Sun Dec 8 Miami--SA Repo: Inside Baseball

This is not a review; just some tidbits I hope this board's readers might find interesting.

If you read it and think 'that's five minuts of my life I'll never get back', well, you've been warned.

We're going where?

NCL changed the arrival port from Valpaaraiso to San Antonio, Chile, about four months out. 35% of our roll call were not notified by NCL. I asked around, and my very unscientific sample found that about 10-12% of total cruisers got on in Miami thinking the disembark point was still Valpo (about 1.5 hours up the coast). They scrambled to make new arrangements.

I felt most sorry for the B2B set: much more to see in Valpo.

NCL did lay on a day-trip for B2B pax; as my party was leaving Neruda's house in Valpo, the NCL bus pulled in.

The disembark in San Antonio was exceptionally smooth when it happened despite it being NCL's first call there ever..

Demo

A little younger than I expected: more 40s than 70s. Close to 40 solo travellers--nearly all women. Everyone I spoke to in that segment had to pay two fares but only one DSC. The fare price fell sharply in the month before cruising; that's when most singles booked.

There were a handful of brats aboard; four loud monsters from one family and another who seemed to want nothing to do with the first four who kept yelling at her.

Sailaway Delay

We were supposed to sail at 4pm. The Health Department didn't clear the ship til 6:30.

Two salings prior there ad apparently been a large-scale incident with the serving of fish. By the time Health had been informed, they scheduled the top-to-bottom inspection for our day to embark.

We mustered on schedule, 3:30.

I'm not aware of any large-scale food-poisoning on our cruise.

Were the seas rough? Ask the Concierge.

The night after passing through the Panama Canal there was a sudden motion and Carlos was thrown into a wall, separating his shoulder. He tried to carry on, but disembarked in Lima to fly home to convalesce.

The guy who deputised, who claimed to have been Concierge on Epic, really didn't have Carlos' professional or social skills.

OK, but how rough were the seas really?

Before the last night, there was a little ocean motion, but the ship's TV usually reported the waves were between 1.5 and 2.5 m (5-8 feet). I was modestly surprised that an old sea dog like Carlos got caught out, but it can happen to anyone. Hope he's recovering.

The last night (Coquimbo--San Antonio) was wild, with waves over 6.5m (20 feet). Largest waves I've experienced on a non-ocean crossing.

My Trivia Partner spoke with two ship's officers who said the stabilisers were not functioning properly.

Want more time in the best port? Consider the northbound cruise instead.

YMMV but most cruisers found Cartagena, Colombia, to be one of our best ports of call. We left at 2pm to be first in line for the Panama Canal. HAL's Zuiderdam left at 1pm, but spent four hours that evening in Colon, Panama. We were indeed first in line, but the Zuiderdam was second, chasing us through the locks. Most pax wopuld have preferred more time in beautiful Cartagena, or an evening call in Colon.

Carlos said that, northbound, the ship is in Cartagena all day.

"No Joy for me."

A plurality of the food/beverage staff were PR Chinese nationals. Many were training, scheduled to disembark in Buenos Aires (after the ship's next leg, around the Horn) with their next assignment being the Joy from Shanghai. One of my servers said that she and her boyfriend were not interested in such a thing, and planned to jump ship in Lima because she had cousins there. I did not see her after Lima.

Staff Xmas Party/Recovery

The Food/Beverage staff had no opportunity to schedule their party (good food, moderate amount of alcohol) on a night when the clocks went back, so they made merry until 2am then were expected at stations for 6:30am. While overall service on the ship was slow throughout the cruise, the morning after the Christmas party the only person who looked like crap was me. (No idea how I got pulled into the party, and didn't stay long.) Customer-facing Staff was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.