Silver Cloud #1001 - Ushuaia RT via South Georgia - January 4, 2020

[Stumblefoot]

1 hour ago, jpalbny said:

Stumbles, was this a group transfer? That's a lot luggage!

 

 

Haha JP, no, you know us better than that to realize that is no group transfer.  That’s all ours baby!

 

Our experience in Senso was a bit different than yours.  Just 90-minutes later than you @ 8:30a, service was “meh”.  Coffee requests were made in both English and Spanish, yet we still had to get up from the table and approach the hostess who seated us to see if she could get us some coffee.  She did.

 

When/where did you receive the info re: the SS briefing and departure?  We didn’t receive anything related to SS upon check-in.  I doubt we’ll make the 6:00p briefing as we’ll just be returning from a full day of touring and rushing around to get showered and cleaned-up in order to depart for a dinner reservation @ 7:00p.  Really, really glad to hear departure is @ 7:45a as I figured it would be much earlier based on our previous experiences with SS.

 

Lastly, as folks will see, our view from the 14th floor is very similar.  We look directly across the street to a very good hotel we’ve stayed at before and that appears as a sail when lit at light; The Renaissance.  They have a very good club lounge there.

[jpalbny]

Stumbles, stop by the SS desk. It's in the room behind the glass doors, on the left when you walk into the hotel. Pick up your information packet there.

 

There is more than one bus, so no guarantee that you're in the last one - they said that ours is the last bus.

 

We are on 14 as well. Love that view!

[rich48100]

Glad you all made it to your first destination safely.  Enjoy you cruise and all the animals and sites. Looking forward to more info and pictures going forward.

[briar14]

We have been at the hotel since Jan. 1 on 16th floor, same view as others. Two full day tours with Esteban Ramos, think this is a different Esteban. They were excellent. One was to Casablanca Valley for two winery tours. Today’s tour included Vina del Mar and Valparaíso. Lunch choices both days were very good—tasting menu at winery, Casas del Bosque and a restaurant on Concepcion Hill in Valparaíso, Restaurant La Concepcion. Our experience at hotel restaurants has been fine, efficient breakfast with plenty of yogurt and fruit, perfectly cooked salmon at dinner. We are on the 7:15 bus tomorrow. 🐧

[Stumblefoot]

2 hours ago, jpalbny said:

Stumbles, stop by the SS desk. It's in the room behind the glass doors, on the left when you walk into the hotel. Pick up your information packet there.

Got it.  Thx for letting us know.  We’re all set.

 

Getting cleaned up now for our dinner at Boragó tonight.  So, will not be at the 6:00p meeting.

[QueSeraSera]

We are enjoying following each of you and your adventures!  Luggage was for 3 in tiny trunkspace, seemed reasonable Stumbles 😉 .  From travel for work experience, there are some terrific red wines in Argentina.  Hope the carmenere depicted tasted as good as it looked JP, and that the wine tours were enjoyable briar14!  Hope all goes well tomorrow AM and pleasant travel!!

[RachelG]

Long day of touring Casablanca, but very worthwhile.  Here are some pics

[Stumblefoot]

1 hour ago, RachelG said:

 

 

The animals all seem to know George has a tender heart for everyone of them.

 

Be sure he asks Silver Princess about her two wild dog episodes today.  She’s like the pied piper of little animals.

[Stumblefoot]

3 hours ago, QueSeraSera said:

Luggage was for 3 in tiny trunkspace, seemed reasonable Stumbles.

Thanks QueSeraSera!  That makes me feel better.  I don’t think I’ll ever hear the end of it from JP. 😁 Especially once he sees them in person.

[Stumblefoot]

Here’s a shot from the room as we prepare to depart for the charter bus and a short video of the pool area of the Hotel Santiago where SS puts up guests of the Silver Cloud.  Remodeling inside the hotel should be complete by end of March.

[spinnaker2]

Stumble/aka little red hen,

Very waterfally.

Warmer clime than Colorado and Antarctica I reckon.

 

Keep us posted on the traverse of the washing machine.

[Fletcher]

The Cloud and the Explorer both alongside at Ushuaia right now waiting for you Stumblefoot, Rachel and jpalbny. The Ponant Le Soleal is on 'our' side of the pier.

 

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

Edited January 4, 2020 by Fletcher

[jpalbny]

Looking at them now! Wish we were boarding, but we have to do the panoramic tour first. Sorry for the crummy bus picture. 

 

 

You can see Cloud to the left, and le Soleal in the foreground. Explorer is mostly hidden but her nose is sticking out to the right of le Soleal. Thanks for the heads up, Fletcher. 

[Lois R]

Hi JP, your pictures are never crummy!

[RachelG]

January 4, 2020-Santiago to Ushuaia for embarkation

We have a good night’s sleep in our very comfortable, if somewhat hazardous, room at the Santiago Mandarin Hotel.  I have never had a 2 level hotel room before. The bed was on the upper portion, with a sitting area and desk on a lower level 2 steps down.  No railing, so you could just tumble down at night.  Major fall hazard, but beautiful to look at.

We had to be up early to go to the airport.  We had a quick and delicious breakfast (included), then to the airport where we quickly moved through security and immigration.  No lines at all at 8 am.  It was quite a hike to the gate—2700 steps according to my Fitbit.

There are usually no direct flights to Ushuaia—this was a charter on Latam.  All coach and packed full with tiny seats.  George’s knees were crammed against the seat in front.  Boarding, we saw many old friends.  

The flight was 3 1/2 hours, but uneventful. The Ushuaia airport is tiny, so it took quite a long time to make it through customs, since there were only 4 agents.  But the good news was that by the time we made it through our luggage was waiting.

We stepped out to a cool but sunny day with little wind, unusual for here.  There were snow capped mountains on all sides.  We boarded buses and were taken to a lodge out in the countryside for carne asado lunch.  I do a much better carne asado (this was very fattyand full of gristle), but I am picky about that sort of thing.  I do think it was a good idea because by the time we arrived at the ship, the rooms were ready, and our luggage had been delivered.  The correct boots were in the cabin, but the parkas were a total fail—2 mediums.  Haha on George fitting in that, and it swallowed me.  I will sort that out ASAP.

I quickly unpacked.  We have a balcony cabin on deck 5 forward.  Lots of storage space, and very comfortable.  Muster drill and briefing quickly followed.  Then dinner in La Terraza with JP and Chris.  Food was great, and in no time, it was 10:30.  I had the mixed salad, lentil soup and pansotti with walnuts.  That is probably my favorite combination up there.  JP’s osso bucco looked delish though a little heavy for me.  George had the same salad and soup as I did but then some pasta with a tomato sauce.  He thought the dessert was outstanding—some sort of hazelnut torte.

[Stumblefoot]

14 hours ago, spinnaker2 said:

Keep us posted on the traverse of the washing machine.

Felt just like Colorado in the summer.  Perfect!

 

Will keep you updated on the washing machine. The forecast for the first three days sailing to South Georgia is good with the caveat, “at this moment”.

 

8 hours ago, Fletcher said:

The Ponant Le Soleal is on 'our' side of the pier.

Screwed up our ability to get a really cool shot of them together.

 

8 hours ago, jpalbny said:

...but we have to do the panoramic tour first.

 

The tour was an utter waste of time.  What I don’t understand is the Cloud arrived in Ushuaia a day early at 7:00.  So, it wasn’t like it was late and they needed to send us arriving passengers “out” to give the crew time to prepare the ship.  

We landed around 1:30p and by the time everyone cleared customs (all 4 lanes open to process a full A321) it was late.  On the plane we were given a document that said we’d be transported directly to the ship for a late lunch at 2:00p.  Well, for whatever the reason, SS decided to give us a tour that was merely a bus drive to a lamb joint where by the time we were served our lunch it was 4:00p.  We finished around 4:30p, but the bus didn’t leave until 5:15p.  By the time we arrived at the ship, it was a madhouse to get everyone on board and into their rooms so the muster exercise could be completed followed by the introduction of key staff and a brief overview of the voyage.  Once that was all completed it was 7:45p and we hadn’t even started unpacking yet.  
 

So, it’s been a frustrating start.  And, we even had to cancel our dinner with JP/Chris & Rachel/George due to no fault but my own as I picked up some sort bug in Buenos Aires that turned into a cough unlike no other I’ve had in recent memory and am still fighting it as I battle laryngitis at the same time.  
 

On the bright side our Butler (Richard) and Room Steward (Rebecca) are great.  They worked late to serve us a quick in-room dinner, found our special beverage order, followed by setting up a rollaway bed for me to sleep on the next two nights so that my coughing hopefully doesn’t keep DW and Silver Princess awake.  After only about 90-minutes of sleep last night before the 6:00a charter flight wake-up call, I’m really looking forward to these three sea days at the beginning of our voyage so that I can hopefully rest and recover.

[Stumblefoot]

3 minutes ago, RachelG said:

The bed was on the upper portion, with a sitting area and desk on a lower level 2 steps down.  No railing, so you could just tumble down at night.  Major fall hazard, but beautiful to look at.

 

The correct boots were in the cabin, but the parkas were a total fail—2 mediums.  Haha on George fitting in that, and it swallowed me.

Agree on the weird Mandarin bedrooms.  I slept on a rollaway on that lower level and I’m sure if you had night vision it would have been quite comical to watch me feel/follow along the wall praying I found the railing before falling down the steps.

 

We had the same screw up on parkas and even boots.  Not thrilled with the early exchange @ 8:30a, but I want to be comfortable so we’ll be there.

 

Sorry we missed dinner. 😢

[spinnaker2]

Yikes you all!!

Please feel better stumble.

Others seem to have had better starts

 

Happy sailing!

[RachelG]

 

Ushuaia sailaway pics

 

[spinnaker2]

Sea of glass!!

[Stumblefoot]

12 minutes ago, RachelG said:

Ushuaia sailaway pics

 

Adding ours...

[QueSeraSera]

90 minutes of sleep not enough, especially with a cough trying to take hold.  Take care of yourself Stumbles.  I'd recommend a shot of brandy at bedtime to ease that cough, but I accept this has no medical basis. 

Beautiful pictures Rachel, thank you for posting!

[Stumblefoot]

And, where the lamb was prepared.

[les37b]

Have a great journey guys. Looking forward to sailing along with you.

[RachelG]

8 hours ago, spinnaker2 said:

Sea of glass!!

So far....