Valparaiso Turn Over Day

Friday, 10 October – Valparaiso, Chile

Yesterday was a sea day after leaving a very isolated Antofagasta late in the afternoon before a very large send off group of locals. They waved as they hollered what the Tour Desk informed us was the traditional Chilean farewell of staring at the ship with open mouths. Funny customs in this part of the world. I spent the cold rainy day yesterday mostly on the bed in my suite in a stupor watching the safety video over and over while waiting for the antibiotic to finally really start working. I woke up this morning as we were coming into port with three realizations as follows: 1) I had only dreamed that I had set my alarm for 45 minutes earlier, 2) I was not really dying of terminal head cold symptoms any more and was feeling quite well despite some sniffles, and 3) I was all excited about starting a new cruise today. I have no life, but as no lives go this isn’t bad, paraphrasing Woody Allen who was addressing another oddly similar topic.

Transit Tours are for those of us who are not leaving or arriving to the ship. As with the mysteriously price refunded tour in Costa Rica, such excursions get those of us not starting or ending our cruises to see something of the areas that presumably the others are exploring in some length as part of their vacations. The ship personnel are happy to have fewer passengers on-board tripping over luggage being delivered and seeing what the new provisions are on these “turn over” days. Everyone is ahead.

The 4 hour excursion included some exploration of this port city of 300,000 that at least to me looks a bit like Lisbon and of Vina del Mar, a resort and very expensive bedroom community for Santiago, the Chilean capital about 70 miles inland. Got back to a nice lunch in the dining room of beef bouillon, spaghetti with meat ragout, and a Thai seafood stir fry. Someone has to do it. More than 100 new guests will arrive in an hour or so to replace the similar number that disembarked this morning. I met some nice folks who will be missed, but we will still have only about 240 guests out of a possible total of 382. The dining room will be pretty empty again for my last cruise segment affording me both easy opportunities to eat quickly and/or alone when so desired. We don’t sail until 11 pm tonight as the five containers of provisions apparently need to be loaded one box at a time up a small conveyor onto the ship. Got to do something with that 295 member crew.

Oh, I’ve received a few requests for a picture of the local entertainment we had onboard for the barbeque last week. It should be above. Another day at sea tomorrow and then a visit to Robinson Crusoe Island. The daily schedule says that we are to set our clocks one hour AHEAD tonight before we head due west. I think that’s wrong. Will advise if half the ship is two hours off tomorrow.