Days 815-820 South American Cruise Days 18-23

Cruise Day 18 -Day 815

Dec 4, 2026

Days At Sea

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Cruise Day 19 -Day 816

Dec 5, 2026

Puerto Montt, Chile

Puerto Montt is primarily known as the gateway to Chilean Patagonia and the Lake District, serving as a major working port, travel hub, and center for the salmon aquaculture industry. Founded by German settlers, it is famous for its dramatic scenery of fjords and volcanoes, the Angelmo fish market, fresh seafood, and German-influenced cuisine

Puerto Montt- Public Rotonda

We joined a Chef for a food tour. Similar to the Lima market, but on a much smaller scale. 

We traveled with the Chef to the small town of Puerto Varas on the shores of Llanquihue Lake. Along the way, we sampled local wines and Pisco while he entertained us with stories and generously fed us throughout the experience.

It was Monica's birthday, the Chef sent a staff member out for a special dessert.

 A special Happy Birthday memory was made.  

Volcano Osorno

Back on ship another round of Birthday Cake....So much food!

Cruise Day 20 -Day 817

Dec 6, 2026

Puerto Chacabuco, Chile

Puerto Chacabuco is a town in Patagonia, southern Chile, known as a jumping-off point for the Aysén fjords. To the northeast is Lake Los Palos, with views of snowy mountains. The forested Simpson River National Reserve, home to cougars, is southeast. The nearby town of Coyhaique has a craft market selling handmade items. Glacier-fed San Rafael Lagoon and the Northern Patagonian Ice Field are to the southwest.

Tom was able to go on an epic Fly Fishing Trip in Patagonia. 

I went on a bus tour checking out some beautiful sites in Puerto Chacabucco

National Reserve Rio Simpson

Cruise Day 21-Day 818

Dec 7, 2026

Cruising Chilean Fjords

The southern coast of Chile presents a large number of fjords and fjord-like channels from the latitudes of Cape Horn to Reloncaví Estuary. Some fjords and channels are important navigable channels providing access to ports like Punta Arenas, Puerto Chacabuco, and Puerto Natales

Cruise Day 22 -Day 819

Dec 8, 2026

Pio XI Glacier (Bruggen Glacier), Chile

Brüggen Glacier, also known as Pío XI Glacier named by Spanish explorers after a Pope, is in southern Chile and is the largest western outflow from the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. Now about 66 km in length, it is the longest glacier in the southern hemisphere outside Antarctica

Cruise Day 22- Day 819

Dec 9, 2026

Scenic cruising Sarmiento Channel

Sarmiento Channel is a principal Patagonia channel, which extends in a north–south direction. It begins with the Guia Narrows and is located in Magallanes y Antártica Chilena Region. The kawésqar people sailed its waters from around 6,000 years ago until end of 20th century, as they inhabited its coasts

Cruise Day 23 -Day 820

Dec 10, 2026

Strait of Magellan

The Strait of Magellan, also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago to the south.

The Strait of Magellan is a 350-mile (564 km) navigable sea route in southern Chile that separates mainland South America from Tierra del Fuego. It serves as one of the most vital natural passages connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, though it is notoriously challenging to navigate due to treacherous currents, narrow passages, and unpredictable storm

The SS Santa Leonor was an American cargo ship that struck rocks in Chile’s Smyth Channel on March 31, 1968, and was abandoned. Originally built as a WWII Bayfield-class attack transport, the rusting remains of the ship still sit partially submerged on the Adelaide Rocks. Constructed in 1944, the ship originally served as the USS Riverside (APA-102). She transported troops and wounded personnel in the Pacific against Imperial Japan before being decommissioned in 1948

Days 810- 814 South American Cruise Days 13-17

Cruise Day 13- Day 810

Nov 29, 2025

General San Martin (Pisco), Peru

Pisco is a port city on Peru's southern coast, known for the grape brandy of the same name. It's a gateway to the uninhabited Ballestas Islands, home to scores of sea lions, pelicans, Peruvian boobies and Humboldt penguins. Nearby is the Paracas National Reserve, which encompasses desert, ocean and the Paracas Peninsula. Also here is the Paracas Candelabra geoglyph, a huge hillside etching of mysterious origins 

Tacama Winery 

Founded in 1540 in the Ica Valley, Tacama is the oldest vineyard in South America. Originally established by the Spanish to produce communion wine for religious orders, the estate later pivoted to distillation—giving birth to Peru’s famous grape brandy, Pisco

Pisco winery 

Founded in 1684 in Peru's Ica Valley, Hacienda La Caravedo is the oldest continuously operating distillery in the Americas. Originally established by Juan Facundo Caravedo Roque, it has spent centuries dedicated to crafting premium, all-natural pisco—Peru’s national spirit—using traditional, artisanal copper pot stills

Cruise Days 14-15 -Day 811 & 812

Nov 30, 2025

Dec 1, 2026

Days At Sea

Dolphins

Moore's T-shirts pick

Cruise Day 16 -Day 813

Dec 2, 2026

Coquimbo (La Serena), Chile

La Serena is the capital of the Coquimbo region on Chile’s coast. The city is known for its long beaches, like El Faro with its landmark Faro Monumental lighthouse, and its colonial and neo-colonial architecture. The late-Renaissance Iglesia de San Francisco is one of many churches dominating the skyline. The Archaeological Museum displays pre-Hispanic pottery and a giant stone head (moai) from Easter Island.

Cruz del Tercer Mileniio Coquimbo, Chile Cruz del Tercer Milenio (Spanish for "Third Millennium Cross") is an 83 meter tall, 40 meter wide, concrete cross located at the top of El Vigía hill in Coquimbo, Chile. Construction began in 1999 and it was completed in 2001. It sits 197 meters above sea level. It was considered the tallest monument in South America.

We left the ship and saw that we could walk up the hill to the cross. We had only walked about three blocks when a car drove by and yelled, “Go back!” Then a man came out from across the street and, in Spanish, explained that it was a dangerous neighborhood and that he had been stabbed there before. Around the same time, a woman walking by started warning other people not to walk in the area either. I guess we’ll be taking an Uber instead.

Cruise Day 17 -Day 814

Dec 3, 2026

San Antonio (Santiago), Chile

Santiago, Chile’s capital and largest city, sits in a valley surrounded by the snow-capped Andes and the Chilean Coast Range. Plaza de Armas, the grand heart of the city’s old colonial core, is home to 2 neoclassical landmarks: the 1808 Palacio de la Real Audiencia, housing the National History Museum, and the 18th-century Metropolitan Cathedral. La Chascona is the home-turned-museum of poet Pablo Neruda.

Magnetic Winery

Viña Matetic is a renowned, premium vineyard in the San Antonio Valley of Chile, famed for pioneering cool-climate Syrah and producing world-class biodynamic wines. In 1892 the family’s Chilean journey began when Jorge Matetić Celtinja immigrated from modern-day Croatia to Punta Arenas in the country's southern Patagonia region.

Days 807- 809- South American Cruise Days 11-12

 

I'm thrilled to share a Happy Thanksgiving from Lima, Peru, where we are immersed in an incredible cultural journey, constantly inspired by the boundless potential of human innovation and creativity. Even better we are able to share our journey with some friends.

Cruise Days 11-12 -Day 807 & 809

Nov 27, 2025

Nov 28, 2025

Callao (Lima), Peru

Lima, the capital of Peru, lies on the country's arid Pacific coast. Though its colonial center is preserved, it's a bustling metropolis and one of South America’s largest cities. It's home to the Museo Larco collection of pre-Columbian art and the Museo de la Nación, tracing the history of Peru’s ancient civilizations. The Plaza de Armas and the 16th-century cathedral are the heart of old Lima Centro.

Celebrating Thanksgiving before we head out for the day

Welcome to Lima, Peru!

Miraflores is a neighborhood in Lima, Peru. We stumbled upon the  El Señorio de Sulco restaurant . We asked the waiter to surprise us with a couple of his favorite dishes. The first Pisco Sour.

A Pisco Sour is a frothy, tangy South American cocktail made with pisco (a grape brandy), lime juice, simple syrup, egg white, and Angostura bitters, known for its signature foam and balance of sweet, sour, and herbaceous flavors. The classic Peruvian version uses Peruvian pisco and lime, while a dry shake (without ice) followed by a wet shake (with ice) is crucial for creating the foam, which is then garnished with bitters. 

Grilled Octopus - by far one of the best things we have ever eaten.

Ceviche is typically made by curing fresh, raw seafood (such as white fish, shrimp, or scallops) in freshly squeezed citrus juice. The acid denatures the proteins, effectively "cooking" the seafood without heat

Day 2- Food tour.

We stopped at the "Market" WOW! We as Americans are doing it wrong. Lovely looking produce everywhere! And that doesn't do justice to the ultra fresh fish, beef, and chicken. A very nice market filled with the freshest of everything for your cooking pleasure.

After the marketplace we went back to take a cooking class. How to make Pisco Sours and Ceviche. Funny part...It was at the same restaurant we stumbled upon the night before. 

Love Park

The iconic statue at the Love Park (Parque del Amor) in Lima, Peru, is titled "El Beso" (The Kiss). Unveiled in 1993, this 12-meter-long and 3-meter-high masterpiece was created by renowned Peruvian sculptor Víctor Delfín to celebrate passion, romance, and the lovers who gather along the coastal cliffs

Navy Lighthouse

La Marina Lighthouse is an active lighthouse set on high cliffs above the Pacific Ocean, in Miraflores a district of Lima, Peru. It is one of the most famous and visited lighthouses in the country.

Originally constructed in 1900 at Punta Coles, a headland near Ilo, the lighthouse was dismantled and reconstructed in Miraflores in 1973 by the Directorate of Hydrography and Navigation of the Peruvian Navy. Since the move, it has remained situated in the appropriately named Parque el Faro, one of a number of popular parks above the cliffs in the city, which commemorates a century of Peruvian navigation.

The 22 meter (72 ft) iron tower has a gallery and lantern, painted a very dark blue, with two white bands. Its light can be seen for 24.3 nautical miles, and consists of a pattern of three flashes of white light, over a period of fifteen seconds.