January 11-12-13

As noted earlier, we woke up in the a.m. hoping to see our ship out our window, but alas it did not appear before our eyes.  Turns out this would be the beginning of the end of day fiasco, not for us so much, but for the boarding/leaving port experience.  Apparently, the port was closed due to high seas. I use that term having no idea if that’s even the right term – suffice to say something was going on that made navigation into the port no bueno – so the ships that were in harbor could not leave and the ships waiting to come in could not do so. Finally our Ooosterdam was in port about 11:30.  However the previous shipees had to get off and the ship had to be cleaned before we embarked.   We went down to the terminal and checked our luggage in.  People we knew had texted that they were there and had been given a number.  The man in charge of the luggage check in said “no worries, just come back at four and by then you can just walk on”.  

We came back at four to see a long line just to get into the terminal, and people were being let in slowly as the terminal cleared made room.  We went over to Christian and he remembered us and said when the line started moving he would take us to the front.  That happened about 30 minutes later and indeed he took us to the VERY FRONT where passports were being checked and boarding passes handed out. The only other people being led to the front were 4 and 5 star passengers (the more you sail with a company, the more perks you get). We are only 3 star but because we had Christian we were on our way.  

The ship was due to leave at 6 pm but obviously that wasn’t going to happen with a terminal full of people, and the muster drill which usually happens right before sail away didn’t happen until 9:30 p.m.   It was chilly out there on that deck while we got our room cards scanned and listening to the safety drill!   Prior to that we had a lovely dinner in the dining room.  I’ve learned to control myself on ships now and had ceviche for appetizer and salmon for main course.  Ok, I did have a hot fudge sundae for dessert but it’s the first night after all…

Unpacked our stuff, sent our laundry off ( $30 for whatever you can stuff into the bag – you’d be surprised how jam packed I can get that bag).  Price has gone up from $20 but to be expected.  

Turns out we weren’t able to get out of port until 5 a.m. Which unfortunately means we had to sail on past our first port of call.  This is always a disappointment but we don’t know what we’re missing so we just accept and move on.  So now instead of one day at sea we have two.  This means I got to play mahjong with some shipmates – it’s a thing on cruises, like bridge.  Every day 1-4 we have a room reserved just for us.  

This next is for my mahj friends back home.  You know how I’ve been struggling to win even one game for the past month?  As you might expect, I am winning.  Winning big.  But no quarters are being dumped into my change purse as we are not playing with money.  Isn’t that just the way?  At .30 a pop from my fellow players and double for picking it myself – that would be a whopping $1.80! That would go a long way in terms of filling up my poor empty quarters bag.

Started to knit a hooded scarf from baby alpaca yarn that I picked up in Peru. It’s so soft but kinda slippery – I’ve had a few moments of frustration as the stitches slipped right off my needles. Catching up on some reading as well.

I’ve also been warding off the sea sickness.  There is definitely a bit more swell than we are used to but as usual Al with his gift of foresight booked us a cabin in the back of the ship, and actually paid up a tad for a balcony that looks out over the back of the ship, giving us a 180 degree view and less wind.  Sometimes the guy really comes through! At any rate half a Dramamine didn’t really cut it when things got rockin’ last night around dinner time, so I took another full one and went nighty night.  Today I’m taking the half dose through the day.  Wondering if it ever subsides. I never used to have trouble until we were in the North Atlantic when I found out how disconcerting it can be.

Tomorrow we sail into Puerto Chacabuco, Chile which is not much of a town but it nestled in a cove of a Chilean fjord.  This means the sail in/sail out will be gorgeous.  We are really looking forward to it.  As some of you know, I have staged a one woman revolt about touring cities anymore – I’ve seen enough castles, churches, palaces, ruins, temples and mosques (am I repeating myself?) and my feet have definitely had enough of cobblestone streets.  Nature is what I’m after going forward.  

Keeping our fingers crossed that the rest of the trip will not disappoint due to weather conditions, but you just never know.