Saturday, January 14, 2023
We had already decided that there was nothing on the main dining room menu that called to us so we were going to try the Lido for dinner. I got our backpacks ready for the Puerto Chacabuco tour and charged up the batteries for my camera.
We went to the Ocean Bar first and met a couple from Washington state. I know we had an aggravating time with a delayed flight and bad embarkation, but it paled in comparison to their ordeal. Their flights were delayed and had missed connections, so they got separated from their luggage which held their medications. They did have their medications in their carry-ons but one of their flights was so full that they had to check their carry-ons. Their luggage went one way, and they went another.
Their plans were to arrive in Santiago for a two day stay prior to embarkation and enjoy the city. Unfortunately, the man had an adverse reaction to missing his medication and ended up in the Santiago hospital. Luckily, they were able to get him well in time for them to endure the embarkation. Their luggage did catch up with them just before the ship left. Whew.
We finally went up for dinner about 8:00. I got a bowl of noodles with spicy lamb and a couple of spring rolls. Chuck got a nice size strip loin. We both tore into the meals like hungry hippos before I even thought about a photo.
We came to the room before going to the show just as a steward was returning our laundry. Got that put away and we went to the 9:00 show – Salvatore Hasard who is a vocalist and a multi-instrumentalist. He is Chilean who said he had an Italian mother and a French father. He had a marvelous voice and played guitar, harmonica, piano, and saxaphone.
He sang songs from Tom Jones, Billy Joel, and Willie Nelson to name a few. We thoroughly enjoyed his show. His back-up band was the Holland America Ocean Bar band. He said he would be performing another show in a few days. I hope we will be able to go.
After the show, we went to the Rolling Stone Lounge and listened to the last set of the Rolling Stone Band. They played a number of high energy songs including “1999,” and “Footloose.” Once the band left, we stayed afterwards and danced to a couple of songs from the DJ. Chuck can really move to Lizzo’s “Good as Hell.”
We were anchored by 8:00 this morning and the tenders started to the port soon after. Our tour didn’t start until 1:30 so we were able to have a leisurely morning with coffee from the Coffee Bar and a breakfast in the main dining room.
Since it had stopped drizzling and the sun came out, we decided to take the tender over about noon so that we could walk around the town for a while before it was time for the tour.
Once we got over there, our bags were scanned before we were allowed to go into the main pier building. The cruise director warned us numerous times not to take anything to eat or drink other than bottled water. We also had to take our COVID cards, driver’s license, and the Chilean affidavit.
The town was small, but it had a lot of parks, housing, playgrounds, and some various shrines. I wasn’t crazy about the sign though.
There were also a lot of free-range dogs either running around or just sunning themselves. There were also a number of dogs in fenced yards in the town. Most wanted to be petted.
I only saw one cat.
We walked into a local store. Had an interesting selection of fruit and vegetables, meat, canned goods etc.
As we walked back to the meeting point, we stopped in the souvenir shops. They had no Christmas ornaments, but we did buy a bottle of water.
We got back to the waiting area so we could use the restroom. I also took advantage of the free strong WIFI to upload some of the photos. The ship’s Internet is getting too weak for uploads.
It was soon time for our tour.
Flowers of the Town
Fondest Travel Memories 