Up the Amazon We awoke to scenery that was essentially unchanged since yesterday. Miles and miles of river and forest. The river is wider at the moment, so we are not as close to the shore, and we have not seen any more fishing boats....
Manaus We got up at 6:00 to watch us sail by the “Meeting of the Waters”. The Amazon is formed by the confluence of 2 rivers – the Rio Negro and the Solomonas. The two rivers flow at different rates, are different temperatures, and have...
In the Amazon I can’t believe we have been on the ship for 3 weeks already. It has whizzed by so fast. The plant is still alive, and I watered it today. We left Manaus at 7:00 AM, passing though the meeting of the waters again....
Santarem The day I went piranha fishing It was a difficult to decide whether to do a jungle walk or another river cruise in Santarem. In the end the river cruise won. Although a close encounter with jungle wild life looked...
In the Amazon River Today is our wedding anniversary, and Brian gave me a wonderful book on Cunard. Very appropriate, and something to always treasure. He is a good man. This is our last day on the mighty river. At times we have...
At sea Today dawned dark and stormy, not what we had expected at all. However, with a full schedule of talks and activities lined up for the day, we would not be able to spend much time sunbathing by the pool anyway. We are...
At Sea Today was a totally lazy day. We had clear blue skies and a gentle breeze. We spent the whole day at the Lido pool reading, drinking a Pina Colada, and did little else until it was time for our walk around the deck. ...
With the numerous passing squalls this morning we decided to opt for the Commodore Club rather than the open decks. Many other passengers clearly had the same idea. The place was packed, however we were able to get a window seat...
At sea The world cruise area in the Chart Room is a great place to drink coffee and spend the morning. We also spent time chatting with the Virtuoso hosts, Deidre and Kim, and missed the Virtual Bridge Tour given by the First Officer,...
At sea It’s February 2nd, groundhog day for the US. Did the groundhog see his shadow? The TV shows are full of political news and views, but not important weather forecasts like what happened with the groundhog in Pennsylvania. Not that...
Rio de Janeiro We were due to dock at 7:00 AM, and sunrise is at 6:30, so Brian and I decided to get up at 6:15 and watch us sail into Rio de Janeiro. We woke up and looked out the window – and instead of seeing open sea we realized that...
Foz du Iguacu, Brazil Well we are not on QV anymore. Although they are not actually uncomfortable, the mattress and pillows at this hotel leave a lot to be desired, after 4 weeks of a luxurious mattress and pillows and blissful sleep. I...
Foz du Iguacu, Brazil I started my day again today with the breakfast buffet and a mimosa. Paulo came by at 8:00 to take us around the Brazilian side of the falls. One of the advantages of staying in the Belmond is that guests get early...
Foz du Iguacu and Buenos Aires The day we left dawned bright and sunny, without a cloud in the sky. Brian went back to the falls to take some last photos; I watched them from our bedroom window. They really are magnificent. Paulo...
Buenos Aires Our taxi arrived at the hotel at 8:00 as requested, and by 8:20 we were at the cruise terminal. The ride was quite an adventure. No one, including our driver, seemed to be obeying any rules of the road. The road had 3...
At Sea The storm between Rio and Buenos Aires must have been quite something. Everything on our balcony had a thick layer of salt on it, making it rather nasty. They had cleaned the balcony in Santarem, so I don’t expect we will get...
At Sea We have been on Queen Victoria for 5 weeks now. I have never been on a ship for this long before, yet I still feel that we have only just got on board. The wonderful days are simply going by too fast. I want to savor every minute...
Straits of Magellan Well, we should be in the Straits of Magellan, but we were misled. One of the things I was really looking forward to was watching us sail through the straits. It made up for not actually going around the Horn. However,...
Punta Arenas I awoke at 6:00 to be in good time for meeting up for my tour at 6:50. I went to the Lido for breakfast, and was lucky enough to see the most beautiful sunrise. A great start to the day. At 6:40 I went down to the...
Amalia Glacier I woke up at 4:00 and there was certainly some pitching and rolling going on, but not enough to throw you out of bed. When there is rough weather there are 2 things you can do. You can stay in bed and enjoy the rocking...
Pio Xl Glacier The Commodore had said that he expected us to be at the Pio Xl glacier (named after the pope of the same name), at 8:00AM. We awoke to a misty rainy day, so we decided that we would give the outside decks a miss for now,...
Golfo Corcovado Channel There is much unhappiness in the kingdom. Well not really the whole kingdom, just our cabin. And not the whole cabin, just me. The card in my video camera was full, so yesterday I downloaded all of the film...
At Sea How on earth could we have been cruising for 6 weeks already? I want to slow time down, it is simply whizzing by too fast. The sea was calm, but it was too cool and windy to sit by the pool. We stopped by to congratulate...
Valparaiso The day I discovered Pisco Sours We were due to dock at 7:00, but when we awoke we were still moving, and nowhere near to the port. The Commodore had not made any announcement, so we got up and got ready to be in...