20221217 Saturday December 17, 2022- Buenos Aires to Ushuaia Transfer. A Christmas Miracle.
Last night was another sleepless night not knowing how the Ciara and Tom adventure was going to play out. Then at midnight, we got an update from Ciara and Tom as they were stuck in Lima. There were multiple possibilities being juggled in the air by Ciara, Tom, and Viking Air, but they kept running into dead ends and obstructions. Ultimately, it proved impossible for them to take any of the Viking chartered flights from AEP to Ushuaia, or any direct commercial flights either from Lima or Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, but they eventually found a flight that goes from EZE to FTE (El Calafate airport in south central Argentina) and then another flight from FTE to Ushuaia that would arrive at 2:55pm- early enough for them to make it to the ship, which is scheduled to depart at 5pm. After getting all that sorted and forwarded the local Viking transfers staff, we could get 2 hours of sleep before our 4am breakfast and 5am airport transfer to the AEP airport and our charter flight to Ushuaia.
It was tough getting up at 3:30AM for a 4:00AM breakfast, but the hotel restaurant was packed with Viking travelers and the hotel had its full breakfast spread out. In addition to the traditional American breakfast items, there were the European (cheeses, cold cuts, breads), fruits and pastries. There were even the Asian items including some sort of noodles with cheesy broccoli sauce and congee.
The trip to AEP airport was only 15 minutes. Our Viking charter flight filled up an Airbus A320. On our flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, we sat next to a family from San Diego with the same last name as my mother’s maiden name. They were traveling with 2 daughters and a son a little younger than our own children, as well as a family friend who is sharing the stateroom with their son, so as to avoid paying a full single’s supplement, which is basically one double occupancy fare. They had booked the cruise about the same time we did, and their kids’ stateroom was similarly upgraded by Viking in the last 2 weeks to be on Deck 3 next to them. They have travelled extensively, as have just about everyone else on this cruise. Viking does not allow children under 18 on any of their cruises, and the mean demographic appears to be well educated individuals in their late 50’s to 70’s and their families. There are a handful of people requiring canes, but nobody is driving motorized wheel chairs or scooters. The nature of the expedition cruises requires passengers to be able bodied.
The airport at Ushuaia is small, with a terminal building that looks a bit more like a ski lodge than most airport terminals.
Ushuaia is spread around a harbor extending up into the foot hills of the tall, jagged mountains that make up the tail end of the Andes Mountains. There are some glaciers evident from town. During the winters, the town is typically covered in snow. During the summers, which we are currently visiting in, the temperatures are moderate and an occasional short lasting snow fall may occur. As the bus drove from the airport to downtown and the cruise ship docks, we could catch a brief glimpse of the port side of the ship. It looked pretty much like in the media photos, showing what still looked like smashed up windows on forward deck 2, so Viking had not managed to repair all the damaged staterooms. I suspect they are going to be careful to always dock the ship with the undamaged starboard side away from the dock so that passengers won’t see the damaged area.
As we boarded the ship, we got news that Ciara and Tom’s flights were going off without a hitch. They were waiting to board their final plane in El Calafate as we were loading up on the ship. John also got a call from American Airlines informing him that his luggage had been located and it was on its way from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, but it was not going to make it onto the ship.
During the boarding process, we had to do some physical testing and get weighed in order to qualify for excursion like the submarine dive and kayaking. John went into town, which was just across the street from the cruise dock, to purchase essentials to get him through the cruise- underwear, sweater and shirt, slacks, razor and shaving cream.
We had finished our check in process and started unpacking our suitcases when we learned that Ciara and Tom were finally at the Ushuaia airport and had a Viking transfer agent ready to pick them up. As they walked up the boarding ramp, Tom was fist pumping and they were both so glad to have made it onto the ship at last, after traversing 2 continents, 3 countries, 6 flights and 7 international airports for over 42 hours without sleep and with only Panera sandwiches and Peruvian empanadas to sustain them. Theirs was truly an Amazing Race to make it up the gang plank onto the Viking Polaris today. They were greeted warmly by the ship's captain and expedition team leader. Janet and Ben were overjoyed to finally have their entire family back together.
The Viking Polaris still has that new ship smell and the ship is everything you’d expect of a Scandavian luxury cruise ship. The atrium is a vestigial affair with a couple of customer service desks. Most of the ship is devoted to restaurants, lounges and passenger activity areas. It is interesting to see the similarities and differences between the different Viking cruise line- river, ocean and now expedition.
While the crew was busy with all the onboarding activities, Ben snuck down to deck 2 to see what had become of the staterooms that had been damaged by the rogue wave on November 29. The first two staterooms (2000 and 2002) looked occupied, but a new doorway had been erected between 2002 and 2004 with a “Crew Only” sign. We had originally booked 2002 and 2004. The door was unlocked so Ben took a peek.
The port side hallway between 2004 and 2040 is closed off and has become a ghost hallway. The carpeting has all been ripped out and drying fans are in the hallway. The door to 2008 was open. Inside, all the furniture and carpets had been removed. The power was off so there was no lighting, but it was easy to see that where the French balcony window had been, a huge steel plate had been welded into the opening to make it water tight. It may take a while before they can get the parts and equipment necessary to make those staterooms whole again.
Our deluxe Nordic balcony is very efficiently designed and functional. It seems to be every bit as functional as our usual Princess Cruises balconies, except for there being only a large ceiling to floor opening window rather than a physical balcony outside.
We got our suitcases unpacked. When the suitcases arrived in our staterooms, Janet’s large suit case had lost one of its wheels. Price’s suit case had it’s top handle broken. Janet discovered that the ship’s carpenter can look at repairing the damaged suit cases, so we’ll see what happens.
The buffets are quite upscale and include a grill where you can pick your cut of beef including tenderloins and have it grilled to perfection. There is also a sushi station and a seafood station featuring langoustine (Norwegian lobsters) and king crab legs. Janet and Ben had reservations for the Italian specialty restaurant Manfredi’s and had fillet mignon and rib eye steaks along with appetizers and side dishes. During lunch and dinner, wine and beer are included, so we ended consuming our fair share of an Argentinian Malbec. The kids found they could get complementary sake at the sushi station. Soft drinks, including cans, and espresso drinks are complementary all the time. The food quality is excellent, as is the service.
Janet was a bit surprised to see how many of the crew is from the Philippines and Indonesia, where it is hot and muggy all time. She may have been expecting more Eastern European crew from more moderate climates, but the Filipinos and Indonesians are quite happy to be in cooler climates.
Entertainment on this expedition cruise is not at all like on the Viking Ocean cruises. There does not appear to be any “Cruise Director” with staff for things like trivia and game shows. Instead, there is a duo of live performers (cellist and pianist) in the atrium, a second duo in the Explorer's Lounge (vocalist and keyboard) and documentaries and lectures in the Aula theatre.
We were so exhausted, we simply turned in to beds early. Our steward did warn us to expect seas to get quite rough around 2AM, when the ship leaves the Beagle Channel and heads south into the Drake Passage. He stowed glassware into the Nespresso cabinet, and moved the coffee table to a secure position away from the French balcony window.
