April 4 - Wrap Up

This is going to a rather lengthy entry. I didn't realize how much I had left so much out of the daily entries until I started looking at my random notes that I had saved. So here are these random thoughts in no particular order.

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)

Staying Young

• 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.

 Managing A Cruise Liner

• 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.

Entertainment On Board

• 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.

Internet

• 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.

Canadian Banks

• 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.