South to Ushuaia!

The first day at sea after leaving Valparaíso was the "sportiest" day I've ever experienced on a cruise ship. Seas were a steady twenty to thirty feet with an occasional monster that would break over the bridge of the ship. When you consider that the ship is just over 1,000 feet long and comes in at 130,000 gross tons with the bridge situated about one hundred feet above the waterline, this is saying quite a bit. Fortunately I grew up on and around the ocean, so this was great fun for me! All of the outside decks were obviously closed for the safety of passengers and crew, as it would have been quite easy for someone to slip overboard and the odds of recovering them would have been virtually non-existent.

Sometime that evening we entered the Chilean Fjords and we woke up to waters as flat as swimming pool and stunningly majestic landscapes. While the waters were calm the winds remained brisk and the Captain kept everyone inside most of the day. There were brief periods that the wind would abate for brief windows and we were allowed out on deck to take photographs. Lighting was a challenge a large part of the time; dull, flat overcast that sucked the colors from the exposure. The sun did reveal itself a few times and we were rewarded with even more breath-taking views. Alas, the Chilean Fjords are only so long and the route to the Strait of Magellan for a large ship involves another transit "outside" the protection of the islands in the open ocean. More "sporty" weather for a while the next day, and I'm not ashamed to say that I enjoyed it. It does make you chuckle a bit when people on Caribbean itineraries complain about rough weather when the seas reach six to eight feet. If you have the opportunity to travel on a similar itinerary with seas of this magnitude on a Royal Caribbean ship I recommend spending time in the Viking Crown lounge for the best views.


Day three found us back in calm waters, transiting the Strait of Magellan on our way to Ushuaia. Around mid-afternoon we passed Cape Froward, the southernmost tip of continental South America, marked with column near the water's edge with a large metal cross on the peak of the promontory. The marker is visible in the lower right corner of the photo and the cross is just left of center at the top of the photograph. The first Cross of the Seas was erected on the site around 1913, but fell victim to the elements several times over the years. The current cross was built in 1987 to commemorate the visit of Pope John Paul II to Chile. Finding the landmark on a globe produces a bit of a "wow" reaction - it's quite a long way from home for most of us! We continued through the strait and towards Ushuaia throughout the evening and into the night. The next morning we awoke anchored in the harbor of the southernmost city in the world, and it was time to see penguins in the wild!