Chilean Fjords and the Super Bowl

As we cruised from Punta Arenas, Captain McBain announced that our luck with calm seas might be coming to an end.

Storms along the Pacific Coast could result in major swells and large waves.

While we did encounter about an hour's worth of 25 foot waves with no ill-effects, McBain later said he had been cleared to alter the ship's route to avoid the brunt of the storm by ditching the open sea for the relatively sheltered Chilean Fjords.

Todd McBain had a way of always making us feel like we were venturing outside of the plan to explore new worlds.  We were once again rewarded with gorgeous scenic cruising.

As in Antarctica, we spent a lot of time rushing from side to side to take in the views, walking several miles in the process, between great meals and all the other usual entertainment on board during two full days cruising the Fjords.

We were already enjoying those Fjords in the early evening following our penguin tour in Punta Arenas, but that was not the end of our day by any means.

It was Super Bowl Sunday, so after changing clothes, I headed into the Universe Lounge to hold great seats to watch the big game on the big screen of our favorite venue.

Mike and Linda qualify as major NFL fans.  They have season tickets for the Seattle Seahawks, beginning when they lived in Southern California. They moved to Seattle to be closer to the team...although their son and fellow 'Hawks fan Chris already living there didn't hurt.  They watch games with Chris's burgeoning family all-day Sundays, and also on Monday nights and Thursday nights throughout the season, plus Saturdays during the playoffs.  They know about as much about every team in the league as anyone, I'd guess.

I thought San Francisco looked dominant in the first half, but Mike kept saying the Chiefs had a remarkable record of comebacks this past season.  He was proven right when Kansas City stormed from behind to jump the 49'ers first half claim to American football's World Championship.

While Julie and I don't watch a lot of football, we tune in for the Super Bowl almost every season.  This year, our son Jay placed lots of Universal Music songs in expensive Super Bowl commercials, including Elton John's "Rocket Man" for WalMart and Jay's favorite parachute-pants-wearing dance song from his childhood, "Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer, in a Cheetos commercial.

For some reason sporting events broadcast at sea strip commercials out and replace them with a handful of promotions for the network itself, and then repeat them ad infinitum.

Fortunately, we found the commercials on youtube after we returned home, since they're Julie's favorite part of the big game.


Throughout the Super Bowl, Princess waitstaff served complimentary football snacks like pigs in blankets, wings and pizza, plus more hoity-toity hors d'oeurvres though we passed on the latter.

We had actually jumped the gun a bit by bringing some treats in with us from the barbecue grill near the pool.  Underestimating a cruise ship's ability to keep us fed was a rookie mistake we should never have made.

As McBain promised, we avoided rough seas in the lovely fjords, so we didn't miss any delicious meals during the balance of our cruise.