Our South American Cruise

Travelling for 8 months is a long time for a family, but that time can be even longer for the grandparents we left at home!

Mid-January, our Oma, Grandma and Grandpa came to visit us in South America and we went on an amazing 2-week cruise from San Antonio, Chile to Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was so great to see our grandparents after missing them for 4 months!

This was our first cruise and so getting onto such a large ship was a little bit surreal. We travelled on the Norwegian Sun and it was pretty spectacular. The facilities were beautiful, the food was fantastic, the programming was fun and the staff made it a very memorable experience!

This is the biggest boat we have ever been on!

There were over 2000 guests on the ship, and it was impressive how the company organized getting all the guests and their luggage onto the ship. After checking in, we went through security and onto the boat! We were amazed at the facilities of the ship from the moment we stepped inside. It was a lot fancier than I expected! The first room we entered was the atrium which had a glass roof and 4 glass elevators. 

Our first impression of the ship was pretty great! 

Riding in the glass elevators!

We immediately headed to the pool deck where we found 2 pools at 4 hot tubs. After a quick bite to eat, we changed into our bathing suits and hopped into the pools!

The best days to lounge on the pool deck were the first and last days. All the others were pretty cold!

After a few hours, we were allowed to go into our staterooms. Our room had a large double bed and a bunk bed. We were impressed with how much room there was for storing our clothes, however, backpacking for 8 months limited the amount of clothes we brought along in the first place!

Everyday there was a pamphlet listing and explaining the daily activities; from trivia to fitness classes to evening entertainment. The kids were intrigued by the children’s club called Splash Academy. Adeline was pretty adamant that she was not going to participate in any of the kids activities, but once she met some of the counsellors and learned about the activities, it was hard to keep her away. In fact, for the first few port days, we left the kids on the ship because they loved Splash Academy so much. The first question they asked when they woke up in the morning was “what time is it?”, and, “how much time until Splash Academy starts?” I’m not sure if they were more excited to be participating in all the fun activities or finally having a break from their parents! Probably a bit of both! But this suited us well. David and I got a chance to have some quality time with our parents and participate in the activities that interested us.

There were lots of really great shows every night!

Joanne wanted to bring the cruise director home with her! 

In fact, this was probably the most active we have been our whole trip. While we counted at least 12 elevators on the ship, we took the stairs almost every time we needed to change floors (which was pretty frequent) and we went to the gym almost everyday and attended the morning stretch and “Fab Abs” session. This proved to be extremely important because, while we were being very active, we were also eating so much!

Food was another thing we didn’t know what to expect! Amanda, (the constant planner) was concerned that we would need to make sure we brought some snacks on board, just in case we got hungry between meals. Looking back now, her concerns were pretty humorous as there was a ridiculous amount of delicious food available 24 hours a day.

One of the best parts of the buffet was big plates full of fruit!!

We usually ate first and second breakfast at the buffet, along with multiple mid morning snacks, lunch and afternoon snacks. Adeline consistently went to the restaurant next to the buffet to get pizza which she claims was the best pizza in South America because the crust was the perfect thickness and it had the perfect amount of cheese! We ate dinner at a sit down restaurant every night. The menu had many choices of appetizers, main dishes and desserts, and they changed every day. Everything was delicious!

The chef even made a special bowl of maple syrup bean just for Adeline! 

There were so many choices to cater to everyone’s wants and needs. There were complimentary restaurants, and then there were French Bistros and Sushi and Sports Bars where you paid off a menu. However, you never had to carry money and pay on the spot. Everyone had a key card for their room that was registered specially to them. Our names and pictures were linked to our cards. If you ever “bought” something, you would scan your card and it would be billed to your room. 

Every time we got off the ship and back on the boat, we had to scan our cards and our picture and name would appear on a screen so someone could verify our identity. A funny part was when we scanned our cards to get back on the ship, it made a cha-ching sound that was like saying “here comes the money!”

The evening entertainment was pretty fantastic. From comedians, magicians, dance and musical performances in the theatre to the fun game shows in a neighbouring lounge. They had games like ‘Sing it to Win it’, ‘The Not-So-Newlywed Game’, ‘What’s My Line’, etc. There was constant fun and entertainment. In fact, if you participated in the activities, you were given an activity card and every time you participated in an activity a box was initialled. If you participated in 20 activities, you got a prize at the end of the cruise. We won a deck of cards! Woo hoo!

While the cruise ship and its programming was fantastic, the scenery we passed and the port stops were absolutely fascinating. We passed through fjords, through the Straits of Magellan, through the Beagle Channel, past Cape Horn, past glaciers and more. 

The glaciers were so beautiful!

Experiencing the power of the Pacific Ocean will be something to remember. One night it was so stormy, the captain had to change our course to protect us and the ship. 

It was pretty stormy for part of our trip

It was incredible watching the 21 foot waves out the window of the restaurant as we ate dinner. Everyone was walking around the ship as though they had too much to drink. The poor standup comedian at night kept losing his water bottle on stage. And that night, Charlie and Adeline decided to forgo their bunk beds and slept with David while Amanda slept on the bottom bunk, just in case. There were a couple of places on the boat that didn’t smell so great the next day. However, they did a great job of placing barfbags in very strategic places all over the boat.

We made several stops along the southern parts of South America including; Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas, Ushuaia, Falkland Islands, Puerto Madryn and Punta del Este. 

Out and about in Puerto Montt.

One of the most memorable stops was Ushuaia (known as the “end of the world” since it is the most southern city in South America). David did a little bit of research and found a beautiful hike that took us to the gorgeous Lago Esmeralda. 

The beauty of Tierra del Fuego! 

It was a spectacular hike that took us through tall trees, over crystal clear streams, balancing on logs over swampy bits and David’s mom was a trooper the whole way through. We have seen many natural beauties in the wilderness in South America, but Lago Esmeralda was one of our favourites. The bright blue waters sitting amongst the tall mountains was spectacular. 

Lago Esmeralda 

In fact it was so amazing, Amanda just had to take her shoes off and go wading, which drew a few claps from some onlookers because it was very cold. Sometimes it just isn’t enough to look at a beautiful lake, sometimes you just have to get in!

Another memorable stop was at the Falkland Islands, a British Colony whose sovereignty is not something everyone agrees upon. 

Argentina refers to the same islands as the Malvinas. Britain has occupied the islands for a very long time, but Argentina believes that the land really belongs to them. Most recently, Argentina tried to reclaim the land but they were unsuccessful, so now when you visit the islands, people drive on the left side of the road, you can find red telephone booths and everybody speaks English. However in Argentina, you will find signs and maps and even hotels and schools using the name Malvinas to remind the Argentinian’s of what they believe to be there’s.

Our main interest on the Falkland Islands was to see penguins! We took a tour in a 4x4 Landrover to Volunteer Point where 3 species of penguins live. The King Penguin, the Magellanic Penguin and the Gentoo Penguin. The ride to the colonies was an experience in itself. It felt like being on a slow roller coaster! Lots of bumps and hills. It was a lot of fun! As we approached the coast, some penguins were finally in site. First we saw the Magellanic Penguins. 

Magallanic Penguins!

We learned that Magellanic Penguins are burrowing animals, so they had their small homes dug out all over the place. We also learned to stay away from those burrows because they were also host to fleas!

We were given a couple of hours to walk amongst the penguin colonies. There were some strict guidelines for the visitors to help respect the penguins. Since the Gentoo and King Penguins stand in groups, there were large circles marked by white rocks for penguins only! Many of the penguins ventured outside of the rocks, but people were not to approach closer than 6 metres to the penguins. If they came your way, that was fine, as long as you didn’t bother the birds.

Many penguins ventured out away from their colonies.

The King Penguins were pretty fun to watch. They have musical voices and they were singing to one another. Some were holding eggs on their feet and keeping them hidden under their bellies to keep them warm. Others had babies under their bellies keeping them warm. We saw the younger penguins with fluffy brown feathers but about the same size as the grown up penguins. 

A young King Penguin

We saw penguins having a fight which looked kind of like a slap dance. One of the most exciting parts was watching the penguins waddle down to the shore to go swimming (maybe fishing), sometimes by themselves, but usually in groups of two or three, marching one after the other.

Some King Penguins marching to the ocean. 

We had a couple more stops on our way to Buenos Aires (Puerto Madryn, Argentina and Punta del Este, Uruguay), but we spent the rest of the time enjoying the ship and its many amenities. Before we knew it, our two weeks on board the Norwegian Sun were over. It was a lot of fun, and it was a great way to spend time with our parents! Thanks Grandma!