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You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
............ 
Feb 23, 2013 08:00 PM Captain Giorgio Pagano escaped from the fiords...
Misscommunication. Do you know what does it mean?
That´s what our captain said.
When I woke up in the morning on the ship´s position map I found very unpleasant surprise.
Instead of going according to the cruise program to the Chilean fiords via the Darwin Channel the ship during the night went out of Ancud Bay to the open ocean!
The passengers went to the guest services asking what is going on. In our tickets it was written: 24 and 25th Feb: scenic cruising through Chilean Fiords.
The response was: do not worry, we will enter the Darwin Channel in the afternoon! This was the lie inspired by the cruise director Malcolm Burn called also woo-hoo. This is in my opinion very primitive person - he should work rather in the provincial circus then to be responsible for the cruise program on the big cruise ship.
We got before info then the art auction will be in the Darwin Channel - it was, but in the open ocean.
Passengers were asking but nobody wanted to tell us the true. Finnaly the captain at 3 pm told us that cruising through the Chilean Fiords is not possible due to mistake done and the misscommunication
Who is responsible for planing the cruise?
Nobody knows.
The captain is usually called "the master"" So captain Pagano will be now called the master of misscommunication!
More soon...
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Feb 22, 2013 08:00 PM Puerto Montt - Chile
Chilean police women are very kind and... very pretty. She was happy to have such a picture!!! :)
Forgive me, dear Friends. The internet connection from the ship is VERY expensive and VERY weak. You are forced to pay almost a dollar for each minute of the internet connection from the ship and you are getting almost nothing! It takes a long time to see one window, and the money goes out fast....
So I can upload my news only if we are in the port.
We are sailing south - it is colder and colder plus strong wind and sometimes also rain...
Today we reache the Chilean port of Puerto Montt going around Chiloe Island.
Our ship is too big to enter the port so they are taking us to the coast by tenders.
I was here years ago traveling from Argentina by land, so it is not a big attraction now. It is cloudy and I pray for the better weather since tomorrow we will enter Chilean Fiords.
Keep the fingers crossed, please! I want to bring nice pictures from the fiords...
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Feb 19, 2013 08:00 PM Valparaiso - what a name!
The sun was rising when I went up to the deck. Everything was in orange color... So, I am again in Valparaiso - legendary port well known from the times of the gold rush in California...
The city lies of the hills. At the end of 19th century they built a kind of lifts who take people from the lower level to the upper.
They work till now and for this reason UNESCO put Valparaiso to the World Heritage list.
I took a long walk from the harbor to the Plaze Sotomayor with the ornate Navy Building and the monument of the navy heroes. Then metro for just 1000 pesos (1USD=470 pesos) took me from Valparaiso to the resort town of Vina del Mar. Beaches, casino, villas of the rich people are located there. Vina is quite nice town vith horse carriages on the streets.
Why they asked us to be back aboard on 4.30 pm? The ship leaved port at 7 pm.... Why?
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Feb 16, 2013 08:00 PM Arica in Chile
Thanks God I am in the different world... Chile is much safer and more european... Early in the morning we arrived to the port of Arica in the northern Chile.
I had a great view from the sea - the high hill of Morro de Arica still is the main landscape attraction here. It is 130-m high and it took me about 20 minutes to climb to the top. Arica is much nicer then some 20 days ago when I was here for the first time. On the hill there is a military museum (800 Chilean pesos entry fee - the rate of exchange is 470 pesos for 1 USD). It is worth to walk slightly up to the statue of the Christ - there is nice panoramic view of the southern coast from there.
Down in the city you can enjoy the cathedral of San Marcos on the main plaza. I as lucky to be there for the little show of the folk group from the countryside.
Old locomotion could remind you the old time when there was railroad from Arica to la Paz Bolivia.
Palm trees friendly people in the tourist office where you can have free internet - that's lovely Arica!
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Feb 14, 2013 08:00 PM Callao/Peru - dangerous port!
It was 9 am when I was waiting in the line to be taken by the shuttle bus from the ship to the port gate. The bus returned to the ship full of passengers.
What is going on? -It is to dangerous to go outside the port!-somebody said. I decided to go. Just outside the gate the police asked me where I am going.
-By the main street to Fortaleza Felipe Real. It is less the 1 km walk!
You cannot walk there - it is too dangerous!
Paranoid! Peruvian police instead to send few policemen to the main street press me to take a taxi! The Police cannot guarantee the safety even in the daylight and is warning the tourist!
Taxi cost me 2 USD. After visiting a little fortaleza I took a public minibus for just 1,50 soles (1 USD= 2,5 soles) to the Plaza 2 de Mayo in the center of Lima.
Lima after some 20 years looks much nicer. I was wandering along the bright Plaza de Armas, enjoying the colonial architecture of the churches Sto Domingo, San Francisco and La Merced.
And I saw the hundereds of policemen with Kalashnikov guns
around the ornate Palazzo de Gobierno.
It seems that Mr President do not feel safe.
How about the tourists coming to your country, Senor Presidente?
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Feb 13, 2013 08:00 PM St Valentine s day in the Pacific
Day at sea - we are heading south - to the Perivian waters. I saw plenty of little dolphins plaing around the ship.
In the evening we had a great show in the theatre - with American singer and band.
In the evenining dancing to the romantic tunes.
Happy St Valentine Day to all of you in love!
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Feb 11, 2013 08:00 PM Manta - Ecuador
Wow! I feel that I am close to the equator and on the sea level! It was 29 deg Celsius at 8.30 am when I dissembarked the ship in Manta port...
It is Mardi Gras today - the last day of the carnival and local people havean extra holiday - everything is closed - at least in the morning...
How to find the internet? I found the internet sign in the Parque - the main Plaza close to the cost but this means nothing here = no network. One friendly local told me the secret: take the local bus for 25 cents to the shopping center El Pueblo on the outskirts of the town and it the food court they have free wi-fi connection. Network to connect PUNTONET, same user and password.
Manta is the capital of tuna fish - You will find monument of tuna on the coastal street and many fishing boats in the port. I believe there will be also some carnival music and dancing in the streets in the late afternoon (it is difficult to dance in the temperatures above 30 deg!
Greetings from the southern hemisphere!
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Feb 10, 2013 08:00 PM I am crossing the equator again!
The ship does not go to Costa Rica or Panama - we are sailing directly to Ecuador. The open ocean is more rough because we are forther in the ocean. Today in the evening or just after midnight we will cross the equator. It will be my third time on the sea (plus many times on the air). The cruise staff s preparing the celebration but this will be probably pushed down to ne next daylight hours... I hope thet the Neptune - the king of the seas will understand that!
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Feb 09, 2013 08:00 PM Volcanos in the distance...
Guatemala is a country of the volcanos. You will see them in the distance already from the ship. Going from the coast to Guatemala Antigua you will pass
Volcanos Fuego and Acatenango on the left and Volcan de Agua on the right. Fuego - almost 4 kms high - is still active...
The ship is sailing today onward to the south. We had today the port talk - they were talking about 3 next ports within one hour
and most of the time it is sweet ble-ble-ble instead of valuable practicals. I have a feeling that the lecturers do not know the places they are talking about. Their prioryty is to encourage people to buy expensive tours they offer. Independent traveler should bring here his own guidebook, maps etc.
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Feb 08, 2013 08:00 PM Guatemala after years
For me Guatemala is the most colorful of the little countries of Central America. It is because its folklore and the variety of the handicrafts.
In the morning we landed in Puerto Quetzal - Guatemalen commercial port on the Pacific coast.
In the industrial environement they built here the cruiseship terminal - like a little oasis with palms, handicrafts stalls, post office and tourist info point. Just let you know that in the second rounded shack they offer free wi-fi internet connection.
There is nothing to see in the Puerto Quetzal settlement so everybody goes to the closest tourist attraction - the Antigua Guatemala - 1,5 hour drive uphill.
Tours offered on the ship are expensive, they want to mikl you up, but let you know that the local tour operators are also waiting for the ship and after some bargaining you can have the same tour by minibus for the half of the ship price (25 USD).
That's what I did to see again - after some 25 years - the charming city of Guatemala Antigua.
This little town once was the capital of the colonial Guatemala.
Cobbled streets, old, ornate churches, horse carriages - that's creating the atmosphere!
No wonder why UNESCO put Antigua on the World Heritage List.
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