The First Full Day At Sea: February 3

Tuesday February 3 was our first full day at sea as we headed south toward our first port of call, Puerto Montt. With plenty of time to relax, we further explored the ship,

This shot is near the front of the ship and is an area called “The Sanctuary”. As the name suggests, it is a very peaceful area but nobody seems to go here . . . which makes it even more peaceful! One of our concerns before getting on board was that we would never have space to ourselves. Even though the ship is at capacity, there are plenty of places to seek refuge, away from our fellow cruisers! In the foreground is a pool that we have yet to try where you can swim against the current. To the right of the pool is a spa and gym. We haven't utilized those either!



The wake tells you that this is the tail end of the ship. You can see another pool here, and a favourite spot for sunbathers, across the stern.



We spent most of the day on deck, swimming and soaking up the sun . . . and I have the sunburn to prove it! We also caught up on some reading, attended a lecture on what to expect at Puerto Montt, and at the end of a hard day dragged ourselves to a restaurant for supper! It was during supper that we broke out of some cloud cover and snapped some shots of the lingering fog.

We were also lucky enough to watch a huge school of dolphins feeding off the starboard side of the ship before the sun set.



Generally, we are travelling about 30 miles off shore at an average speed of 18 knots.

1 knot = 1 nautical mile per hour = 6076 feet per hour
1 mph =1 mile per hour = 5280 feet per hour

Tomorrow is Puerto Montt. The port isn't equipped to handle a ship this large so we will be transported ashore in small crafts called “Tenders”. I'll get shots of that process when it happens.
We are also hoping to catch up with some email when we are on land. The wireless (WiFi) system on board isn't working, the on board computers are always very busy, and the charge for both is outrageous! Public internet access on shore is usually about 30 cents per hour. On board, the charge is 75 cents per minute!! Therefore, the recent blog/email hiatus.
We're off to swab the decks so that we don't have to walk the plank! Arrrgggg.


Hasta luego,
Amor,
Norm & Charlene