As I have mentioned, I completed all the embarkation information online in several different apps as requested by Holland America prior to the cruise. When you get to check-in, they should be able to pull up your name and/or cabin number and see that all your information is complete, and you go aboard.
Not today. Oh no, not today – the embarkation from Hell. Today, when we reached the desk, I had to pull out our paper copies of our boarding passes, answer the health questions again, get our pictures taken, and passport scanned. I’m surprised they didn’t make us take another COVID test.
Then, they throw in a new wrinkle and say that they must keep our passports. Wait, what? Why? “The ship needs them for the different countries you’ll be entering. Here are your passport receipts – don’t lose them. You will need them to get your passports back.” At this point, who knows if we’ll see them again or not.
We were then directed to the security section so our bags and bodies could be scanned. Since we were not allowed to walk around in the industrial port, we were directed to board yet another bus to be taken just around the corner to the ship.
As we were getting on the bus, we looked over to the sidewalk and saw a long line of people who were waiting to enter the warehouse terminal. Apparently, our bus was not the last bus. I felt sorry for them as the sun was out in force and their line was not moving. They looked as exhausted as I felt.
Once off the bus, we had to show a ship’s officer our paper boarding passes and were finally allowed to walk up the gangway to the ship. Our boarding pass was then scanned one more time, and we were in! – the Embarkation debacle over.
When we made it to our cabin, the first item we found was the program for the fun activities planned for today. Sigh.
So, once we got the news about the delay, we decided to walk around the property. Nicely landscaped. Lots of workers cleaning windows and mopping. People waiting with their luggage in the lobby and around the pool area.
Eventually, we went back to the room to wait until 11:45 to check-out. Got both an email and a text from HAL about the delay in docking and asking that we delay our arrival. Okay. Since we are on a HAL transfer, HAL decides when we arrive. Probably some people on a private transfer are already in route. Going to be chaotic.
We left our room with our carry-ons and backpacks at 11:45 and went to the hospitality desk. Oh, joy! Our time has now been changed to 1:00. We decided to go to the pool bar for a light lunch. We split an order of chicken tenders and steak fries.
Chuck’s favorite waitperson Allison was back. We chatted until it was almost time to head back to the lobby area when the pool bar manager brought out 2 glasses of champagne and a large slice of 3-layer caramel cake.
He said it was because we were so nice and they wanted us to come back (it also could be because Chuck was a generous tipper). Whatever the reason, it was a sweet gesture. And if we ever find ourselves in Santiago again, we would stay here.
Our bus was out front, and we got in line to board. We had to show our negative COVID test results before we were allowed to board. We each got our orange sticker.
The tour bus was very nice – air conditioned, reclining leather seats, adequate legroom space, and a good PA system. We had a HAL guide who described the scenery we were passing and more information about Santiago and Chile in general.
The scenery reminded me of the American Southwest with dry grasses with patches of green and the mountains in the distance. Of course, these were the Andes mountains. We saw numerous farms with horses, cows, goats and even some llamas.
When we got to the port area, the security guard would not let our driver enter and signaled to go another way. The driver went down the next road which turned into a dead end that he then had to turn the bus around in a very narrow space. I thought we were going to get lodged between two walls, but he managed to get us around. We could see the front of the ship. We were very close.
We went a different way and went right past the ship and ended up in the little port town of San Antonio. He turned around again and went back to the port area. He tried another entrance and was allowed in. He parked and the guide indicated we would have to walk to the terminal. Which way? “Just keep walking that way and you can’t miss it.” Okay.
We got to the terminal and were met with controlled chaos even worse than I had imagined that morning. People were still getting off the ship with their luggage. A huge number of people were sitting in straight-backed chairs. Others were standing around or leaning against walls. We quickly realized that nobody had been allowed on the ship yet. WTH? It was after 3:00 already.
A lady was trying to make announcements over a make-shift PA system but with the echo of the warehouse building all you could hear was the Charlie Brown “WHA WHA”. Could not understand a word she was saying.
I found a person with a white shirt who looked official and asked what was the procedure? He said “we call your number when ready.” We just got here. We didn’t get a number. “We ran out of numbers. You last.” So, you are telling me that there is no priority boarding for 4 & 5 star mariners like usual. “I don’t know anything about priority. We call the numbers. You have no number. You last.” Well, okay then.
A fellow passenger heard me talking with the official. He pulled me aside and said there was a lady holding a sign that said 4 & 5 star mariners. He pointed and said she is talking with the man in the red hat (which was Chuck). I made my way back to him, and he muscled us through the crowd to the far-left side of the building to the correct group. We were getting closer to the check-in desk.
Travel Trivia
San Antonio (Santiago), Chile
San Antonio was 80% destroyed by the 1985 Santiago earthquake.
San Antonio is Chile’s second busiest seaport. Valparaiso to the north is the busiest.
Santiago, the capital, was founded as Santiago del Nuevo Extremo (“Santiago of the New Frontier”) in 1541 by the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia. The area was inhabited by the Picunche Indians, who were placed under the rule of the Spanish settlers.
Santiago is the site of two world records involving fruits. In 1984 the company Bozzolo Y Perut Ltda grew a bunch of grapes weighing almost 21 pounds (9.4 kilograms). Six years later in 2000 Santiago resident Luis H. Carrasco E. grafted a prune tree with four other fruits (apricot, cherry, nectarine and peach) setting a world record for the highest number of different fruits produced from the same tree.
The largest and oldest university in the North and South American continents is the Universidad de Chile. It has been around since 1622.
Though the city is free of rabies, as of 2014, an estimated 180,000 stray dogs wander the city. Approximately 80,000 more dogs, which have homes, are also allowed to roam the streets as they please.
The Andes Mountains can be seen from most points in Santiago.
The hotel that Holland America uses for its guests is the Santiago Sheraton Hotel and Convention Center. Large, very nice hotel. We had to show our passports to check-in. The concierge was reminding us not to lose the little piece of paper that we received at passport control as we would need it if we went out around the city, and when we got on the ship. That information would have been nice to know at passport control. Paper not much bigger than a gas station receipt and looked about as inconsequential. I wonder if anyone has already lost theirs.
I was so happy to get our keys. I was looking forward to getting in the room as I was feeling the effects of not enough sleep and brain fog was setting in – worse than normal😐, but we had one more stop to make – the Holland America hospitality desk. There we received our instructions on what (1) bus number we would be on to take us to the ship, (2) what time to leave our checked bags outside our room as they would be picked up and the next time we would see them would be in the cabin (fingers crossed), and (3) what time to be in the lobby to meet the bus.
At 11:00 we were in our room! It was nice with two double beds (or as Chuck called them – oversized twin beds) overlooking the pool area. Of course, the first thing I noticed was that there is no coffee maker in the room. Always seems like these big convention hotels won’t put coffee makers in the room. Drives me crazy.
Since we would be sending out our large bags ahead before our bus pick-up time, I rearranged some stuff from the carry-ons to the large bags. We took off the airline tags and then tagged the large bags with the HAL tags. I had packed my HAL luggage tags and thought I had packed Chuck’s luggage tags, but we couldn’t find them. I just had to tag his bag with a couple of my tags.
My back was sore, and I was starting to get a headache, so I laid down on the bed to rest and take a couple of ibuprofens. Chuck was going to go to the front desk and ask for wash cloths and a bucket of ice and then go try the pool area. He came back after a while and said the pool area was nice with a bar that also offered food. He was surprised that the wash cloths and ice hadn’t been delivered to the room yet. I was feeling better, so I changed from my long-sleeved shirt to a t-shirt, and we went back to the pool bar.
There was a nice breeze, and it was fun chatting with the servers who practiced their English as we practiced our Spanish. We had some beer and tried the meat empanadas. I didn’t ask what kind of meat – sometimes just better not to know.
About 4:30, fatigue set in with a vengeance, and I came back to the room. I tried reading but kept dropping the Kindle. I woke up briefly as Chuck came in. I woke up a couple of times during the night but felt like I slept well overall. Finally woke up for good at 4:30 a.m. Chuck woke up at 5:45.
I was putting our large bags outside the door just as a hotel representative was coming around the corner. She checked our names off of her clipboard and took the bags with her.
As Chuck was putting stuff in his carry-on, we found his luggage tags. I could have sworn we looked in all the bags but as I said, I had brain fog so who knows if we looked in that one or not. I tagged our carry-ons and back-packs with his tags.
We went to the pool area as they had set up a nice breakfast buffet area. The buffet was included in our room rate. They had several stations set up – both hot food and cold food. I especially liked the fresh fruit offered – apricots, blueberries, and strawberries were very sweet. I tried a cream-filled puff pastry that was very good. Chuck said his bacon and eggs were very good also. We were extremely happy with the strong dark coffee.
Once we came back to the room, I decided I should pay our charges from the day before instead of waiting until we checked out. As I opened the door, a guest saw me and asked if we were cruisers. Yes, we were. Well, she said, the ship has been delayed docking because of large swells and our boarding has been delayed two hours. Hmm – Okay.
Not that I didn’t believe her, but I went by the Holland America hospitality desk to see about the transfer. Would our bus still be arriving by 10:30 or will it be delayed also. Answer – our bus would not be picking us up now until 12:30. We would still need to check out by noon. Okay. Seems like patience would be the word of today also. Never a dull moment.
