the upper deck pool area, people were swimming in the pool this afternoon but tonight, due to the ship’s movement, it is empty and I doubt that the weather will be warm enough for swimming as we get further south.
We then retired to the cabin of Bill and Joan who are friends of Bernie and Michele
Bill and Joan
and who are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on this cruise. We were able to watch the vessel sail from their stateroom verandah and the view was much enhanced by a glass of champagne which they kindly shared with me.
We then all repaired to the Terrace Café restaurant where they serve and informal Tapas Menu in the evening. There are three formal restaurants on board… all for other nights. We had a very convivial dinner and all then repaired to bed, passing up on the ‘Homecoming Ball’ entertainment on offer… Oh well, another night maybe.
The ship is pitching fairly gently although every now and then it gives a moderate lurch as we sail south into a head swell. It is taking me a little while to get used to the movement.
Tomorrow will be our first full day at sea and on Sunday we reach Puerto Montt, Chile.

I don't seem to be able to get pictures to upoload at this point but I will work on it.

More tomorrow.