February 5, 2019 - Montevideo, Uruguay - Mostly Sunny - 85F

The beautiful weather continues on the other side of the river in Montevideo.

Another wonderful breakfast up in the Marketplace Buffet.  Still relying on waffles and cottage cheese in the morning. Again, the constant coffee is amazing.

We are not alone here today as the Costa Fascinosa is also docked.  Here is Symphony docked.


Then the Costa ship showed up


and squeezed in behind us.


We have been on ships that have tangled with Costa cruisers before - the Constellation put a ding in the Magica last year in La Spezia, Italty.

We were unsuccessful in getting excursions today so our plan is to use a map - yes - and find our way to the City Center and the Plaza Independencia .  We've done it before and can do it today - the weather is perfect and the walk should be relatively easy.  The ship provided a shuttle to the entrance of the port and our journey started from there.

Just outside the port area, there is a small park containing remnants of the German WWII Battle Graf Spee, which was scuttled by its own crew in the battle of the Rio de la Plate.  There is an anchor and other pieces of the ship on display.  El Monumento de Graf Spee is supposed to promote world peace - nice try.

El Monumento de Graf Spee

We crossed the street carefully and headed straight toward the tall buildings of the downtown area.  In a few minutes, we arrived at the gate of the Citadel that was the end of the Ciudad Viejo ("Old City"); the gate also is the entrance to the Plaza Independencia, the most important plaza in the city.

The most striking structure in the Plaza is the Artigas Mausoleum.  The remains of Jose Artigas, the father of the Uruguayan Nation, are stored underground in the mausoleum, which also features an equestrian statue of Artigas.  The mausoleum is relatively new having been opened in 1977.

 

On the far end of the Plaza is the structurally magnificent Palacio Salvo. The building is approximately 300 feet high and was constructed in 1928 to be a hotel.  Today, it is an office building and contains residence units.  The Tango Museum of Uruguay is located in the Palacio today.

If you continue through the Plaza, you are on Avenida 18 de Julio (the date commemorates the signing of the Uruguayan Constitution).  This is the main shopping area and we are going to look for two things - a nice spa and some ice cream cones.  The street is very interesting - a people watching mecca - but after several blocks of walking we were unable to accomplish either of our goals.

We decided to get off the main street and check out the small and interesting side streets.  We came across a park, where vendors were selling their items.

As we continued our walk, I heard some drums and music and I thought we were going to be treated to a demonstration, which you see every so often in South America.  Instead, it was a small group marching along the street.  It reminded me of New Orleans Jazz but it might have been some kind of prelude to Carnival.  We took it all in across the street in one of the stores.

We had put in quite a few steps and so we headed back to the Symphony.  We got back in time for a late lunch in the Trident Grill.

The rest of the afternoon was spent resting our tired feet in the Silk reading area.

We went up on Deck 7 to get a good look at the sail away.  As we head out to the Atlantic Ocean, I guess this part of the voyage is a river cruise.

February 4, 2019 - Day 2 - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Partly Cloudy - 85F

Another beautiful day in the Big Apple of South America.

A good night's sleep - it's easy when the ship is docked.

I was up early for breakfast in the Marketplace buffet - oatmeal, waffle, cottage cheese, jams, and coffee will probably be my standard meal on this ship.  The service is excellent and the food is also excellent.  Ellen ordered room service - it's a small ship and the food comes fast and hot.

The ship is providing shuttle service to the shopping area near Avenida Florida - a very nice pedestrian walkway loaded with shops and restaurants.  On past visits, we have stayed at hotels near the walkway and shopping.  After breakfast, we hopped on the uncrowded bus and in a few minutes we were ready to explore.

One of the more interesting structures along the walk was an installation that reminded me of the "Stargate" in the movie of the same name.  Of course, I couldn't resist taking a picture.


We also found a store featuring several life sized action figures.  Of course, I had to document the fantastic "Wonder Woman" (recent movie version) statue.

We got photo-bombed trying to get a picture of what looked to be a metal flower along Avenida Florida.  It was a good try - must have been another passenger who took this picture - I wouldn't let a local use my phone (although, they probably have better phones than I do).

We went back to Symphony for lunch and stayed on board for the rest of the day. There are a lot of comfortable places to read - one of the newest (a result of the recent renovation) and best is an area just behind the new Chinese Restaurant, Silk. There are comfortable couches and single padded seats.  The bar is close by and the waiters are constantly bringing drinks. This will be my go to place for reading.

We did get a table for two tonight thanks to our wonderful Maitre D'.  The dining room has now been totally remodeled (wonderfully), re-christened Waterside and features anytime and open seating.  The dining room tonight did not seem overly crowded.  Also, it looks like the speakers are all seated in the same general area.  We also have a wonderful waitress from the Czech Republic, Petra, and an equally wonderful head waiter, Vlad, who will work with us on our meals. 

We also ordered Apricot Sours before dinner and these drinks will probably be waiting for us at our table from now on. (Note: since I don't have the real time log, I don't have any detail on what we had for dinner - I can summarize by saying that, in between the regular menu items, we also ordered Kosher Meals (including rib eye steaks, hamburgers, hot dogs, duck, and lamb chops.  On Friday nights, we also had a challah and some seriously good chopped liver.  Amazing)).

The sail away was late but we only had to cross the Rio de la Plate to our next destination,

February 3, 2019 - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Partly Cloudy - 85F

The hotel was pretty quiet and we got a pretty good night's sleep - in spite of the jeg lag.  It is a beautiful day in BA and we are planning on boarding the ship but then going back off and checking out the city.

The breakfast at the hotel was standard but pretty good - assortment of cereals, breads, cheeses, and some kind of egg.  The coffee was strong and had to be diluted with hot water.  Overall, it was a good meal.  I especially like the sign on the entrance of the breakfast room.


Our room, 705 on the seventh floor, has a spectacular view of the famed Recoleta Cemetery and I just had to take a bunch of shots.  Considering the price and location, the hotel is a bargain.

The view in the other direction was not as spectacular but nevertheless interesting.

 

We arranged a ride to the pier with the front desk and our driver (dark suit and dark car) showed up on time.  We wanted to get to the Symphony in time for their fabulous lunch buffet.

It is only about three miles from the hotel to the Cruise Terminal and the ride took about a half hour in traffic. The price was the same $25. Crystal check-in is pretty simple and fast - we have passenger boarding passes so we don't have to explain our speaker status.  We were on the ship pretty quickly.

We have been assigned Cabin 7098 - Promenade Deck Port Side - the issue here is people walking the deck pretty much all day in good weather.  We will have to use our shades a lot.

The view from the ship is not as good as that from our hotel but we are on the ship.

Crystal Symphony is here for two full days.  We revised our original plan and decided that today will be a day of rest on board.  The buffet was, as usual, really good.  The salad bar is my favorite selection but the tuna sandwich and gazpacho soup from the Trident Grill also made the lunch special.  Somewhere in there, of course, was a mojito.  

I did run into Russ Grieve, the Cruise Director.  I have sailed before with Russ when he was on Azamara.  

We had dinner tonight at Prego - our unusual place on embarkation day - the Cesar Salad, Mushroom Soup in a bread bowl, and the pasta pesto were all excellent as was the service.

We went to the Welcome Aboard Show, which again featured the singers and dancers doing numbers from Chorus Line and Grand Hotel.

Tomorrow, we plan to see more of Buenos Aires.

Crystal Symphony - Buenos Aires to Santiago, Chile - February 1 - 19, 2019

South America - Crystal Symphony - Buenos Aires to Santiago, Chile - February 1-19, 2019

NOTE - The logs for this cruise were inadvertently deleted so I am going to reconstruct this voyage from memory - this should be interesting.

Our plan was well conceived.  We would fly to Buenos Aires early and spend a couple of days there until boarding the Symphony on Sunday.  

The trip started off in instant crazy mode - Chicago had been in a polar vortex weather pattern for days - sub freezing temperatures, snow, and other wintry conditions had cancelled flights for days.  I was somewhat encouraged by the fact that it was not snowing the day of our flight but what I didn't factor in was the backup of previously cancelled flights.

Just as we were about to head to the airport (the AA app said the flight was on time), I got an email from American Airlines indicating that flight to Miami had been cancelled.  I was offered options in the email, which I took, but these were cancelled in a few minutes.  When we called American, we were told that all flights were cancelled for January 30 (our original flight date) and for January 31 as well.  We then started to check out options for February 1, 2019..

We worked for about an hour on the phone with the American agent and option after option evaporated.  She kept on checking and finally came up with a complicated itinerary to get us to Miami.  Once down there, we could connect to Buenos Aires.  The itinerary she came up with was ORD to Knoxville TN (TYS) and then Knoxville to Miami. 

I also emailed the Cyan Recoleta Hotel in Buenos Aires to let them know our situation and that the original three night stay would only be one night and they said they understood and would amend the reservation.  I also wrote to hotels.com that our reservation would now be just one day.  They sent me a voucher for a future booking,

February 1, 2019 - Travel Day (we hope) - Cold - 30s - Breezy

Our flight to Knoxville (AA4060) was at noon so we asked our cab to come about two hours ahead of time to account for any issues on the way to ORD.  We got there in plenty of time, checked our bags through to Buenos Aires, and made a quick trip to TSA pre-check. All of this went went very smoothly considering the scheduling chaos going on at the airport with all the cancellations.  Many of the issues had gotten resolved during the last two days.

Our plane, an Embraer RJ145 (like a mini 737) was at the gate. We had opted for Cabin Extra Seats and were in 14B and 14C. I could see the pilot doing the walk-around and he came on the intercom and said he found some ice on the wings and we would need to be de-iced. The de-icer came along some time later and doused the plane in ethylene glycol. Like being in a car wash.

The flight to Knoxville was uneventful - the cold air tends to be smoother and at around 2:30 PM we touched down.


We had never been to this airport before - very small and out in the countryside.

We had a near five hour layover in Knoxville as AA3422 (also an Embraer RJ145) wasn't scheduled to depart until 7:12 PM. The time went rather quickly - we had our devices and spent the time reading or catching up on the news. Another positive note - the waiting area had rocking chairs and you could sit and watch the planes (not a lot of them) come and go,

The weather in Knoxville was cloudy but good and the plane boarded on time and took off on schedule. We were again in legroom seats (10B and 10C).

After another uneventful flight, we touched down in Miami around 9:30 PM Eastern Time.


We were faced with a short connection time as AA931 was scheduled to depart Miami (MIA for Buenos Aires (EZE) at 10:45 PM. It was a big plane - B777-300ER and we had managed to get the primo non-economy plus seats on the plane (43A/43C) we had on our original flight - the last two seats in the back but in the two-seat layout with a little more room. Our Kosher Meals were also set up for this flight by that agent we worked with originally.

The plane had a lot of teenagers (we see that a lot) but the boarding was pretty organized and the plane took off on time for the long flight to Buenos Aires.

The seats were comfortable but it was hard to sleep when you eat dinner at near midnight. I never sleep on the plan anyhow so that was moot. I tried to watch some movies and watch the plane's progress on flight tracker. Note: Even though the seats were the last ones in the back and next to the bathrooms, they were fine. Very few people congregated near the bathrooms - the plane had plenty of washrooms. The galley was also quiet for the whole flight except for meal service.

February 2, 2019 - In Flight to Buenos Aires.

The flight was long but relatively smooth. I tried watching movies but mainly spent time tracking the flight - this puts you in a kind of trance where time goes by faster. Also, traveling South is easier for me because the time zone change is minimal. After our breakfast, we were on approach to EZE.






Our big jet landed pretty much on time at around 9:45 AM. Again, I wasn't as wiped out as I usually am after a 10 hour flight. That will come later.

Our plan when flying on a big jet is to hustle to Immigration Control to get in line before everyone else. A good plan but not when several big jets arrive at the same time, Immigration control was a huge crowded mess and the lines were not moving all that fast.


Eventually, the lines were diverted to get some movement and after waiting for an hour or so, we got to an agent.  He didn't spend a lot of time with us and we were on our way to baggage claim.

Our bags were there - hooray - and we made our way to the exit when a car set up by the hotel was hopefully waiting for us.  He was indeed there and for $25 USD, he took us to the Cyan Recoleta Hotel.

The hotel is a cute boutique hotel located in the heart of the Recoleta neighborhood and easy walking distance to everything.

We checked in at the front desk and spoke to the clerk I had been communicating with since I set up this reservation months ago.  I looked at the bill - he wanted pre-payment for our original three day stay.  I explained to him that I had contacted him and hotels.com about our delay and they did not say we would have to pay for the full three days.  He said I should have contacted "reservations" at Corporate and I told him that no one told me to do that.  Ellen went to the room and I wouldn't budge from the lobby until the issue was resolved.  He called several people and a lot of Spanish was spoken.  Finally, he hung up and said we would only be charged $102 for our one night stay.

We are in room 705 on the seventh floor - we have a great view of the Recoleta Cemetery and the surrounding neighborhood.

We rested up a bit in the room, which is clean and bright.  The hotel was a good choice.

It was pretty warm and we were looking for lunch near the hotel but decided to finish off the food we brought with us on the plane and then get a nice dinner later.

We found a nice area with several different types of restaurants.  We ate al fresco and had some salads and sandwiches topped off with an Argentine beer.  The food was different but good and I needed a good meal after our travel ordeal.

We walked a little more around the neighborhood but the kids started to congregate after dark and brought the music with them.  We decided that our day was long enough and headed back to the hotel to rest up for tomorrow.

What a crazy day but we are here in Buenos Aires.

January 7, 2019 - San Francisco, CA - Partly Cloudy - 60s

We are back in San Francisco after a great pair of cruises to Mexico and Hawaii.  The ship arrived pre-dawn but I was already up and in the Horizon Court for breakfast.

Disembarking the ship was easy and our time at Immigration was also pretty quick (just a "welcome back" comment from the agent - we had, after all, only traveled to Hawaii and the stop in Ensenada did not really count).  We had planned to call an Uber to take us to the airport but Uber travel is complicated in San Francisco.  Even though there are a lot of drivers, the traffic and delays drive up the quotes for Ubers.  I scheduled one but the price kept going up until it was no longer feasible.  We continued to wait.  Our final solution was an airport bus (and I do not remember the price) that we could catch away from the pier.  Getting to the us involved a free shuttle.  All in all, although frustrating, we did get to SFO in plenty of time.

Our flight back on AA2634 was scheduled at 2:25PM. All the information at the airport indicated an on time departure.

We boarded on time and took our cabin extra seats.  The plane took off (no pictures since we were sitting aisle across) on time.  The climb out was smooth and soon were were over the mountains and into the desert beyond.  At that point, I expected the seat belt sign would be turned off and we would be on our way.  Not so.  The pilot came on and said that they had a "red light" in the cockpit indicating an issue and that the plane would need to return to SFO so the mechanics could take a look at the light and the issue.  I followed the turnaround on the seat back flight tracker.  The plane did a literal U turn.

I couldn't feel any performance issues with the plane and the ride back was smooth and the landing perfect.  We all deplaned and were told that the mechanics would be working on the issue (I don't recall if they actually mentioned what was going on).

The delay was significant (about two hours).  The plane couldn't be fixed and a new plane was brought in.  American did wheel in their snack cart and so we had plenty of chips and oreos to eat while we were hanging out in the airport.  At least, SFO is one of the nicest airports to get stuck in.

We took off in our new plan around 5:30 PM and this time we did get to ORD.  The flight was smooth and we got our bags OK (transferred from the other plane). 

We called a taxi and got home just after 1 AM in the morning.  Just nice to be home.

The ending may have been annoying but the double cruise on Grand Princess was really nice.

January 6, 2018 - At Sea - Pacific Ocean - Cloudy - 60s

Another beautiful but cool day as we make our way up the coast to San Francisco.







My final presentation - "Forensic Detectives: Identifying the Famous and Infamous" - drew a nice crowd in the Vista Lounge.  All in all, this has been a very successful series (continuing that proud tradition).

We got tacit permission for Macie to visit our cabin the fleet area and she took her usual spot on the window sill.



After lunch in the buffet and solarium, I spent a few minutes watching the Bears lose on the big screen.

After dinner, we all went to see the big Game Show Production - "Voice of the Ocean".  The ship has been holding tryouts for the past few days to identify finalists who will compete in Princess' version of the television show, The Voice.  The judges included our Entertainment Manager and a singer from the show band.  The competitors went all the way from Country/Western to standards.

It was quite an extravaganza topped off my a major set with those revolving chairs and the sets.

The winner turned out to be a little Asian Man singing "What a Wonderful World".  He was clearly a fan favorite and we all knew he was going to win.

Thanks to my excellent packer, our bags are ready to go.

Tomorrow, this long journey comes to an end.

Saturday, January 5, 2019 – Sea Day plus Ensenada, Mexico – Cloudy – 57F

A smooth night.

I had another IDMLS in the International Café and went through today’s presentation.  The coffee on this ship is excellent and reasonably priced.

Although I thought I had removed time consuming animations during the Mexico Cruise, there were still a few that needed to be changed.  I was able take most of the zooms out which add up to a few minutes or so.

The day is filled with tons of activities including three Enrichment Lectures in a row in the Vista Lounge starting at 12:15 PM. I am next at 1:15 PM with “Forensic Detectives: The Search for Jack the Ripper”. After me is the first lecture by Dr. Richard Bosworth (husband, I assume) of Elena Bosworth (Cellist), who is speaking on “Music Appreciation”.  The advert for my talk was projected on the screen in the lounge.


We went to Horizon court when they opened so I could get something to eat before my talk. Today was "Taco Day" at the buffet – I settled for the cheese and jalapeno quesadillas – very hot but tasty. I tried a salad with blue cheese dressing but Ranch and Thousand Island are still my favorites. Just enough food for a soon to start lecture.

Gloeta ran about 10 minutes late and then was still selling her goods (cards with odd poetry) right in front of the stage. She left as I was about to start but the back to back set up forced some double attendees to stream in late delaying my start by a few minutes. The house was full and the talk went well but ended up a few minutes late.

I didn’t stay for Dr. Bosworth’s talk.

At 2:00PM, the ship scheduled a split variety show featuring Juggler Regatz  and Ventriloquist Bob Watkins in the Princess Theater. I was afraid that people in my talk would leave about 15 minutes early but that didn’t happen and when we got to the theater, the audience was sparse. When we got there Bob Watkins was on – he was still pretty funny. When the juggler came back on we took off.  Funny thing – when the juggler came up our aisle looking for a volunteer, he tapped me on the shoulder twice but didn’t ask me. He looked at Dova and she told him no – he finally snagged a guy a row back.

I changed my clothes and went to the Crooner’s Bar to warm up (the ship is still cold) and read. I am trying to finish “Trace” and I am pretty sure I know who the killer is.

We arrived in Ensenada


to complete the Jones Act Paperwork at 3:00 PM. The weather was wet and dreary – some people got off (just to touch land) but we didn’t think it was worth it because all aboard was 6:30 PM. Not enough time to do anything by the time you walked to the town.  We were joined in this port by Crystal Serenity.


We are in the Michelangelo Dining Room for dinner – we pre-ordered some veggie Onion Soup, a seafood free broiled trout, some veggie Spring Rolls (a surprise from Danny), and two kosher meals for Leo (who likes the prime rib meat). It was a little complex but our waiters handled it well and everything came. For my entrée I orderedthe child’s “Spaghetti Snakes” with no meatballs. It sounded nice but the tomato sauce was a little too sweet for my taste. No problem, the onion soup was very filling.

Although it was 7:25 PM, we decided to take our chances in the Princess Theater. We were surprised that there were plenty of seats left including our desired seats on the right side of the theater about four rows up. Todd put on another excellent show – the same one he did on the Mexico Cruise in the Vista Lounge. 

Included were: “Feeling Good”, “To Love You More”, “The Stars”,

“Impossible Dream”, “You Raise Me Up”, and a new addition, “The Prayer” with Princess Singer, Meghan Rayner. 

It was good but not the best ship version I have heard – the chorus seemed to be in a different key – just being picky.

From, there we finished off the evening with Steven Jaymes, who did his standard song list but threw in a few new selections.

I finished “Trace” – the killer turned out not to be as smart as I thought he would be – his motive was weak, and the ending was over quickly. A lot of buildup for a somewhat uneventful ending. I’ve got the next book in the series on my Kindle but I plan to read a different author first.