Dec. 30. At Sea, and cruising the Chilean Fjords. Sea calmish, 52, foggy, then cloudy and some sun.

We came out of the fjords at 3am, we were in the Pacific til about 1pm and are now back in the fjords. We did have lunch with L&O at our winter pool deck table, with blankets, under the heaters. This area is lower mountains, not as many snow capped but still quite nice and peaceful. We spent most of the afternoon on our balcony, snuggled up under blankets we stole from the pool deck, watching the scenery go by. There are lectures, and deck games galore going on, but we were happy to just relax on our veranda. Long about 3pm, we had the sun on our veranda and it was beautiful without the blankets. I would have been happy to stay there all evening, watching the scenery, but we had dinner reservations in Pacific Rim. Actually about 6, just as we got up for cocktails, we went back into the Pacific and the clouds descended. I’m not wild about Pacific Rim, but they all loved the soft shelled crabs, sushi, etc. George and I went to the show, a male singer, for at most 5 mins. , then off to bed.

Dec. 31. At sea in the Chilean Fjords. 55, low clouds. (Probably typical weather)

I woke up at 6:45, probably because I could sense the ship had slowed down considerably. I looked at the “ view from the bridge “ and could see we were approaching a glacier. I quick got dressed and went to Coffee Connection for a cappuccino and to watch. As we got closer I went and gathered George and we first watched the approach from our balcony, then went up to La Veranda and got a fabulous table by the window with a 180 degree view. The ship approached to about 1 mile, then did 2 complete spins so everyone got great views. We were in the Amelia fjord at the Skua glacier. We stayed at La Veranda for 2 hours, and being mimosa day…well, in order to have an excuse to stay at the table..what can I say, there is only so much coffee one can drink. Update on the Brazilian visa issue: Regent has taken ownership for submitting, expediting and tracking our visa status. As far as we know now, no one who applied has actually gotten a visa yet, but some have passed the document requirement( George) and some are still in progress (me). Much like yesterday, we had lunch on the pool deck, under heaters and spent the afternoon in our cabin watching the scenery go by. We met at 5 for cocktails, then on to a special “gala” dinner in CR. We did go to the 10pm production cast’s  show, “Diamond Run”. It wasn’t that great. There was an 11-12:30am New Years Eve party in the atrium, which we didn’t make it to, but did have one more glass of champagne in our room.

Jan. 1. Punts Arenas, Chili. 64, mostly cloudy and windy.

We didn’t have a tour today because I turned our tour ticket in because there was to be a special Distinctive Voyages tour, which got canceled due to equipment (the boat) failure. I couldn’t reschedule as everything was now waitlisted. After bouncing about between breakfast and lunch  at  La Veranda, Coffee Connection, and Pool deck, we walked the short distance to town. Almost nothing was open, as it’s New Years Day, but the architecture in the main square was quite interesting. A kind of French Baroque. Regent had subscribed to some New Years Day programming, so we got to watch a bit of the Rose Bowl Parade and some bowl games. We met for cocktails then us 4 joined another couple, Charlie and Debbie, who Otto knew from the world cruise, for dinner in Prime 7. It was good and this couple was very interesting, as it seems they are on a cruise ship more days a year than at home! After dinner George crashed and 8 went to the show “Love and Marriage”, a game show with 3 random couples on stage. It was cute and occasionally very funny.

Jan. 2. Beagle Channel. Chili/Argentina. 52, foggy and rain very early then clouds and sun. Windy.

The Captain announced a change of itinerary last night. We were to be rounding Cape Horn today from the Pacific to Atlantic, but apparently the Pacific is very rough, so instead we cruised the Beagle Channel and will actually round Cape Horn from the Atlantic to our next port Ushuiana, Argentina. This was good news and even better news, as there was a report of a cruise ship being damaged yesterday in 90’ seas, AND the journey through the Beagle Channel was calm and amazingly scenic. Starting at 8:30am til about 10am we sailed by at least 5 major, named glaciers. The most spectacular ended in a 300’ waterfall to the sea. The scenery as we continued remained spectacular with waterfalls every few 100 yards and smaller glaciers high up in the mountains. Although not brightly sunny, the weather cooperated enough for us to really enjoy the views. Late morning, George went to a lecture, which he loved, on the Phantom of the Opera. I couldn’t tear myself away from the scenery to join him. We are currently continuing in the channel and are expected to be “where the Pacific meets the Atlantic” at 5:30pm.