Viking Polaris: Day 1! The last leg of my journey to reach my “home away from home” for the next 11 days began early this morning. My alarm got me up at 0500 and I packed my bags for the next leg of my trip. At 0545, I checked out of my room at the Hilton and got some breakfast (croissants and fruit). While eating, I spoke with a friendly German about his recent trip to Antarctica - he said he had a great time. Meanwhile, the Viking Team was getting everyone ready to go. All airfare was included as part of the overall Expedition cost and, to get all of us from Buenos Aires to where the ship was, Viking chartered a flight so we could reach the southernmost city in the world: Ushuaia! But first, we had to leave our hotel and reach the airport. Watching the Viking logistics in action was impressive. During arrivals to Buenos Aires yesterday, the 350ish passengers on the Viking Expedition ship “Polaris” had already been sorted and sent to two different hotels. Beyond that, the Hilton guests were also sorted with colors. All of this categorizing allowed the tour company to distinguish between buses and charter flights. I was assigned to the Yellow Group and my bags were identified with a similarly colored ribbon. Before leaving the US, I’d printed out a lot of documents but most were, ultimately, unnecessary. At 0615, I boarded a bus with other members of the Yellow Group and we got a ride to Ezeiza International Airport. On the way, we were issued our charter flight boarding passes. Like yesterday, it was quite rainy. Most of the other people on the bus were couples and much older than me. We arrived at the airport at 0700 and were quickly guided through the terminal by Viking Team members with signs. I cleared security pretty quickly and, by 0730, was sitting at the gate. I almost lost my phone along the way but a nice person let me know (whew!). To pass the time, I did some more reading and charged my iPhone (with the Argentinian charger I’d brought). At 0755, we were told to board some busses and these took us out to a distant parking spot on the ramp. When we arrived there, we found a FlyBondi Boeing 737. An inside joke in my family caused me to laugh because there was a capybara on the tail. Using some air stairs, we boarded and I found my seat. There was even less room for legs than I’d seen on my earlier flight (“budget airline”, sort of an Argentinian version of Frontier) but, fortunately, the aircraft was not completely full. At that time, the fuel truck was still attached so there was no air conditioning - I was really glad that I’d worn my short sleeved shirt because it was so hot. Other passengers were not as lucky... Our departure time was supposed to be 0840 but that time came and went before the baggage arrived. As a result, we didn’t take off until almost 0920. Most of us were stoic about these things (these flights were arranged by Viking, after all, and we didn’t pay extra) but I did sense some “Ugly American” sentiment with some folks. Once airborne, the cabin temps were more pleasant and I was able to enjoy some scenery from my window seat. Along the way to the tip of South America, I did some reading. The crew served some lunch (jamon y queso) and bottled water (no shortage of that, fortunately) as we flew the length of the Argentinian coast. During most of the route, we were pretty far out over the ocean but, occasionally, I saw things that I could find on the map. There were some clouds but most of the views were unobstructed. Highlights were seeing the entrance to the Strait of Magellan and some of the snow peaked Andes mountains. Also noticed a huge inland body of water that I later learned was called Lago Fagnano. Throughout this time, we had no internet or power outlets - felt very glad I charged my phone earlier. I did (finally) meet one guy who was going on his first cruise vacation too. The flight attendants came through again later with juice and chips. After our 3+ hour flight, we made a nice descent into Ushuaia. I could see “Polaris” in the harbor! We landed only a few minutes later than scheduled (1215) and it was clear that we'd arrived in town on one of the most spectacular days of weather the area gets - sunny & 60 F. Unfortunately, our pilots then had to wait 15 minutes for a gate to open up for our plane. Some of my fellow passengers were not gracious with the delay and things only got worse after we had to wait for an hour for our checked bags to arrive at baggage claim. Even then, some of us were apparently standing in the wrong place and had to move to go wait some more. Once we were finally through the mandatory Agriculture Checkpoint, we had to drop our bags with a Viking Team member (there were a lot of them outside security) to stage the bags for our staterooms. At 1330, I got on a bus that would take us from the airport to the pier. The weather was awesome (60 F and sunny) and we could see all kinds of beautiful views, including Mount Sarmiento and snowy peaks in Chile. One of our guides said the locals can almost never see any of the scenery (because of fog on typical days) - I feel very lucky. Arriving at the ship, we got a welcome from the Cruise Director (Danny) and then walked onto “Polaris”. WooHoo! After we started the check in process (1345), things went quite smoothly. We had some safety briefs, visited our staterooms, met our stewards (mine was named Rico) and got cleaned up. I took a shower and then watched a mandatory orientation video on the TV in my room. My Expedition Gear was waiting for me to check (sizes, etc.) but then I was allowed almost two hours of "free time". I made my way back (still getting my bearings) to the entry/exit area and tested out my ID card (it worked). Since I was interested in seeing a bit of the town before we left, I asked one of the crew members for ideas. It turned out that I'd found one who’d grown up in Ushuaia and she told me about some good places to take photos. I got back off the ship and wandered around the harbor area and edge of the commercial areas. With mountains and glaciers to the north and the Beagle Channel and Chile to the south, the scenery was awesome. Not wanting to miss anything (e.g., launching of the ship), I returned to the ship very soon after leaving it (1545). Before we got underway, I spent time walking around, exploring and getting lots of photos. At one point, I found myself at "The Hide", a solitary location on one of the lower decks. I also checked in with guest services (Amir) and he loaded me up with more excursions than I’d expected. At 1630, there was a ship wide drill and orientation from the Captain. Continuing to explore, I engaged with crew members (who told me where to watch the ship’s launch), some scientists (at Expedition Central science fair) and some fellow passengers who remembered me from the plane. During this whole phase, I asked lots of questions! One interesting thing I learned about was that my Viking App had an art gallery function, meaning I could listen to a story about each piece of art. While exploring, I found some cookies and lemonade - this cruise may turn out to be a trial of self control... "Polaris" left the Ushuaia pier at 1700 (I watched us pull away from land from a great position on the bow) and I then attended a “Sail Away” party that had begun on the stern. They gave us all champagne so we could celebrate the beginning of the Expedition - everyone was feeling very upbeat! I met several members of the crew and enjoyed the pleasant sea air as we headed east through the Beagle Channel. Having recently completed Charles Darwin’s book about his voyage on the “Beagle”, it was interesting to compare his narrative with reality. Afterwards, I enjoyed music by a Classical Duo (strings) in the Aula (auditorium) before heading to the World Cafe for some dinner (1800). I explored all the food options before settling on some sushi and sashimi (I also tried some swordfish). Tonight I learned how good the dining/drinking package with Viking was: I was given complimentary Rioja wine and some Grimbergen Double Amber beer - the servers would not stop offering drinks!. Moving along, I found lots more food that I'll have to try during the next week. Wrapped up my meal with some pasta and dessert. Before leaving the dining area, I did some texting with Eileen and my daughters. Overall, I was pleased to note that I didn’t gorge myself or imbibe as heavily as would have been possible because I still had things I wanted to do before sunset. Returning to the upper decks, I was disappointed to find that the crew had secured them (due to winds). Fortunately, there are plenty of windows and I still got some nice views. The scenery of both the Argentinian and Chilean coasts was breathtaking from several of the common areas. Strangely, I found many places to be completely deserted - perhaps everyone was getting an early bedtime in preparation for tomorrow? Not me! Wanting to see if my bags had been delivered to my stateroom (they had been), I spent a little time with the open balcony window. The air was cool and the sea sounds made me sleepy. Watching the huge numbers of soaring albatrosses also tempted me to retire for the evening. But I wasn’t finished with my exploring! During this time, I unpacked my bags, stowed my gear, tried some of the complimentary mini-bar snacks and drinks, reviewed the “Viking Daily” (newsletter) and planned for my day tomorrow (there were lots of mandatory training and orientation sessions). It started to get a bit foggy but the sun stayed out well past 2100. When I left my room again, I found more people had begun to congregate in one of the bars - these drinks, however, were NOT free. In that same area, a fellow passenger told me he was interested in playing one of the table-top video poker games so I joined him. It’s a good thing the money was pretend because neither of us beat the house. The countless library books caught my attention and I took one with me to read later. Continuing my walkabout, I managed to locate almost everything of interest (to me) before we entered the open ocean. By then, I realized I’m going to be forced to recall my sea legs from Navy days - this ship certainly doesn’t have the stability of a CVN... Regardless, this definitely won’t be “Haze Gray & Underway”! After returning to my room for good, I watched a movie, did some blogging and social media, laid out my excursion gear (prep for biosecurity screening the next day) and read. By then (2300), The Drake Passage crossing had begun. According to everything I've heard/read, it can be hit or miss on waves/wind/etc. Initially, though, my sleep began with some pleasant, lulling swells - the next 24 hours may be “interesting”...
