Punta del Este, Uruguay
Monday, March 13, 2023
We spent the day in Punta del Este, Uruguay today. To be honest, I’d never even heard of this city before it was announced as a port stop on our cruise around the countries of Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile. Though, those living in nearby Buenos Aires and Montevideo are no stranger to the small beach city located in southeastern Uruguay. For them, Punta del Este is a popular retreat for sun, sand, and surfing.
Punta del Este has a resident population of 12,000 people, but the city swells to 450,000 people during its summer season. It’s often called the “Miami Beach of South America” due to its sandy beaches and high-rise buildings.
First, our day began on the Celebrity Cruise ship with a workout and breakfast. Tory and Aden slept until 8:00am while Andi and I went to the fitness center. After the gym, the four of us enjoyed breakfast at the Oceanview Cafe. Andi discovered a made-to-order omelet station at the buffet that he really likes, and Aden, of course, went right for the bacon. Tory and I are fans of the American breakfast station where they serve scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage links, and fruit.
Since Punta del Este is a smaller city, it doesn’t have a port large enough to accommodate a big ship like the Celebrity Infinity. Therefore, passengers are shuttled on smaller tender boats to shore. Passengers were free to disembark the ship beginning at 7:00am, but Andi and I waited until 10:00am in an effort to avoid the morning rush. Still, there was some confusion about where to go to get off the ship which had quite a few elderly guests in a tizzy. Honestly, I found their poor attitudes appalling. Is this a big problem, or a small problem as I often ask the kids? As we waited in line to get off the ship, I reminded Tory and Aden (not really Tory and Aden — more the group of women throwing a fit in line behind us) that the crew is doing their best to get us to shore as quickly and as safely as possible. It’s important to be patient and remember how fortunate we are to even be here today with the opportunity to experience this place in Uruguay. People are so ungrateful sometimes.
It took about 20 minutes to get to the shores of Punta del Este in the small boat. We knew we wanted to go to the beach today, but neither Andi or I knew exactly where to go. A notable landmark in Punta Del Este is the “Los Manos” (The Fingers) statue at Playa Brava. Andi and I figured this was as good of a place as any to start our adventure. It was a short 10-minute Uber ride from the pier to get there.
The Los Manos statue is one of the most recognizable symbols of Uruguay. I’m not exactly sure what’s so captivating about tall fingers sticking out of the sand, but a long line of people waited there to take their picture by it. We followed suit, because, when in Rome…
Playa Brava is an expansive beach along the Atlantic coast. The weather was hot and sunny. Tory and Aden ran for the water while Andi went inside a beachside restaurant to see about renting beach chairs and an umbrella for the day. It’s tricky to purchase anything in Uruguay when we’re only visiting for a day (we don’t have Uruguayan Pesos, and it’s not worth the hassle to exchange dollars for any), but fortunately the restaurant accepted credit cards. Andi returned with a beach attendant who dug an umbrella in the sand for us. Perfect setup for a day spent at the beach!
The ocean temperature was surprisingly cold, so Tory and Aden busied themselves digging a hole in the sand and building a sandcastle. Give Tory a shady spot at the beach, and she’ll occupy herself all afternoon playing in the sand.
A while later, Andi invited the kids to walk the beach with him. They were gone a long time hunting for seashells and crabs. Meanwhile, I finished reading the book Alive about plane crash survivors from Montevideo who survived 72 days stranded in the Andes Mountains during the late 1970’s.
Around 2:30pm, the four of us reluctantly packed up our things and headed back to the ship. This was the first time we’ve seen the ocean on this trip, and no one in our family wanted to leave it. Alas, Celebrity’s last tender boat was scheduled to leave the Punta del Este port at 3:00pm so we had to go back. I expected a long line at the port as we waited for an available tender boat to shuttle us back to the ship and prepped the kids to expect such a scenario, but we really didn’t have to wait long. The cruise ship had several tender boats running to carry passengers back to the ship. Celebrity Cruises is really organized which Andi and I have noticed and appreciated.
For the second day in a row, we made it back onto the ship just in time to grab lunch at the Oceanview Cafe. We found prices in Uruguay to be so expensive, so eating meals on the boat (of which we’ve already paid for as part of our cruise) to be a more affordable option. Plus, it’s nice that everyone can get what they want to eat at the buffet. Andi and Aden almost always go for the Asian/stir-fry station while Tory and I go for the tacos, fajitas, and chips.
After lunch, Aden and Tory wanted to go to the last hour of kids club at Camp At Sea. Andi worked in the iLounge while I sat by the pool with my computer and blogged.
Before dinner, I decided to open one of the bottles of wine we brought onto the ship yesterday. Andi read that the cruise line charges a $25 corking fee for any wine brought onto the ship by passengers, but that wasn’t the case for me today. I kindly asked a bartender to open the bottle for me, and he did so without question. Nice!
I didn’t realize that Uruguay is the 4th largest wine producer in South America. They are known for wines produced with the Tannat grape which is what I tried today. It was just so-so for me; but admittedly, cheap wine purchased at the grocery store probably isn’t the best representation.
Once again, Andi, Tory, Aden, and I went to the ship’s evening performance at 7:00pm. Tonight, a trio called NYC3 performed hit songs by Michael Buble. It was pretty good! I’m loving how easy it is to be entertained on the boat. We can walk into the theatre minutes before the show starts, grab a seat, and enjoy the show without any hoopla.
We left the evening show five minutes early to beat the dinner rush. Andi and I picked Trellis, the main dining room, for dinner again tonight. We asked to be seated in Milton & Gloria’s section again, but the tables there were full. Instead, we were seated at a table in the middle of the grand ballroom.
After dinner, Aden and Tory begged to go back to Camp At Sea until close. Yesterday, Tory won a Celebrity Cruises lanyard as a game prize there, and Aden is dying to get his hands on one. Andi and I decided to go back to our room to watch the latest episode of 1923 Andi downloaded. When the kids returned at 10:00m, we called it an evening.
Tomorrow is a “day at sea” on the ship as we travel south along the eastern coast of South America from Punta del Este, Uruguay to Puerto Madryn, Argentina.
