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Punta Arenas, Chile – day 2

March 15, 2020 – Punta Arenas, Chile – facing uncertainty

2020 South America cruise

The captain announces this morning that Chile has closed its ports to incoming cruise ship traffic due to the just-declared global pandemic (COVID-19), so we are at anchor in Punta Arenas awaiting further information. He made the decision to return to Punta Arenas and end the cruise here, since there are good transportation options for passengers to return home. We shall see how that plays out…I must confess, I’m worried that it has come to this.

Noon – The captain is working with Chilean authorities and he detects some movement with his requests to dock and to disembark passengers here, but he has nothing to formally announce yet. He assures us he will keep us informed.

I go for lunch to the main dining room where I have seafood poutine. This is a first for me, since despite being Canadian, I have never eaten poutine before. It is good, but there is no gravy on the fries. We spot a small whale beside the ship as my table of six eat our lunch.

I’m certainly depressed about this whole scenario. We are less than a mile from shore. The bridge is having to use thrusters to keep the ship from dragging anchor due to the strong winds and currents. When we were docked yesterday, special bracing lines were being used!

Chilean navy ship between the Zaandam and the Punta Arenas dock
Chilean navy ship between the Zaandam and the Punta Arenas dock

We receive an official letter today from Holland America’s President Orlando Ashford, which offers a choice of refunds and/or credits for the cruise. After receiving this letter, I book flights leaving March 18th from Punta Arenas to Santiago, where we will spend three nights before flying Aeromexico on the 21st through Mexico City and Vancouver, arriving in Victoria on WestJet on the 22nd. Everything is confirmed, so now we just have to get off the ship by Wednesday afternoon. Apparently, Holland America will shuttle us to the airport.

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