Today we began the first of two sea days as we cruise to Punta Arenas, Chile. In the morning, the Serenity sailed in inside passage so that we had beautiful scenery al around us. The outside temperature was quite nice with nice clouds descending on the hilltops giving the illusion of snowcaps. What breathtaking views all around us. While we love Alaska, we find sailing around South America to be even more breathtaking with far fewer cruise ships and more pristine views of the coastline.
Chile’s coastline from North to South is 2,700 miles, almost the same distance of the United States between Los Angeles and New York City. Given the length of the country, its characteristics and climate vary to a large extent from lush land to the desert. It is a beautiful country as is other countries in South America such as Argentina.
We started off this wonderful day by having breakfast in the Lido Café. We had a very nice conversation with a fellow world cruiser who we have come to know quite well since the voyage began. Following breakfast we went to the Fitness Center for our morning workout and then caught up on other items.
Anne Marie took some time to write in her journal, which she has been doing her best to keep up to date since our journey began and Keith worked on some other related items. We also took the time to view first hand the beauty of the coastline. Keith also had his first haircut on the ship this morning.
So many activities are offered today including many lectures. This included a lectures given by Dr. Bernard Stonehouse on Antarctica, along with a lecture given by Geologist Geoff Renner on Antarctica: “A Continent for Science, Education and Exploration”. We attended both lectures and each presenter shared so much wonderful information with us.
Since today was a sea day we had trivia at 12:00 Noon. Our team finished in forth place today. There were some difficult questions. Do you know when the internet was launched?
For lunch, as they do on each cruise segment, there was an Asia Café Luncheon Buffet around the Neptune Pool. We passed on the buffet, and ate in the Crystal Dining Room with several members from our trivia team. We prefer the table service in the dining room.
After lunch, Anne Marie took her second class on the Piano and is enjoying the experience. Keith enjoyed the surrounding scenery and continued to read his book. He also met up with one of the couples on the cruise from Cruise Critic. Afterwards, we went to the Bistro, which is a venue that is unique on cruise lines offering morning and afternoon breakfast, lunch and snacks along with various types of coffees and teas. We sat with a very nice couple that we met the other day who is doing two segments of the World Cruise.
We had a very nice dinner this evening in the Crystal Dining Room. We dined with one of the couples at our table, as the other couple assigned to our table ate in Silk Road. Tomorrow evening that couple will be in the restaurant by themselves since as it turns out we will be in one of the specialty restaurants and the other couple also has reservations in one of the specialty restaurants. We always let the senior waiter know of our plans so that they set the table accordingly. So, for example, this evening they set the table for the four of us and tomorrow evening they will set the table for two people.
Following dinner, we attended a cocktail party hosted by the travel consortium, Signature Travel Network, which our cruise specialist is affiliated with. Coincidentally, the travel agent for the other couple who ate with us this evening is also affiliated with Signature so they also attended the cocktail party. These parties provide a nice opportunity to meet other people traveling on the cruise either for one segment or multiple segments. There are pretty much three large consortiums. The most well known of the three consortiums is Virtuoso, and the other two include Signature Travel Network and Ensemble. Each of these consortiums provide their clients with some benefits ranging from complimentary cocktail parties from time to time and shipboard credits and either some type complimentary shore excursion or in our case some shipboard credits that we can utilize for shore excursions. At the same time there are many travel agents/cruise specialists who are not associated with these consortiums and provide other benefits for their clients.
As we sail around the beautiful continent of South America we feel so very fortunate to have the opportunity to sail on this World Cruise adventure. Everything about this voyage continues to exceed our expectations.
Keith & Anne Marie
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