Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 AT SEA Sunday, 6 December. This was a day at sea, thank goodness, and the sea was getting smoother. Outside it was partly cloudy with an expected high of 75 degrees, though we couldn't see it from the inside room. Jane was very sick all night and couldn't go to breakfast in the morning, so I ordered her something from room service and went up to the Lido buffet. I went to our assigned room at 9:00 a.m. and found that the drying machines had not been put back and run through the night, which probably would have had the room dry by morning. I had to wait in line again at the Front Desk to ask someone to finish drying the room. I also had the room attendants separate the beds so the carpet under them could be dried, and I moved the settee in the room so it would dry under that. I went to the room every hour to reposition the machines so they would blow on a different area. I also took the opportunity to explore the ship and check out a book from the library. By 2:00 p.m. the carpet was fairly dry, though the room was a mess. Again I had to wait in line at the Front Desk to ask to have someone remove the machines and straighten up the room. It then took a couple of hours for the room to cool down enough for us to move back into it (again moving our own luggage with no help from HAL personnel) and another hour to unpack. Jane was still very sick and, in fact, she was sick for all but a couple days of the cruise. She ate most of her meals in the cabin, either using room service or having me bring her something from the restaurant. I usually would eat breakfast in the room with her, but went to one of the restaurants alone when she couldn't go for other meals. There were two principal restaurants, the Rembrandt (formal dining room where we had open seating) and the Lido (buffet with many stations but long lines and poor service). I'll describe our dinner that night just to give an idea of our life in the fast lane. The dress for dinner was formal. Jane wasn't up to going to the dining room, so I called room service every few minutes from about 5:00 to 6:30 when I left for the dining room. No answer. I wrote out a list of what she wanted and gave it to the Maitre d' as I entered the Rembrandt restaurant. The first course there was a delicious soup I knew Jane would like, so I asked the waiter for another bowl, and he very quickly complied. I took that down to Jane about 7:00 and rushed back to the dining room in time for the next course. Room service brought Jane's order at 7:25, and I was back from dinner by 8:00, just as she finished eating. The captain was hosting a welcome toast and introducing the crew in the Showroom at 8:00 but we didn't go. Monday, 7 December. Another day at sea, and a beautiful one at that. It was partly cloudy with a high around 60. We'd gained an hour (clocks set back) as we crossed into another time zone. After breakfast in our room, we both went to the Montevideo port talk at 11:00 and a very basic Spanish lesson at noon. We went to the Rembrandt dining room for lunch, but it was so slow that we never did it again. In mid-afternoon the Captain announced that the ship had not been able to make up any of the time lost by our delayed departure from Rio, so we would be late in arriving in Buenos Aires. After dinner we went to the 8:00 show featuring John Lenahan, a comedian and magician. BUENOS AIRES
Tuesday, 8 December. It was a beautiful sunny day in the mid-70s. About 9:00, after another breakfast in our room, we went up to the Crow's Nest (Deck 12) for a look as the ship approached the harbor in Buenos Aires. But we were still a long way off. We went to another Spanish lesson at 10:30, then back to the Crow's Nest. The ship was following a narrow channel and had a tight turn to get alongside the dock. It was finally moored at 12:15 and half an hour later the passengers began debarking. We have good friends in Buenos Aires and had hoped to see them here, but our efforts to contact them, starting weeks before the cruise, were unsuccessful. Having lost the morning to the ship's delay, we only had a few hours free time here since we had booked excursions for this evening and all day tomorrow. We took the free shuttle provided by H. L. Stern, the jeweler, from the dock to its store off Plaza San Martin and near Florida Street, the popular pedestrian shopping street. We had stayed at the Circulo Militar (Officers' Club) on the square during our 1996 visit to Buenos Aires and were familiar with the area (at least as it was almost 14 years earlier).
We briefly looked at Inca Rose jewelry but spent most of our time looking at ladies' jackets in the many leather shops in the area. Jane found one she really liked at a shop called Abril, but I talked her out of it because it had a blemish on the chest. I thought we'd easily find another one but we never did, and I was in the dog house. The Stern's shuttle got us back to the dock around 3:30. Our evening excursion to the tango show left at 5:30. (Surprisingly, the cost per person was reduced from$139 to $99 after we booked, so we got a refund.) The show was at Esquina Carlos Gardel. As expected, there were hundreds of people crowded at tables lined up in front of the stage. They served a generous multi course dinner with unlimited Mendoza wine and other beverages. The main course was a huge slab of beef, prepared to order for each diner. The speed and efficiency with which the waiters/waitresses served that multitude of people were amazing, though they were sorely lacking in finesse.
The show started at 7:30 and went nonstop til 8:45. It was outstanding, with a variety of tangos, fast and slow, interspersed with songs and classical guitar. We've been to many of these 'dinner and a show" excursions, and this one was probably the best, especially for the money. We also had excellent seats with an unobstructed view of the stage.
There was some delay outside as the many buses jockeyed for position along the crowded street. We finally got back to the ship about 10:00. Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
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