This morning we woke up to sunny skies so it looked like a wonderful day for those who had tours booked either for Punta Arenas or for Antarctica.
We had breakfast in the Lido Café and then we worked out in the Fitness Center. Keith worked out on the Elliptical machine for over an hour and Anne Marie did likewise on the Treadmill. Towards the end of the workout the captain came on the speaker with bad news. Due to high winds the local port authority had temporarily suspended all tender activity between the ship and the shore until further notice. About 15 minutes later there was more bad news as the decision was made to cancel all of the tours for the day. We felt very bad for those passenger’s who had tours planned as they were very much looking forward to them. Our plan was to just take a tender into port and to walk around for a few hours since we were here two years ago and we had taken an outstanding tour to see the penguins. We stayed in the Fitness Center for a little while longer so we could also work out on the weight machines. We have continued to work out in the Fitness Center on a regular basis and really enjoy the exercise.
After the workout we went to the Bistro for some coffee and sat with another couple who is on the Full World Cruise. This is their 8th World Cruise, of which seven of the cruises has been with Crystal. While we were in the Bistro the Cruise Director announced that a new program would be issued and that various activities had been added to the program. One of the activities added was trivia.
We are sorry that we didn’t get a chance to walk around town, but we recognize the importance of putting safety first and we are glad that if there were any concerns that the correct decision was made to suspend the tenders and to proceed to Cape Horn.
We do want to share some background information about this port of call.
Punta Arenas was founded in 1848 and began as a busy coaling station until the building of the Panama Canal. Its current population totals 125,000 people, of which, approximately 25% of the people are descendants of Croatian immigrants. It has one of the world’s largest sheep-farming areas and its major exports include wool and mutton.
This port provides the opportunity for many site-seeing options. Some passenger’s had signed up for an excursion which was to include spending over four hours at Antarctica while others had signed up for an excursion where they were to fly over Antarctica for several hours. Hopefully, many of the passenger’s will get back to this wonderful port another time so that they can have the opportunity to participate on these types of excursions.
When they announced the revised program they added another game of trivia. Our team finished in the middle of the pack today. Following trivia, all but one couple from our team had lunch in the main dining room. We had another great lunch.
The ship left Punta Arenas in the afternoon. Before we left a supply boat pulled up next to the Serenity to drop off some supplies. The captain announced that it would be quite windy with winds gusts between 80 and 100 miles per hour. But he said that after a couple of hours that we would be cruising in an inlet so that the seas would not be too bad. With that said, this is not the day to be walking around the promenade deck.
This afternoon Anne Marie went to the cinema room to watch a movie. She saw Little Miss Sunshine and enjoyed it quite a bit. Keith walked around the ship and spent some time talking with fellow passengers.
Tomorrow we will be cruising around Cape Horn. The weather around the Horn can be very unpredictable. The weather can be very nice and within a short period of time can turn very poor. So, we’ll see what tomorrow brings.
Keith & Anne Marie
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