Day 27 – Straights of Magellan

Drink of the Day – Casablanca

Technically this was a sea day. The ship traveled through the Straights of Magellan throughout the morning and early afternoon. By 1:00 or so we were finally in Pacific Ocean traveling alongside Chile. Sailing through the Straights cuts at least 350 to 400 miles off the journey when navigating around the southern tip of South America which makes it an important trade route for cargo ships.





Once through the Straights we spent a lot of time going through our penguin photos, making up captions for some of the cuter pictures. By the end of the afternoon we were getting pretty silly. We decided that we should share the fun and give our faithful readers a chance to come up with better captions. Please feel free to post your thoughts.

"Yes Deedee, we may be at the bottom of the world but we are not going to fall off."






"Why is it always me?" "Where did everyone go?"






"Ok men. And a 1, and a 2 - By the light, of the silvery moon......."




As we travel throughout the afternoon and evening the temperature hovered in the 40’s and the wind picked up. The shipped also “rocked and rolled” until the wee hours of the morning. Of course none of this kept our loca persona que toma el sol from taking advantage of even the smallest ray of sun.

Saturday should be a bit calmer as we travel through the Chilean Fjords.

Day 26 – Ushuaia – Fin del Mundo

Drink of the Day – Hey Macarena

The ship actually pulled into Ushuaia around 1:00 in the morning. Ushuaia is the world’s southern-most town overlooking the Beagle Channel and the last stop before reaching Antarctica. We found it to be a beautiful town with many brightly colored buildings and shops. We definitely could have used another day to explore the town and sights.











Our day began with a wakeup call for the crack of dawn (5:30) so we could be ready to meet up with a couple friends and be heading to the tenders by 7:00. Because if the size of our ship we could not pull up to a dock which meant to we were required to use a tender to go ashore. Best laid plans don’t always work. We did get up and we ready to go by 7:00. Unfortunately all the tours were allowed off first. Also, the local authorities would only allow us to use their tenders to move from the ship to shore which was slow and very inefficient, especially considering the size of our ship and the number of people who wanted to go ashore. We did not actually make it off the ship until after 9:00.




Thanks to the help of one of our tablemates we were able to get tickets for a tour of the Beagle Channel aboard a catamaran. The Beagle Channel was named after the boat that carried Charles Darwin here in the 1830’s. This was incredible. As we boarded it was sunny and warm. Shortly after leaving the temperature dropped and clouds moved in. Throughout the day we went from sunny and warm to cloudy, cold, and rainy.





Our first stop was Isla de los Lobos. The island was inhabited by huge colonies of sea lions and King cormorants which are sea birds that look like penguins with long necks and wing spans.

Our second stop was the Faro del Fin del Mundo “Les Eclaireures” or the Lighthouse at the End of the World.

The absolute highlight of our tour was a visit to Hammer Island which is populated by a colony of Magellanic Penguins. Among the three of us we probably took a few hundred pictures of penguins.

The last stop was Casa De Te Manacatush, which was farming/fishing outpost. We dropped off half the passengers at this stop and then headed back to Ushuaia.

Once we returned to town we spent an hour or so walking around and exploring. We would have loved to have had more time but we had to catch a tender to be back on the ship by 4:30. Unfortunately there were only a few tenders that held, at most, 120 people, to transport a couple thousand passengers and crew back to the ship. Suffice it to say it was a long process and we were definitely not onboard by 4:30.






After a near perfect day, we returned to the ship exhausted. What could possibly top the day? Glaciers! Around 10:00 pm we began passing a series of glaciers that cannot be adequately described, even through a photograph. One was larger and more beautiful than the next. The following photos were taken between 10:00 and 10:30 pm. We can only imagine how beautiful they would have been in full sunlight.

This is long and hopefully our readers have managed to find this entry interesting enough to reach the end. Tomorrow we will be traveling through the Straights of Magellan.

Day 25 – Sea Day 4 of 4 – Around Cape Horn

Drink of the Day – Speedy Gonzolez

Although this was a sea day, most of the day and evening was spent up on the top decks as we traveled around Cape Horn. We pulled up to the edge of the Cape around 1:30 or so. The ship was “parked” for several hours so everyone could take pictures and take in views. It was quite nippy and windy with winds around 40 knots and frequent gusts up to 59 knots. It was difficult to hold a camera still to take pictures although surprisingly we all got many good shots.

The captain seemed pretty excited about the rounding the Horn. After we parked he got off the ship with a couple people including a cameraman and the cruise director and went up to the lighthouse on the southern edge of the Cape. There is a family of four that lives there for 12 months. Truthfully it seems like a lonely place to live considering you get few visitors and half the year is spent in darkness. The captain was there for probably two hours while the ship rotated frequently to give everyone a chance to see the shore and take pictures.

After the captain returned to the ship we moved a few miles down and stopped at the actual Cape Horn so everyone could take pictures. Part of the ship was in the Atlantic and part was in the Pacific Ocean. We even saw penguins on a large rock. From the ship they looked like little bristles sticking out of the rocks. We weren’t sure what they were so Jane and Linda both took pictures with telephoto lenses and sure enough the dots were penguins. Very neat.

There are penquins all over the rocks in the two pictures below. They lok like little black specks. The second one is a closer view of the same rock, although it may be difficult to actually see the penguins on the blog. They are really there.

We were all expecting rough seas with huge waves and rain. It was very windy like but also very sunny and clear. You couldn’t have asked for a nicer day.

The ship traveled through a narrow channel all evening long literally inching its way along. It was due to arrive in Ushuaia around 1:00 am although it arrived an hour or so earlier. Thursday we plan to be on shore by 7:00 to explore and get up close and personal with the wildlife at the southern tip of civilization.

Day 24 – Sea Day 3 of 4

Drink of the Day – Desperado

The weather continued to get cooler by the hour. The high for the day was only around 50 degrees. Burr. Other than temperature it was a beautiful day with plenty of sunshine. While some of us chose indoor activities Deedee did her part to supervise the pool area until it clouded over around 2:00.

We did go to dinner last night with two of our table mates to one of the specialty restaurants call Portofino’s. It was absolutely delicious and a wonderful experience we hope to repeat before our trip is over.

Tomorrow we will be traveling around Cape Horn and moving from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.

Day 23 – Sea Day 2 of 4

Drink of the Day – Mariner Rita

It seems like we have sailed into cooler waters. The weather was beautiful but a bit nippy on the upper decks. We have noticed that the water looks and smells different. It is a darker blue-green with a very slight smell of fresh fish. The seas have also been very calm which has surprised a lot of people onboard.

The highlight of the day was when Jane came in first place in the digital scavenger hunt. Participants had 20 minutes to run around the ship and take pictures of 15 items on a list. Jane was the only one to find all 15.

A second highlight was getting buzzed by a military plane two times. Linda and Jane were on the balcony of the cabin when a plane came straight at the ship and flew right over it. It circled and did it again and then left. Our cabin attendant was in the hall and said, “It happens. No big deal.”

For the most part the rest of the day was spent doing a whole lot of not much. We checked out the sweatshirts and $10 watches in the promenade, looked at picture of people we don’t know in the photo gallery, sat on the deck, ate, ate again, got ready for dinner, ate again, and had a few cocktails between activities. It was exhausting.

Day 22 – Sea Day 1 of 4

Drink of the Day – Ya Mann Caribbean

Contrary to the impression the drink of the day might give, we are no longer in the tropics, let alone the Caribbean. The days are getting longer and the weather is starting to change. Throughout the day the temperatures dropped about 10 or 15 degrees. Clouds have also started to creep in.

We woke to find that we were still in the river, Rio de La Plata. The water of the river is chocolate brown and can be salty or not, depending on how the wind and water flows. The people from Uruguay and Argentina refer to the unsalted water as sweet water.

As the ship traveled out of the river we cruised past the city of Montevideo. It was strange to be able to actually recognize a distant city so far from home. We also passed the Queen Elizabeth 2 early in the morning. What a shock to look up from your book to see this huge, beautiful ship right off your balcony.

We have found that after being on a ship for so many days some people tend to fall into less active habits. We all spent several hours upstairs around the walking/jogging track. You will be happy to know that many cruisers are taking advantage of the track and we can vouch for them as we watched from our deck chairs.

The evening was filled with quite a few activities. It was formal night which meant that we had to get dressed up in our fancy cloths for dinner. Dressing up has lost it’s novelty and it is getting difficult to accessorize the same clothes to look different each time.

Before dinner we attended an ice show in Studio B. Studio B is an ice rink that can double as a dance hall or auditorium. The pictures can not do really show how incredible it was to see professional figure skaters glide and dance on ice that is on a moving ship.

After dinner we all went to see the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in the Savoy Theater. The orchestra played many pieces from the 30’s and 40’s. They were outstanding musicians and their music was wonderful. Unfortunately they also lulled a couple of us to sleep up in the balcony. Tommy Dorsey late at night after a full day of supervising the jogging track, attending an ice show, eating at a dress up dinner, and having a cocktail or two is probably why we were not as alert as some in the audience.

Well it was off to bed to get ready for another sea day.

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Day 21 – Buenos Aires

Drink of the Day – Hot Summer

This was our second day in Buenos Aires. We left the ship around 9:30 or so and decided to take a cab back to the area called La Boca. We ended up spending most of the day there exploring, shopping, and enjoying the music and street dancing. The streets were lined by local artists and crafters selling everything from paintings, photos, and art glass to jewelry and leather goods. The buildings were all made from leftover scraps and pieces of old ships, all painted and decorated in bright colors.

After exploring just about every inch of La Boca we stopped at one of the many restaurants lining the streets and enjoyed beer and a plate of gnocchi. A group of dancers performed the tango and samba on a stage set up right next to our table.

It was really difficult to pack up and head back to the ship with so much more to see and do in Buenos Aires. Once we go back to the pier we looked around at the market, typical of most ports, and then boarded to ship.

In the evening we had an early show featuring two dancers in The Latino America Gaucho Show. The show was very nice and a little more interesting since we had already spent time in Argentina and knew a little about gauchos. After dinner it was off to bed to get ready for four days at sea. Our next destination is Cape Horn.

Day 20 – Buenos Aires, Argentina

Drink of the Day – Orient Bay

News at 11…..Yes we were greeted at the port with news teams and helicopters doing interviews and taking pictures of Mariner as it arrived in port. They have never had such a large vessel in this port. Not at all surprising when you consider that it took us over an hour to navigate the narrow and shallow passages to our parking space. Kudos to Captain Johnny for getting us into port safely, albeit late. Seems like the port was extremely crowed and string winds during the night put us behind schedule. It was fascinating to watch the entire process as we copmpleted a three point turn and then ‘backed’ in. And yes…the three lovelies were interviewed as we disembarked. Questions were…”What did we like best about traveling on a ship this size? How have we found our travels in South America? What were we expecting of Buenos Aires? “

Spent our first day in Buenos Aires in a private car tour of the ‘Highlights of Buenos Aires” We found the city to be delightful …not as small and friendly as Montevideo and certainly not as big and ‘seedy’ as Rio. Our guides, 2 young BA natives, demonstrated pride in their city and shared the best parts with us. We were impressed with what we saw and experienced. Lots of big, architecturally interesting buildings, parks and green spaces, wide boulevards and monuments. The following photo is the Pink House where the president of Argentina lives. This is similar to our White House.

The photos below were taken at a park featuring a beautiful rose garden

What we found the most interesting was the Recolleta District or cemetery…yes you read that correct…cemetery. The large area was filled with rows and rows of family ‘mausoleums’ that have been in place since the 1800’s. The crypts were mostly designated by family and ‘added to’ as the need arose. The cemetery included the ‘grave’ of Eva Peron, a simnple crypt where she in interned with her family, ‘The Duarte’s’.

We saw many different neighborhoods and finished with the La Boca district where most of the colorful homes were constructed of ‘recycled’ materials from ships and other structures. We hope to visit this area again tomorrow on our own to sample the local foods, experience the native dances and shop with the local artisans.

We returned to the ship mid afternoon for lunch and to catch our breath. Back out after lunch for a brief trip to the pier and some minor shopping. Cocktails and showers in our room and off we go again.