Montevideo Uruguay

Greetings from Montevideo, Uruguay! 8 January, 2009

Dear readers, I must apologize again for such a delay in my posting, but the internet was sporadic and we had trouble loading photos. David is going to repost photos today, so hopefully they will appear with the blog.

We were beginning to feel like a ship without a port--the day before yesterday in Puerto Madryn, Argentina, was the first time we had stepped on land in 2009, after 7 straight sea days. Don't get me wrong, I love the sea days, but it was good to go ashore and walk around.

Just to update you. After we left beautiful Antarctica, we were scheduled to stop at Port Stanley, The Falkland Islands, but high winds prevented the ship from anchoring and doing tender service. The docks at Port Stanley are too small for cruise ships, even a medium size one like Symphony. We were really disappointed because we had planned a shore excursion to see the penguins at Bluff Point. It would have also been interesting to see a bit of Britain truly in the middle of nowhere! But weather is in control and we all understood.

During the sea days, we had a great deal to keep us busy. Of couse there are great lecturers on Crystal and we went to see quite a few of them. One was an FBI profiler who talked about terrorism. Did you know that Sadam Hussein was a clean freak? He used baby wipes to wipe everything anyone else touched in his cell. He also used them to clean his hands frequently. The interrogator assigned to him also doled out the baby wipes. The more information he provided, the more baby wipes he received. Another excellent speaker was Tony Soper, a naturalist from the UK, who has spent the last 15 years on expedition ships in Antarctica. He talked a lot about the birds we would see on land and following the ship. We had a Wandering Albatross who stayed with the ship for several hours. His wing span was about 10 feet. He also gave David the website to send his photos of whale flukes, this website tracks the progress of whales all over the world. Each fluke is unique, just like fingerprints and David was able to get some great, clear shots. One of our favorite lecturers was Dr. Jay Wolf, a retired dentist, who is a historian/storyteller. He has been lecturing the entire cruise and will stay on to do the Panama Canal segments with us. He personalizes historical characters and makes their stories come alive. He's extremely entertaining and seems to have boundless facts in his brain. Yesterday, he did a terrific lecture on Evita Peron. She really was a saint to the poor of Argentina, but Juan and she collaborated with the Nazis. At the end of WWII, a German ship brought millions and millions of dollars in German marks, US dollars, French franks, Dutch guilders, Belgian franks and English pounds to Argentina where it was placed in Eva's and Juan's personal bank accounts. Juan Peron also gave the Germans 8000 blank Argentinian passports to help Nazis get out of Germany, including the devil incarnate, Adolph Eichmann. Evita became more of the "Queen of Argentina," and died young at age 33. Jay also spoke about all of the people that "disappeared" in Argentina in the 60's and 70's, primarily students, professors, artists, writers, etc.--the intelligencia. They were seized by the national police or soldiers and never seen again. Women in white scarves, holding black and white photos of their loved ones still demonstrate in downtown Buenos Aires.

Jim Brochu is aboard and did several lectures on celebrities he knows: Ethel Merman, Lucille Ball, Katherine Hepburn and Joan Crawford (who his father had an affair with for 4 years). He presented a totally different Joan Crawford than her daughter did in "Mommy Dearest." Evidently, Christina, the author, has since said she exaggerated her criticism of her mother. But by far, the best presentation that Jim did was his tribute to Zero Mostel in "Zero Hour." Jim wrote the play and it was directed by Piper Laurie. The minute Jim came on the stage, you suspended belief and he WAS Zero Mostel. It's heading to New York in April and I highly recommend it.

Crystal gave a really special party for all of us who are continuing on to Miami. They went all out with lots of decorations, music, free booze and South American style food. We had a performer dressed as Evita, who really looked the part. The Full Sail guys were dressed as Brazillian soccer players and there were even penguins (of the paper variety). We had a great time!

Puerto Madryn, Argentina was our stop January 6. It's a small beach city that is used as a resort by the "portinos" which is what the Buenos Aires residents call themselves. We visited two supermarkets, something we really enjoy doing, and were amazed at how similar they were to supermarkets back home. We bought 8 bottles of Argentinian wine to share with our table at very reasonable prices.

I know I keep raving about our table, but we just love the folks who share it. Penny and Barry Banducci are long term friends with Marilyn and Henry Brook and have traveled together all over the world for many years. They have welcomed us to the table with open arms and embraced us warmly. Our friend, Mary Mckee, from Texas (and the infamous 6230 cruise) also shares our table. We've kept in touch and really enjoy her company. Drew Meredith, a veteran of many Crystal cruise and the Captain's paddle tennis partner rounds out the table. We've loved our host, Cornel Engelbrecht, the ship's doctor from South Africa. Unfortunately, he has to rotate and we will have another officer for the next segment.

Today we visited Montevideo, Uruguay, a city that seems to be the least thriving of all that we have visited. The street are in poor shape and dirty, even in the center of the city. However, there was an antiques flea market, and we did not leave without buying a few items (Samantha, you are the recipient!)

It is hard to believe that tomorrow we will be in Buenos Aires. We've hired a private guide, along with our friends Natalie and Rod, to show us around the city. I wish we had an overnight here, but no luck. I'll give a full report! Tomorrow, also, is our Cruise Critic cocktail party that David and I are hosting. We have about 40 Cruise Critic members on board.

I am not sorry to see the holiday cruise segment end. There were several large families from Mexico City who created an aura of unpleasantness wherever they were. The children were loud, unruly and undisciplined. They were up to midnight running around the Crystal Cove. Even the smallest ones were at second seating creating an awful disturbance for those they were seated near. (fortunately, not us). They have ignored the dress code and demanded to be allowed to dine in the dining room and specialty restaurants in jeans, flipflops, sweatpants, baseball caps, and tshirts, even on informal and formal night. Many guests have complained and their attitude is they payed their money and they will do whatever they want to do. Those of you from Cruise Critic, please see the comments posted by Beth and Miles. The Captain sent them a letter telling them they needed to comply with the dress code or they would be denied admittance. Also, there is larger, prominent signage about the dress code at the entrance to the dining room and Prego and Silk Road. It's amazing how such a small segment can cause a wake of disgust wherever they are. They also caused food to be wasted after they were witnessed sticky their hands in the trays. They refuse to use tongs. However, I witnessed a US father with 5 children aboard (he sat in front of us at Hannuka services) reach into the sushi trays with his hands. I was so shocked that I blurted out "Don't do that! Use tongs!. He looked at me and said "I don't need you to tell me what to do." I should have replied that he certainly does. Ordinarily, I would not say anything, but this just shocked me so that I couldn't help it! What pigs!!! But they are all getting off in Buenos Aires!!

It was hard to say goodbye to dear friends we have made on board--Miles and Dan. They have been a real bright spot on the two segments and we will miss them. We'll see them in March when we go to Boca for Cara Schwartzberg's wedding and they have graciously invited us to stay with them.

Yesterday, many people were packing since we go from Montevideo to Buenos Aires without a sea day. But David and I were busy winning to the slot tournement! I came in first and David second, so we each got $25 slot coupons, shirts and caps and I won $180! Patty, your mom's photo is still up and she looks great! They took my photo, too.

David is going to try to post this with new photos again, so I hope it works. Thanks for bearing with the sporadic posting. One of my other excuses is that I'm just too busy having fun to post.

Love to you all!

Ricki