It’s boarding day! It is hard to believe it’s finally here.
I don’t usually write while cruising, as I’m too cheap to buy the internet packages so have limited connectivity along the way. I made an exception to this one (about writing – not about the internet) and hope you won’t mind too much the long pauses in between postings when we are out of contact for several days.
Most of these are written on my phone, so please excuse if (when) I miss a needed correction.
I’ve received a lot of questions about cruising, so will include some pictures of the ship along the way, and information that might be helpful – and hopefully interesting.
We have learned that some traveler usually sets up a Facebook group for the particular cruise, and found one for this trip that has been informative and helpful. Some folks who were on the cruise before us joined and provided updates along the way (they bought the internet package!).
Typically, in order to board, we would take our luggage and go to a large cruise terminal where there might be several glamorous cruise ships docked along the quays. There we would leave our luggage at the curb, go inside and check in, and walk from the terminal aboard the ship – usually through a series of walkways similar to jetways that you pass through for an airplane.
Some people arrive the day of the cruise and go directly from the airport. We choose to arrive the day before to hopefully avoid missing the ship due to travel delays (it happens more than you might think!). So far that has worked well.
Today there seemed to be some consternation among our Facebook fellow travelers about where to go for check-in related to damage to the cruise terminal from a storm a few weeks ago. We decided to follow the instructions on our boarding pass (imagine that) and go to the terminal. Apparently, that was the right decision.
Our taxi driver, Carlos, (with my travel companion, Little Frog directing him), dropped us at an obviously temporary location and entrance. We waited inside in a line to leave our bags with the cruise line and sat in an un-air-conditioned waiting area (it’s a humid 85 today) for only about 20 minutes before boarding a bus that took us to a commercial shipping container port.
From the bus we entered a terminal, went up the escalators to check in, through passport control, to another desk where the cruise line took our passports to keep until the end of the cruise (we travel with copies), and out the back way to another bus that would take us to our ship.
After weaving through and among multiple and enormous stacks and rows of shipping containers being constantly moved about by giant arms with dangling magnetic puppets,
(The operator sits inside that cabin underneath and “drives’ the giant yellow magnets below)
the bus driver found our ship – the Oosterdam (pronounced O-ster-dam) of the Holland America Line.
We were welcomed aboard by the typical smiling faces of the crew, and we sighed with relief and gratitude at having made it to the ship – and its air-conditioning.
Our key cards were waiting in a holder by our cabin door and our luggage arrived shortly after. We unpacked and settled in, watched the safety video on the TV, and found and checked in at our muster station, where we could be directed in case of an emergency – Deck 3, Lifeboat #16. We will pre-fit our life jackets to each of us and have them ready in the unlikely event they are needed.
Days can run together onboard, and one of the nice things they provide is a way to tell what day it is. Just open any elevator, and there will be the day of the week. For dates, you’re on your own.
We chose a balcony cabin for this trip, as we will be cruising for days through scenic passages and Chilean fjords, past glaciers, and among ice bergs in Antarctica. We were later able to change to an aft (rear) cabin which provides an amazing view, on deck 5 – which on this ship gives us a covered balcony. That will be great if it rains! The bonus we discovered on arrival is that it is both a significantly longer cabin and balcony. Nice!
An hour later it was time for dinner, which we had in the Lido Restaurant on deck 9. This is where the buffets of food are presented, with tonight’s menu including (among many other good choices) barbecued ribs, prime rib, chicken, salmon, various vegetables, salads, fruits, cheeses, an array of distinctive breads, and of course – desserts from cakes and pies, to flan and mousses, to crepes, cookies, and ice creams.
Typically, we would have been sailing away as we ate dinner, but the ship is remaining here in Buenos Aires until Tuesday (as scheduled)
I’ll share more later about life on board. Tonight, we found the dutch game that we like to play called Sjoelen, where you attempt to slide pucks through holes at the far end, and returned to our cabin to get ready for tomorrow’s excursion, put some TV movies on a “Watch List” for later, and write to you!
Thanks much for the emails and comments. We like hearing from you. If you have specific questions let me know and I’ll try to answer them.
More tomorrow! Sleep fast!