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Tuesday, April 10, 2018
Monday, April 9, 2018
April 4 - Wrap Up
I've been told that it is not clear if we enjoyed this vacation. This has been a phenomenal trip of a lifetime. There was spectacular natural scenery, there was history that has been ingrained in our memories from our primary school history lessons, there were ruins of ancient cultures as sophisticated as any European culture and there glimpses of emerging modern countries.
Highlights of the Vacation - Brian
- Best Meal – Argentinean BBQ Steak at La Brigada in Buenos Aires
- Best Sight – Glacier Alley in southern Argentina and Chile
- Best Entertainer – Jayne Curry
- Favorite Location – Santiago
- Favorite Memory- Penguins in Punta Tomba
Highlights of the Vacation – Marg
- Best Meal – Lobster during the Captain’s Dinner
- Best Sight – Whales in Glacier Alley
- Best Entertainer – Jordon Bennet
- Favorite Location - Cape Horn
- Favorite Memory – Swimming with the dolphins in Georgetown
By The Numbers
- Distance traveled by air – 11,750 Km
- Distance traveled by water – 14,574 Km
- Total distance – 26,324 Km
- Number of countries visited - 8
- Number of sea days - 15
- Number of days in port - 14
- Weight gain by Brian - 5 Kg (sounds better than 12 lbs)
- Cost - Not sure but it was worth it
- Number of pictures taken - 1308 (no I won't post them all)
- If you’re feeling old, take a cruise. The majority of the people onboard just seem old and infirm. In comparison you'll feel like a kid again. I believe sloths could walk faster than some of these folks.
Marg’s Medical Problems
- This didn’t make it to the daily blog because Marg didn’t want to alarm her family and friends.
- It started before the trip when Marg had a tumble outside of her Dad’s apartment. This resulted in a sprained left wrist that required a brace for four weeks. Then on the first full day in Buenos Aires, she had another mishap. The sidewalks in Buenos Aires are in terrible condition with many holes in the bricks, tiles and cobblestones. Unfortunately she tripped on one of these hazards and sprained her right wrist and banged up her ribs. Luckily she was still able to hold her wine glass.
- Then on the last week of trip, she picked up some type of intestinal bug or possible food poisoning. After a day of discomfort, she went to the ship’s doctor office where she was placed under quarantine for a day. They gave her some medication which only seemed to make the symptoms worse. She did manage to recovered in time to attend the Captain’s dinner, where she had lobster.
- Fortunately Marg did not allow any of these problems to interfere with her enjoyment of her vacation.
- I’m constantly amazed at how efficiently a cruise liner is run. Imagine that you must manage a five star hotel for everyone in Port Stanley or about two thousand people. In this facility you must provide three superb meals a day for each person. Of course you will need to have multiple bars with live entertainment. You will need to be able to server these people in restaurants, a cafeteria or in their residences. You must also have snack bars open at all hours of the day and night.
- You must be able to supply this service in multiple languages and be respectful of many different cultures.
- Twice each day you will need to clean their rooms and toilets. Each hallway and entertainment area must be spotless.
- You will need to provided vacation excursions, shopping malls, fitness gyms and run a casino to keep everyone happy. You will also need to produce a stage show twice each evening.
- Add to this you will need to transport this village, in a vessel that can handle all types of weather, to different locations all around the world on a tight schedule.
- Luckily we had great staff looking after us. The dining room staff was excellent, the chefs were amazing and stateroom attendants couldn’t have been better. The entertainment, especially the regular performers were fantastic. This was managed by a very funny Argentinean named Alejandro Tortorelli. The master captain of the ship was Nikolaos Frantzis. Although not as personable as other Celebrity captains, he managed his ship with quite efficiency and ensured quality service.
- We've written about the main entertainment in the theatre but the ship has several talented musicians that perform throughout the boat. There is a group called Blue Vinyl that performs top forty and golden oldies music on the pool deck and the Rendez Vous lounge. There is a Latin jazz band named Cool Blue Quartet that has a devoted following. Stone Free is a duo that sings songs from the fifties and sixties, even though they are both in their early twenties. There is also a small combo named the Élan String Duo, that consisted of a violin and a cello, which played classical music. We listened to them most nights as we went to the dining room
Casino blackjack odds
- The casino on the boat is really slanted in favour of the house. For example on the Blackjack tables, instead of paying 2 to 1 for a blackjack they only pay 6 to 5. So that works out to twelve dollars on a ten dollar bet instead of twenty dollars you would get in Vegas.
Beverage package
- We bought the Classic Beverage package which allowed us to get soft drinks, water, juices, wine and cocktails at an all inclusive price. I calculated that we would need to drink about five drinks a day to break even. I tried my hardest and I don’t believe that I made that mark and we know for sure that Marg didn’t meet her quota. Still it was nice not having to sign for each drink.
- I got into the habit of having a glass of Port each evening to go along with dessert. I blame this on our English friend Keith. I'm sure that is why I gained over five kilograms on this trip.
- The boat claimed to have an exclusive wine list. We just found out that two of our favorite wines are available in the LCBO and are very reasonable priced. So much for being a wine snob.
- The onboard Internet service was not terrible. Although very costly it was stable most of time and was reasonably responsive. There were times when it was frustratingly slow but I'm beginning to think that my laptop network card might be failing or it has a faulty driver installed.
Cold Hot Tub
- The hot tubs on the pool deck are very strange. When the jets are on, the hot tub injects cold water into the tub and this mixes with the hot water already in the tub. The water is then heated up when the water goes through the filtration process. So as you can imagine the more the hot tub is used the cooler the water becomes. It is not the most pleasant of sensations to have cold water sprayed up your bum when you are trying to relax in a hot tub.
Religious Services
- Our trip coincided with Easter and Passover celebrations. There were two Jewish couples at our dining room table during the second portion of the cruise. It seems that Passover service was not well publicized and many passengers were left scrambling to find out where the Rabbi was holding his service. Then the Seder was poorly planned with not enough food for the worshipers. Needless to say our dining room companions were very disappointed and angry.
- There was an Ecumenical Mass for Easter for Christians.
- On Easter Sunday the boat arranged for the young children to participate in an Easter egg hunt. They put on bunny ears and paraded through the ship wishing everyone a happy Easter. Marg saw it and thought it was cute but there were several old grumps that were muttering under their breath about the noise. It’s too bad they have forgotten how to have fun!
Disturbing Trend in Cruising
- Some of the newer cruise liners are doing away with a grand dining hall in favor of trendy specialty restaurants. I don't like this because the dining room has been a great place to meet new people. Also with the same staff serving your table every day they get to know your likes and dislikes. This won't happen when you are going to a different restaurant each night.
Weather
- The weather was fantastic. It was comfortably warm to scorching hot and it only rained one day during the whole vacation. When we got back to Port Stanley it was raining which then turned to snow. Ugh!
Grumpy People
- Despite all the work and effort into making us comfortable, we were amazed at how many totally miserable some people are. To these people any derivation in the itinerary or any small imperfection was a major calamity and reason to complain. Maybe they should take another trip into one of the ports we docked in and then go and see what real poverty looks like. I guess some people just don’t have the happy gene and are condemned to a life of misery.
- We had to make a detour because of a medical emergency. This resulted in our boat passing Cape Horn and going down Glacier Alley in the day, which was spectacular. Instead all these grumps could do was complain that we missed Punta Arenas, even though we were financially compensated.
- Because there was a storm in the Pacific, the Captain decided not to try and navigate through the Chilean Fjords. It also turns out that due to the prior medical diversion that we would have gone through the fjords in the evening with limited viewing opportunities. This we believe was a reasonable and safe decision but these people acted as if it was a deliberate attempt to sabotage their vacation.
- These people should have taken a clue from our dining room table mates, Clare and Chris. They asked for an explanation for the change in the itinerary and even though they found it to be unsatisfactory, they seemed to have let it go and did not allow it to ruin their vacation.
- One couple complained that bus on their excursion had a cracked window and the trip was too long and the roads too rough. You would think the world was coming to an end. There was not one word on how great it was to walk among live penguins.
Currencies in South America
- With the possible exception of Argentina and Uruguay, most vendors prefer that you pay with American dollars instead of the local currency. The exchange rate is usually a fair value. They will not accept American dollars if they are torn. Apparently banks won't exchange damaged bills.
Physical Characteristics of South Americans
- Of course this is a generalization but you can see the multigenerational effects of ethnic cleansing. The Spanish rulers of Argentina slaughtered the native tribes in the 1800's and it seems to me that east coast South Americans resemble Europeans from the Mediterranean regions. But on the west coast the Spanish were more tolerant of the Inca tribe and as a result the South Americans from the west coast more closely resemble the indigenous people of the that region.
Electrical wiring in Chile and Peru
- A Canadian electrician would have a heart attack when he sees how apartments are wired for electrical services. Each apartment splices into the main hydro line, which is then run into each apartment in a total chaotic fashion. No conduit is used and it is totally exposed to nature's elements. I can't imagine what their fire insurance must cost.
Incas and their trapezoidal frames
- When we went to the Inca ruins in Lima Peru our guide told us to notice the trapezoidal frames in the windows and doors. Incas had noticed that in an earthquake, humans automatically moved their feet further apart than their shoulders to provide stability. Using this knowledge they designed their buildings along this model. Because of this their temples and homes survived many strong earthquakes. When the Spanish invaded they did not learn this lesson and they were forced to build and rebuild their churches and homes many times because of these earthquakes.
Animated Pedestrian Crossings Signals
- In a couple of the large cities in South America we noticed that the pedestrian crossing signal was animated. When the light turns green, the little animated person is shown walking at a slow pace. As the time to cross the street winds down this person starts to pick up the pace until for the last ten seconds it is running at full speed.
Spanish Town Squares
- In most of the cities we visited the main town square was designed after the Spanish civic model. In the square was the government palace, the city hall and the main cathedral. In the middle you would find a green space for people to gather and relax.
Cameras
- We've been thinking about buying a new camera. After seeing the pictures taken by our friend Gil with his Samsung S7 Smartphone, we are now thinking of buying a Smartphone instead. There was no scene where Gil's camera didn't correctly adjust its exposure for the photo.
- Scotiabank seems to be in every major city in South America. They are probably in the best position to benefit from any economic recovery in South America of any North American bank.
Special Thanks
- A special thanks goes out to Dorothy and Roy for looking after our house. Also a big thank you to Dorothy and Linda for visiting Marg's dad on a daily basis and brightening his day.
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
April 3 - At Home
I thought this would be the final blog for this trip, but
our trip home deserves an entry on to its own.
After we got cleared, we went to get a cab to take us to
SIXT where we had a car rented for the day. It was a five minute drive. We were directed to a van by the cab
master. What a scam that was. It cost us twenty five dollars, but we had no
choice because there is a closed shop in the terminal. We couldn't get the car rental company to
come and pick us up because our phone doesn't work in the States and there were
no public telephones.
At SIXT the agent quoted me a price for additional insurance
of fifteen dollars for the day. I repeat that number and he nodded in agreement. When I got to the hotel and looked at the
bill the insurance was for fifty dollars.
Of course I signed the contract so I had no recourse.
I asked the agent for directions to I95 to take us to the Miami
airport. He told me to take a right and
then another right. That took us to a dead-end. It took about ten more minutes to find the on
ramp. Thanks SIXT, this last you'll ever
see of me.
The map we received from SIXT for Miami was totally
inaccurate. We ended up taking a long circuitous route to get to our
hotel. Because our data plan also isn't
available in the US, we couldn't use Google Maps. Of course all the McDonald's and
other fast food restaurants which would have WiFi were on the opposite side of
the divided road, so we couldn't use them.
Today we went airport to come home. First we had to return the car to car rental
depot attached to the airport. Google
maps had us heading in the right direction but it decided that was too
easy. So it had us turn left when we
should have turned right. This took us
to the entrance of a restricted area, forcing us to turn around, go back on the
road in the opposite direction for about three miles before we could get turned
around in the right direction.
When got to the car rental depot, we found that there wasn't
a shuttle to the airport and we would have to use the airport shuttle train to
get to the terminal. There were no
luggage carts to be seen, so we had push, pull and tote all our luggage to the
Westjet check in counter.
It took the Westjet counter about an hour to check in the
four couples in front of us. Then we
found our plane was delayed for two hours.
Thank you for nothing Westjet.
We landed in Toronto about five o'clock. I have to admit that getting through Canadian
customs at Pearson was a breeze. We off
the plane and in our car in less than an hour.
And to make life even better traffic in Toronto was light and moving
quickly. Amazing considering it was rush hour.
So we made it home safe and sound three hours later.
In the near future I will write the final entry which will
include links to the best of our photos, random thoughts that didn't make the
blog until now and a general wrap up.
Sunday, April 1, 2018
April 1 - The Last Night At Sea
This will be the penultimate entry in this blog. We are at sea as we approach our final destination of Fort Lauderdale Florida. As this is the last day on the cruise there is a sense of melancholy over hanging the ship. Our vacation is coming to an end.
Jayne Curry is again the main entertainment in the theatre tonight. She put on a wonderful performance filled with energy, strong vocals and a fantastic sense of humour. Here is a very small sample of her performance.
Part of the last evening is saying good bye to your dinning room friends. We had a tremendous time with our table mates. Mel and Ruth from Florida and Chris and Clare from London England supplied us with many evenings of good conversation and in many case enlightenment about the Hebrew religion. We shall miss them as we miss our friends from the first half of the cruise
Jayne Curry is again the main entertainment in the theatre tonight. She put on a wonderful performance filled with energy, strong vocals and a fantastic sense of humour. Here is a very small sample of her performance.
Part of the last evening is saying good bye to your dinning room friends. We had a tremendous time with our table mates. Mel and Ruth from Florida and Chris and Clare from London England supplied us with many evenings of good conversation and in many case enlightenment about the Hebrew religion. We shall miss them as we miss our friends from the first half of the cruise
March 31- Georgetown Grand Cayman
This
morning we docked in the port of Georgetown, Grand Cayman Island which is a British
Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It
is located about 150 kilometers south of Cuba.
Grand Cayman is the largest of the Cayman Islands with a size of just
over two hundred square kilometers and Georgetown is the island’s capital with a population of about twenty thousand
people. During the peak tourist season
the population doubles with a number of cruise ships docking in the port.
We are in
port with two other ships, the Zaandam which has been following us since the
Panama Canal and a Germany cruise liner called Adia. So as could be expected the terminal is very
busy.
We started the day by visiting the Dolphin
Experience. Here we got to swim with the
bottlenose dolphins in a large enclosed pen.
First we were shown how to use hand signals to make “Darwin” perform
some close up tricks, such as kissing our cheeks or dancing on its tail. Next we swam across the pen on a boogie board,
where the dolphin then pushed us back to the platform at a very high rate of
speed. After this we again swam across
the pen, where the dolphin circled us, turned on its belly where we grabbed its
fins so it could pull us back to the platform.
This was
lots of fun and will stay in our memory for a long time. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photographs
and we will have to rely on the pictures of our swim that we bought from the
Dolphin Experience store.
Next we
went to Seven Mile Beach. This long stretch of white sand is a very popular
beach that has many beach bars and restaurants.
This was a nice place to cool off because the temperature is in the high
20s today with a searing sun.
Georgetown
has a very low skyline. There are no
large condominium towers along the shore to distract from the natural beauty of
the island. Georgetown reminds me of Myrtle
Beach South Carolina in a lot of ways.
Many of the building have coral coloured stucco walls and there are many
small strip malls that sell beach side apparel.
Tonight the
onboard entertainment was a British singer and comedian named Jayne Curry. This was easily the best show of the cruise.
She has a wonderful voice but more importantly she is hilarious with that dry
sense of humour that is found in British comedy. It was such a popular show that she will be doing
a second show tomorrow.
After diner
we had an informative conversation with our head waiter, Vasyl, who is from the
Ukraine. He explained the current
political situation over there and how he converts his pay in American dollars
into Ukrainian hryvnia.
Friday, March 30, 2018
March 29 – Panama Canal
Today we went
through the Panama Canal. It is an
artificial 77 km waterway that connects the Pacific Ocean with the Atlantic
Ocean. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a major conduit for North
American trade. Canal locks are at each end to lift ships up to 26 m above sea
level, and then lower the ships at the other end. The original locks are 34 m wide.
A third, wider lane of locks was constructed between September 2007 and May
2016. The expanded canal began commercial operation on June 26, 2016. The new
locks allow transit of larger ships capable of handling more cargo.
This is a
very busy maritime highway. Traffic has risen from about 1,000 ships in 1914,
when the canal opened, to 14,702 vessels in 2012, for a total of 333.7 million tons.
By 2012, more than 815,000 vessels had passed through the canal during its
history.
We entered
the canal system around six in the morning and entered the Caribbean Sea late
in the afternoon. Due to the way the canal is located we actually ended up in
the Caribbean west of the enter point on the west coast of Panama. It was a
spectacular trip, one that we will remember for a long time.
We started
our trip at the entrance to Balboa Harbour. On the horizon you can see the impressive
skyline of Panama City. Because it was
early in the morning and the mist had not yet burned off the skyline was really
seen in silhouette. You can tell that Panama
is a very rich country. It probably has something to do with its tax free
status.
After about
two kilometers we entered the Miraflores locks which allowed us to enter the artificial
Miraflores Lake. The parallel locks can handle two ships independently. This
set of locks raised the Infinity to a height of sixteen meters above sea level. When a ship enters the locks it secured by
ropes that are attached to eight locomotives that stabilize and tow the boat. The ropes are delivered to the ship by a crew
of men in row boats.
The crowds on the boat's viewing decks were huge. In most places they were packed three or four people deep. We decided to spend most of our time on our balcony.
On the
shore there was a three story building with viewing areas where people went to
view the boats. It was full of
vacationers who waved and shouted “hola” to us.
People all along the shore were very friendly waving and greeting us,
this included about ten inmates in a small prison about twenty kilometers north
of Panama City.
Next we
entered the Pedro Miguel Lock were the boat was raised another ten meters. From
there we passed underneath the Centennial Bridge which marks the continental divide.
The shoreline is vary lush and green that you would associated with a tropical rainforest. Other than the occasional depot there are no homes or cottages along the canal.
It seems we are racing a couple of ships through the locks, One is Holland America's Zaamdam and the otther is a LPG cargo boat. It has in very big letters on the captains deck "NO SMOKING".
Next we
arrived at Gatum Lake. This is an
artificial lake formed by the building of the Gatun Dam. It allows vessels to
advance fifteen kilometers across the isthmus. Gatum Lake is the summit of the canal system. There were several large vessels queued up to
enter the next set of locks.
Finally we
went through the Gatum locks. This is a
three stage lock where the boats are lowered to the sea level. You then pass the city of Colon Panama and a huge
container harbor known as Limon Harbour. From here you pass a breakwater and enter
the Caribbean Sea. This was the farthest
west that Columbus traveled in 1502.
Once we
passed the breakwater at Colon, the water got very rough. It wasn’t as bad as the time we entered the
Pacific from the Beagle Channel but it still was bumpy. There must have been some sea sickness as the
dining room had many empty chairs.
The evening’s
entertainment was an Irish flutist named Gary Arbuthnot. It was a good show with lots of Celtic music.
There was
no blog for yesterday because basically nothing of note happened.
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