Still in Punta Arenas, Chile

March 14^th, 2024

Well despite the captain saying we would leave Punta Arenas at 7:00 we were still at anchor when I woke up and peered out of the window.

At 9:00 the captain announced that the weather was still bad and continued to delay our departure. Still, he was hoping to leave by noon. Meanwhile there was a medical emergency on board, so one of the tenders would be lowered in order for the person to get to the hospital as soon as possible. I suppose it is lucky for them that we are still in port and not somewhere in the Chilean Fjords.

We started the morning sitting in Skywalkers, and had a good view of Punta Arenas.

I was enjoying the view from where I was sitting.

However, it got really cold, so we decided to retreat to another, warmer, lounge.

On our way to the Wheelhouse Bar we walked past the atrium where there was an intense rock, paper, scissors competition going on between the passengers and officers. The passengers were winning. Yay!

It was much warmer in the Wheelhouse Bar, but I was easily distracted by everything going on around us. It is a busy place.

Finally, some time after noon we started our engines and pulled up our anchor. There was much relief around the ship as the casino could now open, as could the shops. Technically we had still been in port until now.

Where I was sitting in the Wheelhouse Bar I could see the entrance to one of the shops.  As soon as it opened a rack containing jackets was placed outside, and instantly the rack was mobbed. During our tours, and around the ship, we had noticed that a large proportion of the passengers were wearing warm looking jackets that said  South America, and had 2 penguins on them. I initially thought they were being given out to all the passengers (except us) for free, like on Silversea or Seabourn, but no, you had to purchase them at a high price.

I suppose because this is the end of the South America season, and we are heading into warmer waters, the jackets went on sale at a significant discount. Everyone seemed to want one, well except us. They are nice, but I really don’t need another jacket. Even if it has penguins on it.

The International dining room (not to be confused with the International Café) is the only place you can get a sit down, served lunch. We had been unable to get lunch there previously but today we were in luck. It is a lovely room, and we had a tasty, leisurely meal there. So much better than the buffet. I do wish they had more options for lunch. I miss the Golden Lion lunches.

Before joining the cruise I was wondering how the Princess Medallion thing worked. The actual medallions are very useful. We are not into the idea of wearing them on a lanyard, but Brian bought a wrist strap so you can wear it like a watch, and I just keep mine in my handbag, that works well. As you approach your cabin door it magically unlocks, no fumbling for your key card. When you go order a drink, the waiter automatically knows who you are. All in all it really is a good idea.

I also like the touch pad outside your cabin door, where you can indicate if you don’t want to be disturbed, of if you want the room to be serviced.

However, the Medallion phone app  just is not working for us. A few weeks ago, I  noticed that the app had fused our cruise on the Sapphire and the cruise on the Emerald. I called Princess before we flew to Buenos Aires and was assured that this would be rectified before we boarded the Sapphire.

Well, now we are on the Sapphire and it simply isn’t working. We can’t see our folio, we can’t make dinner reservations, we can’t make spa appointments or book shore excursions. And the app keeps showing that our next port is Cabo. It is basically worthless, on an app focussed ship.

We went to the IT guy to see if he could sort it out. We explained what the problem was, and he smiled and calmly told us there was a glitch in the system and there was nothing he could do about it. Because we leave the Sapphire and board the Emerald on the same day, the system thinks that we are currently on the Emerald which is why we can’t access any of the features on the Sapphire, and all will be well when we actually get onto the Emerald. That’s not for another 3 weeks.

The app really isn’t essential, and we can try to access everything it offers without using it. However, it is frustrating as everything on the ship is geared to using the app. Also, we are not the only people on the ship with this problem apparently, but there does not seem to be any way that it can fixed. They are working on it.

We spent the afternoon enjoying the passing scenery, sad that we had missed the Amalia Glacier, but happy to be cozy indoors and able to watch our passage through the Chilean Fjords.

The Tapioca Duo were playing in Club Fusion during the Captain’s Circle happy hour.

You could actually make a whole meal out of the canapes that are served.

The best part is that although they don’t serve Pisco Sours, they do have Strongbow cider.

So we could sit back and enjoy the music, and the nibbles and cider, watching the waterfalls and snow covered mountains we were sailing past.

It was Italian night in the restaurants, and the food was great. No complaints. I wish every night was Italian night.

The showtime entertainer tonight was a violinist from Portland, Oregon, David Klinkenberg. He was very good, and I really enjoyed his performance.

The comedians and magicians on this cruise have been OK, but not really the best, however the musicians have been excellent.

Tomorrow is a formal evening, and I am looking forward to the production show tomorrow night. I do love production shows.