I really don’t know how to write about this cruise.  We left the U.S. on March 2 before the COVID-19 pandemic was declared.  Our cruise was aboard the Coral Princess from Santiago, Chile to Buenos Aires, Argentina.  The cruise started on March 5, but we were spending two days in Santiago prior to the cruise.  Needless to say, the world seemed to fall apart as we cruised.  Watching the news from a cruise ship was somewhat surreal.  I have so many stories to tell and lots of wonderful photos to share.  Basically, the cruise started out well and descended into confusion as the world crisis developed.  We ended up missing our last three ports and only about 700 of the 2,000 passengers made it out of Argentina after many changes and a lot of stress.  We were one of those 700 and this is our story.

Coral Princess in Punta Arenas, Chile (March 2020)

I have decided to tell this story in a series of posts to make the reading (and writing) a little easier.  My planned approach is to produce the following posts – I will add links as they are written.

  1. Toronto Airport During COVID-19 (March 2020)Santiago – Beautiful City Undergoing Political Unrest (March 2-4)
  2. Patagonia – Volcanoes, Glaciers, and Penguins – Beauty Beyond Comprehension (March 5-11)
  3. Rounding Cape Horn and More Penguins – Beginning of Chaos (March 12-14)
  4. How a Great Cruise Fell Apart – Getting Home and Beyond (March 15-19 and Beyond)

I will accompany each post with some of the many great photos I managed to take.  Without a doubt, this was one of the best cruises we have taken and I would do it again, even knowing it would end with much stress.  I have many lessons learned.  I hope you enjoy these stories.

Please continue to follow this story and comment with your experiences.