Okay… On the bus to Valparaiso, our guide was very clearly practicing his English. He did his best to fit in as many words as possible on the 2 hr. drive. At one point he listed every name of every vine stock found in Chile. I suppose if you were a cork-head, you would appreciate that one particular “extinct” vine stock was rediscovered here in 1983. Lori and Joel? Not cork-heads, but his droning did provide time for a nap.
The port in Valparaiso is very commercial and was not really setup for cruise ships. This meant that we were ushered into a big empty building and given a number for a boarding group. Once our group was called, we then boarded a bus (3rd one this trip for those keeping score) that took us down the long pier to the ship. Once on board, we were funneled down to the main lounge where we could check-in. This was a very different embarkation experience from what we have had in the past.
So, we’re back on the Norwegian Dream. The Dream is not the most glamorous or largest ship that NCL has but does seem to have some of the more “exotic” itineraries. Ok, at least ones we are attracted to. This is the 3rd time we’ve cruised on this ship:
1. Summer, 2006 - Baltic Capitals (where we thought the Russians took off with our luggage w/o us)
2. Spring, 2007 - Mexico, Belize & the “exotic” port of Houston
3. Now - South America (this cruise)
We’re figuring that the wheelchair access on this ship must be spectacular, too. They say that the longer the cruise the older the average age of the passenger. We don’t know if this is true, but let’s just say that we are feeling extremely young.
