Ushuaia, Onboard Ahoy!
Day 1 : Dec 10, 2019
On the 1st day of our voyage to Antarctica, we fly into Ushuaia, the southern-most city of South America, to board our ship Silver Cloud.
We woke up at 2:30 am. The excitement was building up. Quickly finished our showers, freshened up and got ready. Our check-in luggage, kept outside the hotel room had already been collected by the hotel staff and was to be loaded onto our chartered flight to Ushuaia. At 4:00 am, we checked out of the room, went down to the reception and completed the check-out formalities. We were slotted in Coach No. 4 scheduled to depart at 4:30 am for transfer to Santiago airport.
Scare at Santiago Airport
Our coach rolled out at 4:45 am. There was a Silversea ground staff in the coach. She distributed pre-printed Boarding Passes for the chartered flight to a few of the explorers and announced that rest will have to pick up their Boarding Passes from LATAM check-in counter at Santiago airport. Bidisha got her Boarding Pass but I didn’t get mine.
At Santiago Airport, the explorers who had already received their boarding passes were escorted to the Passport Control by one of the Silversea ground staff. The rest of us queued up at the LATAM check-in counters. When my turn came, the staff at the check-in counter took a look at my passport and issued me a boarding pass. I looked at the boarding pass and discovered that I have been issued a duplicate copy of Bidisha’s boarding pass! When I pointed out this mistake to the staff at the check-in counter, she again went through my passport and issued another boarding pass. To my utter dismay, I found that though this boarding pass was issued in my name, the seat allocation mentioned STBY – Standby. When I pointed this out to the check-in staff, I was told that seat allocation will be done at the gate and I should proceed to the gate through Passport Control and Security.
I joined Bidisha at the Passport Control queue. We were pretty worried now. We crossed the Passport Control and Security Check and rushed to the gate. By the time we reached the gate, the boarding had already commenced. I gave my boarding pass to the ground staff at the gate and asked for seat allocation. We were told to wait as the chartered flight was full and overbooked!!
Soon quite a few others joined us. All had the same issue of Standby boarding passes. In most of the cases, one member of the family had been issued a boarding pass with seat allocation while the other was on standby. We asked the LATAM ground staff if there was any Silversea personnel around or in the aircraft and they replied in negative. Overall, the attitude of LATAM staff was pretty cold and uncooperative. Soon, they announced the final boarding call and started pressing the family members who had seat allocations to board the aircraft. But most the people simply refused to board the aircraft without their family members. Finally, after some time, the LATAM staff started to check for passengers who had been issued boarding passes but had neither boarded the aircraft nor were standing at the gate. After identifying such passengers, they started allocating those seats to the explorers with Standby Boarding Passes. Then one of the LATAM gate staff let the cat out of the bag. Silversea Cruises’ ground handling agency – Acron Chile, had provided an incorrect list of passengers to LATAM and LATAM had apparently issued Boarding Passes for some non-existent passengers! We were left wondering how in today’s world of heightened aviation security, any airline can issue Boarding Passes in such a casual manner without ascertaining the identity of the passengers, and this was an International flight!
We had been allotted seats in different rows. Bidisha was allotted 16C whereas I was allotted 37B. We found that this was the fate of most of the couples and families and they were all separated and scattered all over the aircraft. Bidisha settled in her seat with her backpack placed in her leg-space. There was no space in the overhead bins. I went to the rear of the aircraft and took my seat. There was a couple who were allotted 37A and 37C. I exchanged my seat with them and took 37C. I was able to somehow squeeze my backpack in the overhead bin, but my camera bag had to be placed in the leg-space in front of my seat.
The flight was scheduled to depart at 6:00 am. The boarding, with all the seat allocation confusion, was completed at 7:00 am. After the doors were closed, the pilot announced an unexpected technical delay. We checked with the cabin crew and found out that flights to Ushuaia have to mandatorily carry a spare wheel. Apparently, the ground engineering was trying to arrange the spare wheel now! Finally, our flight departed at 8:00 am. Luckily, the 3 hour flight was uneventful and we landed at Ushuaia at 11:00 am.
Immigration queue at Ushuaia Airport
Our next ordeal commenced after the aircraft doors were opened and the disembarkation started. The disembarking queue seemed to be stuck up for ages and didn’t seem to move!. After a good 40 minutes wait I finally found myself moving. As I came to the door, the movement had again stalled. I walked past the queue telling people that my wife was up ahead in the queue and I had her passport. I reached Bidisha who was halfway ahead and realised that Passport Control at Ushuaia was handling the passengers at a snail’s pace.
As the queue slowly inched forward, we realised that there were only 4 officers manning the Passport Control and they had to clear about 212 explorers who had arrived in the chartered flight. The immigration clearance process was slow. Additionally, some of the explorers were being scrutinised in great detail. A small airport, with hardly any space for holding area for Passport Control meant that the disembarking queue snaked all the way back to the aircraft.
It was 12:20 pm when we finally reached the baggage carousel after crossing the Passport Control. We picked up our baggage from the belt and handed it over to the Silversea ground staff for onward transfer to the cruise ship. Thereafter, we boarded the Coach which soon departed towards the restaurant where our lunch was planned. Enroute, the guide in our coach gave us a briefing about the Ushuaia town and its surrounding areas.
End of the World
Ushuaia, whose inhabitants proudly call it the ‘End of the World’, is the last known city on the South American continent. The city also loudly promotes itself as the ‘Southernmost City in the World’. As our coach traversed through the city, we got a feel of a weather-beaten fishing village that had developed rapidly in recent times and urbanised at a fast pace. There were newer homes built in Swiss-chalet style, old homes in weather-worn pastel colours with tiny gardens, and under-construction public housing apartments made of concrete & steel. A bunch of budget hotels and a handful of luxury hotels catered to the tourist traffic. A 5-star hotel, the first of its class, had been a recent addition to the city. The city drew 120,000 visitors in summer months – December through March. Most of the cruise ships departing for Antarctica commenced their cruise from Ushuaia port.
Soon, our coach was cruising on Pan American Highway. Pan American Highway, that spans across entire Americas, connects Tierra del Fuego in South America to Alaska in North America. The portions of this highway passing through Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego remains unpaved to ensure environmental protection of the national park. Our coach passed through this small portion of the unpaved stretch and reached its destination which was a traditional Argentine barbeque restaurant. After a quick lunch of Salads, Bread, Barbequed Chicken & Lamb accompanied with Red and White wines, we started back for Ushuaia port in our coaches.
Boarding the ship
We boarded our ship Silver Cloud at the pier in Ushuaia port at around 3 pm. It was a very windy day. The deboarding from the bus and boarding the ship had to be halted multiple times to due to heavy breeze. The crew ensured that the gangway was not crowded, and suitable safety measures were adhered to while embarking onto the ship.
A welcome drink of Champagne was offered to us as we made our way to the reception area for the check-in procedures. The staff helped us with the check-in procedure at the Reception desk. After completion of check-in formalities, we were escorted by one of the Concierge personnel to our Deluxe Veranda Suite number 531 on Deck 5.
We found the suite very spacious and could get a lovely view of the shore from our private balcony. Though windy, the sun was playing hide & seek through the clouds. The suite had a King size bed, a sofa with 2 chairs, a coffee table that could be unfolded into a dining table, a work desk and a TV. Internet services were available through wi-fi system. Full-size French windows separated the suite from the balcony and the windows offered clear, unobstructed view of the outside. The balcony was equipped with 2 chairs and a table.
We quickly clicked a few photos from the balcony. Then, we emptied our suitcases and arranged our clothes in the closet. Mr. Negi Narendra, the Butler Manager, a compatriot from India, introduced us to our Suite Butler, Mr. Reynaldo, and the Suite Attendant, Ms. Ester, both from Philippines.
We thereafter picked our lifejackets and made our way to the Panorama Lounge on Deck 8 for the mandatory safety drill. The crew explained the lifejacket wearing technique, safety drill and the emergency evacuation procedures. This whole process lasted for about 40 minutes.
Silversea Cruises provided a complimentary Parka to each voyager. Ours were neatly kept on the bed. Our rental boots were also kept in a bag in the room. We checked the complimentary Parka and rental boots which were good fits. All shore landings were wet landings where we had to get off the zodiac into the shallow waters and trek ashore. This required good gumboots and we had rented our boots in advance through the rental agency of Silversea Cruises. Silversea Cruises also provided a complimentary backpack and a steel water bottle to every voyager. These were also neatly placed on the bed for us.
Our next stop was Explorer Lounge on Deck 6. This is an auditorium with a stadium style seating that accommodated all the explorers on the voyage – 212 of us. The Expedition leader Mr. Schalk Botha introduced us to his entire expedition team of 22 people drawn from various nationalities. The Captain of the ship Mr. Cosimo Pontillo, popularly known as Mino, was also introduced. Captain Mino Pontillo, who commenced his seafaring career in 1983, was an Italian national with stints in Italian Navy, cargo vessels and cruise ships.
As a part of the general briefing, we were informed that Drake Passage was witnessing heavy storms and swells of 5 metres high. Also, there had been an unfortunate incident the previous day, of a Chilean Navy aircraft gone missing over Drake Passage. Captain Mino decided to sail until the mouth of Beagle Channel and wait till the storm blew over. It was estimated that the weather will clear up the next day morning.
Back into the room, we hung around the balcony taking pictures of the shore. At 6 pm the ship set sail and glided through the Beagle Channel.
We went to the La Terrazza on Deck 7 for a sumptuous sit-down dinner. La Terrazza specializes in Italian cuisine for dinner. It was a truly fine dining experience with great service. On days to come, we would keep experiencing this great service in every restaurant on the ship.
Overall, the suite and the ship exuded a 5-star luxury ambience.