TravelBluebird

We are on the Lima to Santiago plane! Got to Gate with 10 minutes to spare. On the plus side — luggage through direct to Santiago. Clearly marked International Teansfer Lane. No customs. Special security area for in. Transfers only, so went fast! On minus side—LOTS of stairs up and down—like the old La Guardia airport but MORE stairs. Our gate was B1. Not on any of the signs from transfer area! We got incorrect directions and ended up on the opposite side of the terminal! At least I got my 10,000 steps in. 😂 Then we had to take a bus to the plane-no jet way. A HOT bus which sat on tarmac forever. Steep stairs to the plane. We are in Regular economy-I’m 5 foot nothing and my knees practically hit chair in front of me! No wifi or entertainment on plane—WHICH IS ok I’ll read. I’m sending this via my phone—all the countries in Latin America that we are visiting, except Falkland Islands—are covered I by my ATT plan at no additional charge! oK door about to close. Not many photos of airport since we were mostly in the move to the Gate.

We’ve now been sitting here waiting for a gate for a half hour. Trying not to get stressed.

Thank you @SilvertoGold!

It really is well written—I’m having trouble putting it down—whole situation is still hard to believe happened only 4 years ago! And thanks for following along!

Aww bummer you couldn’t’t go this year, but it’s a great trip to look forward too! Thanks for following along! 💕

We had no internet once we got to the West coast of South America. Which was OK by me since I wanted to test. Very comfortable-and wide—lie flat. Not one of those where your feet are in a little cubby. we were served breakfast (interesting choice of meal—its 9pm here—It was nice but we had just finished lunch 3 hours before. Russ declined and I picked at mine. We got in 15 minutes early (yay!) but now just sitting here —no gate (boo) Will have about 1 hour 45 to lift off once we deplane (hopefully)! Flight attendants were wonderful! Very attentive.

Lunch has been had—nice selection of starters including a truly good cauliflower soup. Hubby enjoyed his beef short ribs and I enjoyed the lamb (which came with lentils, carrots and red onion). Desert is next, and I’m going to get a small cheese plate with grapes instead of the ice cream sundae. Sigh, I miss my metabolism. Besides a post-dinner nap, I’m editing a video (wi fi was $15…I’ve had worse for international flights). Also reading Cabin Fever: The Harrowing Journey of a Cruise Ship at the Dawn of a Pandemic. Perhaps an odd choice, but a fascinating read.

Safe flights! See you on the ship!

We are on the second plane! Getting ON the plane was one heck of a mess. There was something wrong with the speaker the gate agents were using, so no one could understand a word of the instructions. It seemed that 1/3 of the plane “needed assistance” with boarding. Finally, Russ just got tired of hanging back as we tend to do, and he weaved his way up front to find out that, indeed, first class was boarding. One fun thing is I met 2 couples waiting to board—one going on Norwegian 14 days Buenos Aires round trip to Antarctica, and another couple taking Silverseas to Antarctica! Was fun to chat. Also was nice to see I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t arrange the direct flight from Atlanta. Airbus 350-900L. Comfortable, lie flat seats. little bin for a few things by your feet (yay!). I pre-ordered a special chef lamb dish (limited amount so you pre-order before flight) and Russ is getting the beef short ribs. I’m going to try to NOT get the ice cream sundae for desert. I’m going to TRY really hard 😂 Couple of photos—adequate amenity kit, slippers, big bag of bedding (I’m going to try a good nap after we eat—wish me luck, napping is not my talent).

True, but honestly, I caused that myself by NOT reading the fine print when I selected the exit row seats. Today has been a good flying day overall—not a ton of weather to contend with anywhere. My daughter is on her 2nd flight to Japan as we speak; was also good out of Dallas!

YAY! We are in 7A and 7B on the LATAM flight. That’s one of the great things about the Sky Club—access to great agents and usually no lines. We have lounge access today due to Delta One, but overall we decided to get the American Express Reserve Business Card to maintain Sky Club access whenever we fly on Delta. Includes 15 visits in a year. HEFTY fee at $550, BUT you get a free companion ticket at the end of the year which covers the cost of the card. Tons of other benefits; if anyone is interested, I’m happy to talk more about it—as a long time frequent flyer, I can really yammer on and on about Delta and United. The International Concourse Sky Club in Atlanta is awesome—great big windows, an outside viewing deck (not today….brrr…it’s 46 degrees!0 and decent food. Not as nice as United’s Polaris lounges, but I’m not complaining, and it’s better than the regular United Clubs. We are showing on time, our luggage is on the plane, and all is great here in Atlanta!

Ooh—lovely! 18 days is almost as long as this cruise! 💕 What international port will you visit to satisfy the Passenger Vessel Services Act?

First plane—on time, smooth, ride, non eventful—just the way I like them! Atlanta airport is relatively empty right now. Zipped right over on the plane train from D Gates to F Gates (International). We are currently in the Delta Sky Club—also quite empty! Might be the timing of our flight, but it is very nice. Charging some electronics, had some coffee, drinks and snacks, and we board in about 45 minutes. Russ is with the gate agent trying to smooth out a little snafu we are having with our LATAM seats, Lima to Santiago. Turns out that I’m a bit of an idiot, and booked us in the Exit row (for more leg room). I admit there was lots of fine print to look at online when I did that, BUT we’ve sat in exit rows with many airlines, so I ahem, didn’t really read the fine print. Well, you need to be UNDER 60 years old for the exit row on this airline. I’m not going to go into age discrimination, etc, but my husband is a former small plane pilot, strong, and one of the best people in an emergency. Sigh. In any event, I tried to change our seats online and I was not allowed to.. So today LATAM figured out we shouldn’t be in those seats, and we got a bunch of seat changes, which landed us in two middle seats in rows 4 and 20. Keep your fingers crossed we can change the seats; not the end of the world if we can’t, but it woud e nice to be together.

So nice to have you along @Hogladyrider! I’ve followed all of @NorbertsNiece blog, which has been so wonderful to read (especially right before this cruise!). Where will you be heading for with HAL on January 30th?

Yay our plane is at the gate! And here we are AT said gate— if you are on the trip with us, please say hello!

Our journey today will involve 3 planes. Normally, we would have taken just 2, with a direct from Atlanta to Santiago. Unfortunately, we booked this trip and our flights late, so we couldn’t get any sort of foot rest or lie flat from Atlanta (premium economy, etc.). However, we were able to get a very good fare for Delta One from Atlanta to Lima, Peru, and then continuing on Delta’s partner airline LATAM from Lima to Santiago (in economy). As much as we hate adding an extra stop because more things can go awry, (missed connections, lost baggage) I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, and with my legs bent for 9 hours, I’d be in lots of pain and off to a slow start on the trip, so we are taking our chances with an extra stop. Our first flight lifts off right before 11am, We have about a 2 hour layover in Atlanta which we’ll spend in the Sky Club at the International terminal. We have a 2 hour layover in Lima which should be enough time to make our connection (our luggage was checked straight through to Santiago and we don’t have to pick it up in Lima). We arrive in Santiago at the absolutely awful time of 4:30am. Only good thing about that is that I’m a real night owl and usually up till about 2am, so with the time difference, we are landing just a bit after a normal bed time for me. Not great because I do put myself on a WAY earlier schedule for cruising, and this will set that back. Awful for my morning lark of a husband.

At the gate! LOVE our small airport. Five minutes from curb to gate. Although at 4am this morning when we dropped our daughter off for her trip home to Japan, the airport was packed! Lots of early flights since all flights from here connect SOMEWHERE, plus all the Dollywood workers were returning home after the holiday season! We actually stopped to get some cash at the airport ATM—with its annoying. $3.50 extra fee for only $200!—so many errands to run yesterday, we never got to the bank. We already have our “crisp, unmarked” bills for an independent tour and our transportation to the port. Everything showing on time so far! At the airport ATM

Thank you @Sea42!

Thank you @oakridger! I hope you enjoy the blog!

We are also starboard, just past the life boats on 4, so I’m right down the hall from you!

Having morning coffee before heading to the airport. In that phase of —have I forgotten something? Have I told the house / pet sitter everything? My cats are glaring at me, as they know all too well what the suitcases near the front door mean! Weather here is 32 degrees and overcast—perfect practice weather for the trip!

My bags are (finally) packed, and I’m ready for the adventure of a lifetime! After 11 years away from HAL, I’m off to take the 22 Day South America & Antarctica itinerary from Santiago (San Antonio), Chile to Buenos Aires, Argentina. With Antarctica, I will have now visited (and cruised to!) all 7 continents! If you haven’t followed any of my LIVE! Blogs, this is my 8th one here on Cruise Critic, and its always a joy to take my cruise critic readers along with me! I’m Dee, traveling with my dear hubby Russ. I adore cruising, and have done a ton of it. Lines we’ve cruised on include Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Regent Seven Seas, Celebrity, Viking (Ocean and River), Norwegian and many smaller lines. I always like to let readers know my blogging/review style before I start. I’ll tell it like it is, good and bad, but that said, I’ve never been on a totally bad cruise! I’m generally upbeat and I don’t let a few things that are not perfect ruin my good time. You can see that through my prior LIVE blogs! I have a cruising channel on YouTube, Cruising With Dee. You can completely enjoy this LIVE! without visiting my channel, but if you want to visit my channel, I won’t complain! I write my blog (prose) here with lots of photos, and the videos and live streams go on the Channel. Link to my channel is always in my signature, and I’ll include links for any videos I upload during and right after the trip. I am taking this cruise thanks to a free room offered by HAL. Which, of course, by the time I upgraded to a balcony cabin and paid for a bunch of excursions, airfare, etc, the trip is anything BUT free, but a free/lowered cruise fare certainly helps! If you’ve been following @NorbertsNiece blog, this is the same cruise, but in reverse (she went Buenos Aires to Santiago). It’s 11pm and I’ve got to get some sleep! I have a long flying day tomorrow, and I’ll continue the blog then. Thanks in advance for reading along and joining in! I don’t like my LIVE!s to be soliloquies; so please comment, suggest, ask questions! I’ll try my best to answer any questions I can while I’m on the ship. Let’s Cruise!

I had a jam-packed December, so it took me awhile but here, finally, is my video specifically about the Ultra casino aspects of this cruise! Gives all the details (games, gifts, events), tells you if I’d do it again, and also has a crazy story near the end about how I started gambling on Carnival (way back when the Carnival Splendor was doing the Mexican Riviera itinerarty!):

We did not book a balcony initially because we were also told it was too cold, but then I spoke to someone else who took the trip and does lots of photography, and they said a balcony is wonderful for popping out quickly and getting some photos, them popping back into your warm cabin. So, when a balcony upgrade was offered to us, we took it!

Happy New Year and I hope you feel better very soon!