OneSixtyToOne

So far Castro and Puerto Chacabuco are tender ports.

You only get pants and boots and those are for the Zodiac and SOB. We are not kayaking but they did say they get a special life jacket. Weather this morning was in the 40s but warmed up to the 60s. The key is wearing layers and at the port talk they say more and more layers as you go south. Today we had on a shirt, sweater, and jacket. Took the jacket off after a while. Wind and rain are really the issue. Make sure that you have a decent weather proof coat or jacket. It gets cold on deck, when riding the zodiac, and SOB because of the windchill. They also warn that you might get wet. IMO bring what you would wear in a rainstorm in the 40s. We are in the port talk right now. Tomorrow’s high is 49.

Day 6 - A Whale of A Time Another sea day so we took the opportunity to sleep in and finally recover from jet lag. We ate breakfast at Mamsen’s and had the wonderful waffles topped with fresh raspberries. After a late breakfast it was time for the fitting of boots and pants. Boot fitting occurs on Deck A and the times are divided by room numbers. It was a quick, efficient process lasting about 10-15 minutes. You take your boots with you to place in the drying closet. Pants are delivered to your stateroom later in the day. After lunch the expedition crew was on deck for wildlife viewing tips. Everyone is encouraged to take their supplied binoculars and scan for whales and other sea mammals. For those who are unfamiliar with how to use binoculars, there was also an introductory class in Expedition Central. As luck would have it, we immediately saw the blow of a pod of whales. An announcement was made informing everyone and the captain maneuvered the ship for a closer look. There was a pod of three humpback whales about 20-40 yards off the bow. The day before we had been informed of an app called Happy Whale which allows people to download pictures to help track whales. Their tails are like fingerprints and by using AI, they are able to identify individual whales and will send you updates when your whale is seen in other places on the planet. For a donation, you can even name your whale. Very cool experience. (See previous post for video) At 5:30 we had our first port talk for an actual port. Tomorrow we will tender to Castro where we have an optional excursion booked to Chiloé National Park. This was followed by a short lesson about clouds. For dinner DW had surf and turf. She said the lobster was excellent as was the filet mignon. After dinner if was time for trivia. This time we teamed with three other passengers and we won again! Let the champagne flow. After trivia we attend a timely lecture about whales. It was here that we learned that while the crew and passengers were doing boot fittings, a crew member took a picture of whale. To the amazement of the marine biologist and unbeknownst to the photographer, it turned out to be a blue whale, the largest species on earth. He couldn’t believe that he was passing out boots during this unique sighting. Pictures below. Tomorrow morning we arrive in Castro.

No.

They provide boots and waterproof pants for the expedition equipment. If going to Antartica, you also get a parka. The boots and pants are pretty bulky, only good for riding the toys.

We just saw a pod of humpback whales. Updates in my next post. IMG_4740.mov

The grill’s meat case is difficult to photograph because of the glare from the window, but I gave it my best shot. Here is the lunch menu. Burgers are great as are the onion rings.

Day 5 - Orientation Like the first day of school, today is a day for orientation. After breakfast we had a tour of the ship given by Verena, the travel consultant. She told us that there were 320 passengers on board, including 40 on the Longitudinal World Cruise. There are also 250 crew. She mentioned a friend on competing exploration ship had 500 pax with only 150 crew and wondered how they cope. We toured all the common areas and ended in the foyer of the Aula where a 2nd tour began: the hanger and our first look at all the toys! The hanger is phenomenal. Members of the expedition team enthusiastically answered questions and proudly spoke of the capabilities of their equipment. We got up close to the two yellow submarines, John and Paul. Paul is the good looking Sub 02. (George and Ringo are on the Polaris.) We were able to walk aboard the Special Operations Boat and learned that unlike the videos we’ve seen online, you do not board inside the hanger, instead the boat is brought alongside to board. The Zodiac operator also explained the proper way to board his craft, employing a “sailor’s grip” to come aboard. The 3:00 PM lecture was a presentation about the data collection aboard the ship. Viking was the first cruise ship to publish a scientific paper. They observed a rare jellyfish several times in Antarctic waters. The weather balloons are biodegradable latex. All balloons worldwide are launched at 00:00 and 12:00 UTC. This means we will be launching ours at 9:00 AM on an upcoming day. The ship also captures and measures phytoplankton. They also send samples to a lab that does eDNA testing. This is a technique that allows the identification of all the species in an area by using DNA sequencing. The support ships do underwater mapping of the ocean floor. Baited Remote Underwater Video System uses herring as bait to attract and film sea-life. Passive acoustic monitoring allows capture of sounds such as the vocalization of various whale species. IMG_4711.mov After the presentation we had dinner in the WC. DW had surf and turf from the grill and I had the prime rib. It was delicious. Here are some pictures of the seafood and sushi bar. Later, after dinner we went to the 7:30 nightly trivia contest. I’m pleased to report that DW and I won as a two member team, repeating the feat from our last voyage. We had 27 out of 28 correct, our only incorrect answer was identifying a picture of the Ecuador flag. Spoiler alert: memorizing the flags of South and Central America might come in handy on this trip. During lunch we met the pastry chef and I commented that I had failed to try the raspberry covered chocolate mousse from the previous night. He then asked for our room number. After trivia we retired to our stateroom to find two desserts that he apparently whip up for us. Now that’s the type of excellent Viking service we all have come to love. The entire crew has been wonderful.

Day 4 - Bird Mode We left our hotel at 9:10 AM for the approximately 2 hour drive through mostly farmland and vineyards to Valparaiso. Upon arrival at the cruise terminal we boarded a shuttle to the ship which was docked about a half mile away. Check-in occurred on board the Octantis and was very efficient. After checking we had a safety briefing in the Living Room. We didn’t receive any tickets for our excursions and after inquiring we were told the expedition ships have gone paperless. The Viking Voyager app is now used so be sure you have it loaded before you arrive. The Viking daily is also paperless. You’ll receive a paper copy upon arrival but after that you must request a paper copy. If you notify your room stewards, they will provide one nightly. We proceeded to the World Cafe for lunch. I had a nice slice prime rib and a slice of raspberry cake for lunch. They must have provisioned a large supply of fresh raspberries because raspberries seem to be featured on a lot of items, including a chocolate raspberry mousse for dinner. After our lunch at about 1:00 PM an announcement was made that all cabins were ready. After unpacking we decided to explore the ship. This ship is beyond description. I love everything about it. Apart from the central elevators and staircases there are multiple elevators and stairwells that go to various levels of the ship. For example to find The Hide or the upper deck where the ES and OS are located, you need to find the specific one that leads there. This really lends to the exploration theme of the ship. Just walking around this asymmetrical layout seems like you are on an expedition. When walking around the lower decks an expedition crew member gave up a tip on how to navigate. When facing an elevator you are always facing the bow. Before dinner there was a short orientation lecture where we learned that the captain has a button to turn on “bird mode.” To prevent birds from crashing into the ship in the dark, most external lights are turned off. In addition the room stewards lower the stateroom blackout shades during turndown. You are advised to turn off the room lights if you decide you want to open the shade. This is a fantastic ship in every way, shape, and form. Enjoy the pictures.

For US customers Viking Ocean has always added the gratuity to your bill. I haven’t been on a river cruise for a few years but you use to add the amount you wanted to give. It sounds like they have standardized their tipping policy across all their products. The tip amount is shown in MVJ under “before you leave” so you can prepay, if desired.

Day 3 - The Sky’s the Limit Most tourist attractions are closed on Mondays so we headed to the Sky Costanera , the tallest building in South America. When we were leaving the hotel, Team USA was arriving for the Pan Am games. There is a private taxi service in the hotel lobby that drove us to the Sky for $11. Unfortunately, on the way back we hadn’t heard the warnings about the black cabs that are ubiquitous in the city. We hailed a cab and our return trip cost almost $60! Avoid them at all costs. They views are beautiful but the basin has a layer of smog which detracted from that. After going to the observation deck, we exited through an enormous shopping mall. It even contained a car dealership. Malls in Chile are like a throwback to malls in the USA pre-Amazon. Brick and mortar shops are alive and well in South America. Wonder how long that will last? Later that afternoon we took the city tour of Santiago. It was pretty underwhelming. We were loaded into a cramped mini bus and made 3 stops: the main plaza (where we saw the procession yesterday), the presidential palace, and a small man made wetlands park that featured black & white swans. We did learn that the plaza was the site of the original Incan city in the region. We also learned that it’s the major place where sex workers look for clients. The tour quickly devolved into a game of “spot the prostitute.” We also learn that cafes aren’t always what they seem. Having a “long legged coffee” refers to the waitresses serving coffee in the local red light district coffee bars. Foreign idioms are so enlightening. Tomorrow we finally board the Octantis.

Day 2 - “I Need A Miracle Every Day” - Bob Weir After leaving the Pre-Colombian museum we walk a short block to the Plaza de Armas de Santiago, one of the main historical plazas in the city. When we arrived there was a massive religious procession exiting the Cathedral with purple and white confetti filling the air. The music sounded like the Little Italy scene in Godfather II. IMG_4530.mov We talked to an American tourist from Iowa and she told us that there had been a 3 hour mass in the Cathedral and the procession was now emerging to parade around the city. It turned out it was the worldwide Peruvian festival of the Christ of Miracles, a celebration rooted in a venerated painting of Christ surviving a major earthquake. Every year in October, hundreds of thousands of Peruvian pilgrims from all walks of life participate in religious processions around the world. After the procession passed, a group of indigenous dancers performed. IMG_4544.mov The Pan Am games had a display. They plaza is adorned with various statues. Tomorrow we visit tallest building in South America and go on a city tour.

Day 2 - Goodbye Columbus, hello the good old days As I stated previously, a lot of tourist attractions are closed on Mondays so we took the opportunity of our early arrival and check-in to spend Sunday afternoon sightseeing. This is a hotel/transportation only two day extension but Viking is offering two optional excursions that you can book at their desk in the lobby. One is a city “highlights” (read bus) tour and the other is a winery tour. Both have a significant cash discount if you pay in US dollars. We will be going on the city tour tomorrow ($48 per person US cash vs $60 credit card). Since most attractions are closed and it’s in the late afternoon, why not take a ride around the city? These short extensions are a good way to get an overview of a place in case we one day decide to return. Today we decided to go to the Pre-Columbian Art Museum. The hotel is located in a modern business district with the only real nearby walkable sites being immense upscale shopping malls. Therefore, we took a $20 cab ride to the museum, which is located downtown, across from the judicial palace and a block or two from the National Assembly and the Cathedral. The driver offered to pick us up at an arranged time so we gave ourselves 2 hours to view the museum and 2 to walk around to catch the local flavor. On the way, there were bicyclists everywhere. It was a sunny, spring day and the center lanes of the main boulevards were cordoned off for the throngs of cyclists. It reminded me of Amsterdam and Copenhagen. On this sunny and pleasant 75 degree day, flowers everywhere are in spring bloom. The hills overlooking the city are covered in the yellow hue of wild mustard plant. This reminded me of spring in California, when the hills are a blanket of yellow from the mustard plant that was originally sown by the Spanish missionaries throwing seeds as they traveled from mission to mission, marking their trail up the coast. I haven’t researched Santiago’s mustard, but I strongly suspect a similar story. The Pre-Columbian museum is privately owned and is one of the few in Santiago where the collection has both Spanish and English signage. The collection is impressive containing tens of thousands of pieces and is located in the old Customs House. It’s arranged by geographic area and there are large maps showing each region from North to South America. There is also a very large overall map that is the centerpiece of the main staircase. The collection contains numerous objects but the most surprising were the small mummies. This type of mummification predates the Egyptians by 2000 years, going back as far as 6000 BC. There were also exhibits about shamans, jaguar gods of the underworld, and use of hallucinogenics in religious ceremonies. The collection runs the gamut from pottery to gold to silver to enormous stone carvings. The basement contains some of the rarest and largest pieces. Most impressive were the large wooden totems that were used to adorn the gravesites of important elders. Also on display was an enormous quipu (knotted cord) worn by an Incan administrator and used for accounting. Upstairs there is a climate controlled room containing rare textiles where only 10 people at a time are allowed to enter. The indigenous people were master weavers, growing cotton and shearing alpaca and llamas for the raw materials. It is quite impressive. All in all we thoroughly enjoyed our 2 hour visit. After a brief rest, it’s off to explore the nearby street scene. Museums are exhausting!

We had free Viking Air so we upgraded to premium economy for $999. Flew on United as a “purple seat people.” Middle cabin configuration was 2-2-2. Just finished a great day at the pre-Columbian museum and encountered a Peruvian religious street procession afterward. Will update the posting in a bit.

Day 2 - Super, Super We just checked into the Santiago Marriott. It was an uneventful flight. In contrast to the screaming baby from hell flight to Europe that I previously wrote about in another thread, we were actually able to catch a few hours of sleep on this flight. We arrived in Santiago a few minutes early. Santiago is hosting the Pan American Games later this week so the airport was bustling with national teams arriving with all sorts of sports equipment. The Viking ground team were their efficient selves. After a short walk to the bus we had an informative trip to the hotel during which our tour guide explained some basics about Chile and emphasized that we should not be just bueno but “super bueno.” It seems super is the modifier d’jour in Santiago. Everything is super, super. The hotel is your typical business hotel, large room and a desk with international electrical outlets (very handy). Check in was a breeze and we were in our room by 9:00 AM, one of the earliest check-ins we’ve experienced on a Viking extension. We have an upper floor room with a partial Mountain View. The weather is a little cool, overcast and in the low 60s, but should be up to 70 this afternoon. Since Monday seems to be the day when a lot of tourist attractions are closed, we plan to leave in a few minutes to get a good day of sightseeing in. More updates to follow.

Just arrived in Houston, waiting for our flight to Santiago Lots of places to eat and drink here. Everything is bigger in Texas. They even have an Asian Market.

Day 1 - “And away we go!” - Jackie Gleason We are heading to the airport for the start our next epic journey, our first trip to South America! Tomorrow morning we’ll be in Santiago for our 2 day pre-cruise extension and then onto Valparaiso to experience an expedition ship for the first time. Given global events, it’s serendipitous that we are going to one of the remotest parts of the planet. I’m going to really enjoy unplugging for a few weeks. I will however keep updating everyone here on everything cruise related, bandwidth permitting. See you on the other side.

Getting an upgrade on Viking is like finding a unicorn. Seems to only happen if your category is sold out, there is high demand for the sold out class, and the total occupancy of the ship is below some magic number that represents an acceptable profit margin. It’s easier to sell the lower class cabins, so when these rare conditions occur, Viking may be motivated to upgrade.

Here is the State Department link https://step.state.gov/STEPMobile/Default.aspx

I would not trust the website at all. The Athens extension still lists a hotel that has been closed for 3 years, sold, rebranded, and is not opening for another year.

The grill on the Expedition ships is not like that. It is essentially a steak house with cuts of aged meat on display in a case that you can chooses from. They also grill burgers and lobster tails. I plan to thoroughly investigate it next week and will report back to you. 😋

If you have booked Viking extensions, transportation to/from the airport is included regardless of whether you use Viking air or not. The caveat is that your flights must be the same day as the beginning/ending of the extension.

Could be the larger ships of other lines have been moved and now there is space.

Most cocktails and mixed drinks are $9.50. The Silver Spirits Package is $25/per day/per person (both passengers must buy it unless there is a medical reason). Meals include beer and wine. The package comes with an upgraded wine list but you can still purchase anything on the list. Viking allows you to bring your own bottle at no charge and there is no corking fee. IMO Unless each of you plan to have 2+ cocktails a day, it’s not worth it. I’m not a wine connoisseur so the included wine is fine for me. Viking cruises tend to be at the upper end price wise but include many things that are additional charges on other lines. Whether it is worth it is a personal decision. Before my first cruise I was apprehensive because my impression of cruising was influenced by all those terrible Carnival commercials I saw on TV. It seemed the exact opposite of what I enjoy. Happily, Viking is the exact opposite of what other cruise lines offer. No kids No photographers No rides No auctions No tacky Vegas style entertainment No casinos No thousands of passengers It’s destination focused travel on a relatively small ship.

British Air has just canceled all flights. From the BBC: British Airways has suspended flights to Israel after one of its planes chose to turn back shortly before landing due to security concerns.