What better way to show you just how fun a South America cruise can be then to hear it straight from Carnival Splendor's social host Jaime? You get to cruise vicariously as she details her trip from one beautiful port to another. Here is her thirteenth post.

Dear John,

Our first Chilean port, where we were actually able to disembark guests was visited today. The tendering process into and out of Puerto Montt, went extremely smoothly; better than anticipated. Many of the staff members that contributed to the success of the tendering procedure this morning has prior experience with a similar process in Cannes, France that we visited during our itinerary last fall. We began the well-planned debarkation procedure before the sun rose at 7 am. We were using six of our own tenders which each carried 80 guests. We were simultaneously disembarking the guests on Carnival Tours from the main lounge, private tour groups from the Black Pearl dining room, as well as independent guests from the back lounge. Basically we had our hands full, but with all of the lounges covered and constant updates and reminders from Goose over the loud speaker, we managed to make the general clearance call at 10:30 am, everyone was happily off to enjoy the town… even Jim Eakins!

Apparently on their way off the ship, a couple guests were fined for attempting to bring fresh fruit with them. They happened to disregard the distributed written materials, as well as Goose’s multiple announcements and the Chilean authorities chose to charge them a fine that could be anywhere between zero and a million dollars. My advice to you, do not bring any open food to a South American port of call! Dirk our naturalist informed me that he has been on ships in the past that were forced to stop debarkation because of these matters!

Goose informed guests that the day may hold some rain in the near future, yet 42 hopeful crewmembers; myself included went off the ship at 12:15 pm to tentatively enjoy the Petrohue white water rafting tour that we had scheduled. During the hour-long bus ride to the river, I was speaking to Gerardo, our guide and he informed me that Puerto Montt is known as the city of roses. It has been around for approximately 150 years and the main religions are Catholic and Protestant. The beautiful churches that lined the down town area showed us just how important faith is to the residents of this location. Gerardo went onto inform us about Volcano Chatin had erupted in Chile last May. Even to this day it continues to burp out tiny eruptions. Good thing we arrived in the water and apparently that keeps us fairly safe from distant bubbling lava.

The peaceful scenery of Puerto Montt.

When the volcano first erupted the explosions were up to 30 km high. This volcano is different from many others, because as opposed to being cone-shaped it is more shaped like a crater. It has a 6 km perimeter and is 3 km wide. At this time, practically the entire city just beyond the bay area was gone. Luckily for the residents, the government had warned them to evacuate with due time to make it to safety. The ones that chose not to listen are the same ones who attempted to bring fruit off the ship!

While we went on our scenic drive toward the raft we stopped at a spot where we could take beautiful pictures of the surroundings. At this location they had a little café that was reminded me of a German bakery. They had the most delicious waffle cookies and blueberry cake. After sampling the desserts of my friends, I found that was hungry for something slightly more substantial than cake so I asked if they had a sandwich. In broken English the shop owner informed me they did have a salmon sandwich. This sounded somewhat odd to me; however I am always in favor of sampling the local cuisine. This food I ordered was marked with a $1,600 price, which luckily converted to four American dollars. The sandwich I was served was more along the lines of white bread covered in butter with small bits of salmon on it. I still ate it but it was very… moist!

The snow from the mountains of Puerto Montt fuel the rapids of the Petrohue River.

Just as we arrived at the rafting location, the sun finally shown through the clouds, it is amazing how these incredible occurrences always seem to happen with perfect timing… just like finding love! Before I could jump in the raft I had to use the bathroom… now the guide had told me they had a huge bathroom in this location. He was right. It made me feel quite in touch with nature even more, by marking my territory in the Chilean wilderness.

The white water rafting ride was amazingly fun! These rapids were considered category three so it was the perfect challenge for us novice rafters. Thanks to Greg’s waterproof camera we have the photos to prove just how enjoyable the day was! Surprisingly, the water in Chile was not chilly! Our wonderful raft instructor Izzy, allowed us to go for a quick swim and drink the cleanest most refreshing water in the world. As we rode down the river we were fortunate to have the most beautiful scenery you can imagine. The sun stayed out just throughout our entire journey and it wasn’t until our bus ride back to the ship was complete that it started to lightly rain. What a great day we had.

The Petrohue white water rafting crew

This second cruise has two more sea days before we reach Valparaiso. I will greatly miss the guests that are going to be leaving us this day, Bill, Cheryl, Debbie, Jason and more have truly become a part of the Carnival Splendor family.

I am looking forward to seeing Kerry and everyone else that will be joining us in just a few short days!
All the best,
Jaime =)