02/20/2024 San Antonio

On Tuesday Franziska called a huber to take us to the bus station. An extra large one, because with our five pieces of luggage and three people we needed a lot of space. We hadn't pre-ordered the tickets this time because the buses to San Antonio ran very frequently and we couldn't estimate the travel times correctly. But on the way the driver also pointed out to us that it was a very dangerous area and that we had better book everything online in advance. No problem for Franziska to do everything during the taxi ride! The bus station was not that easy to navigate and we first had to look for the area where our bus company left. We knew “Pullmann” from last year and then found the right bus platform. Standing close to our luggage, we waited for departure. Luckily the bus came on time and after checking in we were able to drop off our suitcases. Each piece was given a control number and we received the corresponding receipt. Done without an incident!!! The final farewell to Franziska was quick; she also wanted to go to the office. Goodbye daughter, see you soon in Buenos Aires!

Now we were finally on our own! From our two pre-booked seats in the front row, we observed that passengers who paid directly to the bus driver were also getting on! So we didn't have to worry and think about it! But since the incidents in the immediate area had increased so much, even for people who have lived in Chile for years, insecurity overcomes you and the "naive" confidence falls by the wayside.

The comfortable bus rushed along the well-maintained highway and we reached San Antonio after about 1.5 hours. But this large intercity bus also stopped at individual stopping points at the request of individual passengers, but no luggage was unloaded. This only happened at the final stop. So we walked with our suitcases through a typical industrial street next to the port, it was only supposed to be 700 m! But there was nothing to see? No way the outlines of our ocean giant were about to appear! Only mountains of containers and rumbling trucks, that's all we could make out. So carry on and pass the small fishing port. Here the new waterfront promenade was dotted with stalls because, in our opinion, the tourists from the cruise ships had to come by. And at the other end of the harbor there was also a large, brightly painted blue building! That had to be the cruise terminal. Luckily we spoke to two security staff on the way and they tried very hard. Cell phones and walkie talkies were used and then salvation came from the headquarters! We had to go back again, but this time accompanied by a black sheriff! It took us right back to where the endless port traffic had turned off the road. We had to pass another port entrance controller and shortly afterwards we were standing under a large sun canopy! Previously there was no notice, no simple sign, nothing that the Hollandamericaline would have shown us! In any case, we quickly got rid of our luggage in the shade because we had printed out the A4 sheets of paper at home, which now became the luggage tags. Our names and cabin number were already there!

Next, a huge hall was waiting for us. At the entrance we were given a number after presenting our printed boarding documents. In this hall there were many, many people sitting on folding chairs, all with a number in their hand. The entire area was also filled with ABBA music, which was only interrupted when it was a group's turn to check in. The number was not only announced over loudspeakers, but employees also ran through the rows of chairs and shouted the number so that even the last passenger heard everything. Wow, the start of a cruise!

At some point our number was asked and we stood in a long queue at the end of which we got rid of our passports and immigration documents and received a plastic card in return. Then we and the rest of our luggage were screened like at the airport and... no, not a ship again, but a bus!? He drove us through the container port and finally we saw our cruise ship, the "Oosterdam" of the "Hollandamericaline"!