Mariner - Chilean Fjords November 10, 2003 6 Nights - Valparaiso (for Santiago) to Ushuaia

Olivia and I arrived at the Valparaiso port around 3:00 pm after our lunch in Vina Del Mar. Earlier in the day, we spotted the Mariner in the Valparaiso port area during our tour from Santiago to Valparaiso. When I first caught a glimpse, all I could say is "It's Huge". I was immediately impressed by its size. OK so some out there are saying - well it's only 49,000 tons, where has this guy been? Well, not on cruise ships! My only cruise experience was this past March (2003) on the Paul Gauguin and that ship is about half the size (and I thought it was larger when I first saw it too (the Paul Gauguin that is).

Anyway, we entered the port area and were dropped off by our guide and driver arranged through Travelsur.com by a lovely woman named Patricia Duffolcq. More on Santiago to Valparaiso land portion in a later review). We were unable to be dropped off directly at the ship. Instead we were dropped off at a pre-boarding area. Porters picked up our luggage and we were escorted over to the buses designated to take us to the Mariner. We met Marco from the Mariner's Club.com (Internet) (photos 377, 379 on www.ofoto.com - login Cruise@yahoo.com, password cc - Album: Chilean Fjords 1A). There was tight security here - apparently the President of Chile had just been there shortly before us. We were taken by bus to the Mariner about a mile away (photos 145-151 - same album). Read more