Day 1 at Sea

The past 24 hours have been quite busy.  We left the hotel in Santiago Sunday morning at 10:15 for the two-hour ride to San Antonio, where we boarded the Seabourn Quest.  When initially planning our cruise, we had debated if we wanted to pay for the airport pickup, the recommended hotel, and the transport to the ship.  We thought we might be able to make all the arrangements ourselves and have considerable savings.  Wisely we decided to let Seabourn take care of everything.  Let’s just say, sometimes it doesn’t pay to be cheap!  We are very grateful that we had the experience and convenience of getting from the airport to the hotel, and then the 2 hours from the hotel to the ship. 

When we got to the port, we found very easy check in and boarding. Our first stop onboard the ship was customer service where we thought we may want to upgrade our room to a larger room, and to get internet set up on our phones. Although available, the Internet is $10 per hour, so we are limiting our time online.

Our room is on the top deck, the 10th deck on the port side (there are 11 decks but the very top is open and consists of basketball court and hot tub.) We are the only “regular” room (still quite exceptional and large) on this deck as all the others are Penthouse Suites.  Nice setup and great view from our balcony.   After we saw where our room was located and how fabulous the view, we decided we did not want to upgrade. 

We were welcomed to the room with 2 bottles of red wine, 1 bottle of champagne, a bottle of Baileys Irish Cream, sodas, bottled water, and a plate of fresh fruit including mango, kiwi, grapes, raspberries, strawberries and melon.  We’re pretty certain we have a primo location.  When they brought a second plate of fresh fruit, Mark commented that they were trying to prevent scurvy.

We sailed away on time with warm weather and sunny skies.

Being on a small ship (fewer than 450 passengers) you feel much more of the ocean waves. Monday morning, we woke to about 6’ seas.  The ship was rolling gently, as we bounced against the walls walking down hall. We debated whether we needed to pull out the seasick patches but decided neither of us needed one yet.

Breakfast was in the restaurant where you could order anything imaginable (Mark had omelet with a croissant, Margo had yogurt with fresh berries, honey, and granola).  Margo went to yoga class while Mark went to hear about the upcoming ports, Puerto Montt and Castro.  Mark then attended the “Meet the Expedition Team” and met an incredibly impressive, experienced, and education expedition team led by Iggy.  The team consists of twenty of the most educated, experienced professionals from all over the world and every known discipline including a young attorney who was an expert in Polar Law!  Iggy said he has been doing Antarctica for 15 years.  For the first eight years, he would show his parents endless photographs and tell stories about his trips.  He finally took them on his ninth cruise and asked them what they thought after the first shore visit.  After a long pause, his mother said, “nothing you have told us prepared us for this experience.”

The expedition team will be giving talks throughout the voyage.  Our first one today was on seabirds.  Not our normal interest but amazingly informative.  Mark is convinced the cruise will be like attending a series of college courses!

We played trivia today. Our team consists of three Australian couples, a Florida couple, and us.  There were nine other teams and we won.  One question that we missed was answered correctly by only one team:  What US state is closest to Africa?  We said North Carolina.  The answer is Maine!  Even though we missed that question, our team still won!  It is helpful to have a diversity of interest and knowledge on one’s team.

Mark met the head of hotel services and asked him what facilities he has for the four pet penguins we promised our grandchildren.  After a hearty laugh, “he said keep them in our bathtub.”  Note, he did not tell Mark I could not bring pet penguins on-board.  Now, we have to research what to feed them and can the kitchen supply our need.  Mark is on it!