abbydancer2003

Day 23 - Sea Day 12 Sunday 4 Today is the last sea day of the cruises. We celebrated by sleeping in. We called Maria for coffee, but that was mostly because we have our little baby gift to give her, and she’s leaving tomorrow. However, our order was delivered by someone else, since she was busy. We did ask her to stop by, and she did. I think she liked the little gift, and we set up having her friend me on Facebook once she left the ship. After coffee, we went to Michael’s and set up for a while. I got some extra luggage tags, and decided to drop them. On my way, I ran into San & Kathleen on the stairs, going to the area between Guest Services and Shore Ex to practice dancing. They invited us to join them. So I went back to Michael’s, got Glen and we headed down. There is a nice open area there with no seating. We practiced for about 30 minutes, but then they decided to go to lunch (they go early on this cruise). So I went back over to guest services to see if Silvia was around to meet Glen. She was and we chatted for about 30 minutes Silvia is in the middle. We then stopped back at the room to drop our stuff, and headed out to lunch. Last lunch of the cruise. I started with cream of mushroom soup from the main dining, and it was good. My main was the filet from Luminae, and it was good as always. And of course I finished with the white chocolate mousse, and here it is again from a different angle. After lunch we joined Linda and Don for an afternoon show where Alejandro interviews the captain. They wanted to go because the captain is leaving after this cruise, and there will be a new captain for their trip to Brazil. It was sort of funny. I know some people think Alejandro is hilarious (and the daily says he is). Personally, I think he is funny, but not half as funny as he thinks he is. The show had it’s moments, and was sort of funny. Your mileage may vary. After the show we went to the Constellation Lounge for a quick drink. Next was the room to finish Return of the King. We have to pack the DVD stuff tomorrow. After dressing for the last Evening Chic aka formal night, we went to Rendezvous to do a dance set. Next was our last dinner in Luminae. Tonight I tried the blue cheese soufflé from the main dining room. It was good, but very rich. We both had the rack of lamb which was good as always. Today, I finished with the raspberry vacherin from the DB menu. They haven’t had raspberries since we boarded over 3 weeks ago. After dinner, I did my last casino visit. Tomorrow is our last full day of the cruises.

Day 22 - Puerto Madryn 2 - Saturday 4 This was our second (and sadder, since it’s the return, and means the cruise is coming to a close) visit to Puerto Madryn. This is the only port we have things booked both times. Today we will visit the EL Pedal ranch and penguin Reserve for lunch and penguins (but not penguins for lunch) We got an early storm update. The ship will be docking, but at 8 instead of 7. We’ll leave later. We did get breakfast delivered at 7, even though it turned out we didn’t need to. We ate it and got ready. It was after 9 when the ship docked, and the all aboard was pushed from 3:30 to 5:30. We headed to Michael’s and about 9:15 I noticed people getting off, so we got in line. Quite coincidentally, two other couples who were on the tour with us arrived right after we did. The line was a bit long, but we were rerouted to a front gangplank with no wait. Around 9:50 we arrived at the pier entrance and found the company with no problem. All 6 of us were sent off to a bus. Rodrigo (or Johnny) as guide. He was happy that we were the first bus. He told us it would be about an hour to the lighthouse, then we’d backtrack a bit to the ranch and penguin reserve. As we drove, we did stop for pictures of animals, pretty much same ones as before. After town, the road became gravel and muddy. About halfway there, the van got stuck in the mud. (Apparently, like Falklands it happens from time to time). One bus passed us with no rope (does beg the question of why they don’t all carry rope), but the second bus to show up did, and pulled us out. So, two excursion, both with bus issues. What are the odds? Is it us? Or the couple who was with us in both? Or neither? We were then on our way to the Lighthouse. We were also followed by a couple of the ranch employees (the Gauchos) in a 4 wheel drive truck, that could help again. The lighthouse appears to no longer be used, but there are gorgeous views from there. We couldn’t really stay long because it was very windy, and the wind was blowing sand into my (and other people’s) eyes. We then drove back and around the area we got stuck (I was told at lunch that later buses skipped the lighthouse because of the mud). We took a side road, and soon arrived at the ranch. We stopped there to use the restrooms. While there, we got a look at the spit where the lamb was roasting. It didn’t look like there was a lot of meat on the animals, but it sure smelled good. After we’d all used the two stall restroom, we headed further down the road to the penguin reserve. As we walked, Rodrigo explained that this was the end of the season, and many penguins had already left for their winter home in Brazil. The ones that are left are finishing their molting and then will leave. Once again, I won’t show you every picture - I have about 100. First, here’s a group of three. Notice how scruffy they look? They’re shedding their summer feathers for the winter ones for the swim in the cold ocean. We also saw the burrows with penguins in them. Of course we’d been told not to approach and also how to tell if they are preparing to bite. If you notice them turning their heads right and left it means they’re triangulating how to strike. If you see that, back slowly away. The walkway led to the beach, and the closer we got, the more penguins there were. And some were on the beach. And a few more. After about 90 minutes, we headed back to the ranch for lunch. On the way, Rodrigo said that the ship had called the ranch and said that all aboard has been pushed to 6:30, so plenty of time. I guess that was because there was also one bus that was a Celebrity excursion. I think the only difference was the price. We arrived at the ranch and were seated at a big table for our group. There were salads in big metal bowls waiting - a green salad, a carrot salad and cold potatoes. All good. After that, we were served a very good empanada, followed by a chorizo sausage. I don’t like them at home (Mexican style) but here, they’re very good. After that, the lamb was served. It was very good, but there was a lot of bone in it. Finally we were served a fruit cup. On a table there was coffee and tea, as well as some small welsh cakes, which were very good and similar to the honey cake I have from Madeira. It was close to 4pm when we (now last bus) finally left. I hope Johnny was right about the time. We stopped once to look at an Armadillo, and the driver got out of the bus to bring a small one onboard to show us. It was obviously a very scared little animal, and left souvenirs. I’ll spare you pictures of that. Along the drive, we passed the Celebrity bus from ranch, which was sort of comforting. We arrived at the pier around 5:23, which is cutting it a bit close, assuming it’s still a 5:30 departure. Rodrigo said we could look around town if we wanted, but we headed straight to the ship. As we were walking down the pier, we heard the ship’s horn going. We got to the ship at about 5:31, but as we were approaching we did see lines to board, so I figured that they weren’t going to pull the gangway at 5:30 exactly (the Celebrity bus passed us going back after drop off as we were about midway down the pier). We were by no means the last people to board, but as we were in the security line we head the announcement about securing the lines, etc. We actually left around 6. (I did send them email saying it was a great tour but the ship didn’t in fact wait until 6:30, so the guide shouldn’t have said that). All I can figure is maybe what they were told is that ship could wait until 6:30 if the Celebrity bus was late. We went back to the room and washed the bottoms of our shoes, since there was probably some penguin poo, and maybe armadillo as well. We got a text that Linda and Don were up in the constellation lounge (Sky lounge on S class), so we headed up there to watch the end of sailaway. After that, I went back to the room and actually watched one of their movies - Spoiler Alert - based on a book by former TV guide writer Michael Asello about his late boyfriend. It was OK, but maybe not good enough to have seen in a theater. After that, we went to dinner, since it was around 8:30. I started with the lamb meatballs in tzaziki with dates and onion marmalade. The lamb was Ok but the rest were good. For my entree, I chose the vegetarian pot pie from main dining. It was also OK. Might have been nicer with chicken. I also had the eclair from main dining for dessert. Other than enlist chocolate frosting it was good. After dinner we headed back to the room and then called it an early night. Tomorrow is the last sea day of the cruise, and our last lunch and dinner in Luminae.

Day 21 - Sea day 11 - Friday 3 Today was the second sea day in a row. The sea days are broken up pretty well on these cruises. There are no more than 2 in a row, I think. We did get up in time for breakfast. At the Captain’s morning announcement he said that there was a storm with wind coming into Puerto Madryn and the stop was iffy. Not what I wanted to hear, since we had a private tour booked, and we’d paid for. It in advance. After breakfast we decided to finally attend one of Celia’s shows. This was about how she got to where she is, and she is a good presenter. We did have to leave early because I had the slot pull (for real today). On the way to the casino, we stopped at Michael’s Club to pick up our passports, which we hadn’t seen in over 2 weeks. While we were there, we cleared up a minor misunderstanding with Jairo, At the officers event, he’d noticed us talking to the Johna, the retreat manager, and her making a phone call. We reassured him that it was about seeing if Silvia was available, and nothing whatsoever to do with the service in the lounge. After that, it was the slot pull. About 20 people showed up and paid their 15.00. Linda picked a machine, and we determined that at the level we were playing at, each person would get 12 spins. I was appointed the assistant counter. The machine we picked had some bonus stuff, such as open a vault as it was a cash themed machine. Most of us lost a little bit but two people did really well, and we ended up each getting 19 back and Jo, the person who won the most, got an additional 14 dollars. Overall a fun time. Of course I went back to the casino and lost 2 of the 4 dollars I won. I had so much fun that I actually volunteered to do one for my April cruise. We’ll see how it goes. After that, lunch time. Penultimate lunch on this trip, so of course we went to Luminae. I started with the burrata salad. For the main, I had a tried and true filet And for dessert, once again I had the delicious berry pavlova. Since this was a sea day, we met Linda and Don for Splendor and Flux. And, since casino days are now numbered, I went back there for a bit. After that, we did our typical late afternoon thing, and watched a movie. We watched the first part of Return of the King. Goal is to finish all 6 Lord of the Ring movies before we have to put out the luggage. After dressing for dinner, we decided to go to the show, which was Broken Strings. Glen’s never seen it. The production was good, but it’s still not a great show. To avoid walking back through the ship with a crowd, we ducked into Michael’s club for a pre dinner drink. This time, I had them make me a very nice sangria. Turns out there is a Michael’s club menu, and the sangria was a modification of one of their drinks. Sometime after 8, we headed to Luminae. Tonight was a regular dinner off the menu. I started with a chicory apple salad, the main menu chicken Kiev (still not sure how to pronounce the dish now). For dessert I had the green tea cake with peach mousse. The mousse is especially good. Glen had ordered the beef sirloin, and there were two pieces of meat that were well done on the outside, and almost raw in the middle. He brought it to Crass’s attention who then brought out the chefs to talk to us. We think they were seared on a hot grill for too long and then not long enough on the cooler grill to cook it through. I’m not sure anything will happen, because the steaks haven’t been cooked enough throughout the cruise. We have to be up reasonably early tomorrow if our stop happens, so we decided to watch the rest of the first half of Return of the King and then go to bed. Turns out it ran longer than we thought, but oh well. Hopefully tomorrow happens.

I think I asked at breakfast or lunch on the first cruise. It took until the second for them to do it.

Summit Day -3 Palm Beach and Stuart The plan for today is that our friends will pick us up around 11, so we set the alarm for 9:00 to get up intimate for breakfast. We did get up and and got dressed and packed up by 10. First stop was the lobby to get a breakfast voucher. That didn’t take long, and it said it was good for continental breakfast. We went to the restaurant and it was kind of confusing as there was a host stand but no one there. A guy at the coffee bar/bar told us to go to the back of the restraint for breakfast. We went back and there seemed to be no-one there. We did see a server talking to a guy and a gentleman standing at what appeared to be the busing station. So we asked him and he said to sit anywhere. So we sat at the restaurant edge of the bar area. The server soon came by, gave us a menu and said we could order anything. So we both had a.standard “American” bacon and eggs breakfast. As we were finishing up, I got a call from my friend Arie that they were on their way to get us. Through What’sapp, he sent me his Waze routing so I could follow him in real time. They collected us just after 11. After hello hugs we headed north to their home to drop the luggage. They do have a spare bedroom and bathroom and that’s where we’ll be until Wednesday morning. It took about 1/2 hour to get to Stuart Florida, which is where they live. Arie pointed out it was exit 101 on the highway, so 100 miles north of Miami. No wonder we have an 8:30 pickup for our transfer to the port on Wednesday. After being shown around and getting settled, we headed to downtown Stuart. We found parking after a few minutes, and wandered around a soon to close (for the week, not for good) farmers market. It was mostly a craft type market in a park, but very nice. We then walked along the water. In the park, there were fun things painted along the sidewalk. There were also signs with ideas for parents and children. After the park we walked along the waterfront to the dock. There’s a boat there. I’m not sure what it’s doing there. The view is nice too After waking along the downtown street, which looks pretty much like any small city shop lined downtown, we got in the car. Next stop was a beach on Hutchenson Island, where we stopped for smoothies for others, and a coke for me. It was hot and we had a table in the shade, so that was nice. We then tried to go to another beach, but that was closed so we headed back to their house, and Cheryl and Arie made dinner - steak and lamb on the grill and a salad. After dinner we played a game of Splendor, which they got after we taught them on the Transatlantic last fall. After that, we called it a night. Tomorrow we’ll try to go to a State Park.

Hopefully her way. back since I board in 14 hours.

Yup. I started the thread on Friday.

HI, Quick update - We're in a AS - aqua sky suite. When I booked, there were only a few Sky Suites available, and the price of the AS was the same as the S1, so we booked it. I'll try to remember to ask about staff leaving. Thanks,

Day 20 - Cape Horn - sea day 10 Thursday 3 Today is our second Cape Horn day, and because of the itinerary it’s early AM. We weren’t necessarily planning to get up for it, but we were up before we left the area, so we went upstairs. And we got the morning view of the cape. After that, and some pictures, we went to breakfast in Luminae. I’m still waiting to hear the special of the day (they don’t have any). Next stop was the casino, but not open. I met and spoke with the manager, who told me the daily got it wrong, and it wouldn’t open for a couple of hours. I had an errand to do at guest services, so I asked if I could talk with Silvia, the front desk manager. She was in the retreat on our two 2021 Summit cruises, and is a friend. She came out and we had a nice talk. Next stop was the Elite wine tasting. We arrived and were told to pick a table. We found one with other people, and sat down. This is what you get: A server or sommelier very briefly described each wine, and told us how you’re supposed to drink it. Overall, pretty underwhelming (my friend said wasn’t worth the price, even at free). Princess does a much better job of this, with an entertaining presentation of the five wines, and waiters pouring each one. You also get a little cheese and crackers. Next stop was lunch, and I started, as usual with a salad, in this case the wedge salad. For the entree I selected a mushroom pasta, And finished with the ricotta cheesecake. It’s pretty. And it does look like a cheesecake. After lunch, I went to the casino for a while. They have fairly limited hours on this cruise, due to a lot of time in territorial waters. I went back to the room, and we were relaxing when Glen got a text from our refrigerator that the door was open. Huh? We’re both a hemisphere away. Fortunately, my sister was at my mom/s (mom still in rehab so my sister was helping out) and we’d left her access to our condo. So I texted and asked her to check it out. Glen said maybe she should call the police to go with her, but I pointed out it would be a half hour before she got there. We didn’t hear quickly, so we went to the officer thing in Michael’s club. We met several officers, and did get a picture with the captain. After that we went back to the room for a while to watch MSNBC, since there was interesting news today. In the middle of watching, we got a text from my sister that she checked, and our cleaning lady was there cleaning out the refrigerator. (Thursday is not her usual day). Apparently they scared each other. We’ll get a good laugh out of this sometime. Once that was all set, we headed to dinner. We started with a regular amuse bouche (A savory macaroon) We then got s surprise. Last cruise, I casually asked the staff if they could do a greek dinner, since I know they can do Indian or Philippine food so, since officers are Greek, maybe they can do that too. It turns out they can and they did that for us tonight. We started with a very nice greek salad. For the main, they made a moussaka for us. And for dessert, we had an egg custard with phylo on top. After dinner and a bit of wandering, we headed back to the room, watched a bit more TV and went to bed. We have another sea day tomorrow as we head out of Patagonia.

Day 18 - Ushuaia 2 - Wednesday 3. We did manage to sleep until 9 this morning, so no breakfast today. Our plan was to walk around and go to a pharmacy (to replace my almost run out Tums) and to buy a small baby gift for our butler Maria, as she’s leaving in Montevideo to have her baby. Since we were in no particular hurry and had done a good tour of Ushuaia on the last cruise, we headed to Al Baccio for coffee and pastries, and to wait out the rush to get on shore. By about 10:15 it looked like it was easy, so we headed out. The first thing that struck me was how much more snow there was than last week. Our plan was to find a baby store. Glen looked up some, and we took off, up some of the hills. First place we found was actually a bookstore, so that wouldn’t work. So upward and onward we went. Next location was a neighborhood (not a nice one) but no stores. So we continued walking. Next baby store was a clothing store, so at the point we gave up on a baby store, and decided to go to one of the shopping streets and maybe find something. The last resort will be a stuffed penguin or something. At the point, we found a pharmacy. We went in and showed them the picture of Tums on my phone. They mentioned several things, most of which were once a day, like peptide or Prilosec, which we have. We ended up getting what we thought was a similar product, but it turns out it was more like Alka Seltzer. Oh well, maybe the ship has some (they do). We headed towards town, and found one of the streets with lots of stores. We went into what looked like a general toy store and stationary store. In the toy section we hit pay dirt and found a baby section. We found a cute little teething ring and so got that for her. After that, we walked back to the ship. The whole thing took about 2 hours. First stop was back to Al Baccio for coffee and hot chocolate for Glen. Next we dropped our stuff back in the room and headed to the buffet for lunch. It was fairly crowded, but we did run into Linda and Don and talked with them for a bit. We also talked to Luana, our assistant waiter. Today she was tasked with hand sanitizer squirt duty. After lunch we went back to the room, and hung out for the rest of the afternoon. Tonight we have the early (6pm) dinner at Le Petit Chef with Don and Linda. While there, I called my sister and talked to her for a while, since the cellular (with Verizon Travel pass) works a little better than wifi calling. I also watched them unload a container ship. At about 5:55 we headed to the mid stairs elevators. It took a little while for a not full elevator to come (I think it was around all aboard time, so lots of people, and we arrived just after 6. Oddly, they’d already seated Don and Linda at a table for two. Since we’d booked together, and planned to eat together, it was a little odd. So they moved us to a table for 4. The bar person was Skai, one of the bartenders in Michael’s. Apparently she’s the bar person for Q’sine at night. The restaurant wasn’t very crowded, and the show started. This is the 4th version of Le Petit Chef, and in this one, he’s teaching the guest how to be a chef. Each course represents a subject. We start with the History of Food. It wasn’t particularly coherent, but there were a lot of full plate images. And apparently they moved tomatoes across the sea. And made tomato dishes. After that, they served the tomato tart. Looks exactly like the one above. It was pretty good. Next course was Art. No art class would be complete without a color wheel. Or images of art by famous artists. I’d call this paint splash and tomato. And another tomato picture. (Translation: It’s not an apple) The final result of the art lesson was a shimp and cucumber salad. It was good, but the shrimp were a little fishy for me. The next course was love. First thing was going back in time. IMG_5445.MOV We see the young chef with his grandmother, making a beef dish. The finished product was short ribs with horseradish and mushrooms. Best dish by far, and one of the better short rib dishes I’ve had on X. The last chapter was technique. But first a lecture. One important part of technique is the flavor profile. But before we get to the actual dessert, we got some reviews. Here’s a sample. That was actually pretty amusing, and I wish I’d taken pictures of all the funny ones. The final course was a strawberry Napoleon. Pretty good. The mean finished with fireworks. (Also a diploma image). Dinner was over by 8, so we we did a bit of dancing and enjoyed the sunset. Next stop Puerto Madryn, but first a couple of sea days.

Summit Day -4. Travel day Today, we head to Palm Beach. We’ll stay with our friends Arie and Cheryl for a few days and then we’ll all go to the ship on Wednesday. We’re flying American Airlines, because I still have some credit left over from a trip I cancelled last year. We’d already booked the day before the cruise to Miami, but when Arie suggested we visit, we switched to PBI, because that’s near them and they can pick us up. Because coming from the west coast generally means a late night arrival, we have a hotel for the night and they’ll collect us tomorrow morning. There are two Marriott hotels near the airport - a Courtyard and a full service Marriott. I originally want to the Marriott with points, but it wasn’t available, so I booked the Courtyard. However, a couple of days later the Marriott became available. I’ll probably get breakfast. We’ll see. So today started early. We had a 10 am flight, so want to be at the airport around 8. Our original plan was to leave a car at an off airport lot my sister who was supposed arrive tomorrow (Sunday) night.. However, she came on Thursday because my mom requested it. We picked her up Thursday night, but she had to take us this morning. We arrived at mom’s house at about 7:35 - plan was Glen would drive his car to the airport, we’d go and Beth would drive home. So far, so good. However, there was a major accident on the freeway, and we ended up on surface streets. We got to the airport about 15 minutes later than we wanted. American Airlines checkin was confusing, but after all was said and done 15 minutes later we were looking for the Admiral’s Club to use our purchased day passes. We found it, spent some time there, and then at 9:20 headed to the gate. It was about boarding time, but there was no plane. They said it was coming from the hanger. I did wonder why they waited so long, but I guess the part we weren’t there for was that it was in the hanger for a maintenance issue. They first slipped the time to 10:30 so we waited at the gate. When they slipped it to 11, we went back to the lounge. They seemed to be aware of what was happening and said they’d announce when it was boarding. I asked the agent at the lounge what we could do if we missed the connection, since by this. time I’d had two texts from American telling me I might. We agreed I probably had a least another hour of wiggle room on it, but worst case we could go to Charlotte and then get to PBI at 9:30 tomorrow AM. As I was talking to her they announced boarding and that the flight would leave at 12, which was 2 hours late, but we had a 3.5 hour connection so that was fine. We headed back to the gate, and got in line and waited. Apparently they filled the jetway and then discovered an issue with the door. I waited about 10 minutes, and then went to the restroom. When I got back, the line was moving. The flight left at 12, we got in at 5 and our next flight was at roughly 7. So all was well with us. I’m pretty sure the guy ahead of me ask about mis connections did miss his 5pm flight to Barcelona. I hope he gets where he was going. Nothing interesting about the second flight other than what they called “dinner” was more like a snack - either cauliflower lasagna or a charcuterie plate. There was supposed to be a grain bowl, but they didn’t offer that. We landed on time, our luggage came pretty quickly and it took a little while to find the hotel shuttle area, but once we did, the shuttle came with a very friendly driver. We did have to wait for a group of Jet Blue crew for a few minutes. It’ wasn’t a long way to the hotel and when we got her we found out we were upgraded to a suite. It’s a nice room and now we’re off to bed to start this next adventure. And mom is still improving!

Day 18 Punta Arenas - Tuesday 3 Today is Punta Arenas, and the weather is a little better, so the port is on. We don’t have anything planned, since we’ve been here before, and seeing the replica fort again wasn’t that interesting the first time, so we don’t need to see it again. Since we didn’t have plans, we decided we could sleep in, but sleep in proved to be 8 am, so we went to breakfast. We didn’t bring our stuff for shore, because we weren’t in any hurry. By the time we were ready to leave, they’d stopped using tender tickets. So we went down and got on a fairly crowded tender. Once on shore, we just walked around for a while. We did find a park. This was in the middle. As we wandered, we found a wide street with a park in the middle, running several blocks. Lots of statues. As we walked, we decided we needed to use a restroom and found a restaurant. They weren’t open yet, but let us use the restroom. They still weren’t open when we were done, and we didn’t want coffee to go, so we thanked them and left. Next we saw this nice building. Apparently it’s an office of the Chilean Air Force and used to be the residence of Alfonso Roux, apparently a famous French Patagonian cattle rancher per Google. As we made our way back to the dock we found another small park. Each square of grass had the name of a different Chilean city. Here’s one: We soon arrived at the port, and noticed two expedition size ships docked there. We immediately got on a tender and were soon back at the ship. We dropped our stuff and then stopped at Michael’s for coffee, and I went to Al Baccio for mine and then read the instructor’s written lectures for my final. After a while we went up to the buffet for lunch it was crowded and the food was OK. Following lunch, I went back to the room to take my final. While on the Solstice, the IT manager told me that, while the ship had StarLink, it probably won’t work in the southern part of Patagonia. I’d worked out with the teacher that he’d leave the test open for me until the 31st, where we’d be further north. It worked just fine, and I allowed 2.5 hours for the exam, although I knew it wouldn’t take that long. There were 25 multiple choice, and 5 essays (you pick 2 essays). It took me about an hour and half and I got 23/25 on the multiple choice. Because this is a community college class, I always get 100% on the written work, so I’m not too worried. (Probably also why he gave me extra time). After that, we decided to take a walk around, and we watched as they folded up the tender platform, lowered the rescue boat, and raised the tenders. It was interesting. The sky was also interesting as we watched. After that, it was still tea time at Michaels, so we went there. I also called my sister to see how mom is doing (getting better). I also confirmed that the David Meltzer award that Natalie (person we met yesterday) got was indeed our cousin. After that, we went back to the room and watched a little more of the Fellowship of the Ring, and dressed for dinner. The dance band was playing, so we danced for a bit and then went to the show. Tonights show was a Juggler. He was good, but only did three things at once. Glen, who juggles, said the performer was only about 1-2 levels above what he could do. Apparently his father was known for juggling cigar boxes. The show was OK. As we left the show, there were a lot of people walking so we headed to Michaels for a bit and chatted with concierge Milca. Next stop was Rendezvous for a few dances, and then dinner. Tonight I started with the burrata and eggplant. It was good. Next course was the prosciutto wrapped chicken. Also good. And I finished with one of my all time favorites, bananas foster. During dinner we chatted with a couple who were on our Puerto Montt tour. After dinner, we watched the end of the movie and the fan credits through my name. Glen thought it was funny. After that, bedtime. Tomorrow is Ushuaia, and we have nothing planned. It will be our 4th visit there.

On the b2b on the infinity last month we went to muster on the way to lunch with the cards we were given when we left the first time. Didn’t register. We also had to get new cards. We had to then go to the muster station again.

Welcome back and bon voyage! We're up early to catch our flight to Palm Beach for our repo cruise on Wednesday. (Much smaller repo - Miami to New Jersey.

Thanks. Both Summit and Infinity are M class ships. I've been on both, Glen's only been on Infinity.

Thought I would get a couple more in but on Monday my mom went back to the hospital with her 3rd round of pneumonia in less than 2 years. She went to the ICU on Wednesday, so a lot of my time has been taken up with that, plus getting her home help for when she's recovering. As some of you probably saw, we're leaving tomorrow for our next cruise, but I'm almost done writing up my notes from this one, and will be posting everything in the next few days. Thanks for your understanding.

Well, it finally happened that two close together cruises means I'll be finishing up one belated live thread, while starting the next. Those of you following on the Infinity Around the Horn - I really thought I'd finish. What I did not count on was my mom, who's been in a rehab center for a broken bone since February, going south on us and ending up in the ICU. (She's slowly improving). Anyway, we're heading out tomorrow for the Summit, so I'll do that while finishing Infinity. Anyway, here I go ... This is the cruise that will take the Summit from her winter home in Miami, to her summer home in New Jersey. I found it after a Millennium Pacific coastal got canceled, and I was looking for something on a revolutionized S class. We just got off Infinity, which is an unrevolutionized ship, and I wanted Glen (DH) to experience the difference. I saw this, and several things appealed. First, it was a 10 day Caribbean cruise with 6 sea days. That's because it has to get from Miami to New York, and has to visit the Dutch Antilles (ABCs) to meet legal requirements. Second, I like those ports, and third, as mentioned above, it's a revolutionized M class. Lastly, and best of all, it goes to New York, where my sister lives. So all good? Not quite. My mom, who was supposed to go home from rehab after 2.5 months on Tuesday, developed breathing issues on Monday. They took her to the emergency room, where they determined she had pneumonia. So, they admitted her. On Wednesday, they were moved her to the ICU, because her breathing became very very difficult. We had a discussion about what to do about intubation (ventilator). She has a DNR and Do Not Intubate order, and they wanted to know whether to honor. Wednesday night she thought she was dying. So we were discussing cancelling, but we generally have medical but not cancellation insurance. My sister decided come out Thursday instead of next Sunday. By Thursday (yesterday) she was on oxygen and getting treatments to clear out her lungs and looked generally better. So last night, I made a second reservation home. Originally we were visiting my sister for a couple of weeks, and now I have that reservation and one home the day of the cruise. Today she continues to improve, and told my sister we should go on our trip. So we're on, We leave tomorrow morning. The cruise is on Wednesday, but we're flying to Palm Beach to spend a few days with our game friends from the Silhouette TA last October. While on that, they booked this cruise and we were all delighted that we'd sail together again. When discussing excursions on the phone, they invited us to visit them pre cruise. We leave tomorrow AM. At 7am we'll drive over to my mom's house, and my sister will take us to the airport. We're just finishing packing and will go drop food off with my sister, have dinner, and go to bed early. I'll touch base again tomorrow. Since this is a shorter cruise, maybe I'll be more caught up. Those following Infinity, I will finish.

Day 17 Sea Day 9 Monday 3 Straight of Magellan Today was sort of a rinse and repeat day - another sea day. We did wake up in time for breakfast, and we both had omelettes. (I always ask what the special of the day is. - there is none). After breakfast we took a quick walk. The scenery was nice I guess the weather is still not great, because the pool is empty. We then headed to Michaels to give Than time to do the room, and then headed back up to watch more of the third Hobbit movie. Around 1 pm, we headed to lunch. I started with the fried mushrooms from the main, which are always good, and then I decided I wanted a grill cheese sandwich with the onion jam from the luminae burger. First try was just a cheese sandwich, so they tried again. It did end up grilled, but on a wheat bread I think, which I don’t love. On the other hand I didn’t specify, so next time, I’ll ask for white bread. We skipped dessert. After lunch we met Don and Linda for games and conversation in the buffet. We sat in our usual table, which is near the pizza station, but every time the door opened to the back outside bar, it got very cold. This is not your Caribbean weather itinerary. Following games, we went back to the room to get ready for seeing the Straights. Soon the mountains at the entrance came into view We saw a rainbow as we entered. We headed up to the front of the ship for while and watched whales. If you look in the top left of the picture, you can see the blow. The clouds were also beautiful We eventually headed downstairs, and got ready for the evening as the sun went down. At 7, we headed to the show. It was a Hollywood cabaret, and when we didn’t even know the first couple of songs, we left. We went to Michaels, and while we were there, I was talking to Glen about Jason Brown, still skating into the top group without a quad, and how he was now coached by Brian Orser. A couple near us asked if we were Canadian, since I mentioned Orser (uh, the guy has two silver olympic medals, and coached the 2014 and 2018 mens champion, as well as other leading skaters - I don’t think you need to be Canadian to have heard of him). It did, however, start a nice conversation. It turns out that they are medical professionals in Ontario. I mentioned that I had a cousin who was a doctor (long retired) who was a well known hematologist there. Turns out that there’s an award she won in med school that bears his name, and he presented it to her. Small world. At around 8:30 we decided it we’d better go to dinner before they close. I started with Summer rolls from Blu. They were OK. Glen had the cold veggie soup, and wanted to see if it was a gazpacho. Not really. For my entree I had the rack of pork for the first time. It was pretty good. We both had the vanilla baba for dessert. We had some very nice chats with some of the staff, which is one advantage of showing up right before they close. By the time we’re around dessert, there’s almost no-one there, so they have time to talk as they set up for breakfast. After dinner we went back to the room, and watched the first half of the Fellowship of the Ring. Then bedtime. We’re finally at Punta Arenas tomorrow.

We do the same.

We had the same sign at the Cashiers cage on the Infinity last month. Wow, they must have been valid for a very long time.

We all have those moments. I've spent a few thanksgivings in Cancun and there has never been a cruise ship there.

Day 16 Sea Day 8 Sunday 3 Today was supposedly the Chilean Fjords. However, we were supposed to transit them from 5:30 am to 8:30 am. Last night, we talked about setting an alarm, but realized that since sunrise was at 8, we weren’t going to see anything anyway. So we set the alarm for 8. At 8 it was overcast so basically, Chilean Fjords were a waste. I will put that it was misleading in my survey. I think we saw much of them on the way up though, but that was due to an unplanned itinerary change. Since we were up early enough for breakfast, we went to breakfast. After breakfast, I went to the casino for a bit, and then we met Don and Linda for games. Because we were doing something in the afternoon, we played in the morning. Due to potential crowds in the buffet, we played at the big table in Cellar Masters (similar to the table at World class that we used on the Silhouette). After the game, we went back to the room for a while and then went to lunch. I started with the Bibb lettuce salad and then had the turkey gyros. Once again, good but had to remove the onions. One day I will remember. I finished with the poached pear. After lunch, and spending some time doing nothing, we went to Michael’s club for trivia. It was hosted by assistant hotel director Lauren. There were several different topic groups - started with which came first (3 choices), name the Celebrity, from a picture of a landmark name the capital of the country) and a couple of others. We did OK. We didn’t win, but were closer than I would have guessed (we had 14 right winning was 15). After that we got dressed for first of two formal nights and went to Rendezvous for a dance set. The show tonight was a singer from Britain that Beth and I didn’t love on the Solstice, so we went to Michaal’s for a bit and talked to a British family. It was a couple with one’s mother and their son. The son loves the same movies that we brought with us so that was fun. I never saw him again, so he never came over to watch. We ended up going to dinner around 8:35, and sat next to another nice British couple. The conversation was good. So good, that I forgot to take any pictures or record what I had, except dessert. I had the mascapone cheesecake. Glen opted for the buttermilk panna cotta. When we got back to the room, flowers that were on the table had been moved to the floor, and there were no water glasses (we later found them in the cabinet). Apparently, they were expecting a rough night. That said, we wanted some water, so I ran up to the buffet and got a couple of plastic glasses. After that, it was time for movie and bed.

When Le Petit Chef started, I was told it would be a couple of days a week and there would still be Q'sine. Nope, went completely away once LPC started. I went to the original once, and had a lot of fun. I wish it was still there.

We have holders we got on Amazon. I cut mine to fit, DH folds and stuffs it in. I do put two tags on each bag - one on the top handle and one on the side handle. I also save the page as a PDF and put names on before printing.