We have celebrated our Big O Birthdays in '08 by Circling South America aboard RSSC's Mariner!!!

A few notes about this blog. It was originally posted in realtime on AOL. When AOL shut down its Journals feature on Oct. 31, 2008, we had to recreate this blog here. So, things may need a little explaining. This trip journal is displayed from most recent entry first to oldest entry last. So, if you want to read it in chronological order, you will need to click to the first entry shown in the archive to the right. Once you do that it will display only one entry at a time, with Newer Posts links on the left, and Older Posts links on the right, at the bottom of each entry to page forward or back through the journal.

There are links for photos on most of the entries. On most of the entries, there will be an identical link to the photos at the beginning and the end of each entry, this way you can decide when you want to view photos without scrolling all the way through the text again. Note that when the slideshow is finished that clicking your browser's back arrow should return you to the blog entry text.

Enjoy!

Loose Ends

Postscript notes: It has taken a while to get all the loose ends tied up from this trip. Blame United HealthCare! But, after 2 USPS certified return receipt letters and countless phone calls, they finally closed business on Debbie’s reimbursement claims and HTH travel insurance’s check for the $40 co-pay reimbursement arrived today. HTH only took about 2 weeks to handle their claim! (We would like to note again that we have never had a problem with HTH or CSA, who appear to actually be one company at this time, handling a travel insurance claim. Sadly, the same cannot be said of our regular insurance carrier. UHC pretty much sucks these days. We have nothing nice to say about them, so we’ll just leave it at that!)  So, that closes the books on our Big O Adventure.

 

 

PSS: Regarding RSSC gifts. If you have been reading along and wondering since this trip started, what ever happened to their pre-cruise gifts? Did they ever get their engraved brass telescopes? Yes, we did. The gifts for both cabins were delivered to Debbie & Clay’s front porch and left there after the cruise had departed according to our neighbor. Debbie had called him on the day we were to board the ship and asked him to check since we had been gone from home for days; he said they showed up on the front porch a few days later. He picked them up and held them at his house for us. They are very heavy duty and nice and attractive. Great gifts! After cruise gifts were delivered from RSSC on April 9, 2008. Two sets of 4 etched stem-less wineglasses of lead crystal from Slovenia were delivered again to Debbie & Clay’s front porch. These are the same type of wineglasses that are used in Latitudes. Unfortunately, none of us like this type of wineglass! But, they are very tasteful gifts and very nice. The engravings were Regent Seven Seas Mariner Circle Around South America 2008. The glasses also had the names of some of the major cities listed. A nice touch. Still not sure why RSSC delivered the gifts for both cabins to one home instead of to each of our homes, since both addresses were registered with them. But, anyway, Margie will be getting hers for Christmas this year when we drive down and they will be a nice surprise for her.  

 

That really does now wrap up all the loose ends and this is the final entry for this blog. It was a great trip and we are all glad we did it. Too bad RSSC has discontinued this itinerary.

Menus 2/20/2008 to 3/3/2008

Menus 2/20/2008 to 3/3/2008
Click the link above to view menus. A note here about viewing the photo files of text. Doubleclick on the first image and on the next screen you can use the magnifying glass to enlarge it so you can read it. Then you can use the arrows to scroll through the rest of the menus.
Whew, this is the end of all the menus we brought home. This should give anyone who is interested an idea of what eating on RSSC ships is like. Again, the back page of the Compass Rose lunch menu is always the same, so it is only posted once. Please go back 4 entries to find it.

Menus from February 6 to 19th, 2008

Menus from February 6 to 19th, 2008
Click the link above to view menus. A note here about viewing the photo files of text. Doubleclick on the first image and on the next screen you can use the magnifying glass to enlarge it so you can read it. Then you can use the arrows to scroll through the rest of the menus.
Again, the back page of the Compass Rose lunch menu is always the same, so it is only posted once. Please go back 3 entries to find it. Also, for some reason, we are missing some lunch menus. Sorry.

Menus from January 21 to February 3, 2008

Menus from January 21 to February 3, 2008
Click the link above to view menus. A note here about viewing the photo files of text. Doubleclick on the first image and on the next screen you can use the magnifying glass to enlarge it so you can read it. Then you can use the arrows to scroll through the rest of the menus.
Again, the back page of the Compass Rose lunch menu is always the same, so it is only posted once. Please go back 2 entries to find it.
Just some extra thoughts on RSSC and menus.
I've just discovered that we only brought home one Signatures menu. We have only all eaten there once as I am just way too picky an eater and I cannot make a meal there. Anyway, the one Signatures menu we brought home is not posted because getting ready to scan it, I realized that we only had 2 copies of page 1 and not a complete menu. So, nevermind on Signatures. Sorry!
Just as a point of information, all of these menus were either asked for and taken out of the restaurant with us. Or, more commonly they were delivered to our cabin the night before per our standing request. For whatever reason, RSSC across the board, in our experience, does not like to advertise what will be served in any restaurant in advance. The menus delivered to the cabin the night before are intended for people with special needs that need to have custom-ordered meals, not for the simply curious, picky or record-keepers like us. In any event, they never deliver breakfast menus, or LaVeranda lunch menus, Signatures or Latitudes menus. Presumably, they don't because you cannot get substitutions in Signatures and Latitudes and if you had special dietary needs you would only be eating breakfast and lunch in Compass Rose anyway.

Menus 1/14/2008 to 1/20/2008

Menus 1/14/2008 to 1/20/2008

Click the link above to view menus. A note here about viewing the photo files of text. Doubleclick on the first image and on the next screen you can use the magnifying glass to enlarge it so you can read it. Then you can use the arrows to scroll through the rest of the menus.

Since the back page of the Compass Rose lunch menu is always the same, to save time and work, I have only posted it one time. Go back an entry to view the back page of the lunch menu. Also, LaVeranda and Latitudes menus will only be posted when a new one is available.

Menus from 1/7/08 to 1/13/08

Menus from 1/7/08 to 1/13/08
Click the link above to view menus. A note here about viewing the photo files of text. Doubleclick on the first image and on the next screen you can use the magnifying glass to enlarge it so you can read it. Then you can use the arrows to scroll through the rest of the menus.
RSSC Mariner's Menu notes: There are no breakfast menus scanned and posted because we never got one! Obviously, an oversight on our part. Since the breakfast menu is only available at Compass Rose and it never changes it is not one of the menus that is delivered to your cabin on request the night before. We did not think to ask for one in the Compass Rose. That said, here are some thoughts and comments on breakfast. Compass Rose offers a full service breakfast and usually opens a half-hour to hour later than LaVeranda. LaVeranda offers a full buffet with an eggs-to-order/omelet station. You will need to have your table selected and secured before placing an order here. LaVeranda usually always has one item from the Compass Rose menu that you can special order from your waitperson each day. Our experience has been that this service is so slow that if we want something from Compass Rose that we will just walk down there and have it there. Compass Rose breakfast notes: Avoid the French Toast unless you like very thick, almost pudding consistency French Toast. We don't like it! There is a pasty tray that should be offered at the same time/before the menu. Pastries are not listed on the menu. Sometimes they forget to offer the tray, or offer it after you have ordered breakfast and would be too much now. If you don't get offered the Pastry Tray before ordering ask for it. The chocolate croissants are wonderful! A new thing this year is the Eggs Benedict singular/plural debate. Eggs Benedictnever appears on any menu, never has to my knowledge, but you can always order it. In the past, if you ordered in LaVeranda you got a singular egg and 2 eggs in Compass Rose. There is a sign up in LaVeranda that says Eggs Benedict (plural) when it is available there. Eggs Benedict is usually the featured Sunday Morning with Champagne Special Breakfast (almost always with some kind of seafood, like crab, or salmon roe or caviar or sometimes with spinach, etc.). Even though again the sign says Eggs (plural) this year you only get ONE egg unless you ask for 2. Likewise, if you order it when it is not offered and it is always available, you will only get ONE now unless you specify 2. We were told that the waitstaff/kitchen had been instructed to cut back to ONE unless a guest ordered TWO. Now you know.
Final notes on menus here: At this point in our cruise, LaVeranda settled in to having one menu for a week or so at a time. So, the LaVeranda menu will only appear when it changes and not everyday. Also, at some point the menus stopped being delivered and it took a day or so to get them started back up. So, you may notice the time gap.

Assorted Videos

Big swells! - January 7, 2008 - Mariner at sea on the way to Grand Cayman

Paso Horses at Salaverry, Peru - January 11, 2008

Rounding Cape Horn - January 28, 2008

Sparrow Cove, Falkland Islands - January 31, 2008 - One penguin just went bonkers a few times. Clay managed to get him on video once. It was very funny.

Gaucho games - February 5, 2008 - Estancia Los Patricios, Argentina

Brazilian side of Iguazu Falls - February 10, 2008 - Lots of water falls!

Brazilian side of Iguazu Falls from Macuco Safari's wet & wild zodiac ride - Feb. 10, 2008

Argentine side of Iguazu Falls - February 11, 2008 - Amazing amounts of water!

Argentine side of Iguazu Falls - February 11, 2008 - Views from another vantage

We're Home!

Mileage

So, if Clay is back to work then we MUST be home!
A few final notes about disembarkation. All passengers were indeed off the ship by 10:30am. We ate a final breakfast in Compass Rose and only the starboard side of the restaurant was open. We were out of our cabin for only several minutes after the 8:30am deadline before the first group (us) was called to disembark. It was all quick and painless.
Here is a scanned image of an interesting document we received onboard Mariner regarding our miles traveled. Also, our favorite video of the trip. I will try to add more of these things in coming days. Specifically, I will work on posting menus.
Since this is just Debbie working on this from home now, I will use the word I!

Day 61 - March 4, 2008 - disembarkation

We arrived at Port Everglades early, around 6am. Docked on the starboard side by 6:30am. Breakfast is served in LaVeranda starting at 6:30am and at Compass Rose at 7:30am. We are to be out of our cabins by 8:30am. Disembarkation is to begin at 9am and we should all off the ship by 10:30am.

So, farewell Regent Seven Seas Mariner and to all who worked aboard her to make our trip what it was we say thanks and best wishes.

Day 60 - March 3, 2008 - at sea

On route to Ft. Lauderdale and Port Everglades and our departure from Mariner. It has been an excellent adventure for all of us. We'll be able to live the next decade on our memories. We picked a great Big O circumnavigation for our Big O birthdays. We suffered fairly rough seas with big rolling swells for most of the day. It made major packing projects a challenge! There was a pretty light schedule onboard, guess they knew we'd be busy. Debbie and Clay did make it to the 3pm Big Screen Popcorn Movie in Constellation Theater of Carousel. Somehow none of us had seen it before. Margie skipped lunch and the movie to lie down and keep herself going with the motion sickness to get packed. We all went down for big breakfast in Compass Rose. Tonight is Country Club Casual. Good thing! At 6:15pm there is a final Theater at Sea performance. Encore! Encore! is the show. Starring Ed Asner, Nat Chandler, George Dvorsky, Shirley Jones, Karen Mason, Patricia Neal, Susan Powell,  and Thelma Ruby, with Norman Duttweiller, Marilyn Langner. It was a good show and we enjoyed it. After dinner, they are showing the movie Things We Lost in the Fire. None of us plan to go. We have a last DVD we have been waiting to get a hold of and plan to watch it tonight after dinner. Brokeback Mountain.

We ate pretty lightly at dinner in Compass Rose. Bryan Townsend sent us off from the final show to our Last Supper. We got all our luggage out in the hall after dinner and then Brokeback Mountain. We finished just before the 11pm DVD return deadline. Just after 11pm, the luggage was still not being picked up yet. So, to bed since we will probably be up early in the morning to get off Mariner.

 

Day 59 - February 2, 2008 - Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos

Grand Turk photos
We have a half-day of sailing to reach this small island chain of the British West Indies. We expect to be docked at Grand Turk Island of the Turks Islands at 1pm. All aboard will be 5:30pm and final sailing will be at 6pm. This is our last Sunday and our last shore stop. We planned to sleep late, but since we got an extra hour back last night, everyone onboard was up pretty early this morning anyway. Debbie got a final 2 loads of laundry in before heading to breakfast. We had our last, big, late Sunday Breakfast. Margie and Debbie had chocolate croissants and berries followed by Eggs Benedict without the caviar. Clay started with a cinnamon roll, then had 2 eggs over easy with 3 baby lamb chops, lyonnaise potatoes and whole wheat toast. We had accepted the glass of champagne when it was offered. Margie said she was not feeling well, that she was nauseous and had a headache. She felt badly all morning and could not decide if she was sick or just feeling bad because she had to pack up and leave. The seas have been fairly calm and the ship not moving around too much. There were a lot of big silver flying fish to be seen today. The water is some beautiful shades of blue here.
We arrived at Grand Turk around noon, which was an hour early. There is almost nothing on this very small island. You can see all the way across it from the ship. There is a very large cruise port/terminal area. There is a Margaritaville, beautiful beaches and a big swimming pool. It is our understanding that all of this area is free for the use of cruise ships passengers docked here. That you only have to pay for food and beverages, souvenirs, etc. as expected, but that the facilities and beaches are provided for the use of cruise ship guests. We never heard any announcement made about shore excursions or the ship being cleared. We just looked over the port side where we were docked and saw people going ashore. We were the only ship here today. Since there are only really water activities here, no one wanted to do anything. Clay and Margie went ashore and checked out the port/cruise passengers area and Debbie stayed onboard. Everything was as described immediately above, as well as the report of some quite expensive souvenir shops. Clay returned fairly quickly with a T-shirt. Margie spent a little more time sitting in a beach lounge chair in some palm tree shade before returning to the ship. We all watched the DVD Chocolat this afternoon with some popcorn and the remains of last night's cake. It can't even technically be called cake because we could find very little to even chew. It was just layers of brown sweet goo! Anyway, we still don't get Chocolat. It is a nice little movie, but none of us really love it. Sorry, not even with the aid of some awesome chocolate.
Tonight is Formal Night, the Captain's Farewell and Krew Kapers. Since we had our Farewell last night, and we have been to a few of the standard crew show/Captain's farewells we will most certainly skip it tonight. The 9:45 PGT show is a repeat so we'll skip that as well. The Compass Rose dinner menu is not to anyone's liking tonight, so we all wonder how we will make enough courses to get through our dinner at the Captain's Table tonight. This is our last Formal Dinner.
We left just about on time. It was getting dark as we backed away from Grand Turk. Here's hoping for some really smooth seas all the way since we have lots of packing to do tomorrow. About 6pm, our disembarkation packets were finally delivered. We have yellow luggage tags and are in the first group to disembark. They say they expect to begin disembarkation at 9am. It is being done a little differently than we remember at the end of the World Cruise in 2006, but hopefully all will go smoothly.
We went down for drinks in Mariner Lounge before our 7:30pm dinner at the Captain's table with him and Elsa. There were 11 people at our table. One woman we had dined with before at Franck's table. One couple was from Naples, FL and we had seen a lot of during shore excursions. Another woman from Las Vegas was on for the full Circle cruise. The last couple was from Alabama and had boarded in Buenos Aires. Dinner was enjoyable. Captain Philippe is funny and delightful. Margie was seated to his right and he told her he is 53 years old. He drives a motorcycle at home because his wife doesn't want him denting up the car! He has 3 children. He says there are no scorpions in the north of France, but that those in the south of France are small and friendly. His 3 favorite places to cruise are in order, Alaska, the Chilean fjords and the Amazon River. His least favorite is the Caribbean. Chef Mike came by to remind everyone to go to the PGT show to see his girlfriend, Heather. Some of table went, but the 3 of us did not. Tomorrow we pack, ugh!
Grand Turk photos

Day 58 - March 1, 2008 - San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan photos
So, we get our passports back this morning for keeps! That is sad, because it either means we get no passport stamps for Turks & Caicos, or else that we have to personally present our passports again tomorrow!
We arrived in San Juan on time. Terry Breen spoke on open decks, Observation Lounge and Channel 2 from 8:30am until about 9am as we were docking. We backed in next door to Crown Princess right at the foot of Old San Juan. We are docked on the port side. Capt. Philippe made an announcement to expect heavy swells as we entered the harbor, but it was perfectly calm. Inexplicably, Terry made a little speech about how to pronounce and spell El Morro. Full name of the fort at the entrance to the harbor is Fuerte San Felipe del Morro. But, in any event she was quite specific that Moro is with one r. We have never seen it written that way. No idea how she could think it only has one r instead of 2. At 10am, Bryan began calling passengers to report to different spots to clear US ICE. Everyone gets their passports back and has to present themselves individually to US officials to clear for departure. The sheet of paper we got last night stated that no one could leave the ship until everyone had done this, but once cleared individually you can leave. All ship's tour participants were called first and then deck by deck starting at the top and working down. Since we are on deck 7, and independent, we were some of the last off the ship. Really, no matter as we have no plans because we have all been here before. All aboard is 4:30pm. Sailing at 5pm. So, it will be a pretty short day ashore here anyway.
We had a last, late, big Saturday breakfast in Compass Rose this morning. Tomorrow will be our last Sunday Brunch breakfast. Boo! They have big juicy raspberries aboard right now. Delicious! For the past 2 mornings, they have served them in the silver-footed bowls. Debbie pours milk over hers and her bowl has leaked causing some minor havoc and much amusement. Ludovich came by this morning to ask us where we were having dinner tonight. We know only because the only thing any of us saw on any menu that we really wanted was Debbie and Peanut Butter ice cream. Margie wanted to know why Ludovich wanted to know and he wouldn't say, only that it was a surprise. We are not big surprise lovers. Debbie told him that our only preference for dinner at this point was Peanut Butter ice cream in Compass Rose. Panic was writ large over his face as he reminded us that just because it is on the menu now does not mean it will actually be served in the restaurant. Debbie told him that he better have Peanut Butter ice cream, she was counting on it. Ludovich quickly summoned someone to make sure that it was actually in a refrigerator and not buried in some deep freeze! Funny! So, we will plan on the PB ice cream and a surprise.
Tonight at 6pm in the Constellation Theater is the Full Circle South America Farewell Party. We are advised to bring our cameras. More later. It is Country Club Casual tonight. Tonight the show in Constellation Theater at 9:45pm is Theater at Sea. It is Karen Mason in a show called Make Someone Happy. She originated the role of Tanya on Broadway in ABBA's Mamma Mia. Debbie is planning to attend. More later. Tonight we turn our clocks and watches back one hour. Hopefully, this is the last time change and we will put us back on East Coast time.
Tomorrow night is Formal and we are invited to dine at 7:30pm with Captain Philippe Fichet Delavault and Social Hostess Elsa McLean. Tomorrow night at 6:15pm is the Captain's Farewell Party for the segment. We still do not have departure information or luggage tags. Tomorrow afternoon we are in Grand Turk, then a sea day and on Tuesday we get the boot, or disembark.
We're back on the ship now! So, Deck 7 was finally called about 10:30am. We only stood in line about 5 minutes and then pretty much walked straight off the ship. We entered the starboard side of the Constellation Theater and were handed our passports by giving our suite numbers. We walked them to the front of the theater where a Customs & Immigration official compared us and the photo. We walked back out on the port side where someone gave us a Landing Card (just a slip of paper saying that we had been cleared and had our passports). Clay took the passports back to the safe first and met Debbie and Margie outside. We handed our Landing Card slips to the Security Officer on the ship that swiped our ship's card as we exited. You have to have your ship's card and a photo ID to re-enter the port terminal, but we all had our driver's licenses on us. We were at Cafe Mallorca having our toasted Mallorca sandwiches by 11am. Second breakfast. Clay and Margie had a really strong, thick and icy homemade lemonade to drink and Debbie had cafe au lait. She got the end of a pot as they started a new one right after they poured hers. That 2nd cup of really potent and thick coffee kick started her for the rest of the day. Her eyes were just about spinning in her head before she hopped off her counter stool and hit the ground running. Clay and Margie would play catchup for the remainder of the day. We had earlier abandoned the idea of going over to Bacardi. No one was really that interested in doing it and we all were thinking of taking it easier than we had on earlier visits here. Margie especially was feeling the heat, humidity and the uphill walks. Debbie was trying to keep ahead of her racing heart. Clay was just trying to keep up at all. We walked past La Bombonera, which is a competitor to Cafe Mallorca. A Mallorca is a local delicacy of a kind of flat, circular sweet bread or pastry. They slice it in half and put in butter, cheese, ham and or any combination and grill it like a panini, then cover it with powdered sugar. It sounds kind of weird, but it is really good. Margie had never heard of it and was really unsure since we just ate breakfast at 8am. But, she got the cheese one and really liked it. She sucked it right down anyway. It was pretty crowded in there and we just took stools at the counter. We got to watch them making everything. It was cool! After that, we continued walking down Calle San Francisco to the Plaza de Armas, where we watched the little 2-year old boy from the ship chase pigeons. he was having a blast. Then we walked up Calle San Jose to approach the Cathedral de San Juan from the rear. We went inside and saw the marble tomb of Ponce de Leon. He died in Cuba and was originally interred at the Church of San Jose. It is the 2nd oldest Roman Catholic church in the Americas, but it is closed. Anyway about Ponce, his remains were brought from Cuba in 1559 and moved to San Juan Cathedral in 1908. Next to the church was the Dominican Convent which is now a museum. It was built in 1523. It was closed for lunch. At the Plaza San Jose next to the church is a statue of Juan Ponce de Leon that was cast from English cannons captured during a naval battle in 1797. We then took a seat in the Plaza del Quinto Centenario. There was a snow cone stand there. Debbie read the flavors and picked Cane Syrup. Our bus driver in Barbados had talked about how he could not get enough of this stuff and it was currently available as the cane was now being harvested. He said it is only freshly available for a short period before it becomes molasses and sugar and rum. So, as you might imagine it is very strongly flavored and must be one of those acquired tastes. Margie and Clay both thought it was nasty. Debbie stepped up. You do not want to imagine the buzz emanating off her by this time! She was practically levitating! This plaza has multiple levels and at the lowest is one of those flat, action type fountains. It being Saturday, there were tons of families with kids out and a passel of screaming kids in swimsuits was running and screaming through the water fountain. Debbie was green with envy and wished she had known and worn Tevas and a swimsuit! Who knew. So, we went down and took some photos. There is a recurring image of a sheep with a flag that we have seen and there 2 bronze statues there representing the image. We aren't sure if it is like a state seal for Puerto Rico or if it is a San Juan thing or what. It was inside the Cathedral near Ponce too. Anyway, Debbie really liked it, so we took pictures. From there we could see a lot of kites flying on the green in front of El Morro. Debbie decided to do that. We went over to a stand and bought a kite and string for $4.09. Margie was so ready to see Debbie burn off some energy that she stepped up with $3 towards the purchase price just to get Debbie away. Remember we are officially in the US now, so US dollars. Debbie flew the first time out and got the string off the spindle and onto the handle. Margie and Clay both thought she had the easiest kite launch/flight ever. Then Debbie showed them her bloodied left hand. Nothing is ever as easy as it appears. Clay finished bringing the kite back down. We all had some water and sat in the breeze for a while to cool off from all the kite excitement. Debbie decided that we should have another kite launch by Clay before we donated the kite to a local kid. Clay got it up and then handed it off to Debbie to string out. After some close calls with Margie's head and an attack by another kite it was more than half way out when the string broke and it was lost forever. Debbie went hunting it and came up with a lost Care Bears and Cinderella, but our psychedelic kite was just MIA. Ah, well. It was great, cheap fun while it lasted. We made our way down to the city walls and started down and around the entrance to the harbor. We walked past the Casa Rosada (1812) and Casa Blanca (1540) which had been our goal. Casa Blanca was built to be Ponce de Leon's home, but he died without ever living there. His descendents lived there for 250 years. It is now a museum. Once we got there we decided that it was better just to go to lunch and then the ship. So, we did not enter. We found the Plaza de La Rogativa. It has an iron sculpture. It was done to mark the 450th anniversary in 1971 of La Rogativa, meaning the Procession. Here is the story; after a 2 week siege of the city, the city thought defeat was imminent and asked the Bishop to lead a night vigil in honor of St. Catherine. Marchers bearing torches went through the streets. The British in their ships in the harbor, saw the torchlights and hearing the bells ringing assumed that reinforcements had arrived from overland. Rather than face an uncertain battle, the British hoisted anchor and slipped away in the night. The next morning, ready to surrender, the townspeople found their prayers were answered! Great story, right?! We walked back across the Old City on Calle Sol. El Jibarito is at 280 Calle del Sol between Calle San Justo and right before Calle Tanca. Terry Breen told us this morning during her talk that El Jibaro is a symbol of Puerto Rico and is like the country, peasant whose hard work made this country. The other symbol is the Coqui, a small noisy, nocturnal singing tree frog. At El Jibarito, which serves Criollo food, Margie had Sanchoco, a soup. It had a ham hock, a beef rib, potatoes, carrots, peas, some kind of dumplings and a corn cob in it. It was a bowlful! It was very tasty though and came with a side of white rice that you could put in the bowl with the broth as you made room. Debbie had plantain tamales with pork and brown rice with black beans. The tamale part was very sticky and looked like molded sweet potatoes, it was kind of weird. Clay had chicken stew with white rice and red beans. It was very tasty as well. Clay also had a Medalla, a local beer. No room for dessert. Plus the place was packed with locals with screaming kids and it seemed like there were a couple of large groups gathered for celebrations. It was ear-shattering noisy in there. We walked back downhill to the port on Calle Tanca and stopped and bought our cheapest T-shirts of the entire trip! Crown Princess was disembarking and embarking today, so the Cruise Terminal building was a little crazy every time we came through, but we weren't long delayed either way. We were back on board an hour before the 4:30pm all aboard. We had beautiful sunny weather again today. On the warm side, but with a pleasant breeze most of the time. Our good weather wish is still on track even if seas are rougher than we wished!
We heard Capt. Philippe make the announcement as we went up to our cabins in the elevator that the US Coast Guard was onboard conducting a safety evaluation. He said that the crew was required to go through some drills for this and for the passengers to just stay out of the way and ignore it. Capt. Philippe announced that we were about 30 minutes late departing as a result, but that the ship had an excellent result of our evaluation and the ship was very safe.
On the health front, Clay seems to be improving though he still has a cough. Debbie and Margie were both up last night coughing again. The bronchitis appears to be relapsing as they are both coughing up yellow goo again. Does not bode well for Clay who just last night finished his 6th day of Cipro. Debbie and Margie both took a 5-day course as prescribed to Debbie by the ship's Doctor. Since Margie still has 5 days left from her home Doctor, she has started a 2nd 5-day course. Debbie and Clay will just have to wait and see at this point. In our experience, these ship-bourne respiratory infections are persistent and vicious and hard to shake off. Keeping our fingers crossed for now though that the relapse which seems to be occurring will not be too bothersome.
The Farewell Party for the Full Circle cruisers was good. They showed 2 video clips and announced that they would be providing a DVD to each cabin with about 1 hour and 10 minutes of video on it. Bryan Townsend sang a song from Porgy & Bess. Then he sang a duet from Porgy & Bess with Heather Clancy of the PGT Singers. Then Bryan sang Old Man River. Then Heather came out to sing again and was joined by the other PGT Singers. Then the PGT Singers sang Hey Jude and all the ship's staff and crew came streaming out onto the stage to sing it with them. They ended about 10 of 7pm. A good thing since all the waitstaff and kitchenstaff and Bridge staff and Reception staff, all the cocktail waitstaff, all the deck hands, all the cabin stewards, in short all the people who work on the ship plus all the officers and staff were on the stage for those several minutes. The waiters in Compass Rose joked that the ship sat still for 10 minutes while nothing else happened except our farewell. Maybe! Also, onboard last night and introduced by the Captain, but not onstage, was Andre Norseth, an executive from RSSC's Ft. Lauderdale office.
On to dinner. Everyone was being really weird tonight around us and we were worried about our surprisefrom Ludovich. After we ordered dessert, Ludovich showed up with a Big O-shaped chocolate cake with candles and decorations and the words BIG ZERO on it. It was super-rich and chocolatey! It was probably the best dessert we have had all cruise. It was way too much with our other desserts. But, we were happy for the Peanut Butter ice cream to help cut the richness of the cake. We couldn't finish the pieces they served us and we had our leftovers delivered to the room. Tomorrow we will plan to finish it while we watch Chocolat the movie. We will try very hard for Ludovich to get Chocolat once and for all.
So, we get an extra hour of sleep tonight and we need it. Debbie plans to get a final laundry day in tomorrow before or during our Grand Turk stop. Then we have to pack up on Monday. It is hard to believe it is finally over! Margie was asked by the Reception staff this evening if it was too long. Her answer was that it was too long and too short. She explained that around day 25 to 28, she thought, enough, I can't go 60 days. Then, she got over that and now it seems like it can't really already be over! Then, there was Brazil, which the Reception staff agreed seemed like we would never leave! Too long. We were in Chile a long time, but every port was so different that it didn't seem monotonous. But, Brazil just seemed like Brazil everywhere we stopped and it seemed like we would never get out of Brazil. We all needed a break, but then as soon as we left Brazil, it just seemed like we were busy, busy with no rest and now it is over!
So, ends a long and good day.
San Juan photos

Day 57 - February 29, 2008 - Roseau, Dominica

Dominica photos
We arrived in the dark! This area during this time of year is supposed to be a mating ground for sperm whales and have lots of dolphins. So, we were hoping to watch arriving and leaving. Dominica is pronounced dom-in-ee-ka. We had to be up early for 6:30am breakfast opening of LaVeranda and then in the Constellation Theater to meet for our tour at 7:05am. All of the information from the ship, including today's Passages stated that we would be docked here today. When we arrived Explorer of the Seas was docked right downtown. When we left, HAL's Veendam was docked outside of town. Not sure whether there is no where else for cruise ships to dock or not, but we dropped anchor and we tendered here. That made us late. All aboard was scheduled at 11:30am, sailing at noon. That turned into the last tender was to be at 11:30am which lasted at least one full hour longer. And we sailed at least a full hour later as well. Past noon, we were in the Compass Rose and Capt. Philippe came over the speakers to announce that we would be another 20 minutes before we could depart. He said there was a medical emergency that had to be disembarked and tendered ashore here and we would depart after that had been handled. No idea what happened or when or where. Hopefully, someone will be alright.
So, Debbie had raspberries again for breakfast. Clay got Barbados flying fish for lunch. But, we forgot about Pizza Friday and did not eat in LaVeranda! We missed the last Pizza Friday of our cruise! We realized it because we did not like the desserts in Compass Rose and went up to LaVeranda for dessert. We got busted by Ludovich!
Everyone was relieved to see us back together again today. We really caused quite a fuss by splitting up for dinner last night!
There is a Big Screen Movie this afternoon, Michael Clayton, that we may go see. Debbie has abandoned all thoughts of returning to the gym at this late date. At 6:15pm, Theater at Sea presents "A Salute to Movies". Patricia Neal will revisit some of her most famous movie roles accompanied by Nat Chandler, George Dvorsky, Norman Duttweiller and Susan Powell. We will probably try to go to that as well. Tonight is Country Club Casual again. At 9:45pm is Sally Jones, an evening of music, theatre and laughter. Margie is planning to go since we won't get to San Juan tomorrow until 10am. We have no fixed plans for Puerto Rico. We'll be there from 10am to 5pm. We have all been here before. We have all been to the forts. Margie has been to the Cathedral but not Clay and Debbie. Clay and Debbie have been on the Bacardi tour, but not Margie. So, we may do those two things, plus Clay's favorite thing anywhere, eating local food. We have some favorite spots right in Old San Juan from our last visit here and Margie has never been to them. So, that is what is on our loose agenda for tomorrow.
The next day is an afternoon in Grand Turk. Again, absolutely no plans. At this point, Debbie plans to do laundry, either at sea or docked, and then packing on the final day at sea. Then, we're booted off and homeward bound. Boo hoo.
Long cruises are very different animals from normal cruises. Margie has been marveling that as the latest arrivals are still figuring out where things are on the ship, she is packing up and worrying about getting packed. It is all a matter of perspective! Margie's friend, last night could not figure out how everyone knew Margie and was stopping by to find out where Debbie and Clay were and if they were all right. Margie could not convince her that she had not made that big an impression onboard, but just that she had been here for a long time and it is like a tiny village onboard. Everyone knows everyone and their business. That kind of thing just doesn't normally happen on a short cruise. So, it is winding down and we are all sad about it. Especiallypeople who did this cruise instead of a World Cruise that they had done the previous year! While we are sad, not one of us wishes we had 2 more months to go (well, except maybe Clay!!). Mariner will do a few weeks of 7-day Caribbean cruises after March 4th and we are sure that the crew will be really missing us soon.
So, the tour. It did not come with one of those adventure warnings. No warnings that it is not suitable for people with neck, hip and back problems. It should have come with warnings! Traveling up hill this morning took more than 30 minutes and downhill took about 30 minutes. So although, it is a small island and the private park area with the aerial tram is not that far on the map, it is a long, difficult drive. This classes up there with any top 3 thrilling, breathtaking drives. Like the Amalfi Coast, with potholes. Like the road up to Machu Picchu, but narrower. Who needed the tram ride after the thrill ride and relief of survival upon arriving at the Aerial Tram Park?! It was another cool and breezy day today. We had a little rain on arrival off the tender and we had a little rain at the end of the tram ride. But, it was still a beautiful day.
After lunch as we sailed away from Dominica, we watched for whales, but did not see any. Clay and Margie went to the movie. Debbie wound up opting for an afternoon nap instead. We all went to see a Tribute to Movies with Patricia Neal before dinner. It was hosted by Theater at Sea Musical Director Michael Horsley. He talked about musical theater shows that were movies and vice versa and played some songs. Some songs were sung with him by the 3 singers we heard previously. Then a short video montage was shown of Patricia Neal, who never did any musicals. Then a short dramatic reading by Patricia Neal and Norman Duttweiller of a scene from The Subject was Roses. This was the film for which Patricia Neal won an Oscar. Somehow, none of us has never seen this movie. Yet. Dinner was at Compass Rose after which Margie and Debbie worked on the puzzle. Got run off by a very touchy maniac, who we hope was just recently overserved alcohol. Then they went to the 9:45 show. Sally Jones was a singer and comic. She was an excellent singer. The show was OK.
Dominica photos

Day 56 - February 28, 2008 - Bridgetown, Barbados

Barbados photos
We arrived on time. We were the 4th cruise ship to dock. A fifth ship came in behind us. Already docked were the Braemar, Legend of the Seas and P&O's Oceana. The ship behind us was Pullmantour's Holiday Dreams. That's a lot of cruise ships squeezed in here!
We were up top to watch us get docked in the tight quarters. We had breakfast outside on the back deck of LaVeranda. It is fairly pleasant right now with a good breeze out here. Not sure what it will be like inland or ashore, but the sun already feels hot. We have to be a Gate 6 at 8:50am but have no idea what that means or how to get there. It looks like there may be small shuttle buses from the docks to the Cruise Terminal though. So, we will have to leave shortly to scout it out. We have heard no announcements yet though about the ship even being cleared. We are docked on the starboard side so we can't just look out and scout it. More later.
So, the Concorde Experience was good. They have an entire Concorde inside a building at the airport. It is very well done with a sound and light show, some videos. They give you a boarding pass and you get to sit inside and watch another video. We were on 2 small buses in groups of about 20 each. We all sat and watched the show on the side of the jet and then they gave half of us boarding passes and took us onboard while the other group listened to Ian Richards, Flight Engineer for all Concorde operations in Barbados. When we got off our Concorde guide just told us where the rest rooms and gift shop were and everyone scattered to the 4 corners. We did not get the talk from Mr. Richards though we did hear him answer a question or 2. Then, we realized that we did not know where our group was and they were mostly outside. It took a while for our driver to round everyone up. At that point, it became clear that we did not have a guide or an RSSC escort between the 2 buses. The drivers were doing their best, but they are not guides. We were taken to Sunbury Plantation and told to go up the steps where we would be greeted for a tour and a drink. Maybe 25-50% of the 2 buses got a tour and the rest of us were told that we were not allowed in unless we paid the entrance fee. We all got a small plastic cup of either fruit punch or fruit punch with rum in the courtyard behind the house. The bus driver told us to be back at the bus in 30 minutes. Well, to drink a small cup of punch takes no where near 30 minutes. But, again, the half who got no tour were waiting at the bus for the drivers to locate all the people who had gotten inside the house. Our driver apologized for the confusion when we told him we were not allowed in the house. He said it was his mistake. That this was only about the 12th time he had driven the Concorde Experience tour and he did not know that it did not include the house tour. Then, we were driven to the church on a hilltop with great views. We were let out across the road and told to be back in 15 minutes. We were back at the Cruise Terminal at 1:15pm. Since it had taken us 10 minutes to walk here from the ship this morning and it was much more crowded now, we figured we had no time to get to the ship and back before 1:50pm. So, we found restrooms in the Terminal building and then went back out and found the buses to the Polo Match.
We were on the same bus/same driver. This time there was a guide aboard who talked about Barbados. Our driver spoke about it too in the morning, but he was clear that he was just giving us his opinions. Anyway, the Special Event at the polo match was the first one that has actually felt Special. We really enjoyed our time and tea there with the polo match. Polo is played in 4 segments of 7.5 minutes each. So, it doesn't really last too long. The announcer was hilarious. We had a good time. Of course, we were famished when we arrived there at almost 3pm.
Today was the first day in weeks that the temperature, humidity and breeze combined to create a truly comfortable day. Margie found it almost too cool. But, it was really very pleasant. It was hot and sunny, but very pleasant in the shade with a breeze which is where we found ourselves most of the time.
We got back to the ship about 5:30pm and sailed at 6pm. Shirley Jones performed a one-woman show at 6:15pm in the Constellation Theater. So, we all hustled back to shower and change in time. They showed a video montage of her career, then she sang a song and spoke about her life, then she answered some questions and sang another song. She is 74 years old, never had a facelift and never wants to retire. She has 3 theater shows coming up with her son Patrick in the near future. It was great. We have had a good and busy and long day.
Margie went to dinner in Compass Rose to meet a friend from Naples that she met onboard and had not seen in years. Debbie and Clay went up to LaVeranda and got one of the last tables available. They have moved buffet tables into the center and now only have seating in there for 70. It was still Steak and Lobster. We both ordered steak and they brought Clay the wrong steak and had to try again. First time that has happened. Chimi was very upset about it. Mostly, we think because he was trying to turn over tables for people he had turned away to the bars! Anyway, we still got out of there very quickly and he got his table turned.
We have an early morning tomorrow, so it is early to bed tonight. Clay is still coughing a lot and has lost a lot of sleep over it. Last night he seemed to sleep well for the first time in a while and we hope for a repeat tonight. Pasted below is the description of tomorrow's excursion. We have a pretty short stop in Rouseau, Dominica.
Rainforest Aerial Tram
Duration: 4 Hours.
Seated.
Code: RSU-6226
Price: $99pp
Welcome to the #1 tree top experience, The Rain Forest Aerial Tram, where you discover the treasure of nature's hanging garden. Upon your arrival you will be joined by one of Rain Forest Aerial Tram's naturalist guide who will embrace your company as you glide above the rain forest.
The guide will reveal to you the everlasting resilience of the diverse rainforest canopy which was unexplored prior to the establishment of the Rain Forest Aerial Tram. Be sure to bring along a camera for your cross over the awe-inspiring 300 ft Breakfast River Gorge. You have the option of getting off at tower 19th, the Final Station, and walk along our remarkable 84 meter long suspension bridge, from which you can observe 5 stunning waterfalls. From there you take a short walk through our admirable Chatannier Nature Trail and board your gondola again at Mid Station to return to Base Station.
This sensational attraction is located on the cusp of Morne Trois Pitons National Park, a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site.
At our Juice bar you may wish to sample our rum punch, local juice or other beverages. You may also wish to browse through our Gift Shop or just relax enjoying the stunning beauty of the rainforest and its surroundings before continuing on your own individual adventure.
Barbados photos

Day 55 - February 27, 2008 - at sea

Forgot to post that last night we got bed gifts! For the first time in weeks! We got no gifts last segment, so they made up for it with 2 per person last night. We each got a wristwatch that with 2 dials to keep time in 2 timezones. Handy, since we are only an hour away from home here with 6 days left. The other gift was a navy blue sunvisor with Regent Polo Club and crossed polo mallets embroidered on it.

So, we are still in sunny skies but big swells. So, we can't see out our balconies because they are covered with spray. Too bad. Off to a late start this morning even though we were all up around 6am. Making up for lost time with a string of big breakfasts in Compass Rose here at the end. No one is interested in the morning lecture today, so not sure how we'll kill time this morning waiting to get back in our cabins. At 3pm today in Constellation Theater is an Ed Asner one man show of FDR. We will probably go to that. Which means that maybe Debbie still may not get back to the gym. She likes the afternoon schedule, but no idea what time the Ed Asner show ends and it is probably her one opportunity to see him on a stage and she can exercise at home anyway.

There is a Fruehshoppen on the Pool Deck for lunch. It is a German sausages kind of buffet. Since we have done a few of those, we may just go to Compass Rose. Also, it seems that Mariner is still ignoring Equator crossings. We feel really terrible for people that have heard about the big deal of crossing the Equator on a ship and they spend their time and money to come here and do it and then nothing special happens for them. Cannot imagine the disappointment if it were us and we were expecting some event to mark the personal change from pollywog to shellback and it was just ignored. But, so far nothing on this segment. At least the first time onboard here they did deliver Certificates to the cabins though they had no public ceremony either. Oh, well, not sure what could possibly be up with that or who has dropped the ball on it.

So, last night Clay pointed out that every thing from last night's dinner is our LAST onboard. Last Tuesday night dinner. Last Wednesday morning breakfast. Last Wednesday onboard period! Margie says she will most miss the fast, heavy cadence of Ludovich tread as he approaches our table at every meal to find out how we are, what we've been doing and if we like our food, even if we haven't had any food!

This morning Debbie and Margie watched a DVDin the cabin. The rocking is not making them happy. The Libertine is a Johnny Depp film that is nearly pornographic. When Ludovich asked Margie at lunch what she had done today, she choked! Debbie confessed that Margie was feeling guilty. No one has ever even heard of this movie. We hadn't until it appeared on the DVD shelves. Since Debbie would pay money to watch Johnny Depp fold laundry, she checked it out. The cover says Johnny Depp is a wonder in this film. That pretty much sums it up. Anyway, Ludovich wanted to talk about Chocolat. We don't get Chocolat. We've tried. He said it is his favorite film. we'll have to try again, but it may just be a French thing and we'll never get it.

We went to Compass Rose for lunch. Towards the end of the 2006 World Cruise, we described a chilled soup that Debbie had enjoyed. Margie said if Debbie ordered that or ate it that she must have been getting desparate after months aboard. Today, Chilled Cinammon Ginger Peach Soup appeared on the lunch menu. Debbie insisted that Margie order it. Margie resisted, but finally succumbed. She really liked it. It is really good. The flavors are subtle and blend perfectly. So, there. All 3 of us also had the warm pastrami and swiss cheese on rye. Yummy. With skinny french fries. No one had any dessert. During lunch there was a loudspeaker announcement of a Code Blue in LaVeranda. We hope it was nothing too serious. Maybe someone just fell. With all the lurching the ship is doing it was a miracle no one fell in there last night during dinner either. Capt. Philippe said in his noon announcement that we are in about 6 foot seas and that should not be causing the kind of motion we have been seeing.

At 3pm, Debbie and Margie went to see Ed Asner in Campobello. It was a dramatic reading with him in a wheelchair. It was OK. The dramatic part was the curtains swinging around!

Tonight is Formal night and we do intend to get dressed up and go to Compass Rose. The Seven Seas Society reception is at 6:15pm and since it will be our last one, we intend to attend it.

We went to the SSS cocktail party. The stage in Constellation Theater was lavishly decorated as the Amazon rainforest with the fronds that we saw them harvesting from Devil's Island. There was nothing of interest announced.

Then the Formal dinner in Compass Rose. It was a French menu. We ate lightly and still left stuffed. We did all have warm Chocolate Souffles with raspberry coulis though. It is better with vanilla sauce than with raspberry. Then it was early to bed again.

We have a long day in the sun tomorrow. Followed by 3 straight port days and then a sea day of heavyduty packing. At the end of the World Cruise by this time they would be collecting suitcases nightly, so you could pack one or two a day and move them along. Since they are all either full or nested under the bed now and the room is 50 square feet smaller than Voyager's there is nowhere to do packing without being able to get the bags out of the room after. Yet, when Debbie put in our departure information they wanted her to sign up for IPS so they wouldn't have to move 20 bags on March 3. Well, they'll have to or we can carry them off in shifts ourselves. It will be the first time since we boarded this ship that any ship's personnel will have touched a suitcase for us and it doesn't seem too much to ask now. Whatever. Pasted below are the descriptions for our day in Barbados.

Barbados Concorde Experience & Island Drive

Duration: 4 Hours.
Concierge Choice, Walking, Wheelchair.
Code: BDS-5245
Price: $76pp
Don't miss this brand new world class attraction. The Barbados Concorde Experience is one of a kind in the Caribbean and very few places in the entire world can call themselves home to a Concorde. However, thanks to its close links with Barbados during its flight operation, this is exactly where you can find G-BOAE now. Regent Seven Seas Cruises is proud to provide this special excursion, which is exclusively hosted by Ian Richards, Flight Engineer for all Concorde operations in Barbados. Mr. Richards will join our program to provide insight into operations and to answer all your questions regarding this supersonic marvel.
A leisurely drive along the lively South Coast of Barbados will take you to this state of the art facility. Learn about the history of flight and particularly supersonic flight. 'Engineered for speed', a visual show with sound and light effects, will leave you breathless and feeling that you have just witnessed a spectacular takeoff. A visit into the interior of this amazing aircraft will give you a chance to experience how passengers felt traveling on it. When exiting you 'land' right back in Barbados and now it's time to explore some of the Island.
Leaving Alpha-Echo you will make your way to St. John's Church, which offers incredible views of the picturesque East Coast. The church building and the grounds are also worth taking a closer look.
On your return drive through the countryside you will pass through many quaint villages with their friendly locals and a refreshing drink is being served at a local rum shop.

The Complimentary Event for Full Circle cruisers on this segment is a Polo Match tomorrow afternoon.

 

Day 54 - February 26, 2008 - Devil's Island, French Guiana

Devil's Island photos
So, we cruise until 12:30pm today to get to this tender only island cluster. The seas have not been bad, but they have not been good either. We think that for whatever reason, we are just not using the stabilizers. So, we have some pretty intense rocking going on all night and this morning. We are also only going about 9-11 knots this morning which only seems to amplify the effect of the big swells. Debbie had the best intentions of returning to the gym this morning, but the swells just made that thought too unappealing. We made it to a big, late breakfast in Compass Rose instead. Of course, the morning schedule worked against her as well. If classes start at 8am and LaVeranda opens at 7am, that is doable. But, today LaVeranda did not open until 7:30am, so that was too much rushing and effort. Plus, the thought of going to the next to highest deck in these rolling conditions did not sit well with Margie either. So, basically we off to a bad start this morning. Debbie did get her morning raspberries though. Chimi Bella, who runs LaVeranda, told us yesterday that he had in a standing order for a bowl of raspberries for Debbie and no matter where she went for breakfast, the bowl of berries would follow her. What a guy! So, sure enough for 2 mornings now, Debbie has had no trouble getting her bowl of just raspberries in Compass Rose.
Last night we had invitations on our doors. One for today and one for Barbados. The Full Circle Event in Barbados is a "Lion's Gate Exlcusive Polo Match" at 2pm. We have a 9am excursion that morning, so we will probably make it. The other invitation is for today. It is for 12:30pm in the Horizon Lounge for Titanium, Platinum and Gold Society members. 12:30pm is when we are supposed to be in Constellation Theater to be issued tender tickets, so no idea what could be worth the scheduling conflict. Anyway, it is from Hotel Director, Richard Fenn, and says "It's going to be hot - very, very hot- but we think you may like it." OK, guess we're game and we'll go and report back here later. Also, last night at the show, Bryan Townsend announced that the restaurants would be opening early for lunch, so that everyone would have an opportunity to eat before going ashore for the afternoon. But, as with breakfast, the restaurants are not scheduled to open early at all. More later.
We all went to Terry Breen's 9:30am lecture on the history of Devil's Island. She was very specific that where we are going and what we will be seeing is on Ile Royale and not Ile du diablo. She says that the 3 islands are commonly known by the one term Devil's Island. OK. She says that you can get the world's most expensive cold beer at the bar in the hotel in the old guard's barracks building on Ile Royale. Not sure if one of us is looking forward to that or not. Terry says it is an eerie and sad place to visit. It seems like it would be. Margie is not at all sure she is going ashore. These big swells are tough enough on Mariner and she doesn't think she can handle them on a tender, which always have such an exaggerated wobbly ride anyway. It probably doesn't help any that most of the time spent on tenders is just spent sitting bobbing in the water and not actually traveling anyway. Tendering sucks.
So, shortly before the Captain came on the speakers to announce that he was pulling in the stabilizers (?!) as we entered the shallow waters of the Devil's Island chain, we were on our way to the Observation Lounge area to see the approach. The ride actually got much smoother. We picked up a pilot and another man. We went around to the back side and dropped anchor. We stirred up a whole bunch of silt doing it. By this time, we could see that there was some kind of Pool Deck BBQ going on that was not listed in Passages. It was 12:10pm and we had to be in Horizon Lounge at 12:30 and Bryan had already announced that tendering had begun. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed to Horizon Lounge at 12:30pm. They were doing a French prison/gansters theme of "Some Like it Hot." They were serving champagne, caviar, seared foie gras, chilled shrimp and steak tartar. Some people were very excited even though almost all of us had eaten a sandwich first because it was not clear what was going on here. Since none of us really likes, or maybe even eats any of that stuff. It was lost on us. Also, alcohol before a hot shore excursion? Then, Bryan spoke and Heather Clancy sang some prison, devil, hot, heat, etc. songs that Bryan introduced as a selection of French songs. Maybe we are just too dense, but the whole thing was lost on us. Why would we have wanted to give up either or lunch or time ashore for this. Couldn't they have held it at 5 or 5:30pm when we were all aboard and ready to sail? It seems that the hors d'ouvres and cocktails with music would have been much more appropriate and appreciated when it wasn't conflicting with natural events at 12:30pm! Anyway.
Ok, so now we can check that off the list. Imagine a remote, inaccessible and dangerous prison island. Now imagine it abandoned for over 50 years and you have Ile Royale today. There is actually a hotel and bar here, so you can spend the night if you want. It is probably not really any worse than any other small, remote tropical island. It is hot and on one side there is a stiff breeze. We saw a bunch of tiny squirrel monkeys. We saw iguanas, parrots, chickens, agoutis (big tailless rats), peacocks, peahens, a toucan in a cage. As we waited for the tender back, Debbie was watching the shark-infested waters for sharks. She saw none but did glimpse a sea turtle. Most of the buildings are being allowed to be reclaimed by nature. The French use this area for their aerospace program. So, as we were sailing away we also could see the launch areas and towers in the distance on the mainland, 10 miles away.
Tonight is Country Club Casual. The menu at Compass Rose is particularly unappealing tonight, so we will probably go to LaVeranda for the 2nd night of their Beef and Lobster menu. The show tonight is Steven Clark, Flautist. Probably not going to that one. Tomorrow is a sea day and a Formal night. It is the Seven Seas Society reception as well that evening.
So, anyway, it looks like probably an early evening tonight and a sleep in tomorrow morning. If we keep on with the big swells, that will be a good plan. Noon tomorrow is the deadline for letting the Tour Desk know when you need to get off and how much luggage you have. We have a LOT of luggage. We are not using IPS again. We heard onboard that people who used IPS this time coming to Ft. Lauderdale again had thefts from their luggage, so that just confirms that we made the right decision not to give IPS another chance. Honestly, you would think that after it happened even to one big cruise that RSSC would find another provider. But, we won't use IPS again at any rate.
We had a good dinner in LaVeranda. Debbie and Margie had beef in a lemony sauce and Clay had grilled lobster tails in citrus. Desserts were a little weak. We were all in bed by 8:30pm! Too much vacation for us! Good thing it will be over soon and we can get some real rest!
Devil's Island photos

Day 53 - February 25, 2008 - cruise Amazon River

Today is our last day on the Amazon River. Sometime early this morning we crossed North of the Equator for the final time this voyage. So, farewell Southern Hemisphere and the mighty Amazon. At noon, Capt. Phillipe said he expects to be out of the fresh water and well out into the Atlantic by about 2pm.

Since we had nothing to do today and a busy day yesterday, we slept in this morning. Well, Debbie slept in. So, we had our big late Sunday breakfast in Compass Rose today. Debbie got raspberries, chocolate croissant and Eggs Benedict (plural)! Making up for lost time and meals! Her voice is still creaky, croaky but she is still talking. Clay is feeling some better though he still has a lot of congestion and a bad cough. Starting the Cipro right away was probably a good thing for him and hopefully he will not get as sick as Margie or Debbie did. Margie had mixed berries and Eggs Benedict and Clay had blueberry muffin and blueberry pancakes with bacon.

Debbie went alone to the morning lecture. It was a British explorer named Robin Hanbury-Tenison. He was very interesting and had that dry understated British wit going on. As part of the Theater at Sea spotlight, there will be a Q&A at 1:45pm in the Constellation Theater with Ed Asner, Nat Chandler, George Dvorsky, Tovah Feldshuh, Shirley Jones, Patricia Neal and Susan Powell. At lunch today they are having Tex-Mex at the Pool Deck. Since we like that, we will probably go up. Tonight is Informal and the show tonight is again Spotlight performance with Nat Chandler, George Dvorsky and Susan Powell. The Big Screen Popcorn Movie at 3pm is Papillion. Debbie would like to go, we'll see. That would mean that she defers returning to the gym another day, but she's never seen Papillion other than on TV, not on a big screen. Hmmmm.. a dilemma.

Tomorrow we expect to arrive at Devil's Island at 12:30pm ship's time, which Capt. Phillipe informs us will be an hour different from island time! Pasted below is what we have as a description from the ship of our stop there tomorrow afternoon.

Independent Exploration of Devil's Island

Duration: Varies.
Walking.
Code: DEV-2490

There is no official tour program scheduled for today.
The haunting history of Devil's Island comes to life, as visitors arrive at Ile Royale, wander its footpaths, and explore the overgrown ruins of prison cells and administrative buildings. A recently-restored museum is open for visits, and a small hotel, the Auberge Iles du Salut, offers modern tourist facilities that includes a restaurant and gift shop. The ship will anchor while at Ile Royale. There are no vehicles on the island, some of the paths are hilly and uneven and the remains of the various prison facilities can only be seen on foot. A 45-minute walk lets you circle the entire 70-acre island. Lightweight clothing and sun protection are suggested as the climate is hot and humid. There will be a few local guides to answer questions and provide directions.
The complex was formerly a self-contained community with houses, offices, a hospital, bakery, butcher shop, and church. There was even a guillotine used to execute convicts who committed crimes while in Guiana. On nearby Devil's Island are the ruins of the facility used for housing political prisoners. Here, the inmates were often left without guards, since strong currents and sharks made a getaway virtually impossible. Even wardens were buried on Ile St. Joseph, while convicts were buried at sea. All penal facilities in French Guiana were finally shut down in the 1940s.
T-shirts, postcards, guide books and a variety of souvenirs are available at the shop located in the island's inn. Although local currency is the Euro, U.S. currency is accepted in the shop. Informative souvenir guide books are printed in English, and available for approximately $8 each.

We did go to Tex-Mex, but it was hot up top and there were no shaded tables available, so we took our plates inside and ate in LaVeranda. They had Warm Chocolate Bread Pudding for dessert. It was delicious with dulce de leche ice cream. Margie also really liked the dulce de leche flan. After lunch, Clay requested a haircut. We have all been struggling with our growing hair for the last couple of weeks. It seems that the heat and humidity bring out the hairy beast. But, with one or another of us being sick all along here most of Brazil, it has just gotten away from us. Maybe it was the people last night, bragging about their cheap great haircuts that pushed us all over the edge. Also, it was relatively cool and shady on our balcony earlier. So, we all had haircuts on the balcony. Talk about cheap haircuts! Those folks last night have nothing on us for being cheap! The price was right and no one looks too bad. So, success all around with only 1 week to go anyway! So, we left behind all that hair along with the brown waters of the Amazon.

Margie did go to the Q&A with the Stars after her haircut. Susan Powell, a former Miss America, served as moderator and all they did was take questions from the audience. The questions were mostly for Ed Asner and Shirley Jones.

Debbie did enjoy the movie. We are now officially back at sea! Margie wishes she was back in the Amazon! But, we can't get back to Florida that way, so we will keep our fingers crossed again for calm seas.

Tonight is Informal. The menu in Compass Rose is not too appealing. LaVeranda has stopped the Brazilian steakhouse. Tonight it has a steak and lobster only menu. We will probably just go for a quick dinner in Compass Rose. Debbie and Margie plan to go to tonight's show. It is The Song is Kern: An evening of Jerome Kern starring Nat Chandler, George Dvorksky, Susan Powell. More later.

Dinner was a calm, quiet affair for us. We all ate lightly. Debbie and Margie did go to the show. It was very well done and we enjoyed it very much. The 3 singers were all very strong and worked quite well together. It was a very good show.

 

 

 

Day 52 - February 24, 2008 - Santarem, Brazil

Santarem photos
This is our last port stop in Brazil. It seems like we have been here for a long time! Tomorrow at 6am we will drop off our last Amazon pilot at Macapa and then we have a sea day as we exit the Amazon. The Amazon is a just unimaginably large river!
Pasted below is today's tour description.
Forest Nature Walk
Duration: 3 Hours.
Hiking.
Code: SRM-6607
You'll take a 40-minute drive from the pier toward the Santarém-Cuiaba Highway, the only road that connects this part of the Amazon with other points in Brazil. The highway climbs to an elevation of 518 feet, considered a "high altitude" level in the otherwise flat region of the Amazon. From here, your bus will enter a rugged roadway leading to the forest of Santa Lucia. Along the way, you can observe the different stages of "slash and burn" agriculture, and its effect on the forest. At Bosque Santa Lucia, your guide will choose one of more than three miles of forest trails for a pleasant nature walk. This forest contains more than 400 different species of regional trees, some of which have been labeled for easy identification.
Please note: It is important to wear shoes with sturdy soles or hiking boots. Long pants are essential, as is sun screen, a hat and insect repellent. We recommend that you be physically fit to participate in this tour.
$49pp
Of note, is the fact that when we booked this tour online the price was $40 and today our tickets said we were charged $49. It is not the only tour we have booked through RSSC that had a price increase between the time we booked and the time our tickets were issued, but it is probably the biggest percentage increase.
So, we were up early for 7am breakfast in LaVeranda. Chimi got Debbie a bowl of raspberries again. Chimi is da man! We had breakfast with Jim, our shipboard next door neighbor, who lives near Margie in Florida as well. He was going on a river cruise today. It was already very hot and humid at 7am. Jim said he did a jungle hike from Manaus and it rained and was miserable. We got lucky and it did not rain, but it was still miserable. They put 37 of us on an old bus that barely made the climb up to 'altitude' and then they divided us into 2 groups of 20 and 17. The groups were too large to be guided, but anyway, they tried which caused catastrophes like the people in the front stand and stomp on a nest of giant carnivore ants and then the rest of us have to get swarmed and bitten as we try to make it past there on the path. You can believe or not that the same people did the same thing more than once! Talk about slow learners. Anyway, those big ants were the biggest animals that we saw in the rainforest. With all the standing and chitchatting that this bunch did on the trail with each other, they learned nothing and any birds or monkeys that live here (lots we were told) were long gone from our path. So, it was a truly miserable morning and we can't say that we enjoyed it. Tovah Feldshuh was in our group. Her cousin got freaked out at the first giant biting attack ants and backtracked to the bus. She told us to tell them that she went back, she wasn't missed for over 20 minutes, so you can imagine how strung out our group had gotten. We saw a whole lot of mosquitos, termites and ants and we can see all of those things in the Southeastern part of the USA. Oh, well.
We had lunch at Compass Rose. We got laundry done and a good thing, with the demand from the new people, we are happy that we decided not to wait until the first sea day morning tomorrow. Competition will probably be fierce then, since the new people had to skip a lot of sailing sights, ice cream sailaway social and Terry Breen to be in the laundry room this afternoon. We had thought that since all that would be repeats for us that maybe only the old sailors would be fighting for laundry. Wrong! Anyway, it got done.
Patricial Neal spoke about her life and her stroke and recovery at 3pm. Debbie and Margie went and it was a pretty full house. Tonight is Formal and the Captain's Welcome Reception again. Honestly, we may just skip this one. We are invited to a hosted table this evening with Bryan Townsend, Cruise Director and David Guy, Assistant Cruise Director. That is at 7:30pm. Tonight is the PGT Ballroom Bravo show again. This is at least the third time they have done this show and we still haven't seen it yet. Not sure if we will make it tonight either. We have had a long and sweaty day already. But, tomorrow is sailing all day, so we will be able to sleep in.
We sat at a table for eleven people last night. There were three other couples, Bryan, David and us. It was a crowd, but it also made the time pass quickly. Debbie and Marge finally made it to the PGT Ballroom Bravo show. Debbie really liked it and Margie liked it, so thumbs up for this show.
Santarem photos

Day 51 - February 23, 2008 - Parintins, Brazil

Parintins photos
OMG, we are down to only single digits left in this cruise! This is our next to last Saturday big breakfast in Compass Rose. We all made it to breakfast this morning. Debbie's voice was heard for the first time in about 8 days.
Parintins is pronounced, Pair in Cheens. Not what we thought. Today we saw Patricia Neal and Ed Asner. We went to Terry's talk about Boi-Bumba. It is a kind of Carnaval-type church-sanctioned event. It takes place for 3 days at the end of June. What we are seeing today is just a short recap of the finale of the winners in a indoor facility. It is a rivalry between fans of 2 bulls, a black one and a white one. You have to be gleeful enough to resurrect a dead bull to win. In reality, no bulls are killed or resurrected, a committee judges who wins. You probably already knew that. There are 2 performances for our ship today. We have tickets for the first performance at 12:30pm. We have to tender off the ship in groups to go ashore for this. Apparently, Parintins is at the tip of an island on the Amazon River and though one of the deepest spots in the river is before we get there, the channel gets very narrow and shallow prior to the tip of the island and confluence of rivers. The current is faster there also, so evidently, anchoring and tendering gets tricky here. Not looking forward to that, but hoping for the best.
We are supposed to be going down river now, since last night. But, for some reason, it deceptively looks to us as if the current is heading against us. It is a mystery. When we were headed upriver, the current seemed to be in the right direction, but now it still looks like it is flowing the same way for some reason. It is more than a little disconcerting. We dropped anchor across from Parintins about 11:15am and sent a tender across the river about 11:30am. So, it looks like we are on schedule. Parintins is visible from our port side balconies. LaVeranda opens at 11:30am for lunch today. Since we are to be inthe Constellation Theater for our tender muster at a little before 12:30pm. We will be heading off to an early lunch now, incredibly. But, we have to keep up our strength!
We were on the last tender to the 12:30pm show of the Boi-Bumba. Big mistake, but not like we had any choice. We showed up early, but it seems that the Theater Guild folks got Priority Disembarkation or something, because they were all on the 1st tender. Basically, anyone who followed the instructions of the Tour Desk staff was on the last tender. So, anyway, there were already 200 some people seated in the gym, or whatever you would call it, when we got there. It was an open-air, roofed building with a level concrete floor. We sat in the last row and hoped that worse case, we would be able to stand up to see over the 4-5 rows of chairs in front of us. Of course, that was not to be because a good number of the people already seated when we arrived decided to stand up to videotape the thing. It was very loud, energetic and colorful. They had great big floats and feathered costumes. It went on for about an hour. It is hard to imagine how hard those performers were working in bare feet dancing on a concrete floor in that heat. And, after we left they were going to do it all again for the 3pm show. It started raining as we left to go to the buses back to the port. We got off and walked for several blocks through town. We were looking for the bull-shaped phone booths, but they were not in the square anymore. Margie met up with a woman she knew from home.
We headed back for naps and showers. Tonight was Country Club Casual again. We went to the 6:15pm destination lecture about Devil's Island. But, we still don't know what to expect. John Tabutt-McCarthy said that no ship's tenders go to Devil's Island, but then he showed maps and photos of what we could walk around and see there without ever explaining how we might get there! Oh, well. We went on to dinner and had a light, quick meal. Debbie and Margie stayed up for the 9:45pm show. It was Tovah Feldshuh Out of Her Mind, a one-woman show. She did a bunch of characters. It was an hour and 15 minutes long. At one hour, she announced that everyone who had complained about the Manaus Opera House performance being too short had gotten their hour now. Then, she kept going. It was OK.
We just realized later today that we will miss our big, late Sunday breakfast tomorrow because our excursion tomorrow is at 8:15am. Bummer!
Parintins photos