March 3, 2009 Our Journey is Over

It might have taken us eight months but we are finally going to finish this blog! March 3, 2009 Valparaiso, Chile. We were up at 5:30 and watched as we docked this morning. We went to breakfast and then gathered the rest of our belongings and carry on's and headed to the show lounge to meet our tour. It was so sad to leave that cabin for the last time. We weren't even in the lounge long enough to sit down when they called our tour. We headed down the stairs to Deck 0 and Jaime was there to say goodbye. We gave her a hug and thanked her for the fun and all the goodies she gave us and it caused a little tearing up after 31 days but Debbie and I sucked it up and headed off the ship and down the gangway. We found the bus and within minutes we were on our way to the terminal building and it was just barely light outside. Once there, we had to stand in a line and have the dogs sniff us and our belongings we had with us for FRUIT not drugs. Chile is very serious about the no fruit brought from anywhere else since their ecomony depends on fruit and vegetable exports. They had made so many announcements about this since we have been in Chile that is it is difficult to believe that someone would get off the ship with a piece of fruit but they did and were escorted away by the policia. You can be jailed there for this offense. We then went through security and out to find our tour bus for our full day tour of Valpraiso, Vina del Mar and Santiago and then onto the airport. We have not seen our luggage since it was put outside the cabin the night before and we were told that it would be at the airport waiting for us when we arrive tonight--right! Anyway, we are off shortly and it is amazing that there are funiculars everywhere here but they have huge hills too. I posted a picture of one above. It is overcast and drizzling and although this is a large city with it's share of monuments and important buildings there is not much that is noteworthy. The bus climbs the mountain and we head out of town towards Santiago. Soon we arrive at what is described as a "seaside town" and it is beautiful! Vina del Mar is a gorgeous city and where those that can afford to vacation in Chile come. It was beautiful in the rain and had it been a sunny day we could have had some spectacular pictures, but the two middle photos are from there. We then headed on to the wine country of Chile and they have some beautiful scenery along the way. They took us to a country estate for what was called a snack of an impanata and a drink. This place was beautiful and looked like a place here where thy would have events or weddings. There was also a church and an ostrich farm on the property. We walked around there a bit and took photos and then we headed on the last leg of the trip towards Santiago. By the time we reach Santiago, the weather is beginning to clear a bit so when we crest the mountain we can see how big this city really is. People drive crazy here--if there are 8 lanes painted on the road those that drive here will make 12--lines makes little difference except to divide which direction those 12 lanes are moving. Chile is a very nice country and very clean and they landscape every little piece of land so it all is very manicured and nice. We go to Christobal Hill first and take the funicular to the top of the mountain which was quite the experience. There is one that goes up and another that goes down and they use the same track with the exception of the one area right in the middle where it bows off on two sides--yikes! It was still very cloudy when we got to the top but what a view of the city and it is huge! The zoo is right next to the funicular so we can see the animals from above and on the way up and down the mountain. From there they took us to dinner and it is now about 2:30 and we drive up the mountainside to another beautiful hillside restaurant which is a venue for events as well. Very nice and we had wine and a nice hot dinner before taking off again to tour the city. We get to the Santiago Intercontinental hotel at about 5 and the ballroom is set up with tables and chairs and they have waiters. There are Carnival personnel there and a board with information. We check in and are told we will be on the 6:30 bus to the airport. We get a drink and visit with others that we know from the ship. Trina is with us. She and her aunt were at our dining table all of the second leg. We are all tired now and ready to get to the airport and go home. We finally board the bus and get on the way. It was about a 40 minute ride from the hotel to the Santiago airport. The bus pulls up and our guide tells us that we should find our luggage then head inside to check in with the airline. To our total amazement when we got off the bus, the luggage was on luggage carts in neat rows and all we had to do was find ours which we easily did and headed inside. Carnival couldn't have done a better job on this tour--from beginning to end it was efficient and well handled and well worth the money we paid for it. The story of our Delta flight would take too long to describe but the flight itself was not the issue but rather the rude attendants. I also lost my neck pillow which I thought had probably fallen into the seats behind us. Debbie tried to feel around to see if she could find it and grabbed the woman's leg in the seat behind us and she yelled. We laughed so hard I almost wet my pants--again! We arrived in Atlanta only to find out that I would have to fly to Memphis with Debbie because of us trying to outsmart Carnival's air department who wouldn't put us on the same flight coming back unless our end destination was the same. Debbie was booked on the Delta flight direct to Atlanta and I live here and they had me on an American flight to Miami with a 6 hours layover. So we thought we would just tell them I was going to Memphis and who would care if I stayed in Atlanta? Wrong, you can't get your luggage because of the Customs situation it goes back through the baggage conveyor and of course they are tagged to go to Memphis. So I had to go to Memphis and then once there buy a ticket back to Atlanta so the lesson learned was don't try to outsmart the professionals! I was so tired when I got home since you just can't sleep on those overnight flights and dozing just doesn't get you any rest and we had by then been up a day and a half. It was all in all an absolutely great trip that I will never forget. Deb Ward, Karen and Lady Kay stayed on the ship another 17 days to San Francisco for a total of 49 days. We had to live through Kay's blog once we got off. Being on a ship that long was very different than just taking a cruise. It became home and the staff was like family. Debbie and I really missed it for the first week we were back but reality sets in quickly and you slowly settle back into your life as before you left. We loved every minute of this adventure and have had one since on the Carnival Valor that we will try to add if we can remember all of it. Thanks for following our trip with us and stay tuned for our next adventure!

Oh, our bags are packed and we are ready to go—we’re leaving from the funships, don’t know when we’ll be back again. Well we are ready to put everything out and go to bed. We had said our good byes to all and it was sad. Romie said to be sure and say hi to Teresa and the kids and Eddie and Sonja too. All are hoping to be assigned to the Carnival Dream when it sails but won’t know for sure. We will be off the ship by 8 AM in the morning so maybe I can call home before we leave the airport tomorrow night. Love to everyone and look forward now to getting home. Thanks for reading and keeping up with us!

Love,

Cheryl and Debbie

March 2, 2009, Monday Final Sea Day. It was a beautiful sunrise and very warm outside. Debbie is still not able to talk but we got dressed and headed to the dining room for breakfast. We got a table by the window and enjoyed the people who were seated with us as breakfast is open seating. Sonja always gives us a great table though. We came back to the cabin and began the task of getting things together to pack. Deb stopped by and had the old fashioned picture we had taken last night and it was cute. After she left we really started packing. It’s hard because we need to have some things to freshen up and change into since we are on an all day tour tomorrow of Valparaiso and Santiago and will be taken to a hospitality suite before we go to the airport. So currently we are trying to sort into what we need where. We also have tips to do tonight so we need to go get change so most of today will be spent getting this done. We just saw CNN news and they showed SNOW in Atlanta—OMG! Hope you all are enjoying an extra day. I’m sure it will be gone by the time I get there. Sad that it has to end since we truly have had a great time and saw things I never believed I would ever see or do. It has been a great experience. I will update you before we have to shut things down tonight if we have service. Look forward to seeing everyone!

February 28th, Puerto Montt, Chile. We were awake before dawn wondering if we were going to be able to get off. It was foggy and raining llamas and alpaca’s. Debbie and I were doubtful the captain would let us tender but lo and behold we were told we would be able to tender this morning. We were in the 3rd tender to leave the ship and it was pouring rain. We got to the dock and had to find the tour guide because this was a private tour set up by Kay. We find them and walk to the van and it’s not what she was told we would have. Some of us were already in the van and now were told to get out and they were sending a bigger one for us. There were 9 of us to begin with. The 5 of us girls, me & Debbie, Karen, Deb & Kay then two older ladies that Kay knew from a previous cruise – Jean and Jeanette and Janis and Richard who had been with us on a tour in Buenos Aires. The second van comes and it is not much bigger than the first and we all pile in with our guide “Luiz” who looks like someone they picked up off the street but we begin our trek to “Fruitillar” which Kay and I find amusing—it is pronounced fruit-e-r. We arrived there about a half hour later and all pile out of the van. It is a cute little place on the big lake below the volcano which looks a lot like Helen with all the german people and the homes looked like chalets. It was before 10 AM on Saturday so nothing was really open yet but we did find one shop and looked around and then headed back to the van. Janis was looking for Luiz who was not visible and I asked her if something was wrong and she said she wanted him to find her a taxi back to the ship. And so the saga of the day begins. She and Richard were in the front row of seats with Luiz who could actually have had better hygiene habits and she and Richard transferred to another van there which meant there were now 7 of us. Jean wanted to get peso’s from a teller machine and there was a bank we had passed a few blocks away from where we were. She told Luiz what she wanted and he said in the next placed we were going. That was not good enough for Jean and she and Luiz had a disagreement. Now we are all on edge because Luiz doesn’t understand why Janis and Richard are gone and now he and Jean are having a spat about the teller machines. We did not stop until we got to the next town so I guess Luiz won and really I don’t know why there was such an “issue” but this city is called Puerto Varas which is the “city of roses” and it truly was—there were roses and bees everywhere! We left Jean and Jeanette with Luiz and the teller machine and went to a small market on the lake. We looked through all the booths and took some pictures, while Kay bought some jewelry and headed back to meet the van in front of the casino which you will all be proud to know we only entered to use the banos! Our next stop is the llama and alpaca farm which was on the way to the restaurant where we were having lunch and a very pretty spot across the street from the lake with a beautiful view of the volcano. The weather has gotten a little better at each stop and at least it is not raining anymore. The suspension system in the van and the road conditions left much to be desired and we were glad to get out of the van. They have a small shop where the owners are selling scarves and shawls made from alpaca yarn and a little luncheonette where you can buy snacks. Debbie and the girls buy scarves and I go for the coke since I was dying of thirst by now. We take pictures of all of the animals and there is a mother with a two day old calf which was so cute. Kay bought some food to feed them and she was so funny with them. They literally surrounded her trying to reach the food. We all laughed and had a great time there. We pile back in and head to the restaurant. We have two choices—salmon or meat according to Luiz before we arrive and we are greeted by an American who owned the restaurant, seated and we ordered. The food is brought our quickly and it was very good. The meat was roast beef that was very good which roasted potatos and fresh vegetables, Chilean wine, rolls and a local berry cheesecake for dessert. Everything was very good and it was enjoyable. Janis and Richard are already at the restaurant and we recognize a lot of people from the ship. Our next stop if the Petrohue Falls (photo above) so we are off again. We are sitting in traffic while they are paving the road and the Carnival Crew bus was behind us. We waited so long, they got off and walked past us and Jaime was in the group and they were going White Water rafting just ahead of where we were stopped so they walked the rest of the way. We finally get to the falls and walk through the park and it was worth the hike. This was absolutely beautiful place and I have never been anywhere where I have seen water rushing through and down rocks like that. The color of the water was that blue you see only in the Caribbean. Jean and Jeanette decide not to make the trek to the falls. Debbie and I passed Dirk our naturalist speaker on the way back from the falls. We also pass Jean and Jeanette who have decided after we had already been gone they wanted to go so now we wait for them in the heat as now the sun is shining and it’s hot and the bees are chasing me everywhere. On the way back we pay Luiz for the tour which they told us to bring “clean” American money—this put a whole new spin on money laundering. Debbie and I washed and pressed it and we all handed him our money and he had great difficulty counting it. This brought Kay, Debbie and I to near hysteria laughing while Deb tried to help Luiz count the $525. We finally get back to the dock and it starts pouring rain again and it is slippery and hard to get in the tender. We do make it back to the ship and have dinner reservations in the Pinnacle and we had 30 minutes to get ready. We do and enjoy their “tasting menu” which was 10 petite servings which took us 3 ½ hours to eat but it was very relaxing and the food was wonderful. The weather gets worse and they are having problems getting the tenders back to the ship so we leave late and apparently there are many that got sick in the tenders that came back after ours. We come back to the cabin after dinner and head to bed as it is not 10 PM.

March 1, 2009, Sunday and a Day at Sea. Debbie has laryngitis this morning so although we are up and moving, we order coffee from room service and she takes some medicine. We are working on downloading our pictures from yesterday and Kay and Deb come by to visit. We were exchanging pictures and flash drives so that we all had each others photos. We planned on meeting for trivia at 11:30. We did some hand wash and sent some things out, finished getting dressed and headed to trivia. Again, another misprint since Lauren didn’t know about it or have one ready. We visited with some others gathered for the same reason and headed to lunch in the dining room, the went up to Lido for the “chocolate buffet” which really wasn’t good so Debbie and I went to the casino and entered the slot contest. Yours truly was a final contestant and in the final 9 but came in 4th for the $500 prize—bummer! We came back and dressed for dinner since the Past Guest reception as being held the entire length of Deck 5 since there were 2500 this cruise so we joined 2500 of our closest cruisers for free cocktails before dinner. Romie was in good spirits tonight and was trying to talk me and Debbie into staying on with the other girls for the last leg. We went and had the old fashioned pictures taken as gun malls and about wet our pants laughing while we did it. We drew quite a crowd too and people were taking our picture so we can’t wait to see how funny that is tomorrow. Then we went to see VROOOM the production show and it was awesome and came back to get Debbie medicine and so I could write this and yesterday’s since we had no time to do this. Tomorrow is packing day and everyone is getting sad that we are leaving.

February 27, Day at Sea in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chile. Last night was another night of high winds and rough seas. The captain said this morning that we had winds in excess of 90 MPH more than hurricane force crossing the bow as we entered the ocean and stayed that way off and on through the night. We had waves crashing over the promenade deck 5 that splashed as high as our deck (8) so it was rolling pretty good. I got up this morning and went to the bathroom and came out only to wind up in the chair on the wall next to the bed! I’ve got another lovely bruise on my leg but Debbie and I had a good laugh about it—it was similar to falling off the treadmill but this time I was hanging onto the bathroom door handle! We got up and went to Dirk’s seminar on Puerto Montt where we are supposed to tender tomorrow—I personally am doubtful this will happen but if we don’t there are people on this ship that will be killing each other since they are getting cabin fever being stuck onboard since Ushuaia which was 4 days ago. It has been rough seas most of the day although it seems a bit better now but the captain said he would try to get out of the weather during the dinner hours. It is so foggy that the foghorn is on automatic now every 2 minutes it goes off. It is much warmer outside now than yesterday but apparently the water is very cold. After Dirk’s talk we went to the cooking demonstration in the Pinnacle which were the same things they did the first time we went but we got to sample them and since we missed breakfast, we were hungry and Debbie never had dinner last night so she was really hungry. After that we went to Trivia and were awful on 9 out of 20 correct—lots of rock and roll 70’s & 80’s stuff but we did win yesterday twice and got medals and the coveted “Ship on a Stick” or Dingy on a Thingy as it is also referred to—Kay and I were hot yesterday with name that tune kind of trivia. But Debbie and Kathy were as well and got second place medals. Tonight was “elegant” night again and I hope the last of them. Debbie and I have started gathering our things to start packing to come home. Puerto Montt tomorrow is our last port before Valparaiso or Santiago where we get off. We will be doing a ship tour there that day since our plane doesn’t leave until 10:30 PM. The girls from the Pinnacle came to the dining room tonight and apologized for our issues last night at dinner and offered our dinner up there tomorrow night to be free—we will see if that happens when we get there. We are getting ready for bed again early as we need to meet at 7:30 AM to get tender tickets to get off the ship tomorrow for our tour. Hope everyone has a great weekend. Oh, forgot to mention to my three grandchildren—Lindsay, Christopher & Paige that I got to meet with “Funship Freddy” yesterday and got them “Freddy” T-shirts. We hugged and he (well actually his interpreter) said he was 6, he lives in the funnel and his favorite food is pizza. He also keeps his tennis shoes very clean.

Well we got to the Pius Glacier earlier than anticipated at about 5:15 PM and it was worth waiting all day for this. The weather was getting bad again and it made it hard to see and take pictures but we saw it even though the pictures are a bit washed out due to the rain and snow and we saw lots of Burgie Bits floating by us and some just a beautiful color blue. We went to dinner at Italian night which was supposed to be run by the Pinnacle restaurant which is the pay restaurant upstairs. This was limited seating that they were doing on lido by the pool. It was supposed to be Debbie, Kay, Karen, Deb & me. We originally made the reservations for 5 which they said we would have to do a 4 and 2 at two different tables—whatever. We go tonight and Debbie and I are there first and they sit us at the 2 top and tell us they will wait to take our order until everyone comes—the other girls came and were seated at a 4 top next to us. I tried to order wine but couldn’t get Chianti by the glass there and couldn’t get a bottle without buying a package? Now I’m not happy and the girls have already gotten a menu and an appetizer and bread at their table and Debbie and I have nodda yet. Now the waiter at the girls’ table who is different than ours has already taken their order and we still don’t have menu’s. We are supposed to be all together so you are getting the picture. Bad went to worse when they got their first course and we still didn’t have a menu. We finally got one and also the appetizer they were serving but after an hour of waiting for our soup, the hostess came by to see if everything was ok and I voiced my disatsifaction with the situation and she wanted to argue about the fact that they were cooking each item to “order” which was amusing since there were only two items in each category to choose from but all we ordered was soup so he must have been making it from scratch for it to be an hour. She went and talked to our waiter and shortly we had the soup and it really was good. The hostess came by to apologize and so we begin the wait for our dinner. The girls have finished their dinner and dessert and coffee. They bring my dinner but not Debbie’s pasta. I wait thinking they will bring hers at any time and it doesn’t happen. She eats some of mine and it goes on and we tried to get anyone’s attention and to no avail. The girls are done and finally the hostess comes by and asks if everything is ok and we tell her Debbie never got her dinner. She goes to speak with the waiter who is throwing his hands in the air and still nobody is doing anything so we just get up and leave. We found out that this is a training session for new wait staff which they should have told everyone before coming since the service was so slow—at least you could have been a bit more understanding but the whole thing was a disaster that should never have happened. Nothing going on again tonight and we are cruising again tomorrow. The seas are getting rough again. As we exited the fjords into the Pacific ocean last night, many things shifted and there were some that had things fall from counter tops and break last night. I was almost thrown out of bed once and got up and secured what we had that could break or fall and was awake off and on with the rolling and it appears it will be the same tonight as it is already starting. We just checked and we are about to head into the Pacific again and its already moving pretty good so we will secure things and go to bed. We are going to watch a movie if it comes on…..

February 26, 2009 Cruising the Chilean Fjords. At 10 AM we got to see the Amalia Glacier which was absolutely awesome and aka Skua Glacier which had two mountains with the cascading falls of ice all the way to the sea! The only way to describe it is it looks like a waterfall with beautiful blue color rushing into the sea freeze frozen in an instant while gushing. We just can’t stop staring at it and we went up to the top decks and took pictures and then as the Captain turned the ship, we went back to our balcony and took pictures and stared at it for an hour in the cold. Dirk (the naturalists that is doing the narration on our cruise and nature talks) said we on the Carnival Splendor are spoiled. In all the years he has come here, this is only the second time he has ever had sun! He quotes Albert Einstein saying that we should “Look deep into nature and you will find the answer to everything”. I am in awe of nature’s beauty on this trip. Dirk says we should keep our eyes peeled today for penguins, birds and whales as we could see them at any time. Our next glacier viewing will be at 7PM tonight which is 5 your time called the Pius 11 which is supposed to be bigger than the one we just saw so I can’t wait to see that one. We also so little ice burgs that Dirk refers to as “Burgie Bits”. Until later.