Day 29 - February 1, 2008 - at sea

Photos
Since we lost another hour last night, we all slept late. The whole ship seemed to have slept in. The wait staff was still sleepy, they had all lost an hour of sleep too. Good thing it was a sea day and not much to do anyway. So, we had a late breakfast in Compass Rose and then we went back and watched the DVD "A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." A great cruising movie! "So long and thanks for all the fish." By then, it was almost time for lunch. Debbie had gotten several emails from Leo Silva in Valparaiso, our tour guide for our day there and had not been able to download the photo files he had attached. Clay made that his project and we looked at all the pictures and then went to lunch late too. There was a Carnaval de Pollo on the Pool Deck for lunch today, but it was a 60F and drizzling. We went to Compass Rose instead. It was very busy in Compass Rose, so obviously a lot of people had the same idea. Clay went to the Big Screen Movie, "The Ex" in the afternoon. Margie went to Arts & Crafts and made a really awfully ugly jewelry bag and then to Needlepoint. Debbie took a nap since she wants to go to the 9:45pm show in Constellation Theater tonight. They are having an Argentine guitarist and the National Tango Champions. We had finally had invitations for our Galley Tour at 4:55pm. We toured the galley on deck 5 and the bakery on deck 4 with Roman, the 2nd in charge.
Over the last 2 days we had gotten a letter and then an invitation card for the Full Circle Exclusive Event in Buenos Aires. Between the 2 pieces over 2 days, we learned that this event is to depart from the Terminal Building at 4:30pm on Tuesday, Feb. 5 and to allow for the internal shuttle transfer to the terminal building. We had booked the Tour Desk's Exclusive Day on the Pampas, a 7.5 hour tour on January 23rd and no one pointed out the potential conflict. We have had a lot of problems for some reason getting our plans firmed up for BA. Not sure why. As the Travel Concierge Desk keeps informing us, it is a compact city of 13 million and the capital of Argentina, there are plenty of tour guides here and RSSC and the Travel Concierge, Scott, have years of working with the same ground operator. Whatever, things are still open for us until arrival at this point. Debbie has been assured after checking in several times that our private guide for the 4th and a day of walking and public transit is settled. But, we have nothing in writing yet. We submitted our written request on the 23rd. At this point, we have been told to assume it is on and to just show up at the Tour Desk, or the foot of the gangway, or the Terminal Building, or anywhere we can find one of the Tour Desk people at some unspecified time on the morning of the 4th and we will have our private guide and our custom tour. That seems pretty loose to us, so guess we'll just have to see what happens on the 4th and either be happy or unhappy with it. We were verbally quoted a price of US$165 on the day we made the request though and have no further information on that either. Not happily looking forward to an unpleasant surprise(s) at this point in BA. Anyway, Debbie went back to the Travel Concierge Office today to RSVP for the Exclusive Event, El Zanjon. They seemed genuinely surprised that the buses to that Event were leaving at 4:30pm, the exact same time that the buses were to be returning from the Exclusive Day on the Pampas. Debbie was told that if she wanted to do El Zanjon, then she should not have booked the Pampas Day. She pointed out that tour had to be booked a minimum of 14 days in advance and that was exactly when we had booked it, without yet knowing the date or the time of El Zanjon. Yet, someone at the Tour Desk had to know in advance while we did not and they did not warn us. We did not know until last night what the date, or time, of El Zanjon was and we did not know what time the Pampas Day tour ended until just now when Debbie asked. Debbie asked what is the dress for this since they gave her the address of El Zanjon and told her we could take a cab there from the Terminal after the bus drops us off. Country Club Casual, but we will have spent all day in the country on a ranch. The answer was of course, you should have thought of that before you booked it. Ummm. Nevermind. A couple of Tour Desk people got involved and it did not get any better, so Debbie just left. We'll keep you informed. Anyway, pasted below is the tour description.
Exclusive Day on the Pampas • BUE-5259
Duration: 7.5 Hours Price: $175.00
Transport: Air-Conditioned Coach
Enjoy the flavor of the Argentine pampas at an estancia located about
70 miles outside Buenos Aires. The estancias, or farms, form the rural
backbone of Argentina. Sometimes the size of small countries, these
grand estates raise cattle and farm horses for sport, mainly polo.
Today the estancia is for the exclusive use of our guests. A traditional
welcome awaits you with tasty empanadas, which are small meat
pies sometimes filled with chicken but mainly Argentine beef. This
is accompanied by a glass of the local wine or juices. The owners
will be on hand to greet you and help you enjoy your day in the country.
You will be served a traditional Argentine barbecue lunch where the
fresh meats are cooked on an open flame. The aromas, together with
fresh country air, will build your appetite. After lunch, a folkloric
gaucho show will be performed and you will have an opportunity to
see the typical Carrera de Sortijas (Ring Race).
please note: Guests wishing to go horseback riding should wear appropriate
clothing and also must sign a liability waiver form. This tour must be pre-requested
a minimum of 14 days in advance. Once requested, this tour is non-refundable.
We have had a really quiet and calm sail today without any land in sight as we go at full speed due north all day.
Tonight is Country Club Casual again. Tomorrow is Formal for the Captain's Farewell Party for this segment. Clay wanted to go to LaVeranda tomorrow, but Debbie and Margie don't like the Compass Rose menu tonight and want to go to LaVeranda tonight. Clay might be outvoted in his attempt to avoid dressing up tomorrow night.
We did eat in Laveranda with its Argentina Steakhouse theme. They are still working out the hiccups in their service, but everyone was able to order a menu item that they could eat. Debbie and Margie headed off to take in the tango show and Clay called it an early evening as usual.
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