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Live from the Scenic Eclipse to Antarctica, 8 November to 7 December


TahoeTraveler
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6 hours ago, Silver Spectre said:

TahoeTraveler, thanks for posting. With regard to issues you are having is there not a GRM or HD onboard who can address them for you?

Honestly, all issues, save the ones the staff can’t do anything about (as in, the design flaw of the pool) have been addressed and corrected.  I have talked to Grace, the entertainment director, about how we can hear literally everything that goes on in the theater from our cabin, and she is aware of the issue and has said that all I need to do is call Reception and they will notify whoever is doing whatever in the theater late at night that they need to keep it down.  Our possessed TV seems to have been exorcised and is working great again.  We are finding that the staff is becoming more and more amenable to finding us wines that we like if they don’t have them at the location we happen to be at, and without a doubt, the service continues to be the best we have seen.  I just don’t think there’s much more they could do for us!!!

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So, we’ve reached Patagonia and it is definitely beautiful here.  On Friday we had a very long tour of the Puerto Montt area, which was a region settled by Europeans, mostly German and Austrian.  Their heritage shows in the architecture and food (think delicious pastries and cakes).  Yesterday we hit Castro, on the island of Chiloe.  The island is part of a large archipelago and is famous for the churches the Spanish built on it and the surrounding islands.  These churches are quite different from the ones you will find in Spain and Italy...no where near as ornate.  But still very beautiful.

 

We have noticed one common theme between the shore excursions offered on Scenic and other lines we have cruised...the Destinations/Discovery team, and passengers, are at the mercy of whatever local travel company schedules the tours.  The descriptions of the tours are often far more exciting and enticing than the tours actually are, unfortunately.  I do not blame Scenic or any other cruise line for this...you cannot expect the folks on board who book the tours to have done every single tour to know what they are really like.  However, Scenic does have at least one Discovery Team member on each tour, so they can report how the tours really are.  Perhaps this info can be used in the future to help decide which tours are worth booking again.

 

They have just started to include the docking and all aboard time on the daily programs. Up until a day or so ago, that was not included and made for some confusion when getting off the ship.

 

I did want to note that in addition to not being able to do any manicures other than “regular” (non-gel, acrylic, etc) ones, they also do not have hair dye and so cannot do any sort of coloring.  This has caused a lot of aggravation among many of the ladies who thought they could get a root touch up on board!!!

 

We have now officially eaten at every restaurant on board except the Chef’s Table (which I’m not even sure they are offering; at least, no one I’ve talked to has been invited and I’ve talked to a whole lot of people on board!!).  We were completely underwhelmed by Koko’s. Perhaps it was just that menu, or perhaps we just have outstanding Asian restaurants where we live so we have set the bar higher.  We will try it again, as it could have just been an off night for us.  The sushi, however, is excellent.  I understand that almost no one ate there on the last cruise; it is completely different this cruise. In fact, it fills up as soon as it opens and stays packed until well past 8:00 (we couldn’t get in until 8:30 last night).  As I have already noted, Luminere is outstanding, and Elements is good (not my favorite, but again, it depends on the menu).

 

The staff continues to excel.  They are a fun bunch of people and are really making this cruise for us.

 

I did hear that two trucks of provisions headed to the Eclipse were hijacked in Valparaiso, which probably accounts for why there is no French champagne or Caffeine Free Diet Coke on board!!!  The protests that occurred the day before we got to Valparaiso were apparently quite violent...it’s surprising we were allowed off the ship the next morning.  But it is shocking to hear that our supplies actually got stolen!  I’m quite sure Scenic never planned for THAT contingency!!!  So hopefully they will be able to reprovision adequately when we reach Punto Arenas and then again in Ushuaia.  An 11 day journey to Antarctica won’t be much fun if they start running out of food!!!!  Although I could use a bit of a slow down on my eating...suffice it to say some of my clothes are already being set aside as “no longer an option!!!!”

 

The photos are: A German museum near Puerto Montt, which contained some amazing items, all of which still operate; the Osorno Volcano taken from Frutillar; and one of the UNESCO recognized churches on the island of Chiloe.

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A correction to something I posted a few days ago...the binoculars they gave us to use DO adjust to fit your eyes.  Ours didn’t seem to work but we asked and someone helped us figure it out.  They are just extremely stiff, because they are new, and, not wanting to break them, we just left them alone.

 

Tomorrow we start our trek through the Inner Fjords.  We visited the San Rafael Glacier today.  If you have been on a cruise to Alaska, you will find that the area and glacier, as well as the weather, are very, very similar to Alaska.  Very pretty, but nothing really new to us.  I’m quite confident the fjords will check off that box though!!

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TahoeTraveler, can you tell me what the dress code is in the evening. We are on the February Antarctic cruise and I’m wondering what to pack. Do we go relaxed or dress it up in the evening? What are the men wearing also?

 

Also how are you finding the wifi so far?

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21 hours ago, czardas said:

TahoeTraveler, can you tell me what the dress code is in the evening. We are on the February Antarctic cruise and I’m wondering what to pack. Do we go relaxed or dress it up in the evening? What are the men wearing also?

 

Also how are you finding the wifi so far?

Do NOT go overboard on the “fancy” clothes!  I have seen only one gentleman wearing a jacket, and that’s because he was determined to do so (not because it was at all expected).  I was going to comment on this in a bit, after my iPad charges, but I have been a little disappointed in how casually people are dressing (and we’re not even on the Antarctic portion of the cruise yet).  Several people wear their jeans (and I’m not talking nice jeans...think Levi’s, not Calvin Klein’s) and athletic shoes or boots all night, including to dinner.  I don’t think it’s too much to ask that someone bring at least a couple pair of khakis to wear at night, but some people are taking this whole “expedition” thing a bit too literally.  I’m sorry if I sound like the fashion police, but at this price point, and with the luxury Scenic provides, I have been really surprised at some of the evening attire.  You will be absolutely fine if you just pack some nice, but not dressy, clothes.  Unless you just really want to dress it up.  As for the WiFi, it has been EXCELLENT.  So much so that I’ve managed to contact my travel agent via email and book my next Scenic cruise!!!!!

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One thing we have discovered on this cruise is that we have to be very flexible and not easily disappointed.  The weather turned to crap Sunday night, and has stayed that way.  Our trek through the inner fjords was no where near as exciting as we had thought it would be, only because we couldn’t see much (what we could see was magnificent).  The clouds and fog and rain just made everything difficult to see. It also made it less desirable to participate in the scheduled activities, as one was guaranteed to be wet, cold and miserable as soon as they stepped foot on the Zodiak. At least everyone seems to have packed appropriate clothing!

 

The sun has finally come out today, but sadly, we had to divert out of the fjords and back into the Pacific.  We were supposed to have our third day in the inner fjords and with the sun now out, I believe it would have been amazing.  Unfortunately, apparently our holding tanks were full and ships cannot dump them in the fjords (I guess they filter out the black and grey water so they can dump the “cleaned up” water into the ocean). Because of that, we had to head back out to sea.  And out of the fjords.  Beyond disappointing, but we will be entering the Strait of Magellan later today, as we head to Punta Arenas, so hopefully we will see some pretty scenery then.  I’m just concerned about what is going to happen when we head down to Antarctica for 11 days. The ship is going to be full and I just don’t know how they’re going to deal with holding tanks that aren’t large enough to handle the load (I would be surprised if they’re allowed to dump in Antarctica).  I wonder if they’re going to ration water (that happened to us once when we had to divert in the Atlantic due to weather, and ended up with 7 straight sea days).  I guess we will find out soon enough.

 

On Monday we anchored outside the small village of Tortel inside the fjords.  It is a town of about 500 people, established in 1955 as a lumber town.  There is some sort of cypress tree there that they harvest. The town consists of lots of islands and “fingers” and since there are no roads or cars (everyone has a boat), the townspeople had to build a boardwalk (out of that same cypress) all through the town in order to get around. The boardwalk is apparently the main attraction in the town. Unfortunately, the dock at the town is being renovated, so the tenders were out.  Which meant Zodiaks to get into town. Since they only like to put 10 people at a time on each Zodiak, that takes a lot of time, and patience.  Mike and I opted not to bother.  We could see the town from the ship, and truthfully, it didn’t look like it was worth getting wet and cold in the Zodiaks for. Most folks who went into the town agreed with us after they got back.  Some children from the town put on a little dance for everyone, which apparently was very nice, and then the crew brought them onto the ship so they could see it (which I thought was a wonderful gesture on the crew’s part).  

 

That reminds me...I have to note here how very impressed I am at how the crew has gone out of their way with “the little things.”  When we took the catamaran to see the San Rafael glacier, the crew loaded up a Zodiak (or two) with coffee, hot chocolate, pastries, sandwiches, water and crewmembers to serve all that up, just so we would have them available to us on the 3 hour catamaran ride.  I’ve never seen that level of attentiveness on any cruise before.  And bringing those kids onboard after they had done their welcome dance?  Again, just very impressive.

 

So yesterday, after a very wet cruise through the fjords, we maneuvered to the Bergen (also known as the PIO XI) glacier.  It is the largest glacier south of the Equator that is not in Antarctica.  It is supposedly 6km wide at its widest part, and, unlike most glaciers, actually grew in size until the 1970’s.  The Zodiaks were launched so they could take passengers a bit closer to the glacier, although the captain did a fabulous job of getting the ship very, very close. The weather pseudo-cooperated, as the rains did let off for a brief time, but it was still very wet and cold.  I hate to use the term “miserable,” but that’s pretty much how it was.

 

As we were leaving the glacier in the evening, the weather started to clear, and the most magnificent rainbow I have ever seen in my life appeared up against the rocks, right outside our balcony.  It was stunning.  I will try to post a photo of it later, when Mike Airdrops his photos from his camera to my iPad...but it was so large, we couldn’t get the whole thing in one picture. It was just amazing!

 

Hopefully we will turn into the Strait of Magellan soon (I can see the land mass off to our port side) and get out of this rocky Pacific.  We are really moving around!  Pretty sure this is just a small prelude to what is soon to come.

 

The photos are: 

- The village of Tortel

- The San Rafael glacier (from my previous post)

- Inner fjords

- Inner fjords

- The Bergen (PIO XI) glacier

 

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10 hours ago, TahoeTraveler said:

I’m just concerned about what is going to happen when we head down to Antarctica for 11 days. The ship is going to be full and I just don’t know how they’re going to deal with holding tanks that aren’t large enough to handle the load (I would be surprised if they’re allowed to dump in Antarctica).  I wonder if they’re going to ration water (that happened to us once when we had to divert in the Atlantic due to weather, and ended up with 7 straight sea days).  I guess we will find out soon enough.

 

 

 

WOW that’s amazing. How on earth are they going to handle that? How often do they empty, or how many days capacity are the tanks?

 

Keep up the great work, I’m thoroughly enjoying every bit of information on the Eclipse. Also thanks for the tip regarding casual clothing. I’ll leave the long frocks at home 😂

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17 hours ago, czardas said:

 

WOW that’s amazing. How on earth are they going to handle that? How often do they empty, or how many days capacity are the tanks?

 

Keep up the great work, I’m thoroughly enjoying every bit of information on the Eclipse. Also thanks for the tip regarding casual clothing. I’ll leave the long frocks at home 😂

I would not be surprised if all the tanks were not working properly...we have so many technicians on board doing so much work, it’s crazy.  I’m pretty sure they’re all trying to get everything done before the Antarctica trip in less than a week.  It’s very possible one of the tanks just needed some repairs (and maybe they weren’t even using it?).  I don’t know the capacity of the tanks, but can ask next time we’re up on the bridge.  

 

As for the dress code, again, I didn’t mean to come off like a snob.  The passengers on this cruise are all very friendly and we’ve been having a great time meeting everyone.  I just don’t get the opportunity at home to get dressed up with others and “hang out.”  The only time I do that is when I’m on a cruise and I guess I just assume others are the same.  But yes, most definitely leave any long dresses at home...if for no other reason than that there is no place in the wardrobe to hang anything long!!!!!!

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So as promised, I am attaching a picture of the rainbow we saw as we left the Bergen (PIO XI) glacier.   Trust me, the picture does NOT do it justice, but you can see the perfect shape.  I have to wonder if somehow being this far south of the equator has something to do with the awesome half circle shape.  We were also treated to a double rainbow last evening, on our way up the Strait of Magellan, which I have also attached a photo of (well, part of it anyway...it was too massive and too close to the ship to get the whole thing into a photo).

 

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Yesterday ended up being a great day, despite not being able to finish our journey through the Inner Fjords.  The trip up the Strait of Magellan to Punta Arenas was gorgeous and the weather finally cooperated (it was surprising to see a Carnival mega ship pass by us going in the opposite direction in the Strait). The weather has been holding up beautifully and our walking tour of Punta Arenas today was very informative and entertaining.  However, I do have to wonder how long these protests in Chile will go on before they start severely affecting tourism.  While on the tour, we ran across a large group of protesters...they left us alone, but it still made for a bit of discomfort.  Besides that, they have done so much damage to the city (and every other city in Chile, apparently) that businesses have all boarded up their windows and even the main church has been locked up behind a gate.  The graffiti everywhere is horrible...our guide told us that 3 weeks ago Punta Arenas was the most beautiful city and now it is covered in graffiti, many of it quite offensive (think “f...” the police and things like that).  Just so very sad, as this is an absolutely gorgeous country.

 

Last night we were thoroughly entertained by Fatima, an artist who plays the cello, sings AND is a belly dancer!!!  Sadly, she left the ship today.  She put on a show last night that brought the roof down.  She sang upbeat tunes that everyone danced to, and slower songs that, well, everyone danced to!!  While singing, she’d jump on her cello and accompany herself.  And then, she changed into her belly dancing costume and did a dance for us, which I am quite sure the gentlemen particularly enjoyed.  It was sad to see her getting off the ship today, as she was SUCH a great performer.  I’m sure they’ll be bringing someone equally as talented on board however.

 

Speaking of talent, I simply have to give a huge shout out to the Discovery Team on board.  They are absolutely invaluable to this cruise, as I would imagine they are on every cruise, since this ship visits so many unique places.  From their incredible knowledge, which they share with us at every opportunity, to their amazingly informative lectures on everything from geology to wildlife to convicts escaping Tasmania in the 1800’s, they are just superb.  THIS is what is setting Scenic apart for us, and why we have already booked another cruise that we really cannot afford but will figure out somehow!!!  Without the Discovery Team I cannot imagine this, or any other, Eclipse cruise would be anywhere near as interesting or fun.  I hope this aspect of the Eclipse stays the same, as the Discovery Team truly does set her apart from all others.

 

I also have to give a huge shout out, again, to the entire staff on board.  Honestly, just superb.  And here’s where I’m going to put a plug in for the Crew Fund.  Many people don’t even realize such an animal exists, or what it is used for.  Briefly, a Crew Fund on a ship goes to making the lives of the crewmembers better...whether it is assisting them in getting home if they have a family emergency, or buying new equipment for their gym, or throwing them some sort of party or social event.  Since we always cruise on lines that are all inclusive, including tips, we donate to the Crew Fund, so that everyone on board can benefit, especially since there are so many crewmembers who work behind the scenes.  I know tipping is not the norm in Australia or Europe, but these people work so darn hard to make us feel special and it makes me feel good to do something for them, even though it isn’t much, in the scheme of things.  So here’s my advertisement for the Crew Fund...which the Eclipse does have.  Okay, off my soapbox.  

 

Something absolutely crazy happened yesterday.  We met Josh, the second helicopter pilot.  He walked up to us and said, “I hear you’re from Nevada...where?”  We told him “Nowhere you’d have heard of, where are you from?”  He said, “Gardnerville.”  I almost fell on the floor.  Mike and I live in Gardnerville.  Which is NOT a big place.  I think the town has something like 6,000 people.  Come to find out, Josh’s younger brother went to high school with our son!!!!  I know it’s a small world, but come on!!!  That was just beyond belief!!!

 

I’ve attached some photos of going through the Strait of Magellan, beautiful Fatima doing her thing, some of the damage the protesters have caused, as well as a nice shot of the ship (I do have to wonder if the name is painted in some sort of special paint, as the word “Eclipse” seems to disappear...or eclipse!...from certain angles).

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Well, my opinion of Scenic may have just been changed dramatically.  I hope not.  But one of the biggest reasons for us to dock and overnight at Punto Arenas, logistically, was to reprovision the ship.  Just found out that not a single Diet Coke, not to mention a Caffeine Free Diet Coke, has been loaded onto the ship.  Apparently the assumption is that Coke Zero is the same as Diet Coke and nothing could be further from the truth. I totally get those of you who think that this is minor...but for me, it is not.  I cannot stomach Coke Zero.  And had I not contacted Scenic months, and I do mean months, ago, regarding having my Diet Coke (specifically Caffeine Free Diet Coke) on board the ship, I would just blame myself.  But I was assured, numerous times, that my specific request would be honored.  Apparently, not so.  The reprovisioning on the ship has been painful at best.  We have all been very understanding, what with the riots/protests in Chile and all that.  But I am not willing to pay what I paid for this cruise to settle for sodas that are absolutely disgusting to those of us who do not like the taste of sugar.  Oh, and I tried to make an appointment for a manicure tomorrow, and was told that the manicurist was available, but that she was manning the desk, and so could not do a manicure for me.  Really?  She’s manning the desk?  No problem.  I’ll just do my own nails and save the money.  I’m sorry...I sound totally entitled and I don’t mean to.  But we really did spend way more money than we should have, given our situation, on this cruise, and I expected more.  Logistically speaking.  The staff on board still continues to amaze!!!

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5 hours ago, TahoeTraveler said:

Well, my opinion of Scenic may have just been changed dramatically.  I hope not.  But one of the biggest reasons for us to dock and overnight at Punto Arenas, logistically, was to reprovision the ship.  Just found out that not a single Diet Coke, not to mention a Caffeine Free Diet Coke, has been loaded onto the ship.  

🤣🤣🤣

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Great day at Magdalena Island, which is full of Magellan penguins.  They are fascinating creatures and are quite comfortable with humans walking amongst them (although we were limited to a specific path that did not intrude upon their nests).  We even saw one rascal steal a chick from a nest, and take it to his nest (the chick looked like it had been dead a while so we don’t think he killed it).  He also absconded with several piles of nesting material from other nests.  Obviously he was not interested in doing any work himself!

 

I was impressed once again with the attention to detail and “going above and beyond” from the crew.  The boat we boarded to get to the island was one of those car haulers (we had to walk up the car ramp to board!) and it required a bus drive to get to it.  It was not a very nice ride, and the toilets stopped flushing after about 15 minutes into the ride. We knew it wasn’t the “normal” way to get to the island, because we had talked to some folks who had done the trip the day before and they told us it was a fast boat that you boarded right there at the same dock as the Eclipse.  It was only supposed to take us an hour to get there; instead, it took two.  On a ship with non-flushing toilets.  Step in Eclipse crew.  I guess they called back to the ship, explained that the tour company had done a switcheroo and put us on a substandard boat, and asked for a different boat to take us back to the ship.  Lo and behold, the boat we were supposed to be on in the first place showed up once we were done with our walk of the island, and we were back to the ship (directly, without requiring any bus ride) in an hour.  So yet another great job from the Eclipse crew!

 

 

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Before I forget to mention it, if you are sensitive to noise or are a light sleeper, I recommend booking suites aft of 505 and 506.  The front six cabins on Deck 5 are right above the theater, and the crew bar is directly below that.  Whenever a show is going on in the theater, you can hear it like you are right there.  I mean, it is LOUD in the cabin.  I believe our neighbors in 508 can hear it as well, but it seems not to be as bothersome.  Top that off with the fact that you can actually hear the music from the crew bar, two full decks down, well into the wee hours of the morning (although not as loud as what comes from the theater), and you can understand why I recommend against booking these cabins.  We have purposely booked 517 for our cruise in 2021, even though it is starboard, simply to get as far back as possible and away from the noise.  We do love being on Deck 5 though.  It is one deck above the theater and Reception/Lounge Bar, on the same deck as Azure and Lumiere, and just two decks below the Yacht Club.  I don’t see a reason to book a higher deck, unless you want a Spa Suite, all of which are only on the higher decks.  For us, steerage works just fine!!!

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6 hours ago, TahoeTraveler said:

The front six cabins on Deck 5 are right above the theater, and the crew bar is directly below that.  Whenever a show is going on in the theater, you can hear it like you are right there.  I mean, it is LOUD in the cabin.  

 

Have you asked if they can move you to another cabin? As you’ve stated, it isn’t a full house, so maybe that would solve the problem. 

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18 hours ago, czardas said:

 

Have you asked if they can move you to another cabin? As you’ve stated, it isn’t a full house, so maybe that would solve the problem. 

Nope, all the cabins are occupied...just not by passengers.  There is a film crew on board from an Australian TV show called “Getaway,” who has taken several cabins, including one of the “upper” ones, and the others are all being used by the numerous technicians on the ship trying to fix the issues before we head to Antarctica.  Honestly, it’s not that big a deal...I was just warning folks for future reference.  I’m trying to use this blog as a forum for helping folks booking future cruises on the Eclipse to know what to expect...and thought the issue about the forward cabins on Deck 5 should be noted.  Plus, if Scenic happens to be reading this, they will know that some acoustic tiles or other sort of soundproofing needs to be put into the ceiling of the theater, between it and the cabins on Deck 5.  The ship is beautiful, but she definitely has some design issues that need to be addressed...the lack of soundproofing between the theater and Deck 5 is just one of them.  Sorry if it came across as complaining.

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8 hours ago, TahoeTraveler said:

Sorry if it came across as complaining.

 

No I didn’t take as complaining. I would also find the noise annoying, especially if trying to sleep. 

 

The tv show Getaway, is a travel show in Oz and Catriona Rowntree is currently on board doing this. Catriona is always presenting Scenic tours on the show, she is also the annoying voice that we have to listen too when on hold, when phoning Scenic in Australia. I’ve noticed on Scenic’s Instagram they show a lot of photos from your trip. Take a look because there is an awesome one, taken by drone of the ship in front of the glacier. 

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13 hours ago, czardas said:

 

No I didn’t take as complaining. I would also find the noise annoying, especially if trying to sleep. 

 

The tv show Getaway, is a travel show in Oz and Catriona Rowntree is currently on board doing this. Catriona is always presenting Scenic tours on the show, she is also the annoying voice that we have to listen too when on hold, when phoning Scenic in Australia. I’ve noticed on Scenic’s Instagram they show a lot of photos from your trip. Take a look because there is an awesome one, taken by drone of the ship in front of the glacier. 

Haha...”the annoying voice!”  I had to laugh at that one, as I can imagine how truly annoying it really must be!!  Her crew are super friendly and keep calling us “Reno” because they have watched the US comedy “Reno 911” and we live near there.  We have been promised a DVD of the show when it finally airs, as we have no way of being able to view it in the States.  I really hope they can manage that, as it would be a fabulous reminder of the cruise...despite the voice!!!!

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Found out some interesting info you might find helpful.  We hadn’t ordered room service for dinner because we prefer the more extensive menu at Elements for our evening meal, if we’re not eating at Koko’s or Lumiere.  Well, you actually can order off the Elements menu for room service...and you can also order off the room service menu at Elements, if there’s nothing on their menu that appeals to you, or if you just have a desire for a burger or club sandwich.  So the dining options are much more extensive than it initially appears.  We took full advantage of the Elements menu for room service last night, and it was great!

 

If you schedule a helicopter ride, you might want to ask on the day of the ride if winds or anything else are going to limit the flight, so you can possibly reschedule.  We had our ride yesterday afternoon and the winds had apparently kicked up a bit, so they couldn’t go very high, and they pretty much just flew us around the ship.  We didn’t see anything different than we saw from the ship.  Because we were so low, the pilot couldn’t even fly us over the glaciers or mountains, for fear he would trigger an avalanche.  The morning flights were much better, as the winds were calmer and today’s flights have been absolutely amazing, with the helo flying passengers way over a massive glacier and right up to the sides of the fjord.  Truthfully, our flight was a complete waste of money, as we were on the left side of the helo and the pilot kept flying in a counterclockwise circle so that the glaciers and mountains were constantly on the right side of the bird (I don’t know if this was due to the winds, or just that he was more comfortable with the left hand turns).  Thankfully, the people on the right side were super nice and more than willing to take pictures for us with our camera...because otherwise we’d have almost nothing in the way of photos of the ride.  And for the record, the pilot was not Josh, the guy who grew up in the town we live in (we hear he did a great job of making sure everyone on both sides got to see everything).  Again, the winds could very well have had something to do with that.  But we will at least be more proactive in finding out exactly what any flights we are scheduled for will include the next time (if we ever bother to attempt it again).

 

Went kayaking today and even though it was raining, it was as absolute blast!  Kayaked up to a massive glacier (well, not up to it...as close as we could safely get as it was calving some small amounts of ice and we didn’t want to risk a big one breaking off and sending a tsunami our way!!!) and had a much better time than folks who were stuck with getting there via a Zodiak.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again...the ability to do things like kayak, ride in a submarine or ride in a helicopter (even if it wasn’t exactly the most exciting ride), with the quality and knowledge of Discovery Team members that are available to us, has completely set the Eclipse apart from all other expedition ships.  My opinion only, of course.

 

We are heading out of the Chilean Fjords now and headed to Cape Horn.  We are hoping for a Zodiak landing there tomorrow.  The rainy weather we had this morning has totally cleared and we are enjoying a beautiful afternoon.  I’m hoping it holds for tomorrow!!

 

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Oops, forgot to mention something.  It is beginning to appear that neither the holding tank issue or the provisioning on the ship have anything at all to do with the capabilities of the ship or how Scenic has handled the logistics.  There was some sort of strike in Punta Arenas, so a lot of the items the crew expected to be delivered to the ship were not delivered (in fact, a shipment of items meant for the boutique was actually turned around and sent back to England!!!).  It also appears the the holding tanks could not be dumped in Valparaiso and/or Punta Arenas (not sure if it was one or both), which is why the diversion to the Pacific in order to dump was required.  Nothing to do whatsoever with the ship’s capabilities.  Apparently this whole trip from Lima to Ushuaia has a been a logistical nightmare for the crew, because Chile has not been forthcoming about the issues and dangers we would encounter, and the authorities have also not been helpful whatsoever. I have a feeling the crew will be very glad when we leave Chilean waters and finally make it to Argentina.  And hopefully Ushuaia will be able to properly provision and service the ship.   

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Rather frustrating today.  I was hoping for a spectacular live view of the Scenic Eclipse on the webcam at Ushuaia but the ship is completely hidden by the Viking Sun!  Hoping the latter will move out sometime soon . . . 

 

https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/argentina/tierra-del-fuego/ushuaia/ushuaia.html

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