This is a journal of our February 27-March 12, 2024, “Exploring the Chilean Fjords” land/expedition package on the Ponant L’Austral. The package includes one night at a 5-star hotel in Buenos Aires, flights and transfers to/from Ushuaia, and 13 nights aboard the L’Austral. We had cruised from Valparaiso to Rio de Janeiro around Cape Horn in 2011 aboard the Star Princess (http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=80603). On that “drive-by” cruise, we enjoyed scenic cruising past the fjords and were able to view many of the glaciers in the Beagle Channel. We also had views of Cape Horn, but were not able to make a landing there. On this expedition, we hoped to explore the fjords in greater detail and perhaps to make a landing on Cape Horn. EXPEDITION ITINERARY: 15 DAYS/14 NIGHTS [Note: This is the itinerary we followed. Each expedition is unique; the actual sites visited depend on the weather and sea conditions during that expedition.] Argentina: Buenos Aires (2 nights), Ushuaia Chilean Fjords (12 nights): Picton Passage (S), Tortel (F, H), Pie XI Glacier (Z), El Brujo Glacier (Z), Punta Arenas (O), Marinelli Glacier (Z), Islas Tuckers (Z), Gabriel Passage (S), Garibaldi Glacier (Z), Glacier Alley (S), Isla Hornos (H, S), Fouqué Fjord (Z), Puerto Williams (H, O) Included activities: F=Folkloric show, H=Hike, O=Other, S=Scenic cruising, Z=Zodiac cruise ABOUT US John and I (Carolyn) are retired Mississippi State University professors in our early seventies, who currently reside in central North Carolina. Both of us are natives of New Orleans and, as such, are interested in good food and wine. For simple souvenirs of our trips, we like to collect small regional or national flags. We had visited Ushuaia several times on previous cruises, but I had been unable to find the flag of the Province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and South Atlantic Islands (Argentina). I hoped to acquire one in Buenos Aires on this trip. I had previously acquired flags for Argentina, Chile, and the Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica Region. We enjoy both cruises and land tours; often our trips combine the two. We have set foot on all seven continents, primarily in the Americas and Europe. We have previously sailed with Princess, Ponant, Royal Caribbean, Holland America, Celebrity, Costa, and Commodore. This was our fifth cruise with Ponant. On our trips, we prefer nature and wildlife tours that involve snorkeling, SCUBA diving, or hiking. In particular, we will hike for miles to see waterfalls, volcanoes, caves, or other interesting geologic features. We also enjoy lighthouses, forts, castles, and anything else we can legally climb up on for a good view. Fortunately, neither of us has mobility issues. We also exercise regularly, walking six miles a day for five days a week. In general, we prefer DIY port tours, independent tours with other Cruise Critic roll call members, or shared public tours. Because this was an expedition cruise, we did not need to book any independent excursions on this trip. There was one included excursion in Tortel, Chile. ABOUT THE REVIEW Other reviews give extensive information about the ship, cabins, onboard activities, etc. Our reviews are generally not like that; they are primarily a journal of what we did in the various ports, including web links to tourist information sites and maps. For those who wish more information on the ship and the onboard experience, please see the report on our first cruise with Ponant aboard the Le Soléal (sister ship of the L’Austral) in 2020 (www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=680008). SUGGESTED RESOURCES “Antarctica: A Guide to the Wildlife (Bradt Travel Guide)” (2018) by Tony Soper and Dafila Scott (www.amazon.com/Antarctica-Guide-Wildlife-Bradt-Travel/dp/1784770914/) "Patagonian & Fuegian Channels Map: Chilean Fjords Cruise Chart - Cape Horn, Ushuaia, Magellan Strait,” by Sergio Zagier (https://www.amazon.com/Patagonian-Fuegian-Channels-Waterproof-Map/dp/1879568969/) ON WITH THE REVIEW! MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2024—RDU TO MIA TO EZE American Airlines now lets you scan your passport when you check in so, if you are not checking luggage, you can get your boarding pass on your phone, head directly to the TSA PreCheck, show the boarding pass, show your passport, run your stuff through the scanners, and go to the gate. Flying Business Class gave us a choice of airline lounges in addition to the ones included with the Priority Pass from our Sapphire Reserve card. At RDU it is just a regular AA Admirals Club. There were some nice scrambled eggs and bacon there—nothing exceptional. In MIA we were entitled to the AA Flagship Lounge, where we were welcomed with a glass of Piper-Heidseick Champagne. The food is a step up—Beef Wellington at the carving station plus multiple options at the buffet and a self-service bar. This was a very nice way to spend the seven hours we were stuck here until the flight to EZE. It's better to be early than to miss the flight and the cruise! TUESday, FEBRUARY 27, 2024—BUENOS AIRES, argentina Despite a delayed departure last night, our flight made up the time and we were in the immigration line by 8:35 a.m. All of the lines were long, especially for non-Argentinians, and we spent 1.25 hours in line before we were processed. The waiting area was hot and lacked ventilation. When we were about halfway through, someone much farther back collapsed—whether from the heat or something more serious, we'll never know. Medics were called and the person was taken away on a stretcher. We don't believe in bad omens, but maybe this was one. Instead of trusting passengers to find their own accommodations and arrange their own transfers to the airport for the included flight to Ushuaia, Ponant’s expedition package now includes a hotel night and hotel/airport transfers in Buenos Aires. After clearing immigration, we breezed through customs and exited into the terminal. It was easy to spot the Ponant representative. We were the only two guests on that flight, so she called a car and escorted us to the curb to wait for it. We had about a 15-minute wait because of all the traffic congestion around the airport. It is quite a long drive from the airport to the Hilton Buenos Aires in the Puerto Madera area, near the city center. We got to the hotel around 11 a.m. and our room was ready. We stopped at the Ponant hospitality desk to get our bus assignment, luggage tags, and the agenda for today and tomorrow. There were six buses assigned for transport to the airport tomorrow: one for English speakers and five for French speakers. By the time we got up to our room, our luggage was already there. We spent some time freshening up and arranging all our stuff. Because we had visited BA twice previously and had seen most of the important sights (https://www.planetware.com/tourist-attractions-/buenos-aires-arg-cf-ba.htm), we decided simply to walk around a little on our own before returning to the hotel to rest a bit before the included group dinner. The Hilton is in the Puerto Madero area, which was formerly a warehouse district along the old port. The former warehouses are now all shops, bars, restaurants, and hotels. We walked down to the landmark Puente de la Mujer (Women's Bridge) footbridge across the narrow harbor. It is supposed to represent two people dancing the tango. There were two couples dancing to advertise a tango show and a few others dancing on the bridge as well. Near the bridge is a 19th-century sailing schooner that is now a museum (closed today). We kept walking straight ahead to the Plaza de Mayo, one of the main squares. It is surrounded by a number of sights, such as the Metropolitan Cathedral (former seat of Pope Francis) and the Casa Rosada (presidential palace). We had seen all of these sights on our first visit to BA. The Avenida de Mayo, which leads from the square, is one of the main avenues and has many colonial-era, Art Nouveau, and Art Deco buildings. Today we planned to walk along enjoying the architecture, checking out a flag shop, and hopefully stopping for a wine tasting. We had no luck with the flag store, so we returned to Av. de Mayo and sought out Che Malbec. This is a wonderful little wine bar that naturally features wines of Argentina! We shared their classic tasting as well as their premier tasting. That way the two of us could sample eight different wines. They were all excellent and we had substantial pours! We tried two whites including a marvelous Torrontes that had to be substituted for a Chardonnay that was out of stock. That was definitely no loss because the Torrontes stole the show! The reds were all young, but fresh and drinkable. We decided to not get the food pairing, but we did get a couple of empanadas to help our palates with the onslaught of red wines. Our hostess, Gio(vanna), was friendly and knowledgeable about the wines. She suggested the Torrontes substitution as well as a Garnacha for a red that was not in stock. She knows her wines! On the way back to the hotel, we stopped to admire a few more buildings. Then we took a short detour to visit BA's oldest church, 17th-century San Ignacio de Loyola, which once served as the city's cathedral. The high altar also dates to the 17th century; it was carved from wood and gilding was added later. Our walk covered a little more than three miles (4.8 km). Once back at the hotel, we opted for showers and a nap before the group buffet dinner in a private dining room. The food was OK, but the meat (tenderloin and rib eye) suffered from being held in chafing dishes. To me, the best dishes were the ceviche and the shrimp and squid salad. Malbec and Chardonnay were generously poured. We didn't hear any English spoken while we were in the buffet line, but we were joined at the table by a couple from San Francisco who had arrived in BA yesterday. Although we had seen news stories about the current mosquito invasion in BA, we had not encountered any on our walk (perhaps due to yesterday's rain). However, this couple had dined al fresco last night near the waterside and were plagued with no-see-ums. The serving staff helpfully came outside to spray them with insecticide before retreating back inside. During dinner, Ponant representatives came around to the tables with bad news. Tomorrow there was going to be a 24-hour strike by airport workers and pilots. That meant we would not be flying to Ushuaia to join the L'Austral; we would be spending another day in BA. Moreover, the Hilton was fully booked for tomorrow night, so we would have to be moved to other hotels. We would be informed about the new arrangements in the morning. WEDNESday, FEBRUARY 28, 2024—BUENOS AIRES, argentina We were supposed to get a wake-up call at 5:15 a.m. this morning to get ready for the flight to Ushuaia. Alas, that was not to be, so we slept in. Despite our naps yesterday afternoon, neither of us had any problems sleeping until nearly 7 a.m. John went down to the hospitality desk around 8 a.m. to find out what was going on. We needed to check out by noon, when we would walk to a local restaurant for lunch. After walking back to the Hilton, we would be bused to our respective new hotels. Half of us, including the English-speaking group, would be at the Palladio; the other half would be going to the Sheraton. We were encouraged to have positive thoughts. Of course, Ponant was not the only cruise line affected by the strike and having to scramble to make new arrangements. Both Viking and Hurtigruten were using the Hilton prior to their expeditions. At the airport yesterday, we saw signs for Viking's pre-cruise extension to Iguazu Falls: those people are now stuck in Puerto Iguazu. Anyone who expected to fly into BA today will not be able to land. Likewise, the guests who were supposed to disembark their ships in Ushuaia today cannot fly to BA. Will the commercial fights to/from Ushuaia tomorrow be able to accommodate all those people? Meanwhile, we decided not to go out this morning, but instead to rest and relax in our room until it was time to check out. All of our luggage was tagged and parts of the lobby were cordoned off for each group of guests to leave their bags. The walk to the restaurant, El Mirasol de Puerto Madero, was only 900 meters (about 0.6 mile) and flat, although there were some cobblestones and one major street crossing. That was too much for some of the group and about two dozen had to be bused there. Lunch was a plated meal with sparkling wine and a good beef empanada to start. That was followed by salad and an excellent chorizo sausage. The main course was steak and French fries. The steak was much better than the ones last night, but it was still much too well done for my taste. At least it still had a little pink inside. Also, Argentinians don't like to season their meat; some salt and pepper would have been nice. Usually Argentine beef is served with chimichuri or another spicy sauce. Dessert was ice cream with a berry sauce. Throughout the meal, we were amply supplied with Malbec or Chardonnay. After lunch, we had 1.5 hours of free time to stagger back to the Hilton. Back at the Hilton, we relaxed in the lobby until it was time to board our bus for the ride to the Palladio. This hotel has a more modern design than the Hilton. Our room has a balcony that faces the park across the street. Unfortunately, the Ponant reps still did not know what is happening tomorrow. We were told to ask again during dinnertime. When we went down to dinner about 7:45 p.m., the Ponant rep had good news: the schedule for tomorrow would be basically the same as it should have been for today. We are all set to depart for Ushuaia! Dinner was again a plated, fixed menu, but with only one glass of wine (Viognier or Malbec) included. The first course was a puff pastry tart topped with black olive paste and tomato. The main course was a huge chunk of braised veal with mashed potatoes and kale. For dessert there was caramel cream cheesecake. This was all pretty good except for the lack of seasoning (remember—we were born in New Orleans). Our luggage needed to be placed outside our room before 10:30 p.m. It would be collected, taken to the airport, and checked for our flight. Each of our bags weighed 24 lbs, but we don't know whether they were ever weighed at the airport. Carry-on bags were not weighed. We would next see our bags in the Ushuaia airport tomorrow. THURSday, FEBRUARY 29, 2024—Fly to usHuaia, argentina; BOARD L’AUSTRAL We were up at 5 a.m. for the 6:25 a.m. departure to EZE. Breakfast was provided, but we were still not hungry after all the food yesterday. It takes about 45 minutes to drive from the Palladio Hotel to the international airport. Normally we would have received our Aerolineas Argentina boarding passes on the bus, but things were still all messed up from the strike. The Ponant reps had to collect the boarding passes at the terminal in batches and distribute them in the domestic waiting area. There didn't seem to be much sense to the assignments. Some couples were seated together, but John got 14A and I got 31H. That may be because our last names are different—he is a "Jr." There were only 29 English-speakers on this voyage. While we were all just standing around, we met a group of six friends traveling together. Three are from the USA; three are from Australia. Later we met two German \and another Australian. After we had our passes, we were able to go through security (full-body pat down) and head to the gate. Boarding was set to start at 9:15 a.m., with departure at 10 a.m. When we still hadn't started boarding by departure time, we were told that there was a technical issue and boarding would not start for at least another hour. After about 15 minutes though, boarding by groups suddenly started. We were bused out to the plane, where we had to climb stairs to reach the jet way. The plane finally pulled away at 11 a.m. Flight time to Ushuaia is 3 hours and 10 minutes. Breakfast was served during the flight—ham and cheese croissant, yogurt, cereal bar, chocolate chip muffin, and fruit salad. The plane touched down in Ushuaia at 2:15 p.m. It took an hour to collect our checked luggage, have it scanned by the agricultural authorities, and turn it over to Ponant staff; we would next see it in our cabin. Then we were directed to buses, depending on our language, and taken to the ship. The included lunch in Ushuaia and the optional (extra cost) excursion to the Tierra del Fuego National Park were canceled. This was our fourth visit to Ushuaia, which is surrounded by the beautiful peaks of the Martial Mountains. During the bus ride, we had glimpses of the mountains and the Martial Glacier, which seems smaller than on our previous visits. We reached the cruise pier at about 4 p.m.; the Azamara Quest, National Geographic Endeavour, Ocean Nova, Ocean Albatros, and Viking Octantis were also in port. We were hustled aboard L'Austral and given our ID cards, which would be scanned whenever we embarked or disembarked the ship; those were also our cabin keys. Our passports and health forms were collected and we were led to our cabin. The was no time for a welcome glass of Champagne; the crew was rushing to get everyone and their luggage onboard as fast as possible. Captain Roché announced that the ship would depart as soon as we had a pilot vessel and clearance from the port authorities. We decided to stay in our cabin to unpack. We usually book a Deluxe Stateroom, but those were all sold out so we selected a Prestige Stateroom. The main differences are that this category is on Deck 4 (instead of Deck 3) and has a full-length window (instead of a half-window). Both have balconies. Once we were settled in, we went up to the Observatory Lounge for the sail-away. The Bar Manager, Nicolas, was serving Charles Heidsieck Champagne, so we took some of that out on deck to watch the ship cast off. Nicolas turned out to be fantastic for the whole cruise! In order to leave Ushuaia, the ship headed east through the Beagle Channel to the Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse (AKA the Lighthouse at the End of the World), where it reversed course to head west. While we were relaxing in the lounge, we met an Australian couple and had a fun conversation with them. Later we met another couple from Colorado, who said the Aussies had told them about us. Later we had a welcome talk by Pauline, the Cruise Director, and Captain Fabien Roché (AKA Captain Fab) in the theater. The Captain said that, because we had missed a day of cruising, the itinerary had been altered to skip one call and add one or possibly two others. He said we would be happy with the changes and would be given more information about the new itinerary tomorrow. The welcome talk was immediately followed by the mandatory safety drill. After going over the evacuation procedures, we went back to our cabins to put on our life jackets. We then returned to the theater, where we were seated in rows by muster group. Finally, we were directed by rows to the location of the life boats. Later we enjoyed a nice dinner that was not red meat. John had sea bass and I had a chicken dish that was sort of a deconstructed paella. We met one of the Sommeliers, Arthur, (the other is Julie) who said they would try to schedule some wine tastings. After dinner we had a decaf espresso in the Main Lounge, then decamped to the Observatory Lounge for a B&B nightcap. friday, MARCH 1, 2024—At sea The Captain had warned us that we would have about four hours of rough weather last night when we were traversing open water. However, we really didn't notice it. Today was the time for several housekeeping items. Our Ponant Cruise Consultant had asked for our parka sizes, so those were already in our cabin yesterday. We still had to try on boots for the wet landings. The boots seemed to run small this cruise, so John took a 42 and I took a 39. Those are still much smaller than our running shoe sizes would indicate. The boots were dipped in disinfectant and we placed them on a mat outside the cabin. After that we had a presentation by Captain Roché and Vadim, the Expedition Leader. Including Vadim, there are 14 members of the expedition team, with an assortment of relevant specialties. In addition to guiding us on excursions, they would be presenting lectures starting tomorrow. The Captain said that whoever drew the map of this itinerary for the brochure obviously had no idea about the sailing conditions along the west coast of South America. We would have had a rough two days if the Captain followed that route in the open sea! Instead, we would be following a more sheltered route through the islands and skipping Estero Las Montañas fjord. The should give us time to add one or two other interesting sites. Of course, everything is dependent on the weather and sea conditions. We had a good mushroom risotto (it could have been more creamy) for lunch, with an excellent cheese selection for dessert. The restaurant was nearly empty, but we found the buffet to be packed when we went up there to raid the ice cream freezer (four flavors every day!). The restaurant is practically a buffet, with self-serve starters, soup, salad, cheese, bread, and dessert. Only the main course is ordered from the menu. All day long we were sailing in the Strait of Magellan (https://web.directemar.cl/pilotaje/pageC.html). Both sides of the strait are lined with rugged mountains. Some of the mountains are crowned with snow and we have passed a few glaciers. The weather was quite changeable, with rain and fog alternating with sunshine. The air temperatures were in the high 40°F to low 50°F range. We did not spot any wildlife except birds. In the afternoon we had another mandatory briefing—this time on Zodiac safety. As we left the theater, we were given our Zodiac life vests. Tonight was the “Captain's Welcome Cocktail and Gala Dinner.” For this meal, everyone dines at the same time, which makes the service very slow. There are two fixed menus: classic and vegetarian. The classic menu featured both cold and hot seafood appetizers and Beef Rossini (filet mignon with a slab of foie gras). It was all delicious and very filling. After dinner we were having another B&B nightcap in the Observatory Lounge when the Aussies and Coloradans showed up. They were ready to party on, but it was after 10 p.m. and we were ready to call it a day. As the Rolling Stones say, "What a drag it is getting old." SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2024—AT SEA The Captain woke up the ship at 7:15 a.m. for the gorgeous sunrise as we were about to pass some large bay. As was his habit occasionally during this cruise, he would announce “Wakey, wakey!” It was always something worth getting up for, so we appreciated it! The ship continued to follow one of the main routes north through the many islands along the west coast of Chile. It was very windy with mostly rain and occasional sunshine. At 10:45 a.m., there was a talk by the guest lecturer about the history of polar exploration up to WWI. The speaker had some interesting information, but he only had three slides for an hour-long presentation. Two slides were hand-drawn maps with Post-It notes attached. That seemed amateurish. At lunch we decided to try the Ponant Burger, which receives rave reviews on social media. It was excellent, but not necessarily the best hamburger I had ever eaten. For about two hours after lunch, we sailed through the narrow Picton Passage. The weather had cleared a bit, so we had nice views of hillsides covered in vegetation and some small waterfalls. This reminded us of the Norwegian fjords. There was also a spectacular rainbow. Later there was a talk on "The Natural History of Chile." Right before dinner, we had a briefing on the schedule for tomorrow in Tortel and some information about the local area, flora, and fauna. When we went upstairs to the lounge, the Aussies were already there with two more of their compatriots. Australians seem to make up most of the English-speaking passengers. They also introduced us to two Belgians, who are in the Francophone group, but are comfortable with English. There are about 150 French-speaking passengers and most seem to have some knowledge of English. We did not feel slighted in the least being English speakers. Everyone, crew and passengers, was friendly. Sunday, march 3, 2024—TORTEL, CHILE The ship started deploying the anchor at 6:15 a.m. and the process went on for quite a while. Our cabin is only slightly more forward than the one we usually book, so I was surprised at how noisy it was. We needed to be up early anyway because we were doing the guided hike into the hills above Tortel. The other option for a morning excursion was to explore the town on your own. Tortel is a small (just over 500 people) village devoted to fishing and the timber industry. The whole town is built on stilts fashioned from the local cypress trees. All of the buildings are connected by boardwalks and the boardwalk extends around the edge of the cove. The buildings and boardwalks are also made of the local cypress. Until 2003, when a highway was built, Tortel could only be reached by ship. They do not receive many cruise ship calls, but today the Swan Hellenic Diana was also anchored in the cove. We had been warned that this would be a strenuous hike and the wet conditions required us to wear our expedition boots. Because we would be tendered to the dock, we did not have to wear all of our heavy waterproof gear and the Zodiac life vest. We wore our regular hiking pants with a base layer top and our water-resistant jackets. The temperature was around 50°F and we knew we would overheat if we wore much more than that. The trail (https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/chile/aysen/sendero-tortel) started by following the boardwalk along the cove and up a series of stairs. Then the actual trail started: planks (one board wide), slippery rocks, and muddy bogs. The two local dogs who followed us up did not have any problems. However, this was more difficult than I expected, with the mud sometimes coming mid-way up our boots and trying to suck them off. Nevertheless, we had some great views to compensate. I did fine on the way up, but had problems with the footing on the way down, and had to slide down several spots. It would really have helped to have our hiking poles, but we could not bring them in our carry-on luggage. After several slips, my pants and the back of my jacket were a muddy mess. The hike was about 3.25 mi (5.2 km) and we gained about 547 ft (166.7 m) in elevation. About 50 people from L'Austral started the hike and I don't know whether all of them made it to the end. As we were descending the trail, people from the Swan Hellenic ship were ascending. They all were wearing sports shoes, so we wondered what they would do when they encountered the deep muddy areas. Once we were back on the ship, crew members washed off our muddy boots with a high-pressure hose. I asked them to hose off my pants too. We had a quick shower and lunch before returning to shore for a folkloric program by the local residents. There were musicians (guitar and accordion) and dancers in traditional costumes. The local dogs were excited by the music and a couple of them tried to join in the dancing before being distracted by the smell of cooking empanadas. The music and dances seemed to be very similar to what you might find in Cajun areas of Louisiana. Afterwards, we were served delicious empanadas and pisco sours. There also were some craft items on offer. We were still tired from the hike, so we went back to the ship for a nap before the briefing on tomorrow's activities and the recap of today's activities. After that we had a delicious Pata Negra (traditional Iberian ham) tasting with Champagne. After another excellent dinner, we joined several of the other Anglophones for a nightcap in the Observatory Lounge. Monday, march 4, 2024—PIE XI GLACIER During the night the ship retraced its route south and then charted a route northeast through the Wilde Channel towards the Bernardo O'Higgins National Park. We would reach the Pie XI Glacier (AKA Pope Pius XI or Brüggen Glacier), at the head of the Eyre Inlet, in the mid afternoon. When we got up this morning, we were already seeing lots of growlers floating by from the glacier. Pie XI, which is part of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, is the largest glacier in South America and the only one that is growing. It is a surge type glacier that usually stable. However, from 2000 to 2016, the ice advanced about 1.1 mi (1.8 km). It is not only growing in surface area, but also in thickness. We skipped the morning talk by the guest lecturer about his 25-day trek in the Kerguelen Islands. That is an interesting topic, but we wanted to go to the Observatory Lounge to watch the scenery go by. Periodically, we had glimpses of the ice field. Yesterday afternoon, our Blue group was the first one tendered ashore in Tortel. Therefore today we would be the last group to take the Zodiac cruise in front of the glacier at 3:55 p.m. The ship was positioned about a mile from the face of the glacier and the Zodiacs could approach to within 0.25 mi (400 m). This was an absolutely perfect day for a Zodiac cruise, with sunny skies and light winds. The air temperature was about 59°F. We spent about an hour slowly cruising past the 3.1 mi (5 km)-wide glacier face and saw two calving events. We also cruised along the shoreline below the glacier and our boat driver, Clement, identified several types of seabirds for us. There were many icebergs of various sizes in the inlet; one was an incredible deep blue. We had a little time after returning to the ship to divest ourselves of all our heavy waterproof gear. Then we had the recap for today and the preview for tomorrow. Immediately after that, we had the "Pie XI Glacier Poolside Dinner." The restaurant was closed and dinner was only held in the buffet, with views of the glacier and live food stations on the pool deck. John and I were lucky enough to snag a table for two inside, so we could use our jacket/parka to mark our table instead of using them to keep us warm outside while we ate. The food stations included grilled lamb, grilled shrimp, tacos pastor, antipasto on focaccia, and macaroni with raclette cheese (amazing!). There was also a huge dessert station and a cheese station. After dinner, we had pisco sours and amaretto sours prepared at the drink station by the Bar Manager, who gave a Tom Cruise "Cocktail"-worthy performance. No need to visit the Observatory Lounge tonight! TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 2024—EL BRUJO GLACIER The Zodiac group order was reversed again today, so we were first to go and already up when the Captain alerted us to the gorgeous sunrise over El Brujo Glacier. I took a look from our balcony, but John threw on some clothes and ran up to the Observatory Lounge for a more panoramic view. Other people were partially dressed and one woman was in her robe and slippers. No matter their state of dress or undress, I'm sure everyone thought it was worth the effort to see the orange sky illuminating the magnificent blue glacier. When we were all geared up, we went down to the marina, where the kayakers were preparing to set off. Our Blue group boarded the Zodiacs soon after and headed out in light rain for a 1.25-hour cruise along the face of the glacier and the shoreline below the glacier. El Bruno is less than half as wide (1.2 mi or 2 km) as Pie XI. However, it is much less dirty and a lovely blue color. We could hear a number of calving events, but only really saw one because of the islands in front of the glacier. There were some imperial cormorants on the ice near the face of the glacier. After sufficient time admiring the glacier, our boat driver, Vicki, steered us along the shore. It is easy to track the glacier's retreat, with lichens and mosses near the glacier giving way to shrubs and small trees, followed by actual forest as you move farther away. We saw some small brown birds (dark-bellied cinclodes) and a pretty waterfall. Later we saw two playful sea lions. While we were cruising, a small Chilean cruise ship joined L'Austral in front of the glacier. Just before lunch the Captain announced that all of the passengers should report to the theater in five minutes. We suspected this was bad news and it was—there was a medical emergency. Instead of spending the afternoon making a Zodiac excursion in front of the Amalia (AKA Skua) Glacier, we would be heading immediately to Punta Arenas, Chile. Some sort of excursion would be arranged there for us. We would find out more at the recap and preview later today. To help fill the afternoon, Valentin gave a talk on "Bird Identification in the Chilean Fjords." He gave a lot of information about how to get started in the hobby of bird watching. There was also a lot of information about features to note in order to identify a bird. Near the end there was information about the birds we actually saw yesterday and today. At the recap and preview, we learned that we would arrive in Punta Arenas at about 10 a.m. tomorrow and stay until at least 9:30 p.m. A bus tour would be provided in the afternoon. After that we went to a wine tasting (75€ pp) of five wines, three whites and two reds. Sommelier Julie led the table of four Anglophones and Sommelier Arthur led the table of about eight Francophones. It was instructive to taste the included wines and compare them. We had some bread, ham, and cheese to help us evaluate how the wines would pair with food. Dinner was immediately afterward, so we had to cut back on our food and wine consumption after the extra food at the tasting. However, we still found room in our tummies for a B&B later in the Observatory Lounge. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2024—STRAIT OF MAGELLAN & PUNTA ARENAS During the night, the ship entered the Strait of Magellan on the way to Punta Arenas. When we first woke up, the ship was still about three hours away from Punta Arenas. By the time we reached Punta Arenas, it was a beautiful, sunny day with an expected high around 57°F and winds around 16 mph. L'Austral could not dock because all of the berths were occupied by the Viking Jupiter and a number of smaller vessels. The ship anchored in the harbor and the ship's tenders were used to shuttle passengers to/from the pier. The wind and the waves would make the tender ride rocky! There was a preview of tomorrow's activities at 10:15 a.m. The itinerary for the last five days should be as originally scheduled. We have been promised more glaciers tomorrow. The shuttles started at 10:30 a.m. and ran continuously until 9:30 p.m. for those who wanted to go ashore for free time. That did not include us because this was our fourth port call at Punta Arenas. We had already visited many of the major sights (https://www.lonelyplanet.com/chile/southern-patagonia/punta-arenas/attractions), including the Mirador Cerro De La Cruz, the Naval and Maritime Museum, the Salesian Museum, and the sights around the main square. In the middle of the square is a 1920 monument commemorating the 400th anniversary of Magellan’s voyage. Legend has it that rubbing (or kissing) the big toe of the native brave on the base of the monument will ensure that you return to Punta Arenas; that magic has worked too well for us! The included afternoon bus tour left the ship at 1:45 p.m. It visited the Instituto de la Patagonia (Museo del Recuerdo), which has a collection of antique farming implements and farm buildings, and the Museo Maggiorino Borgatello (Museo Salesiano), which displays ethnographic and religious artifacts collected by the Salesian religious order. The tour ended at the city's main square, Plaza Muñoz Gamero, which is surrounded by impressive 19th-century mansions and the cathedral. The only one of these sights we had not previously visited was the open-air farm museum. We spent a relaxing day onboard enjoying a nice lunch and dinner, with a nightcap later in the Observatory Lounge. THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2024—ISLAS TUCKERS & AINSWORTH BAY, CHILE During the night, the ship sailed west through the Strait of Magellan and south through the Whiteside Channel to Ainsworth Bay. For the next several days, we would be exploring Alberto de Agostini National Park, which is dominated by the Cordillera Darwin Icefield. That is the third and southernmost icefield in South America. This morning, we took a Zodiac cruise to the Marinelli Glacier. The color groups were again reversed, so we cruised last today. Marinelli Glacier, the largest of those originating from Cordillera Darwin, calves into Ainsworth Bay. In the last half of the 20th century, the glacier retreated rapidly. The terminal moraine it left behind has formed a bar across the fjord with an opening that is too narrow and shallow for a ship like L'Austral to pass through. The ship had to anchor outside the bar, about 6.2 miles (10 km) from the glacier face. That was too far for the Zodiacs to take us more than about halfway to the glacier face. Nevertheless, we had stunning views of it and the icefield. We also had many good wildlife sightings. As we were waiting to board the Zodiacs, several Peale's dolphins were playing around the returning boats. When we were out in our Zodiac, they came right up to us; the water was so clear that we could see them swim under the boat. We saw them again later when we returned to the ship. Once we were past the bar and into the upper part of the fjord, we saw many birds that we had encountered before: imperial cormorants, kelp gulls, and many, many pairs of kelp geese. We also saw a heron, caracaras (a type of raptor), and flightless steamer ducks. There was a lot of kelp floating in the water, which fouled some of the Zodiacs' propellers. Our boat driver, Enzo, pointed out the various types of trees and geological features along the shoreline. Unfortunately, as one of the passengers was exiting the Zodiac, she dropped her cell phone into the fjord. Before lunch, the Captain held a cocktail party for the Grand Admirals outside on the pool bar deck. This comprised about 50 people, but we only found two other Anglophones from New Zealand. During lunch, the ship relocated to Islas Tuckers, where we would have another Zodiac cruise. This is a group of small islands, islets, and rocky outcrops in the Whiteside Channel near Dawson Island northwest of Ainsworth Bay. A main reason to visit this little-known spot is to see the colony of Magellanic penguins. First, however, we saw a large colony of imperial cormorants nesting in the cliff. An Andean Condor was perched in a dead tree on top of the cliff. We got to see it in flight when it decided to perch in a different dead tree. A black-backed hawk also flew over. We rounded the end of the island and entered a cove where we found the penguins. Several were up near their burrows and a large group was gathered together on the beach. Clement was our boat driver again today and he pointed out many more types of birds: geese (upland, kelp), cormorants (Magellanic, neotropic), ducks (flying steamer, Magellanic steamer, crested), vultures (turkey, black), Chilean skua, kelp gull, Chimango caracara. On a tiny islet, we saw a large male South American sea lion relaxing all by himself. On another island, we saw about a dozen sea lions lounging on the beach. Then we motored over to "Sea Lion Island," a large rock outcrop covered with lounging sea lions. Some of them were more active—swimming and frolicking in the water. We sailed away from Islas Tuckers through the Gabriel Channel. The Captain delayed tonight's "Officers' White Evening" so that we could be on deck as the ship passed through the narrowest part of the channel, Gabriel Passage, which is only 0.2 mi (350 m) wide. We had some great views of the icefield and the rugged Darwin Mountains. FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2024—GARIBALDI GLACIER & GLACIER ALLEY During the night, the ship traveled west through the Strait of Magellan, out into the open sea, and back east through the Beagle Channel. This path was the reverse of the route the ship took on the way to Tortel, but there was considerably more motion during the ocean passage this time. The ship proceeded up Garibaldi Fjord, with lots of ice, growlers, and bergy bits in the water. Occasionally we could hear the larger pieces of ice grinding against the hull. We were up early and saw a gorgeous sunrise over the Garibaldi Glacier and the icefield. By the time the Blue group left first in the Zodiacs, the clouds had rolled in and it was raining lightly. The air temperature was around 40°F, but the wind was about 20 knots. Occasionally there were gusts of about 40 knots due to katabatic winds from the glacier. [Note: Katabatic winds occur when very cold air flows down a steep slope due to gravity; they are common in Antarctica and Greenland.] All that wind kicked up a lot of spray, so we were grateful for all our waterproof gear. As we motored over to the glacier, we stopped to view two groups of sea lions hauled out along the wooded shoreline. The groups included a few large males plus many females and pups. Our boat driver, Vicki, observed that it is not often that you see sea lions in a forest instead of on a beach or bare rock. Despite all the ice in the water promising calving events, we did not see any. Nevertheless, we had excellent views of the glacier face, with its medial moraine. On the way back to the ship, we stopped to view a large colony of imperial cormorants nesting in a cliff face. Back on the ship, we could hear the sea lions barking from our balcony. In the afternoon, we were supposed to take a Zodiac excursion to the Pia Glacier; the Blue group was again scheduled to go first. However, 30 minutes before we were supposed to report to the marina, there was no indication that the ship was anchoring or preparing to lower the Zodiacs. John checked the Garmin track and saw that the ship had lined up to enter the Pia Fjord, but then had backed away and headed east in the Beagle Channel. John finally called Reception, who first told us the excursion was going on as planned and then admitted that it was canceled. A few minutes later, the Captain announced that there were very high winds at the mouth of the fjord, which is narrow and shallow. In his professional opinion, it was not safe to enter the fjord under those conditions. Even if the ship were able to enter, she might not be able to get back out. In the Beagle Channel, the ship was encountering 50+ knot winds. Instead, L'Austral continued along the Beagle Channel through Glacier Alley. This section of the channel features a series of ice-capped mountains and dramatic glaciers starting with the Espana Glacier, which has two streams flowing from its base. Next is the Romanche, which is rapidly melting and has a large waterfall emerging from its base. Then came the Alemania, Francia, Italia, and Holanda Glaciers. The Italia Glacier is still a tidewater glacier (the rest are hanging glaciers).This was the third time we have viewed those glaciers and it will be interesting to compare the photos John took in 2011 with the ones he took today. To compensate for the change in plans, the guest lecturer gave a talk on environmental issues in Antarctica. We did not attend. At the briefing and recap, we were told that there will be an effort to go ashore tomorrow at Cape Horn. This depended on weather, wind, and surf conditions, so it would be a play-it-by-ear situation. Exactly what would happen would be a surprise. At dinner tonight, the Chef presented a buffet of cheeses from Bordier, a French butter-maker and cheese-ager. There were about a dozen or so different cheeses to chose from in addition to or in lieu of the dessert course. We skipped the sweets to concentrate on the cheeses, but there was no way we could try all of them. Hopefully the leftovers will show up on the lunch cheese table in the coming days. We have been seeing wonderful cheeses at lunch everyday (and sampling frequently), but this was an especially impressive display. During dinner John saw a fin, we both saw a spout, and I saw a tail of a whale, probably a humpback. We passed Ushuaia and continued east in the Beagle Channel. Saturday, MARCH 9, 2024—ISLA HORNOS, CHILE After exiting the Beagle Channel last night, the ship traveled south in the Atlantic Ocean along the coast of Tierra del Fuego. The ride was a lot bumper than we anticipated; we kept feeling that someone was shaking us awake. We were opposite the landing site on Isla Hornos around 7 a.m. Although it was foggy, we could make out the lighthouse at the Chilean Naval Station, the Cape Horn Monument, and the stairs from the landing beach up to the plateau. The Captain announced that, if we were able to land, our passports would be taken ashore to receive a commemorative stamp. If we did not want that, we had to notify reception. We would have liked to get that souvenir, but such unofficial stamps are considered a mutilation of a passport and can invalidate it. Although passports are rarely rejected for this reason, it does happen. Our old passports have stamps for Machu Picchu and several other unofficial places we have visited; however, we decided not to take the chance with our new passports. Sea conditions currently were not good enough for a landing, but the Captain expected them to improve later in the morning. In the meantime, he would take the ship on a clockwise route completely around the island so that we could pass the actual Cape Horn, which is the point where the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans meet and the northern boundary of the Drake Passage. We were opposite the cape at around 9 a.m. There is a small (13 ft, 4 m) lighthouse there, but we could not spot it. During our cruise, the expedition team gave some commentary on the history of Cape Horn. Due to strong winds, large waves, strong currents, and icebergs, it is extremely hazardous to sail around Cape Horn; more than 800 ships have sunk and thousands of lives have been lost in the attempt. Finally we were back to the landing area and Zodiacs were sent out to reconnoiter. Around 11 a.m. we heard the announcement that Zodiacs would begin ferrying passengers ashore in groups of eight; due to the demand, that was soon changed to groups of ten. Departures were first-come, first-served, without regard to color group. There was quite a long queue, but we were in a Zodiac by 11:45 a.m. The swells around the marina were fairly high and our boat had just finished loading when we were hit by one. This is the reason we have to wear all this waterproof gear! It was only about a 10-minute ride to the rocky beach. Crew in wet suits were standing in the water trying to hold the Zodiac steady while expedition team members helped us ashore. There were rubber mats and wooden pallets to help us navigate the rocks until we could reach the 160 steps up to the plateau. There are good views along the way and a mirador (viewpoint) at the top. Although the day was overcast, the rain held off until later in the afternoon. All of the sights (https://www.tripsavvy.com/things-to-do-at-cape-horn-chile-4156970) on the plateau are connected by boardwalks, either heavy plastic mesh panels or wood planks. These walkways protect the fragile peat-bog ecosystem and we were asked to stay on them and not walk on the plants. This was no problem for the plastic trails, but the wooden one was rickety and treacherous in spots. First we took the trail to the left, which passes the Cape Horn Memorial. This marble slab not only honors those who have lost their lives in the transit of Cape Horn, but also pays tribute to those who successfully made the journey. Farther along this path is the main lighthouse and we could climb up the short spiral staircase. The lighthouse is attached to the lightkeeper's house. Most of the lightkeeper's family had escaped to the L'Austral for lunch and a break in their year-round life on the island. Next to the lighthouse is the one-room Stella Maris Chapel. Retracing our steps, we took the trail to the right, which is the decrepit wooden one. This trail leads to the Cape Horn Monument, designed by a Chilean artist. The monument is composed of two triangular 22-foot-high steel plates with a gap between them. The gap is in the shape of a flying albatross, which represents souls lost at sea. There is a plaque bearing a depressing poem with this theme near the sculpture (https://seejanesblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/27/the-poem-at-cape-horn/). Both the Captain and the expedition leader have read this poem to us. This same albatross shape is featured on Argentina's elusive flag of the Province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica, and South Atlantic Islands. Along the trail to the monument and at the top of the bluff where it stands, there are good views of the cliff that is the actual Cape Horn and the tiny island near its base that is the "horn." Oddly, the Cape is barely visible from the designated "Mirador de Cabo." Although we were allotted an hour and 15 minutes to explore these sights, it did not take us that long and we were back on the ship shortly after 1 p.m. As we were debarking the Zodiac at the marina, we were hit with another big wave, drenching John and me. Again, we were grateful for our waterproof gear. After hanging up our gear in our cabin to dry, we had a light lunch in the buffet. We normally prefer to have lunch in the restaurant, but we thought it was closed today because of the irregular schedule. Actually, it had opened late at 1 p.m., but that was not announced in the daily program. Because our itinerary has been thoroughly scrambled, the ship would not have time to return to any of the sights that we skipped earlier due to the medical emergency. We would have to visit a closer attraction, so the Captain had to kill some time. He took us on another circumnavigation of Horn Island, this time in the counter-clockwise direction. Finally the ship turned north, passing between Herschel and Deceit Islands, heading to the Beagle Channel through a more sheltered route than we took last night. In the afternoon, we went to a talk by Marc-Antoine called "Traversing Time and Tide: Unveiling the Legacy of the Magellan Strait." Later there was a caviar tasting with Champagne. At the briefing and recap, we learned that tomorrow we would be visiting two sites that are usually visited only by much smaller sailing vessels. Those will be our last two Zodiac cruises. Several activities were planned for the last day in Puerto Williams, but we were not given any details about that. Sunday, MARCH 10, 2024—Fouqué Fjord We were supposed to get up early to see the ship's entrance to the lesser-known Fouqué Fjord, which is mostly visited by private yachts and very small cruise ships. Although it is shown on our map of the Chilean Fjords, we could find almost no information about it. The fjord is shaped like a backward "L" and the ship was already halfway down the long leg. We were confused when the ship reversed course because we mistakenly thought the Fouqué Glacier was at the end of the fjord. However, it was actually not much farther down the fjord. It was not visible from the ship because it was hidden by an outcropping. We had two Zodiac excursions in occasional rain and bitter wind. The morning one went to gorgeous Fouqué Glacier, about halfway up the fjord and near the ship. In addition to the usual birds, we saw some rare Chilean dolphins. Our boat driver, Clement, made fast circles with the Zodiac to encourage the dolphins to ride the bow waves. We also saw an interesting clearly-delineated separation in the fjord where the fresh water coming from the glacier met the darker water of the fjord. When there was a brief break in the rain, we saw a beautiful rainbow. We next proceeded to a little cove sheltered from the wind. Here Clement pulled out glasses and a bottle of Champagne for a toast to our cruise. We got a little rain water in the wine, but it was still delicious and a fun experience. In the afternoon, the Zodiacs ventured to the head of the fjord, where there are several hanging glaciers. The expedition scout team had discovered that a former glacial lake had burst through the moraine containing it, so we could explore that too. The latest satellite view of this fjord shows only the original lake and not the bay that now exists. Clearly, this was a fairly new formation. This is delightful benefit of expedition cruising—going where few others have been. There was also a beaver dam in another inlet at the fjord head. MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2024—PUERTO WILLIAMS, CHILE Today we tendered ashore in Puerto Williams, Chile (https://www.visitacabodehornos.cl/index.php/menu-styles). Both Puerto Williams and Ushuaia claim to be the world's southernmost city and the right to the title "the End of the World". Puerto Williams is definitely south of Ushuaia; however, Ushuaia doesn't really consider Puerto Williams a "city" because it’s much smaller. Regardless, they will each undoubtedly continue to claim the nickname. That morning, we were offered two guided hikes. The 8:30 a.m. "easy" hike to the Parque Etnobotánico Omora was supposed to be about 6.2 mi (10 km) with an elevation change of 300+ feet (100 m) and take about three hours. At least half of the hike would be on paved roads. The 8 a.m. "difficult" hike was supposed to be about the same distance and duration, but with about six times greater elevation change and through much rougher terrain (https://www.alltrails.com/trail/chile/magallanes/cerro-bandera). That was going to be a serious hike and those who had not brought hiking boots and poles were discouraged from attempting it. Since we did not have the proper gear, we opted for the "easy" hike. Naturally the tender dock was the farthest possible from where we wanted to go. We hiked along the waterfront past the Silver Endeavour, which was docked at the pier closest to town, while dodging copious quantities of horse droppings on the sidewalks. We continued trudging along Highway Y-905, dodging more horse droppings. A friendly dog followed us for some distance; later we saw him returning to town in the back of a pick up truck. Shortly after passing under the large wooden gate announcing that we were leaving Puerto Williams, we turned right onto Camino al Aeropuerto. We crossed the bridge over an inlet (Seno Lauta) and continued past the turnoff to the airport. This part of our hike was along a small portion of the La Ruta del Fin del Mundo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_of_the_World_Route). Soon we reached an intersection and turned left to follow a gravel road past Laguna Zañartu and several smaller lakes. Now we were out in the countryside. There were large numbers of upland geese and ducks. The road eventually turned south and we were walking along the shore of the Beagle Channel. There were a lot of caracaras flying overhead. One seemed to be posing by the shore before it flew away and later a group of six or seven were perched in a dead tree. Finally this road rejoined the highway. After walking about 2 miles (3.2 km), we reached the park. The group tried to take the "Trail of the Southernmost Trees" (https://www.wikiloc.com/walking-trails/parque-etnobotanico-omora-puerto-williams-157708853). Our guides didn't have any trail maps and didn't seem to realize that the trail was blazed with posts painted red on top. When the trail turned off to continue the loop back to the start, our leader missed the turn and charged ahead, apparently not noticing that there were no longer any trail markers. Finally, he reached a really muddy area that was clearly not a trail, so we all had to retrace our steps and return the way we came. Even though we didn't do the whole trail, it was nice to get out in nature on land and the fresh air. On the way back to the ship, we followed the gravel highway back to the intersection with Camino al Aeropuerto. From there, we retraced the morning's route back to town. The hike was about 20% longer than advertised: our Garmin registered 7.25 mi (11.7 km). I don't know how many people turned back earlier or managed to finish the hike. However, John and I put on a burst of speed and caught the noon tender back to the ship for lunch, a shower, a short nap, and some packing. During lunch, John saw a disturbance in the water close to the ship. He thought it was dolphins, but we were thrilled when a humpback whale breached, then showed its tail as it dove. Most whales have left for the season, but there are always a few that missed the memo. In the afternoon Ponant offered a trip to the Yagán Usi—Martín González Calderón Territorial Museum (formerly the Martin Gusinde Anthropological Museum), devoted to the ancient indigenous people, the Yagán. We preferred to stay onboard and taste wines. Julie and Arthur presented another delightful wine tasting with four outstanding wines for 100€ pp. The highlight was a 2004 Chateau Grillet. This is pure Viognier and is one of the prized wines of the Rhône region. The 20-year-old wine was pale in color like a young wine, but had a caramel nose along with hay and honeycomb. The fantastic taste lingered in your mouth for over a minute. There was no need to translate among the English and French speakers at the table! We found a source for this wine on the internet for $325. This tasting was a steal! That evening there was a farewell cocktail party, where all of the crew were introduced, and another gala dinner. The ship left Puerto Williams during dinner and docked in Ushuaia two hours later, around 10 p.m. The Sapphire Princess, National Geographic Resolution, and the Magellan Explorer were also in port. The Princess ship dwarfed the other vessels. TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2024—usHuaia, argentina This morning we had to be out of our cabins by 8 a.m. Our bus was supposed to leave at 8:40 a.m. for breakfast at a local restaurant before taking us to the airport for our 12:30 p.m. flight back to Buenos Aires. However, the bus was delayed almost an hour. Then we had to search for a couple who did not notice the buses when they got off the ship and had started to walk into town on their own. Once we finally had the group together, we were given a short panoramic tour of Ushuaia, followed by 35 minutes of free time (https://www.lonelyplanet.com/argentina/tierra-del-fuego/ushuaia/attractions). John and I tried about five stores in search of a small Tierra del Fuego flag, but only found very large ones or items only featuring the flag. Back on the bus, we learned that the plane that was bringing the new passengers (and that would be taking us back to Buenos Aires) was delayed by at least two hours. There was a lot of confusion as Ponant and the local arrangements coordinators scrambled to figure out what to do about all of us. After a lot of sitting on the bus, it was decided to take us to a local restaurant (Club 1210) where we would be served lunch in about an hour. We would have to remove all of our belongings from the bus and store them in the restaurant. While we were waiting for lunch, we were on our own. John and I went off looking for the Tierra del Fuego flag again and finally were successful—one bright spot to the day. Back at the restaurant, the plated lunch was a good beef empanada and seafood ravioli. The was some sort of dessert, but we missed it. We had been checking the status of the incoming flight and the delay just kept getting longer. We reluctantly decided there was no way we would be able to make our 9 p.m. flight to Miami. We connected with American Airlines in Buenos Aires, but we could not get the options menu to switch to English. Finally we sought help from one of the local coordinators (Ailin), who got us connected to an English-speaking AA agent (Alexis). He helped us change our flights to ones at the same time tomorrow, but we had to give up Business Class (we did get a flight credit). This process took a half hour because the AA computer system kept going down. After the flights were taken care of, we managed to get a room at a Holiday Inn near the airport in BA. Our travel insurance should cover the hotel room, but I am not sure about the flight change. The majority of passengers were not troubled because they were going the spend the night in BA anyway before a Ponant charter to Paris. The incoming Ushuaia flight ultimately was delayed by seven hours, so our flight to BA left at 7 p.m. instead of 12:30 p.m. The flight time is 3.5 hours, so we would definitely have missed our flight to Miami. The plane touched down at 10:30 p.m. After collecting our checked luggage, a fluctuating number of us wanted to take the complimentary shuttle to the Holiday Inn; some opted to wait in the long line for an official taxi and some tried to arrange an Uber. The Ponant rep, Adriana, called the Holiday Inn to arrange for the 11 p.m. shuttle to pick us all up. She also explained that there were no flights for four hours this morning because of a severe electrical storm and heavy rains. She showed us videos of flooded streets in BA; water was coming into a bus and a person was swimming down the street! We were finally in our room before midnight. Checkout time is noon, but I am a member of the IHG One Rewards loyalty program, so we were eligible for late checkout at 2 p.m. We planned to sleep in, have a nice breakfast, check out, and relax in the lobby until the 3 p.m. shuttle back to the airport. Although we both could obtain mobile boarding passes for the flights today, John could check in but not get a boarding pass for the flights tomorrow. Since he has to check in at the American desk and we no longer have Business Class (with dedicated overhead bin space), we decided to check our bags instead of carrying them on. It turns out he got the dreaded SSSS designation on his boarding pass for random deep-searching at the gate! WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY, MARCH 13-14, 2024—EZE TO MIA TO RDU The weather was iffy again today, with rain and lightening. After much time in the BA airport, our flight took off only about 1.25 hours late. Since we had a long connection in Miami (shorter than we expected!), we still made our flight to RDU only one day late. CONCLUSION People are often asked to choose a favorite between the Norwegian fjords and the Chilean fjords (let’s not complicate matters with the many other spectacular fjords around the world). We’ve done both in lesser and greater detail (meaning on large and small shipss). The large ship version of the fjords seems clearly in favor of Norway. The fjords (particularly Geirangerfjord) are stunning with vertical sides and waterfalls that the big ships can pass by easily. Big ships can access many Chilean fjords in the same way, but the commonly-visited fjords don’t seem as typically fjord-like as Norway. On a small ship, Norway is also gorgeous. But Chile wins in this category easily. Glaciers are the reason. Small ships can penetrate deep into fjords that have side or terminal glaciers that are stunning. Clearly, there are glaciers visible along waterways like the Beagle Channel that are accessible to both large and small ships. But getting up close and personal with glaciers in Zodiacs makes all the difference.

Cruised to Antarctica but could not go to South Georgia due to bird flu and birds dying. The alternative given were well planned. It's great to go to the bridge and watch the Captain navigate tricky channels while the passengers are cluelessly enjoying the views. Got to see a whole of feeding frenzy from the water thus attracting tons of birds above, lots of pods of ocras, different species of penguins and seals. The staff were caring to ensure good and easy embarkation from the zodiacs and steps were carved into the snow to make access easy. Food could be a bit better, since their French and I am comparing to Club Med (which gives exellent food). We had stock cube like clear broth and chicken porridge daily for breakfast and the same steamed vegetables of broccoli, cauliflower mix. The pastries, steak and burgers are great and some special orders are good but with those same mix of steamed vegetables. Entertainment is ok considering it's an expedition cruise so it balances the luxury and view well.

DH and I are veterans of many "luxury" and a few non-luxury cruises, with no particular favorite line. We like to mix and match depending on itinerary, timing, and other factors. We wanted to combine a pre-cruise land trip to Ireland with a classical music cruise, and then a land trip in Scotland, where we would disembark. We booked this one-week port-intensive "Music in Celtic Lands" cruise with the French small ship upper premium line Ponant (it is definitely not luxury) from Dublin to Glasgow, which featured classical music (a trio, a soprano, and a violist). Ports visited included Dublin (start), Belfast, Fishguard, Douglas, Liverpool, Iona and Tobermory ( a half day each), Oban, and Glasgow (end, at the Greenock port, 45 minutes west of the city). It was our first Ponant cruise. Overall we rate it 4/5, and would consider Ponant again but only on the right itinerary and where we could be assured of being able to reliably book and keep private excursions. DAY 1, EMBARKATION, DUBLIN It was difficult to find out in advance online from the Ponant web or the very weak Ponant app, where exactly in Dublin we were embarking (there were three possibilities). Even the day of embarkation, the Ponant website did not say (and even advised me "you have no cruises booked with Ponant"!), and personnel were hard to reach on the phone (as they are on most cruises these days). Our cruise documents online did not provide specific enough information about where in Dublin to go to give a taxi driver. We figured out via misc. internet cruise ship trackers that we were to embark in Dublin town, on the river, where there was no cruise terminal. Fortunately, after a brief wait in a light drizzle, embarkation was quick, and started at 4 PM (instructions in advance had been to embark between 4 and 5, for a 7PM sailing, and Ponant stuck to it). As there was no cruise terminal, there were no agents to put on baggage tags. We had already left our home town when they were ( unbeknownst to us and our TA) apparently snailmailed, so we improvised a couple tags with a note pad and pen. Walking on loaded down with our hand luggage, we were offered a welcome wet cloth and a glass of champage, but I had no hands free to take them. Staff took our passports and kept them for the duration of the cruise until the morning of disembarkation. There was a quick paperwork review with nothing *required* for Covid other than a simple questionairre (available online, if you "set up an account" with Ponant, well before embarkation). Then we were escorted directly to our suite, where a pleasant enough bottle of "Abele 1757" champagne on ice greeted us (about $40 retail) along with a bowl of fruit (most of it unripe, which it remained for the duration of the cruise --just like on most other lines). Our luggage arrived about a half hour later. Overall: 4.5/5 SUITE: We had knowingly booked an oddly configured double suite, (two-room "prestige suite", 400 square feet total), with two small baths, to have enough storage and move-about space so we would not run into each other when getting ready for dinner or an excursion. The base cabins on Ponant are much smaller than on luxury lines Regent, Silversea, Seabourn, and Hapag Lloyd, so would not suit us well. The "suite" was on the mid starboard side on deck 5, and was comfortable to sail in, though we had quiet waters and the ship was not put to a challenge. L'Austral has several of these, and unfortunately it has no rooms with bath tubs other than the Owner's Suite and one more, which sold out early. We basically had 2 mini-rooms, mostly mirrored in furnishings and supplies, separated by a (for some reason), non-closeable door. One had a pullout sofabed and a smalll, very heavy little table and two very heavy chairs, plus a "bar" (a counter with an espresso machine, teabags, coffee capsules, cups, glasses, and two kinds of ship-made water (still and barely sparkling), above a fridge. The other room had a king-sized bed instead of a sofa, with a moderately firm but still comfortable mattress, and no table or chairs. Each side had a separate commode area and a separate shower/sink area (see below). The bed was near the window, which I liked, but the head sailed backwards (for which I have a minor dislike -- sailing direction info unavailable in advance). Windowside there was a very small nightstand surface with no drawers and no charging outlets, and the other side had no nightstand but abutted a small desk area and charger. There was a TV with remote in each room (limited info about the cruise was on the TV -- no menus, no advance programs for overview, nothing about the area; some programs for the day on some days were available, but not all). There was BBC, Skynews, MSNBC, Fox News (no CNN) and a myriad of French channels. There were 44 on demand English language movies, most of which I had not heard of and was too busy to watch. Each mini-room had two shower/sink and separate toilet areas (so, his and hers :). It would be tight and feel stuffed for us if we only had half the overall space as a base room, but it was not as spacious as expected, because of the arrangement. The commode/toilet area felt like an airline toilet. After using the toilet, one then had to step down and open a door to step up to go to the shower/sink area (sadly, no tub) in the separate chamber to wash one's hands. If you also wanted Kleenex, you would go on to the bar area in the main room (there was no realistic room to store a big kleenex box in the bathroom sink area if you had a toiletries bag). There was only one drawer in the sink area that was not used for storage of supplies, but there were two little shelves. Toiletries (shampoo, conditioner and shower gel) are glued to the wall in the shower and a lotion bottle is attached near the sink, Philosykos brand, which was very nice on my hair). A Person of Size North American would have a little initial trouble fitting into the toilet and shower areas, but could get used to it. I am not a large person, but kept bumping into pieces of the sink/shower area, such as the protruding soap dish, or the wall, and had to be careful, to limit the bruises I got. Positive is that there was a welcome grab bar in the shower and in the commode room (showing awareness of the mostly geriatric population on the ship), and there was a cute little door one could slide open to view the passing sea while showering and using the sink area. The water pressure was good, though at times the water temperature was erratic, ranging from lukewarm/borderline cold to as hot as initially set, fortunately never surprisingly scalding). The sink stoppers actually worked. The small fridges in each mini-room were stocked with tiny, price included good-enough-to-drink-in-a-pinch airline sized low end spirits (Johny Walker Red, Bacardi rum, Gilbys gin, and Smirnoff vodka), refillable on request. Spirits which are typically complimentary on English luxury lines, such as Grey Goose vodka, were an extra fee. There was also tonic water, Heiniken beer, homemade "sparkling" (not very sparkling, but it tasted fine), raspberry and apple juice, coke and diet coke. There was more semi-sparkling and still water on the counters, (though with tops that would not screw shut once opened, e.g., they were sealed with sharp metallic pull-off or struggle-to-pull-off-and-cut-your-hand closures). Big Nespresso machines were on the counter in each room ( including decaf capsules), and there were kettles, small cups, big cups, and glasses. So much stuff was on each of the rooms' counter tops where the coffeemaker and kettle are that not much space was left for anything else, but each room side had two huge drawers underneath these "bar" areas (they would come in handy on Arctic and Antarctic cruises, with the big clothing one has there). Closet space on each side was good in total space. One closet, had we gotten a smaller room, would have been tight for us, as we typically each bring two large suitcase, two backpacks, and one rollaboard worth of stuff. There was a long, very narrow balcony with 2 sets of 2 upright chairs and 2 minitables, which we rarely sat on (cold weather, plus awkward arrangement). Overall: 3.5/5 HOUSEKEEPING Our suite was immaculate on arrival, but we had some customization requests.We had not seen our housekeeper for the first two days, (unusual in our cruising experience), nor did we know her name for the first two days. Reception told me it is not practice for Ponant to instruct housekeepers to introduce themselves, or to provide names or direct phone contact info, as all intracruise requests go for triage through reception. There are no butlers. Most housekeepers appeared to be Filipino, and they typically speak/understand English better than French in most cases, if you can catch them. Finally we were able, through reception, to meet with the responsive housekeeping manager to show him our concerns and secure customization of the supplies and set-up we needed on pillows, blankets, and fridge contents. After that, service from the housekeeper, whom we finally met, was perfect and also very friendly for the rest of the cruise. The rest of the ship also looked very clean. Overall: 4.5/5 AMBIENCE AND FRENCH FAVORITISM The ship has 266 pax capacity, and my best guestimate based on how full the theater was for the communal muster, and for other mandatory events, was this cruise was about 75% -80% full. The vast majority of pax were primary French-speakers ("Francophones"), from Franch and Switzerland, and I identified about 25 or so primary " Anglophones" (from the U.S., Britain, and Australia). Fellow French-speaking pax were usually cordial, but not outgoing, and understandably engaged only with themselves, just like Germans on luxury line Hapag-Lloyd. Some pax were pushy ( e.g., fond of tail-gating to the point of physical contact with me when in lines), and/or rude (queue-jumping). I walked with a cane this cruise due to a recent injury, so getting pushed from behind jeopardized my balance in tender and other lines. Others were remarkably helpful (e.g., holding the door for me). Other than a few of the non-French speakers at times, no one was loud or rowdy, not even large groups. There were no children (the cruise was in spring, not during any vacation time), and most pax on this classical music focussed cruise were well-off senior citizens who liked to dress up in the evening, average age may have been around 73. Several of the younger pax I saw walking around turned out to be performers' spouses or otherwise involved with them. I did not see a single backwards baseball cap, torn jeans, or sloppy dinner attire, and no one tried to listen to soccer games or facetime on devices in public areas without headphones. Most pax (though significantly not all) were on time for excursions, but unfortunately excursion departures were typically still late getting going from the gathering area in the lounge, and then we also waited on buses for a handful of latecomers (or a late staff member), all of which annoyingly repeatedly dug into our already rushed and limited free time in ports. It was quite clear from day 1 that French speakers were a bit favored in many ways by French speaking staff on this French line, though this was initially invariably denied by key staff including the CD, a young lady who was a former dancer (more on this later). Filipino housekeeping and dining staff were universally friendly or at least polite, and non-discriminatory, as they typically are on other luxury lines, though some were not particularly able to use independent judgment. For example, on the morning of disembarkation, DH and I went for breakfast in the MDR, and found no one at the front podium assigned to seat people, so we went to wander around to seat ourselves. Carrying our abundant hand luggage (as we had cleared out of our suite) we walked (me with a cane) and looked around for a set table for two where we could also place our luggage (loaded with meds and valuables) next to us to keep an eye on it . But despite many roaming staff, very few tables were set at all that were not occupied, and one that was set for four was in a tight stuffy corner where we would not be able to squeeze in our backpacks. So we sat down at a corner of a long table for six, with our stuff off on the side, within view. We knew that previously at dinners we had been escorted to the end of such big tables to dine, where later a separate couple would sit at the same table but on the other end, and expected that. We had already gotten our juices and buffet plates to our table and were in the midst of chewing, when a waiter came up and repeatedly tried to insist we get up and move to another unset table for two, which he said he would then set while we waited, instead of leaving us to continue chewing on the end of the table where we were. As there were many other both set and unset tables for six, I declined. He persisted (likely remembering his mission to keep tables for six open, but without context), so I stated I was tired of wandering around looking for a suitable table and would stay where I was and finish eating within 15 minutes, and in any event, the other spots at the end of our table were still open for people to sit at (which a French couple did indeed do, as they faced the same dilemma we had when we entered -- no set tables for less than six). A few Anglophones were very unhappy due to perceived Francophilia, ( e.g., it was even a surprise to several who claimed they had "done a lot of research" that this was a French run ship with mostly French pax, and that there was classical music (which they don't like -- they expected Celtic music, per their interpretation of the title of the cruise). Both facts were arguably disclosed on the Ponant website for this cruise, as was the fact that the classical music director was French (though it was a surprise to me that he was very long-winded with music introductions, and his words could not be timely translated -- there were a couple initial pathetic attempts at simultaneous translations through an ear bud, which simply did not work and just made noise and created distraction). One couple even reported (though I did not witness) that when they tried to leave the theatre during the long-winded French introduction to the performance, the CD prevented them from leaving and 'yelled' at them to sit down. Reception and excursion crew French staff spoke basic English and sort of understood English too, but sometimes not very well. But judging by the presence of multiple disgruntled Francophones at reception on several occasions, communication and logistical problems were not limited to Anglophones. There were multiple communication problems initially, until an Anglophone revolt on day 3 which pushed for language accomodations. Not even the programs listing the classical pieces and their basic descriptions were available in English. The C.D. was cheerful and smiling but initially was 'not hearing' what many pax complained about (she got better after repeated requests, and I give her credit for that and thanked her). One couple from the east with a legal background insisted there were legal misrepresentations by Ponant in the marketing of this cruise (perhaps there was, on the margins, for people unfamiliar with how this industry operates, but the cruise contract gives lines great discretion). More significantly to us, staff would not uncommonly just make up answers, or provide vague answers, or answer a question we did not ask, if they did not understand or know how to answer a question (e.g., they told me my excursion would meet at 9AM, whereas later when I pressed, due to inconsistencies that made me suspicious, I learned the true correct time was 8:20 AM -- so it mattered). I did not trust much of the information they gave me based on the way they gave it, and their body language, and their reluctance to put me in touch with their supervisors when I asked, so I verified key info independently (in that sense, they were similar to reception staff on some other cruise lines). There was definitely not a "can do" , or "I don't know, let me find out" attitude on the part of most of the reception staff. The senior well-known classical music moderator from Radio Classique only spoke French (and plenty of it) in his surprisingly long-winded introductions to the daily concerts (my estimate is that of the one hour time spent on the evening classical music pieces, fifteen minutes total -- way too long -- were spent listening to that man talk). I was happy to understand at least some of it due to learning French basics decades ago, and knowledge of musical terminology and styles (which sound the same in French as in English), but for others who understood zero (like my DH) it was consistently annoying and boring not to have equivalent information provided in English, given how long this man talked each and every evening. Menus in dining rooms were fortunately in both English and French, and buffet foods were also labelled in both languages (small type). We never tried to use the spa or gym (close at 8PM) or pool as we were busy with daily excursions and concerns, and chasing down logistical issues. Overall: 3/5 MUSTER Muster was a surprisingly complex affair in both English and French, and lasted over a half hour (first one went to the theatre to listen to info, then one went to the cabin to put on the life vests, then one filed back into the theatre, where the usher oddly separated me from my DH in order to fill up one spare seat in a row (certainly if I were getting into a lifeboat in an emergency, I would not allow them to separate me from my DH, so I felt this was inappropriate). The four front rows remained empty. Overall: 3.5/5 EXCURSIONS AT PORTS These were poorly handled. There were frequent communications problems, starting with the fact that prior to the cruise, Ponant did not provide port arrival and departure times beyond "morning" or "afternoon", making it hard to plan one's day, and this is their pattern. It was compounded by the absence of tour tickets (paper or otherwise) on boarding, and the absence of booked excursion departure and return times, plus very limited access to excursion personnel (one hour per day) other than an initial one-way orientation. No practical information was easily available about shuttles, or other things pax may want to know. Belfast, on Day 2: (all day excursion to Giant's Causeway) This, the first port, was preceded by a lot of confusion the night before relating to timing and getting our tickets. Day 1 we had had an English excursion orientation that advised the time of our excursions, and our tickets, would be distributed the evening before (not on an advance schedule). But by 11PM, we still did not know the time for our excursions or have our tour tickets, and reception kept putting us off, though all I wanted to do was set my alarm for the appropriate time and go sleep. We were given conflicting explanations (e.g., it would be done by staff at 6am the next day, and/or 'there was a problem' with the printing of tickets). I insisted on knowing before bedtime when the excursion would be so I would know when to get up, and asked to talk to the manager, but was told nothing could be done, as the excursion crew was "at rest." I advised that I too would like to be "at rest" but could not be so unless I knew when my excursion was. And so on it went. This fiasco was more or less repeated the next night, again, with no tickets before bedtime. After that, things were ok (e.g., tickets and times were distributed the evening before). DAY 3, Whales, Fishguard Tender port There was nothing near us where we got off the tender. We had to drive a ways in the bus to even get into the tiny town nearby but we did not go there, instead we went on a Picton castle tour excursion -- 4 hours total. The bus guide was bilingual and toggled back and forth French to English (sometimes forgetting to translate some things into English). At the castle we did a tour in English of the beautiful and interesting castle rooms and grounds including its oddities (e.g., a bathroom near the private chapel altar, a pet cemetery, etc.). It is part of the National Trust, since the 1990's (one family was there the last 400 years). It was an interesting though short excursion. More time on the grounds would have been great. The ship stayed in port 3 hours longer than we had originally been told at the port excursion orientation in English the first day, but as we were outside any town, and had been rushed back from our castle tour, and thought we were sailing soon, there was nothing we had set up on land once we got back from the castle. DAY 4, Liverpool We did a Beatles tour, which was a combination of bus rides and walking with a headset and a self-guide at the Beatles center. It was a Sunday and raining. Later we were taken to the Strawberry Hill center (which pushed Salvation Army charity concerns). Apparently Yoko Ono had donated a significant sum to this center at one point, which was the alleged connection. Significant events of the Beatles' lives that got incorporated into their songs were mixed in with street tours, Penny Lane, Beatle birth and school houses, e.g., "Julia" was an ode to John's mother having been killed in an MVA. Overall it was a decent enough tour for people who are Beatles fans and want an overview. DAY 5, DOUGLAS, ISLE OF MANN As usual, our 4 hours panoramic tour got going late for unexplained reasons. The bus was packed with almost 50 people, with mostly French and some English speakers. There were not enough Mann paper map guides for those getting on the bus late, or for those in the back. The young lady ship photographer was on board, and she spent most of her time texting or taking selfies with her crewmate, but did take some pictures to earn her salary, then later announced pictures would be for sale on board. The frazzled local guide struggled with her French, and would then change to English. She would forget to translate many things into English or would only do so partially and would toggle back and forth in an agitated tone -- I got a headache. We had 3 brief stops, one for 20 minutes in Castletown (not long enough to visit the castle that had been advertised we could "tour" and just enough to find and visit the obscurely located WC with lines; another for 25 minutes in Peel (not long enough to visit the distant castle, just barely long enough to go to the distant WC, the hidden location of which was again not explained, and we had to independently seek out info). The third stop was for 20 minutes, during which we went into a church but mostly just learned about how governmental processions go there for ceremonies, and little about the church (its primary purpose forgotten). I would love to have done a private tour of Mann with DH (some were offered advance online) but as noted Ponant would not provide arrival and departure times in advance so we could plan, short of just booking a guide for the whole day and forfeiting the fee if the ship was not there on time. Apparently that is Ponant's pattern, e.g., they just vaguely say "late morning' or "afternoon" for port stop times even when they deal with cities, as if on Antarctica expeditions. DAY 6 -- Iona and Tobermorry Island of Iona "in the morning" (no formal excursions, but we toured the historic abby and grounds on our own extensively, as almost all shops and all restaurants were closed until after 12). 5/5 Port of Tobermorry, Isle of Mull in the late afternoon (no formal excursions). I had been here a few years ago and had already toured the cute town, so this time, armed with advance research, DH and I just headed straight for a local walk/park area with views and waterfalls on our own (head up the hill to the left of the town).5/5 Unfortunately, we were not there long enough or during mealtime. DAY 7, OBAN, Scotland We had hoped to spend most of a full day at this port when we saw it on the schedule at booking, but it wasn't meant to be. After a tender ride, we only had a few short hours before we sailed. This port of 8,000 grows to 40,000 during tourist season (not yet present here). We had signed up for a four hour bus tour to the ancient Kilmartin stones, researched in advance. All but 4 of the pax on board were French speaking, but the assigned guide could barely speak French so he spent most of his time telling bad jokes or asking the French if they understood his English. He claimed he had been a geologist for Scotland prior to retirement. Unfortunately, it did not show and he added limited value. We had a group of 26, who dutifully marched at a soldier's pace across a sheep-dung strewn meadow and then (on his order) walked around a pile of stones. When I asked why we had done so, he said it was to see the overview of the rocks. They were put there at an unknown time for an unknown reason. This was repeated two more times, at two more stone piles. We then drove away and stopped at a hotel for a scone and coffee and drove back to the ship. This was definitely not an excursion worth 170 euros, and I rate it 1/5. DH (usually passive and go with the flow) went to the excursions desk (open 6-7 PM only on this cruise) to complain, and was told it was "not possible" to refund part of the money, though they reported many others had also complained. He was instructed to write Ponant directly, separately, and good luck with that. Overall excursions: 2.5/5. INTERNET We were unable to get on internet much of the time, and when we did it was slow, but that is typical for most cruise ships. 3/5 FOOD There are two dining rooms, a buffet on the 6th deck (with inside and outside eating options) -- always very busy and "zoo-like" when we went -- and a MDR on deck 2 where sitdown dinners were generally officially 7 or 7:30-9. However, the evening classical show ran 7-8 so after 8 was the only realistic time to eat if you wanted to see the shows (which is why I booked this cruise). In the MDR, there was decent but not gourmet food, (a few total fails), grade B, and service by mostly Filipino waiters was an average of A- to B+ with mild periodic understaffing. We had French white and red wines (2-3/day) and most were drinkable on most days. They were usually the same wines. The sommelier came by periodically to ask if we wanted to order from the premium wine list. We noted with surprise that <5% of tables ordered off the premium list. The first night the lamb was very hard to cut even with a serrated knife, but easy to chew and well spiced. Many Anglophones complained. Fish was usually well-prepared and was the best bet, as were cream soups. Typically you order dessert and/or cheese right up front but if you forgot, you can redeem yourself later. Baguette and other good bread (thick brown) was available all the time with sweet butter. Lunch one day had a lamb dish with skin that was very tough (previously lamb chops and pork roast had also been tough). One gala dressup evening (there were two) the main dish, a filet, was grey and as if boiled, with boiled onions on the side (all disgusting and horrible, shocking for a French ship). Room service offered 4 starters, 4 mains, and 3 desserts. We only used it once, for dinner on the last night of the cruise, as it was a fussy gala night and we needed to pack before a 7 PM concert. Overall food: good enough if you are there for itinerary or classical music, 4/5, e.g., decent convention food but with the bonus of awesome bread ENRICHMENT Lecturer Anne-Marie Harrison gave a terrific talk in English on various saints including Patrick who had brought Christianity to Ireland, and also another talk about Celts. We had handouts, which were much appreciated. There was no formal trivia, but Mrs. Harrison distributed little fun quizzes to us about the area for us to do on our own, if we desired. ENTERTAINMENT We had fantastic world-class musician classical music concerts (lead group Trio Wanderer) every night between 7 and 8, including the night before disembarkation, which was oddly also a "gala" (formal optional) night, when people were also packing. They typically ran a little over an hour (counting the long, French-only introduction by the musical coordinator), and were given 7-8PM, with dinner afterwards, with the latest seating at 9, so a narrow window. Staff were likely able to serve so many people at once because dishes tasted as if they were not made to order, choices were limited (though dietary issues were accomodated), and dining room staff were well-organized. There was also a dance group on board, called "Paris C'Show ballet dancers" on our program for four nights at 9:45. I went to the first performance, thinking there would be some "ballet". Instead we got a poppy variation on Moulin Rouge (but with ladies' tops on -- barely). Though the dancers were technically clearly well-trained (some had likely been gymnasts), it was not for us. Between the lip-synching to pop songs, posturing in front of Brigitte Bardot pin-up blow-ups, and more than just suggestive maneuvers of hands and bodies by the four women and one male dancer, it bordered on soft porn. But this provided an alternative for people who don't care for classical music. We tried one more of their shows, "Marco Polo", which was only marginally better on theme and choreography. We had had a painful introduction to performers we would be seeing at 9:45 PM the first evening, done by a very long-winded old gent who often speaks on Radio Classique in French and he only speaks French, and a lot of it. We had an even more painful "translation" attempt by a woman tasked to do so, and pax were given a single buzzing earpiece. Initially it was set up wrong as she was using a receiver instead of a transmitter; she then only translated about 20% of what was said since the musical director, Alain Duault, spoke in long, complicated paragraphs about music and the emotions it is supposed to involve, and she was not able to keep up. But because of the consistently excellent world class classical music, and ignoring the cabaret group, I rate the entertainment 4.5/5. SERVICE Between the receptionists' language problems, excursion confusion, and concert communication issues, this was not ideal overall. I tried to get details from reception about how laundry is handled (e.g., what is the turn-in deadline, when does it come back, is there express service), as details were not on the in-room laundry forms. I was told laundry would be returned "48-72" hours from the time it was 'found on the bed' by the stewardess. Though 72 hours seemed like a long time and there was no express/extra fee option, I received my first load the next day late afternoon, which I was satisfied with, and that is routine for most lines. There was no dry cleaning service, only laundry. At the captain's dinner night on day 2, depending on the deck, pax were scheduled into 10 minute intervals to get selfies with the beleagured caption (we skipped it as we don't need a picture of ourselves with captains). There had also been a long-winded intro to the ship's officers and department heads, but you could not really get to any of them without triage through reception. Reception initially told me it was "not possible" to get a list of upcoming performances or to get English classical music programs. We did have daily activity programs (there weren't many, and they were in French or bilingual but preferential to Francophones), that were provided to the cabin each evening in English, and that was supposed to be enough. Some English speakers mutinied at the day 3 English language welcoming "crepe" tea (which was not very welcoming, e.g., the CD came 40 minutes late and though there were two assigned staff, they initially did not offer us anything, e.g., had not even opened the champagne bottles and did not offer us crepes until then). As many pax had been complaining about not having English information, and feeling like second class citizens, the CD became responsive, and we got a quickly thrown together list of the pieces played by the performers that night and each night thereafter when we entered the theater. Per reception, it was also "impossible" to get a list of upcoming menus anywhere (unless you have allergies etc.) and we were told both both dining rooms have "the same thing" each night. We preferred the main sit-down dining area on deck 2 for lunch dinner, as the buffet area on deck 6 was too zoo-like, with hungry pax quickly darting back and forth, some quite aggressively. There was an outdoor area to eat on deck 6 in the buffet but on the few days when it wasn't cold, tables were always full by the time we arrived for lunch from excursions. Reception also told me early in the cruise it was "impossible" to get a printout of our account until the last day ( which was also not available for daily review on the TV). "Not possible" was a favorite phrase of reception. Though housekeeping service was excellent (5/5) and dining room service was good (4/5), for a cruise, the poor service by reception and overall organization of the program for Anglophones heavily weighed down the rating. Overall: 3/5 In sum, we are happy we did this cruise and explored a new line, primarily for the nightly classical music, but also to help us decide if we would want to be on Ponant for a longer travel period.The answer is no. We are inclined to only consider Ponant for a brilliant itinerary we cannot find elsewhere, given the problem with excursion quality and organization, and difficulty arranging private excursions due to Ponant's inability to organize and communicate properly about port times and their poor reception and expedition staff English and love of the phrase "not possible." Francophones may fare better. And much as I love classical music, apparently all their classical concerts have the same long-winded French organizer and speaker, and we would rather avoid him. DH also wants to avoid the risk of bilingual excursions (you cannot tell ahead of time when that will happen) with the irritating clumsy toggling back and forth between French and English.

John and I were delighted to discover this one-off food- and wine-centric itinerary on the L’Austral. We enjoy the French ambiance, excellent food, and great wine onboard Ponant’s ships. This cruise promised more of the same by including a Michelin-starred guest chef, guest experts on wine and cheese, and special wine and gastronomic events. The Ponant Corporate Chef was also onboard this sailing. Moreover, we were able to plan independent pre- and post-cruise extensions that allowed us to visit additional wine regions in Portugal and Spain. Needless to say, this trip exceeded our expectations. ITINERARY Pre-cruise: Lisbon, Portugal Cruise: Porto, Portugal; Vigo, Spain; Bilbao, Spain; St Jean-de-Luz, France; Talmont-sur-Gironde, France (canceled); Paulliac, France; Bordeaux, France Post-cruise: Madrid, Spain; Ávila, Spain; Córdoba, Spain REVIEW OF THE CRUISE APRIL 8-10, 2023—LISBON We have visited Lisbon five times previously on port calls, but this was the first time that we stayed overnight in the city. Before the cruise, we spent two nights at the LX Boutique Hotel (https://www.lxboutiquehotel.com/en/), which is on the eastern edge of the main tourist area and is convenient to the Metro and the Cais do Sodré train station. On Saturday afternoon, we visited the nearby Time Out Market (https://www.timeoutmarket.com/lisboa/en/) to enjoy some of Lisbon's iconic custard pastries, pastéis de nata, at Manteigaria Fábrica de Pastéis de Nata, reputedly the best place in town to sample these treats. Later we visited the Museo de Dinero (https://www.museudodinheiro.pt/en), followed by a guided tour of the Nucleo Arqueologico da Rua dos Correeiros (https://www.fundacaomillenniumbcp.pt/en/nucleo-arqueologico/). The latter sight is literally and figuratively a hidden gem of Lisbon. We ended the day by taking an excellent food tour with Oh! My Cod Tours (https://www.ohmycodtours.com/food-tours/lisbon-food-tour/) that included 17 tastings of typical Portuguese food and drink at four different venues in three of Lisbon’s distinctive neighborhoods. On Easter Sunday we had a lovely three-hour seafood lunch outside in the shade overlooking the Tagus River at the restaurant recommended by the hotel: Monte Mar (https://www.montemar.pt/en/Menu/Restaurants/Lisbon-Restaurant.aspx). To accompany our meal, we had a Muros Melgaço alvarinho from the Vinho Verde wine region. Instead of having dessert at the restaurant, we returned to the Time Out Market for gelato at Gelato Davvero (https://www.facebook.com/gelatodavvero/) and Cappuccinos at the pastry shop. We also stopped in at the Garrafeira Nacional wine shop (https://www.garrafeiranacional.com/en/special-customers) to pick up a bottle of “picnic wine,” a red blend from the Bairrada wine region, to enjoy later that evening. We spent the rest of the day exploring the Chiado and Bairro Alto neighborhoods. On Monday morning, we took a private tour to the Setúbal wine region with TakingUThere (https://takinguthere.com/project/setubal-region-wine-tasting/). After this outstanding tour, our guide drove us to the Doca do Jardim do Tabaco, where the L’Austral was docked. Boarding was supposed to be from 4-5 p.m., but it was already in full swing when we got there a little after 3:30 p.m. MONDAY, APRIL 10, 2023—BOARD THE L’AUSTRAL, DEPART LISBON AT 6:00 PM After going through the passport, security, and health checks, we boarded the L'Austral and were greeted by Captain Stanislas Devorsine, but not with a glass of Champagne. No matter, we headed to the Main Lounge to get a glass. The house Champagne is Abele 1757 Brut. We were able to stop at the Excursion Desk before it got crowded to book the two excursions that our Ponant Travel Consultant had been unable to pre-reserve for us and to cancel an excursion that we had pre-reserved as a backup. Later there was a presentation on the Porto and Vigo shore excursions. After that, we had a formal greeting by the Captain and an introduction to the ship by the Cruise Director, Laetitia Rouxel. Then we had the mandatory lifeboat drill, where we were sent back to our cabins to don our life jackets and then escorted from our muster station to the lifeboats. Back at the cabin, our bags had arrived and we quickly unpacked. We then headed to the Pool Deck for a Sail Away Party, where we enjoyed more Champagne, then to the Restaurant for dinner. Tonight there was an amuse bouche of leek and potato soup, which we both followed with octopus salad. John’s main course was sea bass and I had rack of lamb. He had crème brûlée for dessert and I had a cheese plate. When we returned to our cabin, we found that the lights on the stern side of the cabin (which includes the bathroom and toilet closet) were not working. After a call to Reception, someone did something and after a while they came back on. TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2023—LEIXÕES FOR PORTO—2:00 PM TO 7:30 PM It is so nice to go to sleep rocked by the waves! This morning we were en route to Leixoes, the ocean port for Porto (https://visitporto.travel/en-GB/home#/). I guess L’Austral is too large to sail up the Douro River to Porto, but we did see Viking and Scenic river cruise ships docked in Porto later today. Just before lunch, there was a presentation about the remaining port calls. The ship arrived in Leixões around noon, so we had time for a leisurely lunch in the Restaurant before our 1:30 p.m. excursion. It is at least a 30-minute highway drive from Leixões to Porto; the ship provided a shuttle for those who wanted to explore independently. Our tour was “Porto City Tour & Wine Tasting.” The tasting came first, at the Taylor port lodge (https://www.taylor.pt/us/visit-taylor-fladgate/port-cellars). All of the port lodges are in Vila Nova de Gaia, on the opposite side of the Douro River from Porto. Porto is known as the city of six bridges and we crossed two of them and saw three more during our visit. At Taylor, we had a good tour through the cellars that explained the port production process and the styles produced by Taylor (ruby, tawny, vintage, late bottled vintage (LBV), and dry chip). The dry chip is a white port that needs to be drunk very young and is promoted as a mixer for cocktails. After the tour we tasted the dry chip, a young tawny, and LBV. After that, we crossed over to Porto for a visit to the Church of San Francisco (https://ordemsaofranciscoporto.pt/museu/). The interior of the church is a mixture of plain rock walls and elaborate gilded Baroque altars and decorations. One altar has an interesting carving of a “Jesse tree” showing the kings of Israel from Jesse to Jesus, the King of Kings. This altar also has a statue of the Virgin Mary lying in a typical Portuguese small boat, which represents the end of life’s journey—sailing off to the next world. Of course, the church is under renovation, so the ornate main altar was covered. One altar that has already been restored depicts the baptism of Jesus by St. John the Baptist. I would have liked to have known the story behind another rather gruesome altar that shows Franciscan monks being beheaded by Moors. After touring the church, we walked past St. Nicholas Church, covered in blue and white ceramic tiles (azulejos) and down to the river. Here we had 35 minutes of free time, so John and I walked over the Ponte Luis I to the other side of the river and back. The riverfront was bustling with vendors, street performers, food outlets, and boats offering cruises to see the six bridges. John was particularly taken with the restaurant offering a 1.4 kg (about 3 lbs) steak for 52€. The menu did not say “for 2,” although that much meat could easily feed six. Our guide said that was not an unusual amount for one person in Portugal to eat. Our bus was waiting at a small park with a monument to Prince Henry the Navigator. From there we took a longer route back to the ship by following the Douro River. Our guide pointed out neighborhoods and points of interest along the way. It was almost 7 p.m. when we got back to the ship. All aboard time was 6:30 p.m., so the crew was already packing up the tent at the gangway in preparation to cast off. Tonight was the Captain’s Gala Evening, which was postponed to 7:30 p.m. because the tours were so late getting back. This started out with a Welcome Cocktail (Veuve Clicquot Champagne) on the Pool Deck, where it was quite cold and windy when we left port. I did not want to wear my dressy outfit if I had to wear my fleece vest and windbreaker over it, so we didn’t change. Many of the women were shivering in skimpy dresses, which didn’t bother me. John was a little embarrassed that he was the only man without a sports coat though. The Gala Menu came in classic and vegetarian versions, with both a cold (jumbo shrimp) and a hot (Chilean sea bass) starter and a main of veal sirloin with morels. The vegetarian menu featured the “perfect egg,” one of John’s favorites, as the hot starter so he substituted that in place of the sea bass. Everyone goes to the Restaurant at once for these gala dinners, so we shared a table with six other English-speaking people (four from the US and two from NZ). This turned out to be a very compatible group and we ended up not getting to bed until almost midnight. Once again, the lights on the stern side of the cabin were not working. After a call to Reception, they again were quickly fixed. Tomorrow we will be in Vigo, Spain, so we have to set the clocks ahead one hour tonight. Naturally, we have an early tour. Groan! WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2023—VIGO FOR SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA—6:30 AM to 5:30 PM We woke up this morning to find that the lights on the stern side of the cabin were out again. When I called Reception, they wanted to know when they had gone out. How should I know? I had been asleep all night. This time the lights did not come on right away. We had to shower and perform hygienic duties in the dark. Fortunately there is a glass panel between the shower and the sleeping area, so we had some light. Our 8:45 a.m. excursion was a tour and wine tasting at Pazo de Rubianes (https://www.pazoderubianes.com/en/) in the Salines area of Galicia. We have been to Vigo twice before and learned that the rain in Spain falls mainly in Galicia. Today was no exception—it was cold, windy, and raining. It took about 20 minutes to load everyone on the bus and another 30 to drive to the Pazo. Instead of having separate French and English buses, the French speakers were grouped in the front of the bus and the English speakers in the back. Each group had its own guide giving commentary in the appropriate language. The Pazo is an 18th century ducal palace, although the property itself is 300 years older. It is located in a large walled botanical garden that has been designated a Garden of International Excellence. Fortunately the rain had stopped by the time we arrived for our 2+ hour tour of the park, sloshing through the wet grass and puddles. At least our shoes are nice and clean now. The estate is a stop on the Camellia Route of 12 historic pazos. It had thousands of camellia trees of 800 different varieties, including a rare yellow one. There is set of 18 plants over 200 years old that are among the first camellias imported to Spain from Japan. The Pazo guide said no one knows what variety they are, so they are simply identified as #1-18. It seems that could be determined by a DNA analysis, but maybe they can’t afford to do that. The site is also located on the Camino de Santiago, so there are stone crucifixes marking the route and crosses indicating springs where the water was safe for pilgrims to drink. The gardens contain many exotic trees and plants, including a number of ancient eucalyptus and magnolia “monumental trees”—one was planted there between 1600 and 1630. Some of the specimens are among the oldest ever planted in Spain. Individual vineyards, all Albariño grapes, are interspersed among the gardens. Some of the vines are trained in the traditional pergola system and others using modern cordon systems. Much of the area was previously used to grow corn, so we saw a traditional Galician granary, raised above the ground on stone columns topped with stone disks to keep out field mice. Near the end of the tour, we passed the French-style Pazo. We couldn’t tour the palace because the family still resides there. We did visit the small family chapel, which is dedicated to St. Joseph. A priest once visited weekly to hear confessions; there are separate confessionals for male and female penitents. Finally we got to taste the estate’s three wines, accompanied by tapas: olives, cheese, potato omelet, tuna pie, crackers, and bread. One of the cheeses was tetilla (tit cheese), a regional cow's-milk cheese named for the shape of the cheese. We returned to the ship after 1:30 p.m., so we had to hustle to acquire a little more food in the Buffet before it closed at 2 o’clock. There was a good squid dish, cooked with tomatoes and peppers. We also had some cheese and ice cream. Returning to the cabin, we were surprised to find the door propped open. A worker had been trying since 10 a.m. to diagnose and fix the electrical problem. After he finally finished the repair, we took a nap. Later we had a presentation by two of our guest experts: a cheese workshop and tasting. Some of the French speakers tried to crash this session (theirs was afterwards), maybe to get more cheese; they had to be chased out. Ostensibly, this presentation was by the master cheese ripener, Bernard Antony, but he doesn’t speak English. The enologist and winemaker, Laetitia Ouspointour, translated for him, but apparently some of his comments were too risqué for her to translate. She just blushed. We tasted a 2020 and a 2021  Comté, accompanied by a white Burgundy. His cheeses are scarce in the US because they are made with unpasteurized milk; they are only available at one restaurant in NYC. Dinner in the Restaurant followed soon after and we virtuously limited ourselves to an appetizer and a main: escargots and chicken Cordon Bleu. Ponant’s escargots and garlic butter are served in little puff pastry cups, floating on a bed of potato purée. The Captain made several announcements about the rough weather expected tonight as we rounded Cape Finisterre and entered the Bay of Biscay tomorrow. Barf bags have appeared on all the passageway railings. THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2023—AT SEA Things were a little bouncy last night; the Captain said at the noon briefing that there were 5-6-meter swells. For us, that just made it easier to sleep. John was so sound asleep that he didn’t even hear the alarm he had inadvertently set for 7 a.m. The electricity was on this morning, so maybe that problem is behind us. The weather started out gloomy and we had a heavy rain shower while we were relaxing in the Observation Lounge. Then the sun came out. I think it will probably alternate sunny/gloomy all today and may get worse as we head farther north. The weather forecast for Bilbao tomorrow is not great. There was a workshop this morning by the enologist about creating your own wine blends. We were not particularly interested in that. We had passed on an excursion that did something similar, so we passed on this too. We were more restrained today at lunch. At lunch in the Restaurant, the starters and the desserts are served buffet style and only the main course is ordered from the menu. There are always three mains and a special of the day. Today the special was grilled mussels with a side of patatas bravas (roasted potatoes with a tomato and paprika sauce). I had some charcuterie with veggies and a croquette of cheese and Iberian ham to start. John only had the croquette, but he had two small desserts. In the mid-afternoon, there was a presentation by the expert on geography and wine, Alain Moissec. This was supposed to be a comparison between the viticulture of Bordeaux and Burgundy; he was also supposed to speak English. He had problems with the slides, the content, and the English. I doubt we will go to his lecture tomorrow morning. A much better time was had at the wine tasting (extra cost), conducted by the Sommeliers, Louise and Geraldine. We were served three French wines (two whites and a red) and a Spanish red, along with tidbits to let us see how how the wines paired with food. One of the French reds was a 2006 from Château Cos d’Estournal, which we will visit during the port call in Paulliac. The Spanish red was from the Ribera del Duero region, which we will visit from Madrid. Just before dinner, the Captain came on to announce that the weather looked too bad to call at St Jean-de-Luz on the 15th. The plan now is to overnight in Bilbao tomorrow, but is not clear whether we would go to St Jean-de-Luz the next day or skip that to proceed to Talmont-sur-Gironde. There will be an assembly tomorrow morning to let us know what is going to happen. Dinner tonight included lobster bisque and mackerel escabeche. The main was a delicious pork t-bone with polenta and ratatouille. As expected, the food has been excellent! FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2023—BILBAO—ARRIVE 1:30 PM At the assembly this morning, it was confirmed that the ship would overnight in Bilbao tonight. For tomorrow, two tours (guided and OYO) to San Sebastián will be offered and there will again be a shuttle into Bilbao. The port call in St Jean-de-Luz was moved to Sunday and the excursions there might or might not remain the same. We will skip Talmont-sur-Gironde entirely, so the tour we had booked there to the Otard Cognac house was canceled. The weather was pretty miserable this morning; but it might clear up some this afternoon before our tour to the Guggenheim Museum and the Old Town of Bilbao. We were not excited about the prospect of a 1.5 hour bus ride each way to San Sebastián tomorrow. If the weather improves, we may take the shuttle and explore more of Bilbao on our own. If not, we will just stay dry on the ship.  We could not endure another English lecture by the wine/geography expert. I wonder whether anyone will attend? Maybe the people who wanted to argue yesterday about whether winemakers in California understand the concept of terroir (the expert doesn’t claim to know anything about California wines). Instead, we went up to the Observatory Lounge to read and watch the rain and the ship docking. Our tour was not until after lunch, at 1:30 p.m.  At lunch, there were several Spanish and Portuguese dishes; we had a codfish ball and cockles cooked in garlic and wine with noodles. It is nice to see Executive Chef Kevin Phillipe include regional dishes on the menus. The electricity was off again in the cabin when we returned from lunch. It was fixed (maybe) while we were touring Bilbao. That makes four times now. I guess we are better off than the couple we met whose toilet won’t flush. The ship is docked a good way downriver from the city of Bilbao. Our tour started with a drive along the Nervion River, with an unexpected stop at the Vizcaya Bridge (https://puente-colgante.com/en/). This transporter bridge is the only one of its type in the world that is still operating (since 1893). It consists of two tall towers connected at the top by a maintenance walkway. A platform moves along the bottom of the walkway and is connected by cables to a platform suspended at river level. The lower platform carries vehicles (about six cars) and pedestrians across every eight minutes. That way, the bridge is never an obstacle to ship traffic. It was fascinating to see this bridge in operation; John took some video. Then it was on to the Guggenheim (https://www.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/), famous for its Frank Gehry design in titanium, limestone, and glass, as much as for the artworks inside. Our guide took us partway around the building so that we could admire it and see some of the outside art installations. The air temperature was around 60°F, but the wind made it seem much colder. We were glad to go inside the museum. Once inside, we only had 90 minutes to explore the three floors on our own. The inside of the museum is just as fascinating as the exterior. There is so much there that I can only mention a few things that we saw. On first entering, we encountered “The Matter of Time,” by Richard Serra. This is an immense work consisting of tall ribbons of weathered steel, bent into assorted curved shapes. You walk around and through it at will. We also saw one of Jeff Koons stainless-steel balloon works (Tulips) and one of Andy Warhol’s studies of Marilyn Monroe (150 Multicolored Marilyns). There was a whole gallery of works by Joan Miro and another by an interesting artist that we were not familiar with, Oskar Kokoschka. After rushing through the galleries, we had a little time left to explore the outside of the building from additional perspectives. We also wanted to get a good look at another Koons work, “Puppy.” This is a huge figure of a puppy, completely covered in living, blooming plants. It not only looks fantastic, but also smells wonderful. When we had viewed it earlier from a distance, our guide said we were lucky to see it because it would soon be replanted for summer and obscured by scaffolding. After the museum, we were scheduled for a 45-minute walking tour of the Old Town and 15 minutes of free time. The tour was supposed to get back to the ship at 7 p.m. and the white/black-and-white gala dinner was supposed to start at 7:45 p.m. A small group of women started lobbying to skip the walking tour so that they would have more time to get ready for dinner. Fortunately, most of us wanted to do the walking tour, so it proceeded. I think some of the women stayed on the bus. Despite being a brief tour, the guide was able to highlight a number of important buildings, including some churches, the opera house, the covered market, and the cathedral. Bilbao was another stop on the Camino de Santiago and the guide pointed out a number of sites associated with the pilgrimage route. During our free time, I was able to buy a small Basque flag. We did get back to the ship only a little after 7 p.m. and John and I had plenty of time to get ready. Maybe those women’s complaints had some effect though because, just as we were leaving for dinner, it was announced that dinner was postponed until 8 o’clock. We went to the Observatory Lounge for an extra-dirty vodka martini to pass the time. This evening we had the L’Austral White Party and a special multi-course meal from the guest Michelin-starred chef, Nicolas Isnard. Nicer wines were also served, including the Veuve Clicquot Champagne. This was the first time we have had a meal prepared by a Michelin-starred chef and we were underwhelmed. It was certainly good, but the ship’s regular food has been equally good. With such a late start, we did not finish dinner until after 11 p.m. SATURDAY, APRIL 15, 2023—BILBAO, DEPART 6:00 PM This morning we slept in and made the wise decision to stay put on the ship. Although it was only overcast when we got up, once we were comfortably ensconced in the Observatory Lounge, several rainstorms passed over and the deck outside was flooded. It was also colder today. Definitely a good idea to stay warm, dry, and well fed on the ship. The luncheon special today was a seafood buffet: raw oysters, crab legs, shrimp, and whelks. There were other things to eat, including four kinds of smoked salmon. However we concentrated on the seafood and Chardonnay. John helped get rid of the oysters, which were being neglected, by putting away about 1.5 dozen; I had a half-dozen myself. They were not as meaty as the ones from Louisiana, but were nice and salty and delicious. The crab legs were outstanding and very sweet. The large whelks and shrimp  were also good. The dining room manager said that all the seafood was from Lisbon. After a decaf double espresso with a shot of creme de menthe added, we retired to the cabin to rest up for the activities scheduled for later in the afternoon. In other words, I took a nap. Later we went to a workshop by the wine expert, “Make Your Own Wine.” This started with the usual basics of wine tasting: look, smell, swirl, smell, taste. Then we tasted three wines—Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec—and compared the colors and flavors pairwise. Finally, we used pipettes to measure out different amounts of each wine to see which proportions we preferred. This was a repeat of the workshop on Thursday and was much better than we expected it to be. While the wine workshop was going on, the master cheese ripener was busily setting up a fantastic display of the 12 of the cheeses he had brought for a dessert buffet tonight. We were able to get some photos of the display in its unmolested state. Back at the cabin, the electricity was out again for the fifth time. We decided that we should go to the Main Lounge for a martini while someone was sent once again to fix it. We ran into the Aussies who have no WiFi. We ended up having dinner with them and a British couple who have lived in the US for a long time. For dessert, we wanted to try all of the 12 cheeses and M. Antony cut very generous slices. We could not finish it all and took the leftovers to our cabin for lunch tomorrow (with some Champagne). SUNDAY, APRIL 16, 2023—SAINT-JEAN-DE-LUZ—8:00 AM to 8:00 PM We are starting to think our cabin is cursed. This morning the lights were on, but the toilet had overflowed during the night and flooded the toilet closet. It also wouldn’t flush. Although a plumber was sent to fix it relatively quickly, the floor was still flooded. Our cabin steward is going to mop it up while we are on our tour this morning. This morning the ship called at the popular seaside resort town of St-Jean-de-Luz (https://www.saint-jean-de-luz.com/destination-saint-jean-de-luz/saint-jean-de-luz/). The ship tendered passengers to the Port du Peche, near the town center. The Tourist Office had some maps and brochures available at the tender dock. Our tour today was called “Delicacies of Basque Country.” We drove through the countryside to Sare, where we toured a traditional Basque farm house, Maison Ortillopitz (https://www.ortillopitz.fr/en/), which dates to the 17th century. Like the houses in St-Jean-de-Luz, the shutters and trim are painted red (formerly ox blood was used). Our guide told us that houses with green shutters and trim belonged to people who had made their fortunes in the Americas and returned home to Basque Country. The half-timbered house has a typical three-story layout: bottom floor for the livestock, farm equipment, and cellar; middle floor for kitchen, living area, and bedrooms; upper floor for grain storage.  There were traditional furnishings and manikins with period clothing. In the 17th century, women wore tall crane-shaped hats, which were supposed to resemble a phallus and thus were denounced by the Church. After visiting the house, we were served local ham, chorizo and two other sausages, goat cheese, and Basque cake (two thin layers filled with cherry jam). Then there was the apple cider—a tart, still alcoholic beverage that is poured from a height into the glass. Tart barely describes it. I would call it vinegary, but John said the second glass was better. Maybe it is an acquired taste (like coffee with chicory). After that, we went to Espelette, a village famous for its red peppers and its chocolate flavored with them. Ropes of dried hot peppers decorate the front of most buildings there. We went to a chocolate tasting at Antton Chocolate House (https://www.chocolats-antton.com/). After a video about how the chocolate is made, we were offered a tiny malted milk ball and a choice of a small piece of either dark or milk chocolate (sans pepper). Then we went into the gift shop, where we tasted two versions (neither very hot) of chocolate flavored with the Espelette pepper and a candied orange peel covered in chocolate. The shop also sells powdered peppers, which are supposedly an aphrodisiac. The guide said a man on one of her tours bought three jars and then invited her to come to his room. We had some free time to walk around this quaint little village, where the shops were busy selling peppers in many forms, wine, cheese, chocolate, and foie gras. There is no aristocracy in Basque Country, but there is a small castle there built by a wealthy family. Our guide took our group back to the tender dock through part of St-Jean-de-Luz to point out the covered market and a few other sights. She managed to get us back to the dock just as the tender was pulling away, almost empty. The last two tenders are going to be packed! St-Jean-de-Luz‘s claim to fame is being the site of the marriage between Louis XIV of France and the Infanta of Spain. The mansions where each royal stayed and the church where they were married are the main points of interest. The guide had already pointed out the two mansions, so we went over to the church. Rick Steves says it is the only sight in town worth entering, but we did not have time to go inside. We had just enough time pass by the church, the oldest house in town, and the gorgeous white-sand beach before returning to the dock. On the tender ride back, we could see the old fort (not open to the public) at the entrance to the harbor. When we returned to the ship, our cabin had electricity and a dry toilet closet. However, the shower area now smells like sewer gas. John has been reading about all the problems on the Grand Princess, where the restaurants and cabins 700-750 on all decks are without electricity, so I guess we shouldn’t complain. Later the Cruise Director gave the disembarkation talk—standard stuff. Just before dinner, the Chef Isnard gave a culinary demonstration. This was supposed to last an hour, so I thought he would prepare two or three dishes. It actually lasted 20 minutes and he made only one dish: seared scallops with an Asian-influenced sauce. On the bright side, the dish had been duplicated in the kitchen and everyone got a delicious scallop to taste. He will be doing another gastronomic dinner tomorrow night. The first one was very good, but had no “wow factor” compared to the meals being prepared by the ship’s chefs and the Corporate Chef, who is onboard. At dinner tonight, John’s Argentine steak was overcooked and had to be sent back. By the time he got a new one,  I was finished my sole dish; his Béarnaise never arrived. This is the first time we have had a problem with the food service. On a better note, the cheese buffet was repeated. This time we were more selective and only chose a trio of our favorites. We actually managed to stay up until 9:45 p.m. for the first production show in the theater. The previous shows have been nightclub-style in the Main Lounge. This show was called “Marco Polo” and featured lots of energetic dancing by the small dance troupe, but no discernible plot. There will be another production show tomorrow night. MONDAY, APRIL 17, 2023—PAUILLAC—7:00 AM TO 11:00 PM There were no new disasters this morning. Our tour is not until after lunch, so we took the opportunity to sleep in. We will not have time to laze around once we get to Madrid. Our afternoon tour to Château Cos d’Estournal (https://www.estournel.com/en/) only had six people. It was supposed to be limited to 10-14, but had to be reserved and paid for before the cruise; people could not sign up onboard. Several people we talked to did not know about this tour because it was listed on the MyPonant website under “Extensions,” not “Excursions.” We only found out about it by chance. The original owner of the Château wanted to be in control of the wine at all stages through bottling, so the negociants of the time would not distribute his wine in Europe. The owner sent his wine to India and developed a market there.  The Château is not a typical manor house, but a production facility. What is now the tasting and sales area was once filled with crushing tanks, fermentation vats, and barrels. Those activities are still carried out in the building, but have been relocated to an upper level and underground. The Château was designed with many Indian touches, such as pagodas on top and elephants everywhere. There is even a walkway lined with topiary elephants.  After a brief tour of the grounds and recap of the winery’s history, we viewed the fermentation tanks and went down to the barrel cellar. At one end of the cellar is the wine library, with many old bottles. No pumps are used in this winery; everything uses gravity flow. Instead of pumping over, wine is drawn out and carried to the top of tanks via elevator. Fascinating! Right before dinner, we had a presentation by two representatives of Château Latour Domain. This was followed by Chef Isnard’s second gastronomic dinner, which was much more impressive than the first one. It didn’t hurt that Château Latour wines were served to accompany the meal. TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2023—BORDEAUX—ARRIVE 7:00 AM Alas, this is the last full day of the cruise. Barring any strikes, we will fly to Madrid tomorrow. This morning we had a tour to Château Smith Haut-Lafitte (https://www.smith-haut-lafitte.com/en/home/). This is another gorgeous facility. As usual, we got information on the history of the winery, then toured the white wine fermentation area and barrel rooms, followed by the red wine facilities.  The Château employs its own cooper, who makes all of the barrels. We got to meet both the owner and the winemaker. The family has diversified: one child runs a hotel on the property and another makes beauty products with the detritus left after pressing the white grapes. We tasted three wines: first label white, second label red, and first label red. They were all good, but the second label red is ready to drink now, while the first label red needs some aging. We had a quick lunch and then did a DIY walking tour of Bordeaux (https://www.bordeaux-tourism.co.uk/). The ship is docked just south of the Esplanade des Quinconces, a park where it looked like a market was in progress. We walked along the waterfront to the bridge built by Napoleon III. Then we turned back to the city center and saw most of the sights: several churches, cathedral, old city gates, old clock tower, opera house, etc. Back on the ship, we had a caviar tasting before the final dinner onboard. The appetizer was gratineed oysters, with a strange yellow cheese topping. Now we know what they did with the leftover oysters from the seafood buffet! WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2023—BORDEAUX TO MADRID This morning, after nine days on the ship, we finally made it to breakfast and had some delicious Eggs Benedict. We had to vacate the cabin by 8 a.m., so we relaxed in the Main Lounge until it was time to collect our baggage and walk out to the street for our transfer to the airport for our flight to Madrid on Iberia Airlines. John had found a private transfer service, Chauffeur Proxi Bordeaux (https://chauffeurproxi.fr/en/), that was half the price of the Ponant group bus transfer. This company responded quickly to every email. Our driver contacted us a couple of days before via WhatsApp to confirm and get final specifications for the meeting place. He sent us a picture of his car and warned that he might be 10 minutes late. Since we had lots of time, this was no issue. He arrived precisely 10 minutes after the original meeting time. He was professional and gave us an excellent ride. Once at the airport, he made sure that we knew which terminal was the one where we would check in and which terminal had the gates to Madrid. We would spend the next six nights in Madrid at the AC Hotel by Marriott Carlton Madrid (https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/madca-ac-hotel-carlton-madrid/overview/). This hotel is very close to the Atocha train station, so it is convenient for traveling to and from the airport and for taking day tours from Madrid. During our stay, we visited the Prado (https://www.museodelprado.es/en) and the National Archaeological Museum (http://www.man.es/man/en/home.html). We took the train to Córdoba (https://www.turismodecordoba.org/tourist-offices) for a DIY day tour. Naturally we also took another excellent food tour and outstanding tours to three wine regions (Madrid area, Rueda, and Ribera del Duero) near Madrid: "Madrid Tapas Crawl Tour"  with Food Lover Tour (https://foodlovertour.com/madrid/tapas-tour/) “Madrid Countryside Wineries Guided Tour with Wine Tasting” with Gourmet Madrid Tours (https://www.gourmetmadrid.com/en/package/madrid-wine-tour/) “Ávila and Rueda Wineries from Madrid Wine Tour” with WineBus (https://www.winebus.es/en/tours/avila-and-rueda-wineries-wine-tour-from-madrid/) “Ribera del Duero Wine Tour” with Wine Tour Madrid (https://winetourmadrid.com/en/) This was a great tip for John and me. Except for the electrical and plumbing problems, our cruise on the L’Austral was outstanding. Our pre-cruise and post-cruise extensions in Lisbon and Madrid gave us the opportunity to explore additional wine regions and taste wines that we would never have the opportunity to taste here in the US.