From: Sherman Rootberg
Date: Jan 25, 2008 9:46 PM
Subject: 1/25/2008
1/25/2008
Cruising the Chilean Fjords on the way to Punta Arenas, Chile around the Horn.
It got very foggy again last night and the ship got Horny again. Every couple of minutes, off went the Horny. By late morning it had cleared and we even had sun. I have forgotten to mention that we have been warned about the sun here. This is the area where the ozone layer has the big hole and there is little protection from the UVs. It is best to cover up and not be in it with or without sun block.
We were cruising through the Fjords and in some places it was
pretty narrow but very deep. 1,000 to over 1,500 feet deep. We still have the lady that narrates as we travel through the interesting places. She was on the TV and the address system in the public areas, all day. She explained the difference between Fjords and other waterways. Only Fjords are formed by glaciers. Deep ravines are carved in mountains by the weight and action of the glaciers falling down them. Fjords always have mountains coming right down into the waters. When the glaciers melted, thousands of years ago, the waterways were left. Many of these 
Fjords are mislabeled by people who did not understand this. They may be named as channels, bays, rivers etc.
Again it was just gorgeous traveling through here. Besides the mountains and greenery there were huge Albatross of different types and many other birds following. There were different types of dolphin and sea lions every once in awhile. Very interesting.
We had an invitation to join the Virtuoso couple for dinner a few
nights ago. We had gotten back late and everyone was exhausted so they canceled it. They re invited us this evening.
A couple of hours before dinner we had come out of the Fjords and gone into the open ocean. The waves were hitting us from the side and rocking the ship quite a bit. Dinner was at the Veranda on the 11th floor. Oh fun. The higher up, the more rocking. If I have not mentioned it in the past, this restaurant has a buffet appetizer and desert bar. Oh even more fun to watch people tossing food everywhere. The big event was watching a bottle of wine, in a bucket, on top of a stand, go flying. The thud from the bottle and the bucket was quite dramatic. Then watching the 12 waiters go running to pick it up was very entertaining as long as you didn’t happen to be too close.
The Virtuoso couple and the other two couples at the table were very nice and we had a good time.
I talked to Vicki, our close friend/slave/travel agent today. I told her about my worries with what was going on with Regent. We had been on about every line out there and Regent/Radisson had been by far our favorite. They have been bought by Apollo. I am not sure of the spelling but they own NCL which sucks, and Oceania which is just so, so and not nearly in the luxury class.
Following is a list of what makes me wonder if things are not going to continue to be top notch as in the past. We find out tonight that a pod was not working properly a year ago and still continues to be that way, causing the ship to go slower, see fewer places in the same time, and make the ship less reliable. We saw that refurbishing and replacing of carpet, furniture, draperies, etc have still not been done on the Voyager, as promised two years ago. The food we have had, in most cases, is as great as ever. However, menus have not been. There are not the variety and quality offerings we have had in the past in the restaurants. The Veranda all too often becomes a Mediterranean Steak House. That means they take all the lobster, shrimp, steak and other good stuff off the menu and instead offer a cheap, by comparison, special and two other low cost items. The buffet for salads and appetizers is about half of what it was last year. Same in Signatures. They change the menu and much of the good stuff disappears.
We know costs go up but the prices they charge have also gone way up not to mention a fuel surcharge has been added. When prices go up and quality goes down you have to start looking.
Cruising the Chilean Fjords on the way to Punta Arenas, Chile around the Horn.
It got very foggy again last night and the ship got Horny again. Every couple of minutes, off went the Horny. By late morning it had cleared and we even had sun. I have forgotten to mention that we have been warned about the sun here. This is the area where the ozone layer has the big hole and there is little protection from the UVs. It is best to cover up and not be in it with or without sun block.We were cruising through the Fjords and in some places it was
pretty narrow but very deep. 1,000 to over 1,500 feet deep. We still have the lady that narrates as we travel through the interesting places. She was on the TV and the address system in the public areas, all day. She explained the difference between Fjords and other waterways. Only Fjords are formed by glaciers. Deep ravines are carved in mountains by the weight and action of the glaciers falling down them. Fjords always have mountains coming right down into the waters. When the glaciers melted, thousands of years ago, the waterways were left. Many of these Fjords are mislabeled by people who did not understand this. They may be named as channels, bays, rivers etc.Again it was just gorgeous traveling through here. Besides the mountains and greenery there were huge Albatross of different types and many other birds following. There were different types of dolphin and sea lions every once in awhile. Very interesting.
We had an invitation to join the Virtuoso couple for dinner a few
nights ago. We had gotten back late and everyone was exhausted so they canceled it. They re invited us this evening.A couple of hours before dinner we had come out of the Fjords and gone into the open ocean. The waves were hitting us from the side and rocking the ship quite a bit. Dinner was at the Veranda on the 11th floor. Oh fun. The higher up, the more rocking. If I have not mentioned it in the past, this restaurant has a buffet appetizer and desert bar. Oh even more fun to watch people tossing food everywhere. The big event was watching a bottle of wine, in a bucket, on top of a stand, go flying. The thud from the bottle and the bucket was quite dramatic. Then watching the 12 waiters go running to pick it up was very entertaining as long as you didn’t happen to be too close.
The Virtuoso couple and the other two couples at the table were very nice and we had a good time.
I talked to Vicki, our close friend/slave/travel agent today. I told her about my worries with what was going on with Regent. We had been on about every line out there and Regent/Radisson had been by far our favorite. They have been bought by Apollo. I am not sure of the spelling but they own NCL which sucks, and Oceania which is just so, so and not nearly in the luxury class.
Following is a list of what makes me wonder if things are not going to continue to be top notch as in the past. We find out tonight that a pod was not working properly a year ago and still continues to be that way, causing the ship to go slower, see fewer places in the same time, and make the ship less reliable. We saw that refurbishing and replacing of carpet, furniture, draperies, etc have still not been done on the Voyager, as promised two years ago. The food we have had, in most cases, is as great as ever. However, menus have not been. There are not the variety and quality offerings we have had in the past in the restaurants. The Veranda all too often becomes a Mediterranean Steak House. That means they take all the lobster, shrimp, steak and other good stuff off the menu and instead offer a cheap, by comparison, special and two other low cost items. The buffet for salads and appetizers is about half of what it was last year. Same in Signatures. They change the menu and much of the good stuff disappears.
We know costs go up but the prices they charge have also gone way up not to mention a fuel surcharge has been added. When prices go up and quality goes down you have to start looking.
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