Day one
Oh boy! So this is what they were talking about? We woke before dawn to heavy seas and immediately medicated ourselves, gulped down some water, and went back to bed in a Dramamine stupor. Yay modern medicine! We were still sleeping when Cleone called at 11:30 to see if we’d be joining the group for lunch. It’ll be awhile before we live that down. After lunch Dan and I elected to watch the matinee, The Intern, which we really enjoyed.

Today we finished sailing the 350 mile long Straights of Magellan, the channel linking the Atlantic with the Pacific, which runs between the southern tip of mainland South America and the island of Tierra del Fuego. It’s namesake, a Portuguese sailing for Spain, was the first European to navigate the straight (November 1520) and the first to circumnavigate the globe. But you probably remember that from school. Big smile.

The seas made dinner a challenge for the wait staff. There were numerous crashes as plates and glasses slide off service stations and crashed to the floor along with trays of rolls and wine buckets. We luckily felt fine and enjoyed all four courses.

Dan and I were the only ones to brave the entertainment and we were so glad we did. It was a fabulous Brazilian tenor, Jorge Durian, and a violinist who lost their balance from time to time but performed enthusiastically throughout. They did not speak English but performed standards we recognized for the most part, so it made no difference.

To bed with more Dramamine. The ship was pitching up and down as well as back and forth, so it took some concentration to fall asleep with the rattling windows and a few things flying out of cupboards. The closet doors would have slammed open and shut all night, but we cleverly propped a chair in front of them anchored with tennis shoes so the chair would stay put.

Day two
We had a wake-up call for 10:30 to make sure we were at lunch on time and not subjected to the ‘did we wake you?’ ribbing of yesterday. We dazzled our pals by not only being there early but securing a table for six in a prime location by the window. After lunch W&C taught us their version of Hand and Foot. It looked dim for Walter and me, but we pulled it out on the last hand and remain undefeated.

Today we passed through the world famous Chilean fjords, known for their unrivaled beauty. Sadly wind, rain, and fog blurred our visibility considerably, but not so much that we couldn’t tell that it would have been specTACular with clear skies. We were truly sorry to have come this far and missed it…just like Cape Horn.

Cocktails at 5:30, per our routine, and then we splurged and had dinner at one of the specialty restaurants; we chose the steakhouse. I say splurge because specialty restaurants involve a surcharge of, in this case, $35/person. It was the last of three formal nights, so we went in our finery. My filet was divine! as were the potato/cheese croquettes. Dan raved over his cream of mushroom soup.

Our entertainment, which was lively and enjoyable, centered on singing and dancing and featured a professional dance couple from the Ukraine.

Day three
Hard to believe this is our last day at sea. Our little gang met for lunch (our first meal of the day) at noon. The Brazilian tenor did an encore performance to a packed house mid-afternoon, so we went to that and then set ourselves to the task of cramming everything back into our suitcases. We met for dinner and sat at our usual table with our usual waiter and assistant waiter, both Brazilians, who we enjoyed immensely. We took down their names so we could call them out when we reviewed the cruise. The entertainment tonight were spellbinding: a teeny tiny, strong woman and a strong guy did acrobatic things on long, flowing lengths of fabric, a suspended ring, and on the floor. A few times the audience did a collective sigh not quite understanding how they managed one move or another. Duo Free Action is their name. They are Ukrainian.