Jan. 6

Another night of poor sleep. The Hotel Plaza San Francisco is an older hotel and the AC does not work well. We set the thermostat to 10C but the room temperature never dropped below 23C. We are used to a cold bedroom - we even have the window open during the winter. However, we arose full of anticipation for our cruise. 

A quick taxi ride back to the airport and a speedy transfer to San Antonio had us at the pier well ahead of our boarding time. The part of the town that we saw did not inspire us to stay there. We spoke to some people who spent the previous night in San Antonio who wished they had stayed in Santiago. 

The terminal is in an old warehouse in a cargo port. Washrooms are in a trailer outside. Passengers were still disembarking from the previous cruise when we arrived, but within 10 minutes they started checking people in. Handheld technology found our reservation and issued our boarding passes. We proceeded to another station where our passports were collected. The ship keeps them until the end of the cruise. Our pictures were taken for our sea passes which get us off and back on the ship and open our cabin door. Our hand luggage went through a scanner  before we were directed to a bus to take us to the ship. 

Our cabin was ready when we got onboard at 11:30 which is pretty impressive considering the small window of time between departing and arriving guests. The Oosterdam is an older ship in the Holland America Line (HAL), built in 2002. The cabins are smaller than on other ships we have been on but has much more storage space which is needed for the longer itineraries that it sails. The two large closets can be converted into shelving space and a third closet has additional hanging space for short items. There are two long and deep drawers at the foot of the bed and still room under the bed for stowing luggage. 


It is common that HAL ships have bathtubs instead of just showers. The bathroom is surprisingly large and even has a cabinet behind the mirror so that the counter top stays tidy. The tub is short, but as someone who appreciates a bath, it will be most welcome after a day of exploring in the colder destinations. 


We had plenty of time to explore the ship and enjoy the sunshine at the pool before the ship activities started. At the sail away party, they served canapés and I had a delicious ceviche - raw seafood marinated in citrus and seasonings so it is no longer raw. 

We were supposed to sail at 6, but the provisions were still being stowed. At 6:45, the lines were dropped and we slowly began to move away from the pier, assisted by 2 tugboats. The harbour is very small, with only room for our ship on one side and 2 cargo ships on the other. We had to back out for quite a distance before there was enough room to swing the ship around. 



After dinner, we went to the World Stage Theatre to see a very interesting, live documentary about the 152 years of HAL. We called it an early night due to the previous 4 nights of poor sleeping. Our cabin was cooler than the hotel room, but not cool enough so we propped the balcony door open and fell asleep to the sound of the waves hitting the side of the ship. 

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