2-21 Boarding the Royal Princess - Finally!

We're in no rush this morning.  Last night we heard that the Royal Princess, which was scheduled to be in port early in the morning would not arrive until later in the afternoon.  First off, the Ship was late leaving it's Uruguay port (not sure of the name).  In addition, rumor was that there were some Chinese passengers on board that did not have the proper paperwork to enter Argentina, and the ship could not enter the port until they were turned over to authorities.  So after the ship left port in Uruguay, the passengers were paged to report to customer service.  There was no response, so the ship sat off the coast until the couple was found...hiding under their traveling companion's beds.  Fact? Fiction?  Hard to tell.  But still a great story.

Our Morning View

Still too much luggage!

We finally saw the Royal sail past our hotel around 1pm.  Linda was in contact with someone who was on board and she informed us not to come before 4.  So again, we request a later checkout (1pm) and then hang out until 4 when taxis are called and we make our way to the port.  The 5 mile ride took over an hour.  There was a Woman's march that closed many of the main roads, construction that reduced traffic from 3 lanes to 1.  And when we finally arrived at the Buenos Aires cruise terminal we were greeted by a dark and very hot terminal building.  The power had got out over 2 hours ago.  It was the perfect storm.

The Royal Princes - almost to Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires Traffic - I'll take LA!

I'm actually glad we waited until the bulk of passengers were onboard.  It only took us another hour to check in, jump on the passenger bus that carried us through the industrial terminal, and finally, finally walk into our room.  We unpack, but are not completely organized yet, then shower and head out to met Dean & Pat for pizza and a much welcome bottle of wine at Alfredo's, the pizza restaurant located midship.

It's been a long day of "hurry up and wait" and we knew we weren't going to be lasting too long.  And shortly before ten we are tucked in bed and ready for a good night's sleep on the Royal Princess.

Buenos Aries cruise terminal - A working port.