M/S NORWEGIAN DREAM
AROUND CAPE
HORN: BUENOS ARIES, ARGENTINA TO VALPARAISO, CHILE
March 3 - 17, 2002
By Vincent & Mary Finelli
OVERVIEW
This was our 25th cruise in the past six years and our second on
Norwegian Cruise Lines, having sailed in '98 on the Norwegian Wind,
the Dream's sister ship. We flew American Airlines to Buenos
Aires, Argentina three days prior to sailing and visited Vincent's
South American relatives. This is a country in economic crisis with
many kind and warm hearted people. This itinerary has fascinated us
both from our history and literature books. It took us around Cape
Horn, through the famous Beagle Channel (named for the vessel on which
Charles Darwin sailed in 1833 and catalogued its wonderful wildlife:
penguins, elephant seals, cormorants and of course the legendary
albatross) and through the Strait of Magellan—now we have realized
a lifetime dream onboard the M/S Norwegian Dream with the
dashing Captain Rolf Sandvik (Norway), whose knowledge of this area
and his willingness to share it with the passengers made this trip one
of our most memorable.
The Norwegian Dream was
commissioned in 1991 and Diana Ross christened her on 12/6/92; she was
built in St. Nazaire, France, at a cost of $240 million and was
"stretched" in '98 by inserting a 130-foot midsection in
Bremerhaven, Germany at an additional cost of $69 million. Her length
is 754 ft.; beam 93.5 ft.; gross tonnage 50,764: height (keel to mast)
164 ft; draft 22 ft. and she has a passenger capacity of 1,750 with a
crew of 614. This trip she sailed fully booked.
EMBARKATION
Embarkation was quite simple since the port was easy to reach on a
Sunday morning—no traffic. The Buenos Aires Port was well
organized. Porters took our luggage at the drop off point and
wheelchair assistance was prompt. Latitude members (Repeaters Club)
were met by a staff member who facilitated passport and security
checks. The rest of the check in was done on board where passports
were taken and we received yellow boarding cards to be used in all
ports. Our passports were returned the day before we disembarked. This
ship has yet to upgrade to the single card system, commonly found on
newer ships, which serves as ID boarding document, on board charge
card and room key. We understand that this procedure will be adopted
when the Dream goes into dry dock in Dover, England, sometime
in May, after repositioning to Europe for the summer.
SHIP'S PUBLIC AREAS
The Norwegian Dream is what Vincent terms "sober
elegance." A very simply outfitted ship of the old style—very
functional—lots of beautiful wood and shiny brass. She is kept in
excellent shape under the watchful eye of Hotel Director Brian
Walters, a gentlemen who may take pride in this well organized and
ship shape vessel.
Caribbean Deck 4, Biscayne Deck 5, and
Atlantis Deck 6 are mostly cabins with the Medical Center located on
the latter.
Promenade Deck 7 has cabins and the
main entrances to the Lobby, where the Information & Purser's
Desks, Shore Excursion, and Concierge Desks are located. Just like the
great liners of yesteryear, outside is the wrap around promenade deck,
also used in the early mornings as a jogging track (three and one-half
times around is one mile).
Norway Deck 8 is mostly cabins with
balconies and the lifeboat/tenders.
International Deck 9 forward has
suites and inside cabins, midship is the Four Seasons Dining Room, and
toward the aft there are the following public rooms: The Rendez-vous
Bar, Le Bistro (upscale French cuisine, more about this later), the
Library, Coffee Bar, Card/Game Area, and finally the multilevel
Terraces Dining Room with a wall of windows overlooking the ship's
wake—very beautiful on sea days for dining.
Star Deck 10 has cabins and suites
forward, then there is the Star Dust Lounge/Dance Floor where shows
and receptions take place (seating is a combination of couches and
single upholstered arm chairs with some poles blocking the view of
unlucky spectators seated behind them). Midship is the Monte Carlo
Casino, Lucky's Bar and aft the well stocked shops.
Sun Deck 11 forward has the
bridge/radio room, midship are the Owner's Suites, Pool Bar, the
Pizzeria, Conference Rooms, the Kid's Corner and aft are the Sun
Terraces/Trattoria Dining Rooms again with surround windows; these are
beautiful tiered dining rooms with a marvelous underwater mural in the
background.
Sun Deck 12 forward holds the
Observatory Lounge (always crowded), Sauna, Spa and Gym areas, the Ice
Cream Bar, and aft is the Youth Center, Video Arcade, Snack Counter and
the Sports Bar & Grille, where full breakfasts, lunches and meals
are served throughout the day cafeteria style; this is a popular
gathering place for those who prefer to eat informally.
It is easy to get around this ship
due to the three sets of elevators (forward, center and aft) and not
half as much walking as there is on the gigaships of RCI (the
Adventure, Explorer and Voyager of the Seas). Here most places were
just a few steps away from one's cabin or elevator: great for Vincent
who is slowly graduating from the wheelchair to the cane! The overall
feeling of this ship is nautical, no neon fantasies here. It is very
comfortable and simple in design and execution.
FOOD & SERVICE
We happily report that there is much improvement in the food over our
last NCL cruise. Executive Chef Patrick Joubert (La Rochelle, France)
has the attitude that food is also entertainment and he does his
utmost to beguile the passengers with variety. "Freestyle"
dining allows cruisers the freedom to eat in any of several
restaurants at times individually selected. There is no rushing to
meet fixed first or late dinner times.
Freestyle breakfast is as follows:
6:00 to 11:00 am Full Breakfast, Sports Bar Deck 12.
6:30 to 9:00 am Breakfast Buffet, Four Seasons Dining Room, Deck 9.
6:30 to 11:00 am Jogger's Breakfast, Pizzeria, Deck 11.
7:00 to 9:30 am Sit Down Breakfast, Terraces, Deck 9.
There is also a full breakfast served by room service (we took
advantage of this and had three minute eggs, crispy bacon, toast,
coffee, hot chocolate, fruit compote, juice and cereals (both hot and
cold) and assorted sweet rolls on various days, all hot and excellent.
Freestyle lunch is as follows:
Noon to 2:00 pm Sit Down Lunch, Four Seasons.
Noon to 2:00 pm Hot Dogs and Burgers/Salads/Soups and Pizzas, at the
Pizzeria.
Noon to 3:00 pm Luncheon Buffet, Sports Bar.
Noon to 5:30 pm Pizza and Snacks at the Pizzeria (including the best
cookies ever!)
3:00 pm to 5:00 pm Ice cream Parlor, Deck 12.
Freestyle dinner is as follows:
5:30 pm to 8:30 pm BBQ Dinner Pool side (weather permitting) Deck 11.
Unfortunately on this cruise it was cold, windy and even rainy at
times.
5:30 pm to 9:00 pm Tex-Mex dinner buffet, Sports Bar (There was a
great variety, but Vincent prefers to sit at dinner.).
5:30 pm to 9:00 pm Sit Down dinner in the Four Seasons
6:30 pm to 10:00 pm Sit Down dinner in the Terraces.
There are also two specialty
restaurants:
6:00 pm to 11:00 pm Le Bistro, (French Mediterranean style cuisine),
where the food is interesting, but the service is slow, maybe only on
par with the other restaurants on board (try the shrimp Provençal).
There is a $10 cover charge.
7:00 pm to 11:00 pm The Trattoria,
Italian dining, where there is a variety of foods and pastas, some
excellent some not so good. Try the Spaghetti Bolognese, the Osso
Buco and the cannoli. Some good appetizers, especially
bruschetta and mozzarella with tomatoes and basil. However,
the waiters need to learn the Italian words on the menu, since they
usually resorted to some abbreviations to identify the items, e.g. P
& M for prosciutto and melon. But it was fun and we enjoyed
their mispronunciations.
We found under Chef Patrick the food to be far better than the last
time we sailed on the Norwegian Wind, but there is still room
for improvement. As seasoned cruisers we know that corporate
offices control much of the supplies and dictate specifics of recipes
in order to regulate quality control. Personally, we would like to see
more freedom in preparation, so that originality could enhance menus.
Chef Patrick is pleased with the Freestyle dining, since it allows for a calmer galley when the work is
spaced out over several time schedules and several venues. Using the "mis
en place" system the line chefs are awaiting orders from the
waiters and can devote special attention to every order. We were happy
to hear that the galley crew likes it as much as the passengers. We
had a tour of the galley and saw why the Dream rated a perfect
score of 100 by the CDC during their last two sanitary inspections, in
April and December, 2001. This perfect score is rarely achieved.
BRAVO!
Service on board is fast (24 hour
room service) and friendly; there is a pervasive feeling of
willingness to please. We always have good service because we
recognize that politeness works both ways. Both water and coffee on
board are excellent, no excessive chlorine taste here.
The cruise highlight was dinner with
Captain Sandvik. Mary was seated on his left and had a wonderful
evening conversing with such an open and friendly man whose love of
the sea is evident. He spoke of the Norwegian fjords and the cruises
he will Captain there this June on the Dream. Chief Engineer
Steinar Kruse added to the congeniality of the evening with ship lore
and even Norwegian Fish recipes. Chef Joubert outdid himself with a
dinner which included the following: Norwegian Seafood Platter, Wild
Mushroom Bisque, Lobster Tail/ Filet Mignon, and a surprise dessert
which descended from heaven (a cup crafted out of chocolate filled
with an exquisite Cappuccino Mousse—our compliments to the
Chef! All this was accompanied by two California wines, a Chardonnay
and a Cabernet Sauvignon, all served under the watchful direction of
Sr. Maitre d' Wolfgang Unger. Ah! a night to remember, wonderful food,
wonderful drink and wonderful conversation!
The best Concierge afloat is Carlos
Zarate (Chile) whose personal knowledge of his homeland allowed us to
explore the food and sights of Chile with the benefit of an insider's
advice. He is capable, willing and able to solve any question which
may arise. He is a dear new friend, who arranged a personal tour of
Nobel Prize winner Chilean Poet Pablo Neruda's homes in Valparaiso and
Isla Negra and some incredible meals in local restaurants.
CABIN
We were in Owner's Suite #1102 on Deck 11. When entering on the left
there is a small walk-in room/closet with wardrobes on one side, and
shelves, cabinets with a personal safe and a pullman bunk bed on the
other. Next is a large living/dining room with a wall of windows
facing the sea, furnished with a sofa bed, a brass and glass coffee
table, mini refrigerator, TV and two upholstered chairs.
When entering the cabin on the right,
there is the full bath with tub, shower, granite counter tops and
mirrored cabinet. The far door leads to the bedroom, with a king size
bed with mauve suede headboard, two night stands with wall sconces, a
mirrored vanity/desk, a second small TV and wall-to-wall windows (for
stargazing) with a private door to the balcony, which holds two chaise
lounges and a table—excellent when we sailed through the Chilean
Fjords right up to the Amelia Glacier. Memories are made of this:
still blue waters with icebergs floating in them and silence all
around and the fun of watching the crew in a small boat selecting the
perfect iceberg to hoist aboard for the close inspection of the
passengers.
The French door leads back to the
living area with another balcony door on the right and a bar on the
left and two more chairs. This suite is restful in decor (shrimp and
beige in color and natural woods) and very functional in design. We
had an excellent stewardess, Lelica Koncurat (Croatia) and two
butlers, Denny Muharran (Indonesia) and Roquel Dimaappi (Philippines)
who were very efficient and quick to notice which cheese and fruit we
liked.
ENTERTAINMENT
Cruise Director Soozy Atkins is a multitalented lady (she sings
beautifully), who heads a very busy staff who run the following:
Trivia (we won six), Bingo (we lost six), exercise/walking, Bridge
games, Arts & Crafts (the multi-lingual International Host, the
handsome and charming Fulvio Mazza (Italy) was spied teaching beading
to enchanted ladies) his sonorous voice in Spanish making
announcements over the intercom enraptured everyone.
There was a good mix of entertainment
featuring the Jean Ann Ryan Company, snappy dancers and singers,
especially Elvy Rose in concert ("I Will Always Love You"
and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" ). At the Coffee Bar
pianist Katie Guglielmo played the Classics and a "Tribute to
Frank Sinatra." There were a series of seminars and lectures on
various topics, including psychology, geography, languages, etc...
and Argentine Tango lessons along with tango shows by the Duo Miro—really smoooooooth! There was something for everyone to enjoy, plus
lots of quiet places just for reading or doing crossword puzzles.
ACTIVITIES & PORTS
The following are some of our observations and tour suggestions:
1. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Sunday sailing time 4:30 pm.
Since we were in Buenos Aires three years ago, we did not book an
excursion with NCL. However, on our previous trip we had a great time
by spending a day at an estancia (a farm where the gauchos will
entertain you with riding, dancing and an Argentine BBQ).
2. Montevideo, Uruguay. Monday
7:00 am to 4:00 pm.
This was a rainy day, so we did not do much sightseeing. There is a
free bus to the leather and sweater shops, as Floridians we have
little use for those items. Instead we went and bought souvenirs by
the local artisans. NCL offered a City Sights and Wine Tasting tour, 5
1/2 hours, $89.
3. Puerto Madryn, Argentina.
Wednesday 11:00 am to 7:30 pm.
At five in the afternoon locals did a Folkloric Program on board
called "Pilmayquen" and those who saw it raved about it.
We took a private tour arranged on the dock to see the penguin and sea
elephant colonies: a boring five and one half hour ride whose monotony
was only broken by an excellent lunch of local fare (roasted lamb and
free range chicken). The wild life at this time of the year was
sparse. NCL Shore Excursions offered these tours: Port Madryn and
Gaiman Welsh Colony (we heard was excellent) 3 1/2 hours, $68;
Patagonia Experience (visit the Paleontological Museum and the
Estancia San Guillermo) 7 hours, $99; Port Tombo Penguin Experience
(walk among penguins) 7 1/2 hours, $137.
4. Port Stanley, Falkland Islands.
Friday 10:00 am to 3:30 pm.
Tenders to the island were only able to land twice this season; we
were lucky with a beautiful sunny day. We took a bus tour for 1 1/2
hours, booked on the pier for $15. The Welsh settlers are nice people
with reason to be proud of their schools, senior citizen homes,
hospital and other health care facilities. There are great woolen buys
here.
5. Cape Horn, Saturday at sea—this was phenomenal, sailing around the Horn, where the Atlantic
Ocean meets the Pacific, was every thing we thought it would be. The
whistling winds came up; the seas grew high and wild; we saw through
the binocular the Albatross Monument (inscribed with the "Rhyme
of the Ancient Mariner") and the guano covered mounts, and a
vivid rainbow. We wondered how the courageous navigators of old ever
rounded the Horn in their fragile sail ships.
6. Ushuaia, Argentina, Sunday
7:00 am to 12:30 pm.
After our tempestuous sailing around the Horn, we sailed through the
channels of Tierra del Fuego toward Ushuaia, the southern most city on
the Earth. We took the Penguin Discovery tour, a catamaran through the
Beagle Channel and saw penguins, sea lions and cormorants, large
fish-eating birds with webbed feet, who can be mistaken for penguins,
from a distance. 5 1/2 hours, $98.
We then set sail toward Punta Arenas
through the famous Beagle Channel (which rarely exceeds more than 2
miles in width) on calm waters with its spectacular snow topped
mountain peaks and breath taking glaciers such as the Hollanda,
Italia, Francia, Alemania and Romanche (the latter named after a
ship). Ushuaia is also the southern most end of the Pan American
Highway which starts in Alaska and ends here after 16,000 miles.
7. Punta Arenas, Chile. Monday
7:00 am to 6:30 pm.
This is the jumping off point for Antarctica Fly Over Experiences to
the "White Continent," 5 1/2 hours, $1,425, a tour which was
inexplicably canceled (bad weather or not enough bookings, probably).
There is also a tour of the Torres del Paine National Park for 11
hours, $989, fly, drive, and hike to the Biosphere Reserve and Laguna
Amarga (famous for its flamingo colony and beautiful blue water). We
were not physically up to such long excursions, maybe next time!
We went into Punta Arenas and with
the help of Carlos and his suggestions. We had our first taste of
Conger Eel and the best King Crab in our life at "Sotito's"
Restaurant in O'Higgins Street, just three blocks from the Ship. We
went with our travel companions, the Drs. Bozian and the Drs. Chen,
who all agreed that this was a lunch to savor.
8. Tuesday and Wednesday were days at
sea. We traveled through the Strait of Magellan and the Patagonian
Channel with its wonderful scenery.
9. Puerto Chacabuco, Chile is
the scenic part of Western Patagonia where the ship's tenders took us
ashore.
Tour: We took the Puerto Chacabuco & Surroundings tour for 2 1/2
hours, $39. The tour followed the river along the gorge and stopped at
Simpson National Reserve, rugged scenery, rugged bus ride!
10. Puerto Montt, Chile. Friday
8:00 am to 4:30 pm.
We booked a private tour on the dock for $25 and visited Puerto Varas
(the City of Roses), Lake Llanquihue near the magnificent snowcapped
volcano Mt. Osorno. Here we saw torrents rushing through gorges made
of lava. This is a beautiful area. NCL offered several excursions, but
one that sounded interesting was the tour of Petrohue Falls and Lake
Esmeralda (known as the most beautiful lake in the world due to its
blue-green color) for 8 hours, $119. It was too long for us to book.
11. Valparaiso, Chile was our
last port. Since we had a late evening flight, instead of taking a
direct transfer to Santiago Airport, Carlos booked a private tour for
the six of us with the Cocha Travel Agency of Santiago. We had a very
special tour with English speaking guides, Gustavo and Cristobal, who
made this tour extremely interesting with a handout of poems and
detailed descriptions of the sites visited. The highlights of this
tour were the visits to two homes of the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda,
where we saw his life long eclectic collections (from masks to
carvings taken from the prows of ships, from ship bells to fancy glass
bottles, etc.). He was a person of many interests, widely
traveled and an inveterate collector. This tour gave us a personal
glimpse into the poet as a man. The tour was 8 hours; the cost was
$430 for the six of us. For the quality of transportation (a new mini
bus), the sites visited and the pleasant company of Alicia Geisse,
travel consultant, the guides and our friends, this was one of the
best tour value we ever had. Thanks Cocha!
Santiago, Chile has a very modern,
well organized airport and boarding was easy.
SUGGESTIONS
This was our "dream" cruise, especially in regard to the
very interesting itinerary. It is difficult to criticize something on
this cruise, since we had such a great vacation. We did not let minor
inconveniences adversely affect our "great time." As we have
said before, we have never had a bad cruise. However, we'll keep on
cruising since we are still searching for the perfect one. So we have
to search here and there for some imperfection, otherwise it will be
all over, with the complete fulfillment of our search.
What was the problem with this
cruise? It is unfair to criticize food, since what tastes delicious to
one's palate it may taste inedible to someone else. However, to those
who are biased toward the Italian cuisine, there is room for
improvement in certain recipes, especially in regard to palate
expectation. When we choose from the menu a specific item, we expect
that item to have a characteristic taste to match our expectation; i.e., Fettuccine Alfredo or Bucatini alla Bolognese,
are expected to have specific flavors, traditionally associated with
those dishes, which are the results of given recipes and ingredients.
Unfortunately, on the Dream some of those dishes, especially
the Italian ones, did not meet our expectation.
Recommendation #1. If NCL wants to
offer a variety of dining options, it is important to use the
appropriate recipes and ingredients. The chef of each specialty
restaurant must be a specialist of that specific cuisine; i.e.,
trained Italian chefs for the Trattoria and French chefs for the
Bistro.
Recommendation #2. We had pasta
tasting gluey, even though the chef at the Trattoria cooked it al
dente just for us. The problem is not as much as in the cooking
method, but in the quality of the pasta used. This seems to be a
problem in common with some other ships. We suggest that, for a few
more pennies per pound, a better quality durum wheat pasta should be
purchased; possibly made in Italy—where pasta is the queen of that
cuisine.
It seems that our recommendations are
becoming repetitious, since they are similar for most of the ships we
have known. Probably it is common that the ingredients are obtained
through centralized purchasing and that most cruise lines are using
the same suppliers.
Well, it was a great cruise.
Happy Cruising!
Photo
courtesy of Norwegian Cruise Line
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