We are at Austin airport. We will meet up with Olivia in Atlanta this afternoon and then on to Lima. Really looking forward to this adventure!

Gee, Marc, have you even unpacked from your last adventure? Safe travels!
————————-
Helen

Marc - If you were at the Austin airport, that must mean you have moved into your Sun City house! Welcome to Georgetown!

All you INCAS have a wonderful cruise!

Not quite; tenants will be out by end of month. Did arrange for painter and bought furniture and arranged delivery of PODS while we were in Georgetown last ten days.

Trip off to inauspicious start. First, when packing we couldn't find our primary camera; last time we definitely saw it was in Harbin; I could have left in room or left it on plane or in one of our myriad of transfers in last two weeks; luckily a lot of our Harbin pics are on the other camera too. Flights fine except for screaming kid, next time I am going to travel with pacifiers and lollipops to try to help out useless parents. Then, when luggage came onto belt, our suitcase looked like one of those funny videos of bags on belt with clothes hanging out; I had put clothes in outer pocket and somehow (unintentional or intentional) the zipper was ripped open with pull gone. Luckily, we had just turned some Regent reward tokens into a belt to go around suitcase.0230 before we were settled in our hotel room.

Luckily Olivia just showed up so time to relax at bar.

I guess we're a day late. Leaving Atlanta now headed to Lima.

The gang will all be together soon. Have such a special time. Post along the way if time permits. Sending cyber hugs to all.

And the adventure begins ------- Ralph and June did a full week in Peru starting in the Sacred Valley. Fortunately June said the weather had co-operated just showers now and then. Weather forecast looked bad for their time there so hope you have the same good luck with some long breaks in the rain. I packed today we leave on Monday.

Mark and Arlene and I had dinner in the restaurant tonight and did a lot of reminiscing! My driver from arrival hotel said the pope’s visit caused some problems for him yesterday, and would earlier tonight, as he would be coming back in from the countryside. Tom and Mon will miss it, as the should be arriving later I assume. We have wake up calls at 5-5.30 for next three days. HahA omg what was I thinking when I signed up for this! We won’t see anyone else on roll call until we’re on the ship. Safe travels to all who aren’t here yet!

We are onboard!!! Feels like coming home. Dennis is onboard we were thrilled to see him, not seen him for a long time. Lots of happy friendly faces in the crew. Only seen John and Jennifer, June and Ralph, Tom and Mona and Ed and Mary so far. Lots of people to see yet.
Looking forward to dinner tonight I have my menu all planned.

I paid the extra $10 a day for streaming internet and it is fast. My emails were the same speed as at home. I tried Netflix and it worked. Just bought a new iPad Pro that supports word and excel so I can work in my iPad. This faster internet will really help. For those that need to work on a cruise this will be a huge difference for them.

We finally made it onboard....scary flight from Cuzco with an aborted take off during full roll. Apparently they had a door open signal which they were able to fix, only about an hour and half delay..they didn't even take us off plane. Great fun dinner in Prime 7 with Jack and Laure, Tom and Mona, Dick and Kate and Jill. Everyone crashed after dinner. Long three days on pre Machu Pichu tour with very early wake up calls, and lots of bumpy bus rides on very narrow and curvy roads. But MP was amazing. Decided to cancel excursion today, had not realized it was an open boat ride for 2 hours, so just relaxing and enjoying some down time.

Interested to hear more about the streaming internet Ngaire. Might need to pay for it during BATIK to keep up with things at the office.

Time will tell. I have the streaming internet but not been as fast today. Of course first sea day and the whole ship is on line. I will report as the cruise continues on internet speed.

Enjoyed the boat ride. Said open boat, wear life jackets all the time and forecast was windy. Planned on not going but looked it up on line and it had rave reviews so we went. It was quite good. Like a giant zodiac with seating. Got very close to the birds and sea lions just like an expedition cruise. A nice surprise was a large ancient geoglyph on the side of a hill. Similar to the Nazca geoglyphs.

Lunch was great now for another great dinner

Pisco, Peru - Ballestas Islands Tour:


We are definitely in PISCO.


ANCIENT GEOGLYPHS we saw from the boat


This is not snow on the island, its bird guano.


Humboldt Penguins.


The Peruvian booby with chicks.


June & Ngaire on our boat trip.




The Mariner at Port San Martin.

Yay! See Mail and photos! What a great group on board a great ship. I love the Mariner.

Great photos. Looks like sunny perfect weather too. Thanks for posting.

I love the picture of June and Ngaire! I agree Marcie, perfect weather for sure.

Is the streaming internet just on Mariner or on all the ships now? I am thinking it might be worth me paying for it.

I think it is on all the ships.

We have enjoyed meeting after a decade + of digital friendship Marc, Olivia, Tom, Mona, Joanne and Frank. Wednesday nite we had a wonderful dinner with Olivia in Signatures. Last nite Tom, Mona, Frank, JoAnne, Jill and us had dinner full of laughs, memories and delish cuisine in Compass Rose. Later JoAnne and Ida went to Horizon lounge to enjoy the late nite entertainment.

Would post a few photos but only use apple productts and no longer use photobuckett. Tom posted on his FB page a nice snap of Joanne and Ida, and we have posted a good pix of Olivia and us at dinner on my FB page.

Happy to hear you're having a great time. Hopefully Olivia is feeling better too.

I learned tonight that the bartender policy has changed; Asians can now be bartenders; not just assistant bartender.

We are having wonderful time; still haven't been off the ship. Machu Picchu wiped us out for first couple of days; now, staying on ship wins out over the recent ports. We will get off in Porto Montt and the other ports in southern Chile.

The Navigator never had the non-Asian policy. Over the past 1 1/2 year we've sailed on her a few times there have been at least 2 bartenders and a Senior Bartender from the Philippines. The sommeliers are all Filipinos.

Now that just sounds plain stupid to me that Regent would have a policy excluding an ethnic group from fixing my drink. I had NO idea this was the case.

Been having some great meals with wonderful people. This is a very nice group. We were told we could have rough weather there is a little bumping but not what I would call rough. I thought it would be worse. We enter the Chilean Fiords tonight and that is more sheltered. I love this area of South America. Terry Bremen is on board and June has never seen her before and she is enthralled with her lectures.

Life is good on the Mariner just about to head out for lunch.

Iquique, Chile - Humberstone & The Jewels of Iquique Tour:


Former Nitrate Refinery Town.








The people of Iquique call this large sand dune that hovers over the city "The Dragon".


Centro Espanol for a drink.


Tom, Mary, Pam & Jim.

Woke up to brilliant sunshine. I love this port of call. Port Montt . It was touch and go for a while as wind kicked up and the tenders were bouncing around. We were delayed about an hour but finally got ashore. The scenery here is beautiful, volcanoes, big lake, streams, green fields and tons of trees. The waterfall is my favorite as the water comes down crashing around the rocks. Weather was perfect. The whole area reminds me of
New Zealand.

We ended up in a quaint town and we were hungry. So we went to eat pizza. It was OUTSTANDING.

All happy little campers a great day.

Lost internet a lot today in the mountains of the fiord. So Ken could not post pictures. Very cloudy this morning but at noon when we went on our tour the blue sky appeared and then the sun came out. Scenery reminded me of the South Island of New Zealand. Green grass, sheep, snow topped mountains, green hills and running streams. This was all about scenery. The museum was nicely done but no English explanations. I was fascinated by their amardillo. So different from out Texas armadillo. Much smaller and hairy. I had Ken take a picture

Like Ngaire, I’m still up. Somehow at this hour I doubt we’re in same time zone. Today I did a “glimpse of Pategonian nature”. Started at 1:45 and we were gone til I’d say almost 6 with tender rides. A short trek thru the woods with our guide that was quite enough to get me going once again. That’s good. Along the way she described different shrubs and trees and the flowers produced and liquors and meds produced from them, to me most amazing was what she called a red barked myrtle that had a trunk that the bark had a coldness...as if you touched a metal ice bucket on the outside. Strange! Touch the next tree and it was the same as the Air, maybe 72 F today. Really weird! We walked to the top to see a waterfall. And all the way back. Whew! It felt good!

And then went for snacks and drinks at a place on the water with folk dancers and one of them was a picture of Wes’s Ida and then she got picked to dance with one of the male dancers and looked wonderful. It was a good day and we now have 2 sea days! Yay, more sleep!

This has been a strange cruise . . .

The last two days in Patagonia were absolutely beautiful; well worth the trip down here. Today we are cruising through fjords but Captain decided on alternate course so we are not seeing Seno Iceberg. Tomorrow morning at 0730 we will be off a glacier; don't know if we will spend much time there as Captain said we still had to average over 19 kts to make it to Punta Arenas on time. No chance for deck bbq with glacier in background.

Great group of passengers; both in the INCAS group and others we have met. One constant complainer but at least she is entertaining.

I still really like Mariner; however, I might finally prefer Voyager; will depend on how they modify the Mariner Observation Lounge; still much nicer than Voyager.

Sure miss the friendlier staff and entertainment cast that we had on Voyager. No one seems to be cruising Grand Promenade during the day; even Caron the Social Hostess has disappeared last couple of days. Captain is non existent. I am wondering if I am just sensitive to this as on Voyager everything happens around Atrium on Deck 5; not so here.

We are really looking forward to last half of this cruise; great ports and hopefully great scenery.

More later . . .

Sorry about not getting to see the iceberg and having an invisible Captain. So strange how things can change one cruise from another. Tom & I have always enjoyed fun time with the staff and crew....to others it's no big deal.

Hope the sunshine continues and the internet stays up. Thanks for the postings, keep 'em coming.

Great glacier sighting this morning; Skua Glacier. A shipwreck this afternoon (not staged by Captain but one that has been around for a while). Great dinner last night with Dick and Kate, Jack and Laura, and Jill. Life is good!

edited to add:

Quiet day at pool bar. Rain storm just ended and sun trying to come out. Trailing winds so except during storm pretty calm at bar. Fjords not that exciting with low cloud cover; no snow covered peaks. I guess the entrance to Ushuaia on Monday will be very scenic; hopefully sunny skies.

It is really great sailing with Michael and Paul again; definitely friendly folks. I found out they are "Irish" brothers.

Marc

In Punta Arenas go to Sotitos for the best crab anywhere. It's only 2 blocks from the ship. In Ushuaia La Estancia has wonderful Argentine steak and lamb broiled over hardwood coals.

Actually we have plans to go to Sotitos tomorrow for lunch. Terry Breen is on the ship and she told us about Sotitos.

The cheesy crab casserole and crab in avocado half are both good. The fish soup is delicious, but their portions are large so only one item is enough. Please say Hi to Terry for me & Pat.

Gosh, Ngaire I wish I knew about this crab thing. Im on the afternoon excursion, so will have to miss it. Im always about finding good crab wherever in the world!

I think those of us cruises and report back here should be more aware that those at home still love pics at dinner of everyone like it used to be? We’ve had not one on this cruise. Maybe too long since I’ve been on a group cruise. Or maybe harder to post. When the waiter just clicks?

Whatever the reason might be, I agree, Olivia. I love dinner pics and people pics in general. I felt very sorry after our last cruise that I didn't have a single picture of the 5 of us.

Those 2 crab dishes sound wonderful. I really don't think there's anything I like more than fresh crab!

Have fun everyone, and take those phones to dinner!

Editing to add that there are lots of great pics and videos on FB from Tom Giusto and Wes.

Well our trip to Sotitos was a bust. We tried calling to make a reservation but there was no answer. Their web site said they were open at 11.00 am on Sunday. It was a rainy day but we decided to try it. Got to the restaurant and it said closed on SUNDAYS. There was another nice looking restaurant a few doors away. They were setting tables. So we went in the did not open until 1.00 pm. Two hours in the rain too long to wait. So no crab today.

We went for a walk and saw a military parade about 30 or 40 soldiers. They marched in different formations and steps and at the end they did the goose stepping. We were told they do this every Sunday.

Ken has some pictures to post but I had him working on Hippo Itineraries downloading and printing them all so I could proof them all. But hopefully he can get some up today.

Amazing weather today. Sunshine, blue skies, totally calm sea, no wind and we were in the avenue of the Glaciers. This was truly spectacular. Terry Breen was so excited she said she was seeing peaks she had never seen before. The blue in the ice was stunning. A perfect morning. It started early about 6.30 am which was VERY early considering the super bowl ended at 12.30 am. What a game probably will stand as the best super bowl ever.

When we really needed pretty weather we got it. Port Montt, and Port Chacabuco, and today with the glaciers.

LIFE IS GOOD ON THE MARINER!!!!

Absolutely beautiful scenic cruising both last night and this morning. Seeing sunset over snow covered mountains was fantastic. Waking up this morning to more snow wonderful; we are lucky to be on port side. We went up to observation to enjoy scenery and commentary this morning; wonderful. I wonder how this trip would be on Explorer with no forward facing weather decks.

Winds are supposed to pick up to 20mph this afternoon; rethinking our catamaran trip. May just walk into town.

Puerto Montt, Chile:


Mount Villarica a 9,000 foot volcano.


Llamas on our tour.








Petrohue Falls.




Puerto Varas.


June, Ralph & Ngaire eating the best pizza in Puerto Varas.

Ken is working on more pictures. At the Rio Simpson Reserve, in Puerto Chacabuco, Chile we went to a small museum. What fascinated me was the armadillo. So different to the Texas armadillo. Smaller and Hairy, he will post a picture so wanted to explain why we had that picture.

Puerto Chacabuco, Chile:




Condor.








Cascade of the Virgin Falls.

Seeing the dock in Ushuaia today reminded me of a time that a small group of us including Olivia had a special mini segment on the South America cruise and debarked in Ushuaia. We were dragging our cases down the dock and Captain Felipe stopped and asked us what was wrong and why we were all leaving. He had no idea we were disembarking and was really confused. Then we were trying to fit in as few taxis as possible and they were very small. Then we found out the price was about $3 a taxi we all splurged and got our own taxi.

Great memories!!!

Ngaire, if you disregard the hair, that armadillo look like one of our armadillos after it has been run over. Nasty creatures.

They're called "screaming, hairy" armadillos and are native to the mountains (usually the northern desert) of Chile. Unlike the armadillo species of Florida or Texas, they don't try to roll into a ball when frightened bit rather turn and hiss ("scream"). Also unusual, is that they often live inside carrion (ugh).

Fascinating Jim. The little critter fascinated me. I can imagine him hissing!!

Indian Dinner at Compass Rose:


Tom, Jill, Mona, Joann & Frank.

A Military Parade in Punta Arenas, Chile happens every Sunday.

Sailing Through the Avenue of the Glaciers:

Ushuaia, Argentina - the Old and the New:




The older part of town.


The new and renovated part of Ushuaia.




The Hard Rock Cafe is new since we have been here last.

Life is good!

Beautiful day at sea; seafood extravaganza about to start.

Fantastic day in Puerto Madryn; nice port city. Did tour to Gambai for Welsh tea with Welsh choir; it was great to have a long bus ride.

Wonderful dinner with Mike and Linda, Wes and Ida, and Michael. Followed that up with drinks and music in Horizon Lounge; really interesting when bartender says "goodnight" when she is leaving and you are staying. :)

We reviewed our last three excursions; opted for shorter city tour in Punta Del Este, no change in Montevideo (city tour and tango), and cancelled the Gaucho Fiesta in Buenos Aires (7.5 hours and we would be reticent to eat food after all that happened on this cruise). Three more days of fun with friends then we fly to Iguazu to finally see the falls. That will be a great way to end this fantastic voyage. We have seen enough of South America, this will be our last cruise to South America except for as stepping off point to Antarctica in 2020.

Marc

Never say never, Marc. George feels that way about SE Asia.

Happy you've had a great time Marc and have Iguazu Falls to look forward to.

We feel the same way and had enough of Central & South America (except for beginning/ending Antarctica) China & India.

Sitting at the pool bar with view of beautiful beach in Punta del Este. Another wonderful day in paradise. I just wish the bar stools swiveled. Cruise quickly coming to an end. Wonderful dinner with Wes and Ida followed by a great evening in Horizon with Olivia and Gillian. Changed our morning excursion to afternoon then blew it off; life too good onboard.

Tomorrow morning at 7am is SSS; at least that is when the caviar will make its appearance; don't know if they will show the video.

More later . . .

Sadly the farewells have started. Already said goodbye to Olivia, Ngaire, Ken, June, Ralph, Jim, and Pam. Ida and Wes also leaving this afternoon. I am the sole survivor to represent our trivia team this afternoon. We have done pretty well; three or four wins and a number of place and show. BA is absolutely beautiful today; low 70s and sunny; pool deck is lively.

Overall, a somewhat mediocre cruise but definitely a great group of LCTers. Tomorrow we head to Iguazu. Machu Picchu, Chilean Fjords, and Iguazu were the reasons we booked this itinerary. Hopefully two days at the falls will be both exciting and relaxing.

I can't wait for BATIK sea mail; we are going to be land locked for five months so will be enjoying all the sea mail we can get.

Marc

Puerto Madryn, Argentina:


Remains of a dinosaur were found in Chubut territory, Patagonia . It is the biggest in the world.


A morning tea on our tour.


Laura, Jack, Jill & Frank.


Joann, Marc, Dick, Mike & Linda.


Mona, Kate, Ralph, June & Tom.

Sitting on the Lobby Bar Balcony on the Melia Iguazu (formerly Sheraton) having dinner and drinks after a very strenuous walk to the Garganta del Diablo. Luckily, we waited until late afternoon before we took the train and caught the penultimate train back. Tomorrow we will take the Upper and Lower circuits; not going to take the boat trip.

Easy transfer to airport and then flight up here. The Regent tour is staying at Loi out of the park so haven't run into them yet. Gill shows up tomorrow on her private tour and looking forward to a farewell dinner tomorrow night.

Machu Picchu, Patagonia, Chilean Fjords, and now Iguazu; this has sure been a bucket list trip.