Buenos Aires

Arrived here at early morning, checked into the hotel and got our mandatory pre-cruise PCR test. Had a snooze then went for a walk in the 30c sunshine, following advice to stay outside and avoid contact with people. Easy, a nice stroll around the blocks close to the hotel.

At 7:20pm we headed to the hotel ballroom for the welcome meeting and New Years Eve dinner, all excited - this is really happening! The plan is for us to fly south to Ushuaia at 6:30am tomorrow and board the ship midday.

On arrival, we were handed a letter … the cruise was cancelled. Devastated. We’d got so close …

The previous cruise unfortunately had Covid cases and a new Argentinian law implemented that day stated that they could not disembark until omicron testing was done. This meant sending tests out of Ushuaia for analysis and it could take days for the results to be known and then a deep clean of the ship. It meant our trip could not proceed.

Calls made to travel agent and insurance but it was just gone midnight UK time, so no real discussions. Nothing for it but a bottle of Malbec in the bar to bring in 2022.