Cruising not the Beagle channel

The itinerary describes ‘cruising the beagle channel’ as it earlier described ‘cruising the Chilean fjords’, but both of these experiences occur at night in the dark. The theory is that, as the voyage is normally done in reverse (down the east coast and back up the west), it has been switched round because of late Easter, so as to be in Rio for Carnivale. At Silversea HO, they do not seem to have realised that the result is that some daytime experiences are now in the night. Silver Spirit is scheduled to pass ‘Glacier Alley’ between midnight and 2am. Even if passengers stay up for it, it will be dark. So that is disappointing.

But the day has been magnificent. After leaving the extreme tip of the mainland, which is relatively flat, Silver Spirit entered a fjord which is bordered by hills and mountains of all shapes and heights, some of which are snow-capped or have glaciers. Some have very jagged peaks. The weather is cold but the mist is intermittent and there are clear spells and shafts of sunlight. An experience to rival anything in Norway but, unlike there, there are few signs of any habitation or local boats.

TSH and Diva donned extra layers and ate their lunch on the pool deck, much to the bemusement of the frozen staff who have little choice in such matters.

TSH had a good sighting of some whales.