Sapphire In San Antonio, Chile?

[Plato123]

It appears the Sapphire Princess is moored in San Antoni Chile instead of on its way south?  Anyone know why?

Interested as we encouraged friends to go on this, their first cruise and departure yesterday was delayed as the ship could not dock due to sea swells.  Not off to a good start.

 

Edited January 21, 2023 by Plato123
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[PacnGoNow]

6 minutes ago, Plato123 said:

It appears the Sapphire Princess is moored in San Antoni Chile instead of on its way south?  Anyone know why?

Interested as we encouraged friends to go on this, their first cruise and departure yesterday was delayed as the ship could not dock due to sea swells.  Not off to a good start.

 

They had issues with weather and disembarking in Valparaiso, Chile.

They are refueling in San Antonio, Chile

due to a port cancellation.

They should still have a fabulous trip. We loved it, as long as the weather doesn’t get in their way again.

 

Why don’t you read their roll call or email them?

 

 

[azbirdmom]

I had read that they were going to stop in San Antonio for fuel before moving on.  They were very late getting in to Valparaiso yesterday due to ocean swells and when they finally did dock disembarkation was very tricky as the ramps were moving quite a bit.  They were boarding folks well into the night (and possibly early morning hours too).  It seems that they will be skipping Punta Arenas too.

 

Not sure if there are weather problems off the coast of Chile that will be delaying them further.  Three years ago on the Coral Princess we were delayed leaving San Antonio by a full day in an attempt to miss the worst of a storm in our path.  It was still pretty miserable going for a couple of days.  We also skipped Punta Arenas but picked up Puerto Montt which would have been a better port had it not rained hard all day.

 

Sometimes you can't avoid the wrath of Mother Nature.  As of now it sounds like they will still have the full Antarctica experience which is the most important part of the whole trip.

[azbirdmom]

Just read this on another forum.  It is a post by Vickie who has been onboard as a lecturer, she also is CC member. 

 

"All I can say is wow. In all my cruises I have never experienced what we had yesterday.

We were docking in Valparaiso. Normally we dock in San Antonio, Chile but it was full and Princess made this change months ago.

Very early in the morning we heard the anchor drop. When we got up we could see the waves crashing ashore and had heard Valparaiso had been expecting higher than normal seas. Because of the swells we couldn't safely dock.

Because the guests are getting off and new guests are getting on, not to mention all the stores (food, drinks, shop items, well everything the ship needs for the cruise) as well as fuel, we need we need to dock.

Around noon the pilots came on and along with two tugs we were able to tie up. But the ship constantly was moving up and down, away from the pier, back to the pier.

This meant gangways moved as well, they could not use forklifts to move large crates of luggage or all the stores items on pallets on board and off. Every piece of luggage was put on a conveyer belt one by one off the ship. 2,000 guests makes for a lot of luggage . Stores items were put on another conveyor belt box by box.

Also no fuel could be loaded as two tugs constantly kept us in place and I am sure loading of fuel is not possible.

It took 6 hours to disembark guests. Mainly due to how long it took to remove luggage and transport to pier building, steep gangway, then everyone having to take shuttle buses to terminal.

As soon as we docked I thru on my id tag and went down to assist shore excursions with managing crowds. And boy that was hard. Guests were tired, frustrated and just didn't know where to go, understandably. I tried to help the best I could. Oh and a lot were very lovely and understanding. I helped for 5 hours when Alvin thanked me and I plopped down at the bar and enjoyed a glass of wine.

By 7 pm all guests were off, the crew going home today finally got off. We watched from Promenade as the new guests started filtering on and struggled going up the gangway.

Shout out to so many officers who did not hesitate to assist guests with their carry ons up the gangway. Oh and the wait staff who had to push guests in wheelchairs up that steep ramp. Cudos to you all.

By now we knew we could relax and enjoy a drink and we chatted with the new guests. Their story about getting on souded horrific too.

Stuck at terminal building with no info. No water, no food, few bathrooms, and at one point the power went out. Note later Princess provided water and sandwiches but I am sure it was scooped up FAST.

Again, all guests needed to have their suitcases transported to ship, then put on conveyor belt then delivered to cabin. All guests had to wait for their time to board, take the shuttle then board that steep gangway. Note my description of boarding is secondhand information as I was not there.

Waitstaff worked till the wee hours. Our cabin steward worked until 2 am, and then had to get up early today! ALL crew including officers deserved a huge and I mean huge pat on the back for how they handled everything. I am proud of every one of them.

To the new guests, well it started out rough and I hope that your trip is amazing and if there is any way I can help, come see me at my desk in internet cafe 10 to 11 next few sea days.

We are now docked in San Antonio about 1.5 hours south of Valparaiso, where we normally dock. The containers we couldn't load yesterday were transported here and are being loaded now by full pallet. Fuel is being bunkered.

We are having to miss Punta Arenas Chile because of this extra day. We will be departing San Antonio around 6 pm as per the Captain just now. We are scheduled to arrive in Ushuaia on time on the 25th.

My views in no way represent those of Princess."

[lrgaster]

1 hour ago, azbirdmom said:

I had read that they were going to stop in San Antonio for fuel before moving on.  They were very late getting in to Valparaiso yesterday due to ocean swells and when they finally did dock disembarkation was very tricky as the ramps were moving quite a bit.  They were boarding folks well into the night (and possibly early morning hours too).  It seems that they will be skipping Punta Arenas too.

 

Not sure if there are weather problems off the coast of Chile that will be delaying them further.  Three years ago on the Coral Princess we were delayed leaving San Antonio by a full day in an attempt to miss the worst of a storm in our path.  It was still pretty miserable going for a couple of days.  We also skipped Punta Arenas but picked up Puerto Montt which would have been a better port had it not rained hard all day.

 

Sometimes you can't avoid the wrath of Mother Nature.  As of now it sounds like they will still have the full Antarctica experience which is the most important part of the whole trip.

Unlike us. I was also on that trip. 

[waltd]

Just returned a couple of weeks ago.   A shout out to the crew and Captain of the Sapphire.   Probably one of the best crews we have encountered on all our sailings.   One thing for sure about this cruise.  You have to be flexable.   If it isn't mother nature screwing around we ran into political unrest in Peru.  We went with the swells.   🙂 Still had a wonderful time.   Just another reason to go back and see what we missed.