I left you all at the point when I was about to start in Chile – to me that feels like an age ago now! But I’ll do my best. The first port was Iquique. The shuttle took us over to the main square which looked like a throw back to the old American West. A bit surreal but really pretty. Lots of colourful buildings and elaborate wooden walkways carved and built around the shops on the edge of the square – rather fancy I thought! We walked up and down the high street and mooched a bit before stopping for lunch and a drink. Not the best lunch ever may be an understatement. My food was pretty bleh for a start but most impressively, my friend found a shard of glass in her fries!! Not a little chip that may have accidentally slipped in, but a whole big chunk of it, how?!?! Talk about health and safety. The waiter even left it on the bill at the end. Well I may not speak Spanish but I can communicate “not paying for that!” It got sorted, but not before he chased us down the road for short changing him 100 pesos (like a couple of quid!) the bloody cheek after nearly killing my friend! Regardless it was a pleasant afternoon. Apparently though, there is a great beach in Iquique; well I had no idea otherwise I probably would have done that! I was told there was an alligator pen there as well – I’ll be sure to check it out next time.
After that we stopped at Coquimbo. The day before had been a sea day and a virus was on the ship (few crew members were off with d and v, including my shoppy friendL) so she missed this port. It wasn’t a big outbreak and it’s all done and dusted now but there was a bit of panic as there was a cruise ship a day ahead of us on the same itinerary and they had BIG problems. So paranoia was aboard that we’d have a similar problem so the ship went into virox cleansing overdrive. Rather that than being stuck surrounded by sick people though – only so many can go into quarantine!
This day in Coquimbo was a Sunday though so everything was pretty quiet. We did find the Chilean Primark open and I got a couple of bits – gotta be done! We found a gorgeous restaurant for lunch – it was a balcony overlooking a market square and it had the only English speaking waiter in the region working there – he really is the only English speaking local – I found this out trying to communicate in the store and failing miserably. This wasn’t a particularly exciting port so let’s leave it there!
I said in my last blog that South America was cheap. Well, some of it is! Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay – yes nice and affordable. Argentina and Chile however, not so cheap. English prices basically but it’s funny how although they are prices you would normally expect to pay, here suddenly the bill seems outrageous! These countries probably are cheap (well cheaper than London) but I guess being at touristy ports I’m going to get the mark ups (harrumph).
As I said before, I’m the health and safety rep for my department, which apparently also means I’m our rep at crew welfare meetings. I actually don’t mind these ones, it’s a good chance to say what we want to have change on board, how crew budget should be spent, what events to put on etc. so it’s great for improving our time here. At the moment we’re discussing what to do for Christmas. I’ve put forward the idea of a variety show where the performers all do a bit as well as any crew with secret talents – crew shows are always a great laugh; they’re a nice chance for us to sit in the Grand Salon rather than the guests and kick back with a drink and entertainment.
Apparently they cook christmasy food in the mess on the day but I’m not convinced I’m going to get the Christmas dinner I’m thinking of with the Phillipinos in the kitchen! Yorkshire puddings are a MUST, even if that means me buying frozen ones and asking them to cook them – I’ll do what I have to! We’ll see what happens there, brace yourselves for the Christmas blog ha!
I go to the crew bar probably around 3 times a week. There’s no such thing as going for one. Once you’re there, you’re there! I only go when I know I can handle being out till at least 1am but if I have an early start the next day (usually a sea day) then I stay away because to me sleep is precious! As a shoppy, we’re on a pretty different schedule to other departments. So when we get out of work and to the bar, it’s quite dead in there. By about 12 though the place is rammed. Most of the waiters and bar staff are off by then and they flock to the bar like a moth to a flame. It’s only a small bar so the place is crammed to the max, music is blaring, smoke everywhere, proper dingy dive really but I like it! I find it amusing to think whilst we’re drinking and partying away all the old guests are fast asleep in their beds none the wiser to what’s going on below them, he he.
The clientele on board are for the most part in the later years of their life. I’m talking upper middle aged rather than coffin dodgers. Although I can’t say that for all of them….. There’s something about being on a cruise that switches people’s brains off, the guests ask the most ridiculous questions that only requires some common sense and makes me wonder how on earth they got rich?! I’d say who cares as long as they spend the money but so many of them are unbelievably tight. 9/10 ask for a discount and dislike the discounts you can offer. So many of them love to say “I’ll be back if I win the lottery”, you’re on Seabourn…I know you have money, don’t act like you don’t!! But with all the annoying passengers there can be, I’ve met some great ones too. Whether that’s because they’re looser with the purse strings or that they’re good for a chat, some guests are great to get to know.
Well, to get back to the ports, my next stop in Chile was Valparaiso, near Santiago, the capital. I think we walked in totally the wrong direction because we didn’t find too much and most other people seemed to, doh. We stopped in a café for a drink and every beverage I ordered (Baileys, Pina Colada) they’d run out of, typical! So the waiter offered to make me my own one and it was delicious. I have no idea what was in it but a customised drink is always fun. Our next port was Puerto Montt but I didn’t get off the ship that day. I decided to catch up on bits at home instead and have a chill out day which is good to have now and again. Seeming as I’m coming back and forth so much it’s no big deal, I’ll catch it this time around.
That’s the only thing with ports; you feel obliged to get off because of course, you should! But you walk around so much and then are at work you forget to just have a day off sometimes and relax. However the next day I did get off and it was gorgeous. Puerto Chacabuco. Not much going on there at all but it’s been one of my favourite stops. To disembark the ship here you have to get on a tender (a mini boat) rather than step off in a port. Ships do this when they cannot get into an actual port and just stop nearby one instead. The town is just a small residential area and seemed deserted! All curtains are drawn, all homes are made of corrugated iron. Sort of eerie at first. But the town is in the middle of the fjords and the air is so fresh and it was amazing just wandering around. Most crew didn’t like it here as there’s nowhere to go. But us shoppies found somewhere! We chanced a small hut looking place which turned out to be a bar with a live fire and it was so cosy. I was served the largest amaretto ever and the barman even put on English music for us, so we sat and got piddled before heading back for work, bliss!
This is the point in the itinerary when we were cruising the Chilean fjords which I am doing again now. They’re beautiful. It’s so quiet but breath taking, I’ve got some great snapshots. In amongst the fjords we pass by some glaciers as well which we normally do when I’m stuck in work so I’m hoping to get some better pictures on another cruise through.
The next big passing we did was Cape Horn. I’ve passed it twice now and never seen it properly! We either pass it at 7.30am (I’m in bed) or 8.30pm (I’m at work) I want to see the lighthouse that a man, his wife and son live in for a year to monitor the goings on around there. I know it’s just a lighthouse but it’s a famous one and that makes it intriguing!
By this point, I’m right at the bottom of the globe, pretty much as southern as you can be without going to Antarctica. The next port was Ushuaia in Argentina, the southern most city in the world. But it’s not Chile so although that was almost two weeks ago now I’ll save it for another blog! After Chile comes Argentina, the Falklands, Uruguay then back to Argentina before starting the journey back up again towards Chile. I’m now on my third cruise and things are going well.
Work can be very quiet but sales wise I’m doing well. This cruise has been quiet so far but the first two were successful. At the end of every cruise each guest is asked to fill out a comment card and give their opinion on each department. Our company takes a big interest in how the shops are rated on board and last cruise I got a personal mention by a guest for being sweet and knowledgeable! (Big head moment)
Well I hope you enjoyed this blog and next one I’ll let you know about the other countries and any other antics from on board! Chile isn’t a particularly exciting country, and it’s very chilly in Chile (excuse the pun)
I’m getting a new cabin roomie in a few days as well as a new manager so big changes are coming – let’s see!
Kaska
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