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
Friday, February 29, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
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
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
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
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.
Monday, February 25, 2008
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
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
Sunday, February 24, 2008
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
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
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Day 50- February 22, 2008 - Manaus, Brazil
Manaus day 3 photos
Today is our last day in Manaus. Our first day here we overheard a man say that for his morning in Manaus, he had earned credit for time spent in hell. He may not be far off the mark. It is hot, hot, humid and so noisy here. There are people everywhere!
Clay finally got really sick overnight. So, it is his day to stay in. Debbie still has no voice and Margie is still nursing a cough. Debbie and Margie are on their own. We had only planned today to take the complimentary H. Stern shuttle to the Tropical Hotel and visit the zoo there. Also, Clay had some shopping that he wanted done and Margie had one item she wanted to purchase. Debbie also had the assignment of finding Clay drugs.
Debbie got a small bowl of raspberries this morning!! Hurray for Chimi in LaVeranda! A good start. It is about a 20 minute car ride out to the Tropical Hotel. We came and went by different routes. Manaus is big too. There is a lot of military here as well. The Tropical Hotel was very nice and right on the river. It had a helicopter pad and the mini-zoo, plus a small shopping center. The zoo was interesting, though the animals are in fairly small cages, which was sad. We had a good morning. We went back through the H. Stern shop, where we had bought little toucan statues and they put us in another taxi. We got out at the port entrance. We started to walk towards the old market area and got stopped by a local character who told us to call him Cockroach. His name was really Joseph. He spoke pretty good English, but he was trying to get people into taxis. We did not need a taxi, but asked him where is a good place to buy a hammock. He told us he would take us and keep us from being ripped off and we could pay him whatever we thought was fair. OK.
This guy was a complete card. He could whistle so loud it would stop traffic and he did! We got all our shopping done and then he showed us off to the guides along the way back to the ship's shuttle. It was all probably worth the $10.
We got back in time for the last 1/2 hourof LaVeranda for lunch. They were lined up there to get plates about 15-20 people deep! It was like rush hour at K&W Cafeteria! It is hard to believe that we only got 50 extra people. We have never seen a line up like that, except once in Myanmar, when it looked like half the military boarded to get us cleared and then had to eat before they could decide to clear the ship. Anyway, it was amazing and we hope not to see that again everyday for the rest of this trip! Nothing on the docket for the rest of the day and we sail at 6pm. Tonight is Country Club Casual again. So, it looks like naps are the order of the afternoon. Manaus seems like a really excellent place to take a nap.
Clay was up for dinner tonight. So, we all planned to have a quick, quiet dinner in Compass Rose. So much for the best laid plans. It was a zoo in there. Apparently, there were some problems with the Theater at Sea group. We hear there are around 100 of them. They thought they would be seated together in a block and their organizer had no arranged such a thing with the ship, so a good portion of them just went ape over it individually. It made for some awkward dining and beverage service. Oh, well live and learn. Hopefully, that won't happen again.
Clay went to bed early. Debbie and Margie stayed up for the show. It was Sean O'Shea. He was a vocalist/impressionist. (I hope his name is spelled right, doing from memory without the newsletter!) He got off to a weak start, but he got up to speed pretty quickly and was a dynamo. He kept everyone awake and he was funny. We enjoyed it.
Tomorrow night is Tovah Feldshuh. We all hope to be up for that one. Tomorrow is a short afternoon port stop with a Complimentary Event. Description is pasted below.
Boi-Bumba Folkloric Show
Duration: 1¼ Hour.
Special Event, Walking.
Code: PRT-3646
This special event is included for all guests with the compliments of Regent Seven Seas Cruises.
Experience an hour of the folklore of the Amazonduring a special festival held in the village of Parintins, which is situated along the southern bank of the Amazon. A short drive from the pier takes you to the Caprichoso, a covered stadium hosting a truly festive atmosphere. You'll be served Caipirinha, soft drinks and mineral water as the excitement and anticipation rises.
Performers will dance, sing and celebrate the joy of life in a mesmerizing display of revelry. The captivating story of feuding families, the Cids and the Monteverdes, will unfold before you. Legend has it that these clans started a folkloric dispute, which manifested into a competition between woman-made bulls. The Cids created a black bull, Caprichoso (meaning careful), and the Monteverdes built a white bull, Garantido (meaning guaranteed). Each family was also armed with a repentista, or singer, who would challenge the other to sing a better song or recite a better poem.
Please note: You must confirm your plans with the Travel Concierge Office so they can finalize arrangements for Parintins. No substitutions or compensation are available for non-participation in this exclusive program. On certain dates, there may be two performances. If advised by the Travel Concierge Office that there are two shows, please check your tour ticket carefully for the scheduled time of your performance.
Manaus day 3 photos
Today is our last day in Manaus. Our first day here we overheard a man say that for his morning in Manaus, he had earned credit for time spent in hell. He may not be far off the mark. It is hot, hot, humid and so noisy here. There are people everywhere!
Clay finally got really sick overnight. So, it is his day to stay in. Debbie still has no voice and Margie is still nursing a cough. Debbie and Margie are on their own. We had only planned today to take the complimentary H. Stern shuttle to the Tropical Hotel and visit the zoo there. Also, Clay had some shopping that he wanted done and Margie had one item she wanted to purchase. Debbie also had the assignment of finding Clay drugs.
Debbie got a small bowl of raspberries this morning!! Hurray for Chimi in LaVeranda! A good start. It is about a 20 minute car ride out to the Tropical Hotel. We came and went by different routes. Manaus is big too. There is a lot of military here as well. The Tropical Hotel was very nice and right on the river. It had a helicopter pad and the mini-zoo, plus a small shopping center. The zoo was interesting, though the animals are in fairly small cages, which was sad. We had a good morning. We went back through the H. Stern shop, where we had bought little toucan statues and they put us in another taxi. We got out at the port entrance. We started to walk towards the old market area and got stopped by a local character who told us to call him Cockroach. His name was really Joseph. He spoke pretty good English, but he was trying to get people into taxis. We did not need a taxi, but asked him where is a good place to buy a hammock. He told us he would take us and keep us from being ripped off and we could pay him whatever we thought was fair. OK.
This guy was a complete card. He could whistle so loud it would stop traffic and he did! We got all our shopping done and then he showed us off to the guides along the way back to the ship's shuttle. It was all probably worth the $10.
We got back in time for the last 1/2 hourof LaVeranda for lunch. They were lined up there to get plates about 15-20 people deep! It was like rush hour at K&W Cafeteria! It is hard to believe that we only got 50 extra people. We have never seen a line up like that, except once in Myanmar, when it looked like half the military boarded to get us cleared and then had to eat before they could decide to clear the ship. Anyway, it was amazing and we hope not to see that again everyday for the rest of this trip! Nothing on the docket for the rest of the day and we sail at 6pm. Tonight is Country Club Casual again. So, it looks like naps are the order of the afternoon. Manaus seems like a really excellent place to take a nap.
Clay was up for dinner tonight. So, we all planned to have a quick, quiet dinner in Compass Rose. So much for the best laid plans. It was a zoo in there. Apparently, there were some problems with the Theater at Sea group. We hear there are around 100 of them. They thought they would be seated together in a block and their organizer had no arranged such a thing with the ship, so a good portion of them just went ape over it individually. It made for some awkward dining and beverage service. Oh, well live and learn. Hopefully, that won't happen again.
Clay went to bed early. Debbie and Margie stayed up for the show. It was Sean O'Shea. He was a vocalist/impressionist. (I hope his name is spelled right, doing from memory without the newsletter!) He got off to a weak start, but he got up to speed pretty quickly and was a dynamo. He kept everyone awake and he was funny. We enjoyed it.
Tomorrow night is Tovah Feldshuh. We all hope to be up for that one. Tomorrow is a short afternoon port stop with a Complimentary Event. Description is pasted below.
Boi-Bumba Folkloric Show
Duration: 1¼ Hour.
Special Event, Walking.
Code: PRT-3646
This special event is included for all guests with the compliments of Regent Seven Seas Cruises.
Experience an hour of the folklore of the Amazonduring a special festival held in the village of Parintins, which is situated along the southern bank of the Amazon. A short drive from the pier takes you to the Caprichoso, a covered stadium hosting a truly festive atmosphere. You'll be served Caipirinha, soft drinks and mineral water as the excitement and anticipation rises.
Performers will dance, sing and celebrate the joy of life in a mesmerizing display of revelry. The captivating story of feuding families, the Cids and the Monteverdes, will unfold before you. Legend has it that these clans started a folkloric dispute, which manifested into a competition between woman-made bulls. The Cids created a black bull, Caprichoso (meaning careful), and the Monteverdes built a white bull, Garantido (meaning guaranteed). Each family was also armed with a repentista, or singer, who would challenge the other to sing a better song or recite a better poem.
Please note: You must confirm your plans with the Travel Concierge Office so they can finalize arrangements for Parintins. No substitutions or compensation are available for non-participation in this exclusive program. On certain dates, there may be two performances. If advised by the Travel Concierge Office that there are two shows, please check your tour ticket carefully for the scheduled time of your performance.
Manaus day 3 photos
Friday, February 22, 2008
Day 49 - February 21, 2008 - Manaus, Brazil
Manaus day 2 photos
Today went pretty much as expected. We missed the rain by being out of town apparently. So, we had a beautiful day. We saw giant lily pads, a gator of some kind, a pink dolphin, a monkey and a parrot. It was much more pleasant out of town than in town. The lunch that provided included about 6 kinds of local fish and one red meat dish. It was good.
Today, we saw the Iberostar Grand Amazon come in and sail out again. It is supposed to be a really great way to see the Amazon in comfort. It looked nice. Balcony suites, air conditioning. Had a lot of small motorboats on the back. Also, this morning Fred. Olsen Lines Braemar came in and docked right in front of us.
Tonight dinner is starting an hour early for those going to the NY Theater Guild's Manaus Opera House excursion. Then, Brian Townsend announced that because of a delayed flight that the excursion would be delayed by 30 minutes anyway. That would be a really miserable experience, to fly into this place late and then have to rush off to make a Theater appointment! We were actually thinking that it would be a pretty miserable place to fly in and out of period when we saw people at the Passenger Terminal building this morning trying to identify their luggage with hundreds of ferry passengers coming and going.
So, supposedly with the passengers getting off and those joining, our total population should only be increasing by 50 people. Apparently, the delay caused the Opera House excursion people to get caught in the pouring rain. We did not go but heard a lot of complaints about it later. It only lasted 20 minutes. Ed Asner did not show up and Shirley Jones sat on stage but did not sing.
Anyway, we went to bed early and missed the whole thing.
Manaus day 2 photos
Today went pretty much as expected. We missed the rain by being out of town apparently. So, we had a beautiful day. We saw giant lily pads, a gator of some kind, a pink dolphin, a monkey and a parrot. It was much more pleasant out of town than in town. The lunch that provided included about 6 kinds of local fish and one red meat dish. It was good.
Today, we saw the Iberostar Grand Amazon come in and sail out again. It is supposed to be a really great way to see the Amazon in comfort. It looked nice. Balcony suites, air conditioning. Had a lot of small motorboats on the back. Also, this morning Fred. Olsen Lines Braemar came in and docked right in front of us.
Tonight dinner is starting an hour early for those going to the NY Theater Guild's Manaus Opera House excursion. Then, Brian Townsend announced that because of a delayed flight that the excursion would be delayed by 30 minutes anyway. That would be a really miserable experience, to fly into this place late and then have to rush off to make a Theater appointment! We were actually thinking that it would be a pretty miserable place to fly in and out of period when we saw people at the Passenger Terminal building this morning trying to identify their luggage with hundreds of ferry passengers coming and going.
So, supposedly with the passengers getting off and those joining, our total population should only be increasing by 50 people. Apparently, the delay caused the Opera House excursion people to get caught in the pouring rain. We did not go but heard a lot of complaints about it later. It only lasted 20 minutes. Ed Asner did not show up and Shirley Jones sat on stage but did not sing.
Anyway, we went to bed early and missed the whole thing.
Manaus day 2 photos
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Day 48 - February 20, 2008 - Manaus, Brazil
Manaus day 1 photos
It is some kind of special HOT here. So, we sailed up past the wedding of the waters of the Solimoes River from Peru and the Rio Negro which flows past Manaus. Since the Rio Negro is a black water river, which means it is very acidic and full of tannins and basically kills plants, and the Amazon is a white water river, which means it is full of sediment and organic matter, that the Solimoes is the main part of the Amazon. But, who knows. The 2 kinds of water do not mix easily. They ran side by side slowly mixing for about 14 miles. We are docked at the new floating dock. We have to take shuttle buses to get to the Cruise Passenger Terminal. It doesn't really matter. There is not really any security that we can see. The local ferries and tour boats and local cruisers all seem to be at the next floating pier over which is where the Cruise Passenger Terminal is. We are docked on the starboard side, so our balcony just has a view across the river.
We were up fairly early after a pretty good night's sleep. Debbie still has no voice and is just trying not to speak to let it return. Clay is fighting getting sick and Margie is still recovering. Terry Breen was scheduled to speak in the Observation Lounge and the open decks at 7am. So, we went up there. Right on schedule at just after 7am you could see the 2 colors of water meeting. We did not see any botos or pink dolphins here this morning, though that is where and when they say you are mostly likely to find them. Tomorrow, we have scheduled to take an all day boat tour to the meeting of the waters. We booked this in the Amazon Explorers office in the Cruise Passengers Terminal building today. We just walked in and put our names on their list for this excursion. We will pay when we show back up here tomorrow. Description is pasted below:
FULL DAY RIVER CRUISE WICH LUNCH
(FROM 10:00AM TO 4:00PM)
US$53pp
After leaving from the floating dock, you will pass the wooden houses on stilts, the Main Market and Educandos creek. Then the boat will take you across the Rio Negro to the JANAUARY ECOLOGICAL PARK wich will offer you a wonderful opportunity to canoe amidst creeks and flooded forests with their exotic fauna and flora, including the famous VICTORIA REGIA water lilies. Next we will proceed to the “MEETING OF THE WATERS” where the muddy waters of the AMAZON RIVER run side by side with the dark waters of the RIO NEGRO without mixing; there you will see some rare species of dolphin frolicking in the water.
Today though we just set out on foot to visit the city of Manaus. It is a hilly, hot, noisy city full of bustle. The sidewalks are filled with vendors. The old Lisboa Market is under renovation, so you can only see some upper and outside parts of it. It was designed by Eiffel, so you can imagine the ironwork. We headed there first, because Clay loves fish markets and they are usually best seen in the mornings. We saw a lot of fish, meat and fruits being sold. We kept walking and also found the Moderno Banana Market. We did not buy anything. It seems no one felt like shopping this morning. Then we walked uphill to the Teatro Amazonas. There are no performances today. They stopped rehearsals at noon, just as we were arriving. We got there just in time to join the next English language tour which had 2 other couples from our ship who were wearing H. Stern lapel stickers. We enjoyed our tour and the Opera House is just amazing. It is hard to imagine it even being here, much less surviving and thriving. It is smaller than expected inside, but just beautiful. Tomorrow night, the NY Theater group that is on the sailing beginning tomorrow is having their performance in the Teatro Amazonas. We looked for a local restuarant that the local tourism person at the Travel Concierge Desk had recommended, but it was not at the intersection of streets that he marked on our map and we did not find it near by. So, we were back onboard and had lunch in LaVeranda before they closed at 2:30pm.
So, it looks like napping is the order of the afternoon. Tomorrow,all day on the boat tour. Then, on day 3 we sail at 6pm. The plan right now for day 3 is to take one of the jewelers' free shuttles out to the Tropical Hotel and visit the zoo on day 3. Tonight is Country Club Casual. The weather this afternoon turned rainy and was amazingly cool (maybe in the low 70's) after such a hot morning.
We went down to the Mariner Lounge around 6:45 to listen to the trio of local musicians, Inbauba, that are onboard. We ended up eating dinner in Compass Rose with a couple from Santa Fe who are also doing the full circle.
Manaus day 1 photos
It is some kind of special HOT here. So, we sailed up past the wedding of the waters of the Solimoes River from Peru and the Rio Negro which flows past Manaus. Since the Rio Negro is a black water river, which means it is very acidic and full of tannins and basically kills plants, and the Amazon is a white water river, which means it is full of sediment and organic matter, that the Solimoes is the main part of the Amazon. But, who knows. The 2 kinds of water do not mix easily. They ran side by side slowly mixing for about 14 miles. We are docked at the new floating dock. We have to take shuttle buses to get to the Cruise Passenger Terminal. It doesn't really matter. There is not really any security that we can see. The local ferries and tour boats and local cruisers all seem to be at the next floating pier over which is where the Cruise Passenger Terminal is. We are docked on the starboard side, so our balcony just has a view across the river.
We were up fairly early after a pretty good night's sleep. Debbie still has no voice and is just trying not to speak to let it return. Clay is fighting getting sick and Margie is still recovering. Terry Breen was scheduled to speak in the Observation Lounge and the open decks at 7am. So, we went up there. Right on schedule at just after 7am you could see the 2 colors of water meeting. We did not see any botos or pink dolphins here this morning, though that is where and when they say you are mostly likely to find them. Tomorrow, we have scheduled to take an all day boat tour to the meeting of the waters. We booked this in the Amazon Explorers office in the Cruise Passengers Terminal building today. We just walked in and put our names on their list for this excursion. We will pay when we show back up here tomorrow. Description is pasted below:
FULL DAY RIVER CRUISE WICH LUNCH
(FROM 10:00AM TO 4:00PM)
US$53pp
After leaving from the floating dock, you will pass the wooden houses on stilts, the Main Market and Educandos creek. Then the boat will take you across the Rio Negro to the JANAUARY ECOLOGICAL PARK wich will offer you a wonderful opportunity to canoe amidst creeks and flooded forests with their exotic fauna and flora, including the famous VICTORIA REGIA water lilies. Next we will proceed to the “MEETING OF THE WATERS” where the muddy waters of the AMAZON RIVER run side by side with the dark waters of the RIO NEGRO without mixing; there you will see some rare species of dolphin frolicking in the water.
Today though we just set out on foot to visit the city of Manaus. It is a hilly, hot, noisy city full of bustle. The sidewalks are filled with vendors. The old Lisboa Market is under renovation, so you can only see some upper and outside parts of it. It was designed by Eiffel, so you can imagine the ironwork. We headed there first, because Clay loves fish markets and they are usually best seen in the mornings. We saw a lot of fish, meat and fruits being sold. We kept walking and also found the Moderno Banana Market. We did not buy anything. It seems no one felt like shopping this morning. Then we walked uphill to the Teatro Amazonas. There are no performances today. They stopped rehearsals at noon, just as we were arriving. We got there just in time to join the next English language tour which had 2 other couples from our ship who were wearing H. Stern lapel stickers. We enjoyed our tour and the Opera House is just amazing. It is hard to imagine it even being here, much less surviving and thriving. It is smaller than expected inside, but just beautiful. Tomorrow night, the NY Theater group that is on the sailing beginning tomorrow is having their performance in the Teatro Amazonas. We looked for a local restuarant that the local tourism person at the Travel Concierge Desk had recommended, but it was not at the intersection of streets that he marked on our map and we did not find it near by. So, we were back onboard and had lunch in LaVeranda before they closed at 2:30pm.
So, it looks like napping is the order of the afternoon. Tomorrow,all day on the boat tour. Then, on day 3 we sail at 6pm. The plan right now for day 3 is to take one of the jewelers' free shuttles out to the Tropical Hotel and visit the zoo on day 3. Tonight is Country Club Casual. The weather this afternoon turned rainy and was amazingly cool (maybe in the low 70's) after such a hot morning.
We went down to the Mariner Lounge around 6:45 to listen to the trio of local musicians, Inbauba, that are onboard. We ended up eating dinner in Compass Rose with a couple from Santa Fe who are also doing the full circle.
Manaus day 1 photos
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Day 47 - February 19, 2008 - Boca de Valeria, Brazil
Boca de Valeria photos
So, I defy you to find this spot on a map. We could barely locate it ourselves. Just a cluster of stilt huts, cows, people, and a school under construction. It was amazing that the place even has a name. We did not touch earth here. They took us on tender rides all morning long of about 20-30 minutes. We did catch some glimpses of botos, or pink Amazon River dolphins. No one has really explained this to us. Why are they pink? Why are they living in freshwater? Isn't that very unusual for dolphins to live in freshwater? Anyway, the people that live here are called Caboclas. They are a mixture of Portuguese, African, and Native people. They make their lives on the river. From 10:30am to 12:30pm they brought some locals onboard to set up some handicrafts shops on the Pool Deck. It was pouring rain off and on for most of the morning. It was pouring rain for this as well. They had the International BBQ already set up under the sheltered side on the port and this took up the starboard. The rest of the covered area was actually filled with lounge chairs covered with people in bathing suits, that appeared to have all fallen asleep. It was just very bizarre! We ate down in Compass Rose for lunch. We also went to the "Sounds of the Amazon" in Horizon Lounge for the Full Circle Guests. It was a nice event. They served Capirinhas again (really bad!) and some weird desserts. The music was good though. The band, Raizes Caboclas (according to our printed invitations, but that name is not correct, sorry!), will be onboard to Manaus as that is where they are from. Not sure when they boarded, or if they just came on here today! In the afternoon, Debbie and Margie went to the Big Screen Popcorn Movie in Constellation Theater. It was a German film titled "Fitzcarraldo" and it was subtitled in English.
Debbie still does not have a voice. The Doctor did not want to give her anymore steroid shots though. He was very surprised that the massive doses he gave her in the 2 shots yesterday did not recover her voice. Anyway, he told her again not to try to talk at all, to rest her vocal cords and he gave her 2 Prednisone tablets. He told her that they would call tomorrow to see how she is doing and that if she gets worse to come back. He thinks at this point it will just take time for her voice to return. Well, duh. Yesterday's Doctor's bills totaled $175. More later. By this afternoon, Clay had a fever. Tomorrow we will be in Manaus. Guess it is a good thing that we had made no plans at all here.
Captain Phillipe came on Channel 2 about 5pm and said that he expects to be an hour late arriving tomorrow in Manaus. So, we have Formal Night tonight, the Captain's Farewell Party and Krew Kapers and then our hosted dinner. Maybe it is just us, but the menus are just less and less appealing, so tonight could be a challenge. Clay says this is his last night in his tuxedo. It is too small now. How did that happen? Debbie has actually lost weight and now weighs what she did before leaving home.
So, we enjoyed the Krew Kapers as usual. Also, found the differences between the 2 Captains' Farewell substantial. We have to say that Capt. Phillipe is much more forthcoming and open with information. Other than our disappointment in not being able to ride atop the tenders, we have been very pleased with the new Captain. We see more of him about the ship too. We understand from dinner tonight that we really missed him being very funny in the Liars' Club. We will try to catch it on the next segment. Which is in only 2 days! We have to disembark in only 2 weeks time! Two weeks from tonight, we'll be having a very different dinner! We had a very nice evening with Deborah Bennet, the Human Resources Manager and Lester Woodfall, the Assistant F&B Manager as well as another couple on the Full Circle. They are from England and we have spent some time with them before on overnight excursions.
Boca de Valeria photos
So, I defy you to find this spot on a map. We could barely locate it ourselves. Just a cluster of stilt huts, cows, people, and a school under construction. It was amazing that the place even has a name. We did not touch earth here. They took us on tender rides all morning long of about 20-30 minutes. We did catch some glimpses of botos, or pink Amazon River dolphins. No one has really explained this to us. Why are they pink? Why are they living in freshwater? Isn't that very unusual for dolphins to live in freshwater? Anyway, the people that live here are called Caboclas. They are a mixture of Portuguese, African, and Native people. They make their lives on the river. From 10:30am to 12:30pm they brought some locals onboard to set up some handicrafts shops on the Pool Deck. It was pouring rain off and on for most of the morning. It was pouring rain for this as well. They had the International BBQ already set up under the sheltered side on the port and this took up the starboard. The rest of the covered area was actually filled with lounge chairs covered with people in bathing suits, that appeared to have all fallen asleep. It was just very bizarre! We ate down in Compass Rose for lunch. We also went to the "Sounds of the Amazon" in Horizon Lounge for the Full Circle Guests. It was a nice event. They served Capirinhas again (really bad!) and some weird desserts. The music was good though. The band, Raizes Caboclas (according to our printed invitations, but that name is not correct, sorry!), will be onboard to Manaus as that is where they are from. Not sure when they boarded, or if they just came on here today! In the afternoon, Debbie and Margie went to the Big Screen Popcorn Movie in Constellation Theater. It was a German film titled "Fitzcarraldo" and it was subtitled in English.
Debbie still does not have a voice. The Doctor did not want to give her anymore steroid shots though. He was very surprised that the massive doses he gave her in the 2 shots yesterday did not recover her voice. Anyway, he told her again not to try to talk at all, to rest her vocal cords and he gave her 2 Prednisone tablets. He told her that they would call tomorrow to see how she is doing and that if she gets worse to come back. He thinks at this point it will just take time for her voice to return. Well, duh. Yesterday's Doctor's bills totaled $175. More later. By this afternoon, Clay had a fever. Tomorrow we will be in Manaus. Guess it is a good thing that we had made no plans at all here.
Captain Phillipe came on Channel 2 about 5pm and said that he expects to be an hour late arriving tomorrow in Manaus. So, we have Formal Night tonight, the Captain's Farewell Party and Krew Kapers and then our hosted dinner. Maybe it is just us, but the menus are just less and less appealing, so tonight could be a challenge. Clay says this is his last night in his tuxedo. It is too small now. How did that happen? Debbie has actually lost weight and now weighs what she did before leaving home.
So, we enjoyed the Krew Kapers as usual. Also, found the differences between the 2 Captains' Farewell substantial. We have to say that Capt. Phillipe is much more forthcoming and open with information. Other than our disappointment in not being able to ride atop the tenders, we have been very pleased with the new Captain. We see more of him about the ship too. We understand from dinner tonight that we really missed him being very funny in the Liars' Club. We will try to catch it on the next segment. Which is in only 2 days! We have to disembark in only 2 weeks time! Two weeks from tonight, we'll be having a very different dinner! We had a very nice evening with Deborah Bennet, the Human Resources Manager and Lester Woodfall, the Assistant F&B Manager as well as another couple on the Full Circle. They are from England and we have spent some time with them before on overnight excursions.
Boca de Valeria photos
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Day 46 - February 18, 2008 - sailing up the Amazon River and Alter Do Chao
Alter do Chao photos
So, you may have guessed that Debbie and Margie did not make it to the Liars Club at 10:45pm. Even though we are on a river, the ship was rocking pretty well side to side last night and they weren't feeling all that well anyway. So, we really all did have a long night. Really long, in addition to the extra hour, they were both up half the night yakking their lungs out. Debbie woke up still without her voice. According to Passages there is really nothing of interest going on today until we anchor at Alter do Chao at 4:30pm. So, everyone still has a lot of quiet time to rest up.
We all went to a late big breakfast in Compass Rose. Debbie and Margie went up to check out the new jigsaw puzzle while we waited to get back into our cabins. Debbie decided she should go back to the Doctor since her voice went. Debbie got a shot in the butt for her trouble. She has to go back tonight and get another shot. She is instructed to stop trying to speak and to rest. She also got a box of Cipro to try to knock this thing out. As Margie and Debbie were exiting the Doctor's office, the Captain was speaking in the ship. We did not hear all of the announcement, but we will be in Alter do Chao around 12:30pm now instead of 4:30pm. Guess we have been making good time. They tell us that now we will have lots of time to swim in the Tapajos River there. We'll see. That is probably not on Debbie's list of approved activities for today.
Tapajos River at Santarem is a clear water river, which means it has a neutral pH. Amazon is a white water river which means it is alkaline. Black water rivers are acidic. When the rivers of different pH values come together, they do not mix immediately, but flow side by side for a while. This happens a few times on the Amazon River.
We did see the meeting of the waters off Santarem, a stop on our next segment, sailing back down the Amazon River. That was at about 10:30am. By about 12:30pm, we had arrived at our stop of Alter do Chao. It looks like a little beach resort from a distance. It looks like a long tender ride too. It is about 90F here and there is a nice breeze, but it is really humid. After lunch in Compass Rose, Margie and Clay decided to go in to shore on the tenders, but not swimming. Debbie decided that she couldn't handle the tender ride and the humidity and stayed behind. Bob got to go with Clay, but Roy really rubbed Debbie's nose in it!
We got cards this afternoon inviting us to the next Full Circle Guest Event. "Sounds of the Amazon." Pasted below is the RSSC website description of our day tomorrow. We got our tender tickets for this yesterday and we are on the 9:05am tender ride.
"Excursion Detail for Boca Da Valeria
Choose Excursion: Tender Ride Through Channel
Duration: Varies.
Seated.
Code: BOC-3637
There is no official tour program scheduled for today.
The ship drops anchor in the Amazon River, and a colorful picture unfolds as the local people come out in canoes to meet the ship, providing an added bonus to your Amazon adventure. The ship's tender will transport you through the 200 meters of channel and pass the primitive Caboclo Village, which consists of just a few wooden houses. While it is not possible to go ashore, the tender ride will take you nearby for a close up view of life on the Amazon.
Please note: Lightweight clothing is recommended, as are closed shoes with socks. Wear sunscreen and a hat"
This is what the "Sounds of the Amazon" invitation says: "After a tender ride in Boca da Valeria and experiencing the local handicraft market onboard Mariner, immerse yourself in sights and sounds of the Amazon with the music from the amazing Band Raizes Caboclas. Their instruments are - Apitos (art bleeps that produce sounds for around 25 birds); Cuias and Pau d'agua (produces the sound of rainwater); Tambor Regional (Regional drum); Flauta Regional (Regional Pipe); Violao (guitar) and Berimbau. Terry Breen will be on hand to provide personalized commentary. Join Hotel Director, Cruise Director and social staff for Brazilian drinks and scrumptious desserts.
Meeting Time: 1:45pm
Meeting Place: Horizon Lounge
Date: February 19th, 2008"
So tomorrow will wind up being a pretty busy day. With the stop from 7am to 2pm with only tender rides allowed and the special musical event and the Captain's Farewell Party and our hosted dinner in Compass Rose. Hope we are all up for it by then.
Not sure we are looking forward to tomorrow's tender tour. We were told when tickets were issued to us that only 30 people would be allowed per tender. That is good, but here is the weird thing. You usually cannot see anything from them. As we had been warned, while Capt. Romeo let us sit on the roof seats in the open air, Capt. Delavault does not allow guests up there, only crew. So, not sure what is up with all the clothing and sunscreen and a hat warnings above, if you are going to be inside those stuffy enclosed tenders. We'll have to see and report later.
Margie and Clay caught a tender to shore around 2:20pm to see what could be seen in Alter Do Chao and spent 2 hours on shore. It was hot and not much to see. You had to walk through ankle deep sand for aabout 40 yards to get from the tender dock to the street. There was a convenient bench you could use to get the sand out of your shoes. After a 200 yard walk, we came to the town square right on the river bank. Along the way we saw some interesting things. There was a beer joint right close to the tender dock, but their limited seating was filling up fast. We also saw a unique fruit tree. It had green balls that sort of looked like green tomatoes, but some of them were bigger than basketballs. It was really strange. There was also a little beach on a sand bar in the river that was completely separated from the mainland. But there were some enterprising people who would row you out to the beach for a fee. A lot of passengers did this, but Margie and Clay opted to stay on dry land. The square had a couple of souvenir shops and some restaurants as well as an old church. We bought some tee shirts and then started back. The new captain no longer lets you ride on top of the tender. This makes tender rides a hot affair in this weather.
In the evening we opted to have a room service meal and look at a DVD instead of going out to eat. The movie we saw was "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou". This was a Bill Murray spoof on Jacques Cousteau. The main reason we looked at it was the DVD cover had a picture of Bill Murray driving a small submarine and the picture looked just like Jean-Michel Cousteau who is currently on the ship talking about the Amazon. The movie is just kind of silly.
Alter do Chao photos
So, you may have guessed that Debbie and Margie did not make it to the Liars Club at 10:45pm. Even though we are on a river, the ship was rocking pretty well side to side last night and they weren't feeling all that well anyway. So, we really all did have a long night. Really long, in addition to the extra hour, they were both up half the night yakking their lungs out. Debbie woke up still without her voice. According to Passages there is really nothing of interest going on today until we anchor at Alter do Chao at 4:30pm. So, everyone still has a lot of quiet time to rest up.
We all went to a late big breakfast in Compass Rose. Debbie and Margie went up to check out the new jigsaw puzzle while we waited to get back into our cabins. Debbie decided she should go back to the Doctor since her voice went. Debbie got a shot in the butt for her trouble. She has to go back tonight and get another shot. She is instructed to stop trying to speak and to rest. She also got a box of Cipro to try to knock this thing out. As Margie and Debbie were exiting the Doctor's office, the Captain was speaking in the ship. We did not hear all of the announcement, but we will be in Alter do Chao around 12:30pm now instead of 4:30pm. Guess we have been making good time. They tell us that now we will have lots of time to swim in the Tapajos River there. We'll see. That is probably not on Debbie's list of approved activities for today.
Tapajos River at Santarem is a clear water river, which means it has a neutral pH. Amazon is a white water river which means it is alkaline. Black water rivers are acidic. When the rivers of different pH values come together, they do not mix immediately, but flow side by side for a while. This happens a few times on the Amazon River.
We did see the meeting of the waters off Santarem, a stop on our next segment, sailing back down the Amazon River. That was at about 10:30am. By about 12:30pm, we had arrived at our stop of Alter do Chao. It looks like a little beach resort from a distance. It looks like a long tender ride too. It is about 90F here and there is a nice breeze, but it is really humid. After lunch in Compass Rose, Margie and Clay decided to go in to shore on the tenders, but not swimming. Debbie decided that she couldn't handle the tender ride and the humidity and stayed behind. Bob got to go with Clay, but Roy really rubbed Debbie's nose in it!
We got cards this afternoon inviting us to the next Full Circle Guest Event. "Sounds of the Amazon." Pasted below is the RSSC website description of our day tomorrow. We got our tender tickets for this yesterday and we are on the 9:05am tender ride.
"Excursion Detail for Boca Da Valeria
Choose Excursion: Tender Ride Through Channel
Duration: Varies.
Seated.
Code: BOC-3637
There is no official tour program scheduled for today.
The ship drops anchor in the Amazon River, and a colorful picture unfolds as the local people come out in canoes to meet the ship, providing an added bonus to your Amazon adventure. The ship's tender will transport you through the 200 meters of channel and pass the primitive Caboclo Village, which consists of just a few wooden houses. While it is not possible to go ashore, the tender ride will take you nearby for a close up view of life on the Amazon.
Please note: Lightweight clothing is recommended, as are closed shoes with socks. Wear sunscreen and a hat"
This is what the "Sounds of the Amazon" invitation says: "After a tender ride in Boca da Valeria and experiencing the local handicraft market onboard Mariner, immerse yourself in sights and sounds of the Amazon with the music from the amazing Band Raizes Caboclas. Their instruments are - Apitos (art bleeps that produce sounds for around 25 birds); Cuias and Pau d'agua (produces the sound of rainwater); Tambor Regional (Regional drum); Flauta Regional (Regional Pipe); Violao (guitar) and Berimbau. Terry Breen will be on hand to provide personalized commentary. Join Hotel Director, Cruise Director and social staff for Brazilian drinks and scrumptious desserts.
Meeting Time: 1:45pm
Meeting Place: Horizon Lounge
Date: February 19th, 2008"
So tomorrow will wind up being a pretty busy day. With the stop from 7am to 2pm with only tender rides allowed and the special musical event and the Captain's Farewell Party and our hosted dinner in Compass Rose. Hope we are all up for it by then.
Not sure we are looking forward to tomorrow's tender tour. We were told when tickets were issued to us that only 30 people would be allowed per tender. That is good, but here is the weird thing. You usually cannot see anything from them. As we had been warned, while Capt. Romeo let us sit on the roof seats in the open air, Capt. Delavault does not allow guests up there, only crew. So, not sure what is up with all the clothing and sunscreen and a hat warnings above, if you are going to be inside those stuffy enclosed tenders. We'll have to see and report later.
Margie and Clay caught a tender to shore around 2:20pm to see what could be seen in Alter Do Chao and spent 2 hours on shore. It was hot and not much to see. You had to walk through ankle deep sand for aabout 40 yards to get from the tender dock to the street. There was a convenient bench you could use to get the sand out of your shoes. After a 200 yard walk, we came to the town square right on the river bank. Along the way we saw some interesting things. There was a beer joint right close to the tender dock, but their limited seating was filling up fast. We also saw a unique fruit tree. It had green balls that sort of looked like green tomatoes, but some of them were bigger than basketballs. It was really strange. There was also a little beach on a sand bar in the river that was completely separated from the mainland. But there were some enterprising people who would row you out to the beach for a fee. A lot of passengers did this, but Margie and Clay opted to stay on dry land. The square had a couple of souvenir shops and some restaurants as well as an old church. We bought some tee shirts and then started back. The new captain no longer lets you ride on top of the tender. This makes tender rides a hot affair in this weather.
In the evening we opted to have a room service meal and look at a DVD instead of going out to eat. The movie we saw was "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou". This was a Bill Murray spoof on Jacques Cousteau. The main reason we looked at it was the DVD cover had a picture of Bill Murray driving a small submarine and the picture looked just like Jean-Michel Cousteau who is currently on the ship talking about the Amazon. The movie is just kind of silly.
Alter do Chao photos
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Day 45 - February 17, 2008 - sailing the Amazon River
Entering the Amazon photos
Yesterday, we crossed North of the Equator about 4pm. Today, we crossed back South again. About 4am we entered the brown water of the Amazon River and we were 125 miles from the mouth of the river out in the Atlantic Ocean. Amazing. The Amazon is 200 miles wide at its mouth. There is an island in the mouth of the river, Marajo. It is the same size as Switzerland. We had to crossed the Equator to get around it and into a 10 mile wide channel that is deep enough to allow us into the river. The Amazon Basin is about the same size as the continental United States. It is a whole lotta water! We saw whole trees zipping by in the current as we entered the channel. In the early afternoon, we dropped anchor at a little resort-looking village called Macapa for a Technical Stop. That means that no passengers can get off the ship. We had to pick up a pilot and get cleared to go up the river by local Customs and Immigration officials. We were all in the Big Screen Movie, Martian Child, when the anchor came up so we must have gotten clear ok. At Macapa, we got buzzed repeatedly by small speedboats. That was weird.
At 7am, we were to begin our entry to the Amazon River with commentary by Terry Breen in the Observation Lounge and the open decks. We were not going to be suckered into that again. Clay went up to Observation Lounge after his walk, but Debbie and Margie missed nothing by turning on Channel 2 in the cabins and watching from the balcony. Terry talked for about an hour about nothing much, because there was nothing in sight! Just a lot of brown water and blue skies. Then there were the floating trees and logs and other plant life being flushed out.
So, it is Sunday and we only have 2 Sundays left onboard! Reality will be upon us before we know it. Yikes! The plan was to get up late and have special breakfast in Compass Rose. Margie awoke with a fever and stayed in her room. Debbie woke without a voice but felt a bit better. Clay is still healthy against all odds. Hurray! Clay and Debbie went to Compass Rose, no one had the champagne though. Debbie had Eggs Benedict (plural) and Clay caused a "situation" with his request for sausage patties, not links. We finally got what we ordered though. The man at the next table ordered Eggs Benedict too and he only got a singular egg. They told him if he wanted more than one he had to order 2 or a double. Debbie and Margie tried weeks ago to explain the whole singular/plural thing to them, but apparently it is part of the whole cost containment program aboard. Here's the thing though, if 1 day a week you put out a sign that says Eggs Benedict (notice the 'S'!) then that means 2 eggs already. Now, you can always order Egg(s) Benedict in Compass Rose any day of the week for breakfast. You can probably order it from room service and LaVeranda too, though we haven't tried. Then, well OK, maybe you need to specify one egg or two, but if the sign has an s, for eggs, plural that is at least 2 eggs, not 1 egg. Anyway... Debbie saw a single small dolphin (grey with a fin) jump clear out of the water from the window by our table. Debbie and Clay walked back to the aft deck at Horizon Lounge to check out the gull-like birds that were following the ship and fishing beside us. There must have been a hundred of them back there of at least 2 or 3 different kinds. When we first walked out, there was an enormous black moth, bigger than your spread hand, flapping against the ceiling trying to find a way out. He finally made it, at least to the next deck up and hopefully off the ship.
Debbie and Clay went to Terry Breen's 9:45am lecture and then back to the cabin. Margie had moved into our cabin so she could have her bed changed today. We arrived right after she had gotten back in her room and Aida was in ours. Margie and Debbie wanted to take a nap before lunch. With such smooth river sailing they both almost slept right through lunch! There was an American BBQ up on the Pool Deck, but it is so humid that Debbie said it hurt her to breathe and it was making Margie cough more, so we decided to stay indoors. We went to Compass Rose. Margie was amazed at the people who told her they had missed her and hoped she was better. Yesterday at lunch, a woman came to our table in LaVeranda and asked Debbie how her daughter was doing. Debbie told her she was the daughter, what? Clay walked back to the table and that moment and said louder, She is the daughter. The woman asking, laughed and said nevermind. The parents and grown daughter sitting at the next table, said, did you hear that, she is the daughter. Oh my God! It is possible that we have become characters! But, the point here is that Debbie looks old enough to be her own Mother?!? So, for the rest of the afternoon after the movie, our port side balconies were in the shade and other than the humidity it was pleasant and interesting to sit out there and watch the shore line go by. We saw some houses, some birds, and some people in canoes. We passed a small boat with 4 guys in it just waving and yelling. Hope they didn't need help because we didn't even slow down. We are passing through a whole maze of islands here. It should be dark in about 15 minutes by what they tell us. Terry said the sun pretty much always rises and sets at 6am and 6pm. Tonight is Country Club Casual. Since we are of unanimous opinion that the menus are pretty bad these last few days. So, we are planning to go up to LaVeranda and try out the Argentine Steakhouse/Churassco concept. We haven't heard anything about it yet. More later.
Debbie got her Doctor's bill today. $103.60. Diagnosis: Bronchitis. Visit was $90. Robitussin Chesty Syrup was $10. Sudafed Tabs (12) was $3.60. They must have forgotten that they also gave her some really awful throat lozenges. Since she can't keep one in her mouth long enough to find out if it helps, just as well. They are called Strepsils and Debbie says they burn her mouth. Clay says one side of his throat is starting to feel scratchy. So, he took one of the lozenges. It is unanimous, they are nasty.
Tonight we have to move our clocks back one hour. Ugh! Tomorrow we will anchor at Alter do Chao from 4:30pm to 8pm. Pasted below is the RSSC's website information from the Tour Desk for Alter do Chao.
Independent Exploration
Duration: Varies.
Walking.
Code: ALT-3636
The ship will anchor off Alter do Chao and you will proceed ashore by ship's tender. Upon arrival at the wooden pier located right in front of the main square, you can walk at your leisure one block up (approximately 150 feet) to the Arariba Shop which houses a small collection of indigenous arts and crafts from the area, some with historical significance on display and some for sale.
You can also explore the open-air fair for Indian and regional artifacts at the local square. There is good swimming here in the fresh waters of the Tapajos River for those who want to spend their time more leisurely. On this island you can also venture into the Amazon jungle on foot to explore the wildlife and see the many different species of plants that grow here.
Please note: The Center for the Preservation of Indigenous Art Culture and Science is closed until further notice.
So, not a busy day tomorrow. Plenty of time for people to rest and heal. Not sure if we will try to walk in the jungle or swim. It depends on how everyone is feeling tomorrow.
All of us did eat at the LaVeranda Churassco along with the same gentleman that accompanied Clay and Margie to Latitudes a couple of nights ago. The food was good and certainly plentiful. We started with a mix of cold and hot appetizers that included some local foods like manioc and empanadas. We then moved onto the meats that they carried around the room on skewers. They had at least 2 kinds of sausages, filet mignon, lamb, pork ribs, chicken and lobster. They had side dishes of french fries, rice or onion rings. They also walked around with garlic bread on big skewers. The food was good. The ship was a little wobbly though in the dark and the big skewers seemed a little more dangerous than they had on land.
Margie and Debbie are trying to stay up for a Liars club with the Captain, Cruise Director, Asst. Cruise Director and Social Hostess at 10:45 in the Horizon Lounge. We do turn back our clocks this evening, so they will have an extra hour to recover from the late night.
Entering the Amazon photos
Yesterday, we crossed North of the Equator about 4pm. Today, we crossed back South again. About 4am we entered the brown water of the Amazon River and we were 125 miles from the mouth of the river out in the Atlantic Ocean. Amazing. The Amazon is 200 miles wide at its mouth. There is an island in the mouth of the river, Marajo. It is the same size as Switzerland. We had to crossed the Equator to get around it and into a 10 mile wide channel that is deep enough to allow us into the river. The Amazon Basin is about the same size as the continental United States. It is a whole lotta water! We saw whole trees zipping by in the current as we entered the channel. In the early afternoon, we dropped anchor at a little resort-looking village called Macapa for a Technical Stop. That means that no passengers can get off the ship. We had to pick up a pilot and get cleared to go up the river by local Customs and Immigration officials. We were all in the Big Screen Movie, Martian Child, when the anchor came up so we must have gotten clear ok. At Macapa, we got buzzed repeatedly by small speedboats. That was weird.
At 7am, we were to begin our entry to the Amazon River with commentary by Terry Breen in the Observation Lounge and the open decks. We were not going to be suckered into that again. Clay went up to Observation Lounge after his walk, but Debbie and Margie missed nothing by turning on Channel 2 in the cabins and watching from the balcony. Terry talked for about an hour about nothing much, because there was nothing in sight! Just a lot of brown water and blue skies. Then there were the floating trees and logs and other plant life being flushed out.
So, it is Sunday and we only have 2 Sundays left onboard! Reality will be upon us before we know it. Yikes! The plan was to get up late and have special breakfast in Compass Rose. Margie awoke with a fever and stayed in her room. Debbie woke without a voice but felt a bit better. Clay is still healthy against all odds. Hurray! Clay and Debbie went to Compass Rose, no one had the champagne though. Debbie had Eggs Benedict (plural) and Clay caused a "situation" with his request for sausage patties, not links. We finally got what we ordered though. The man at the next table ordered Eggs Benedict too and he only got a singular egg. They told him if he wanted more than one he had to order 2 or a double. Debbie and Margie tried weeks ago to explain the whole singular/plural thing to them, but apparently it is part of the whole cost containment program aboard. Here's the thing though, if 1 day a week you put out a sign that says Eggs Benedict (notice the 'S'!) then that means 2 eggs already. Now, you can always order Egg(s) Benedict in Compass Rose any day of the week for breakfast. You can probably order it from room service and LaVeranda too, though we haven't tried. Then, well OK, maybe you need to specify one egg or two, but if the sign has an s, for eggs, plural that is at least 2 eggs, not 1 egg. Anyway... Debbie saw a single small dolphin (grey with a fin) jump clear out of the water from the window by our table. Debbie and Clay walked back to the aft deck at Horizon Lounge to check out the gull-like birds that were following the ship and fishing beside us. There must have been a hundred of them back there of at least 2 or 3 different kinds. When we first walked out, there was an enormous black moth, bigger than your spread hand, flapping against the ceiling trying to find a way out. He finally made it, at least to the next deck up and hopefully off the ship.
Debbie and Clay went to Terry Breen's 9:45am lecture and then back to the cabin. Margie had moved into our cabin so she could have her bed changed today. We arrived right after she had gotten back in her room and Aida was in ours. Margie and Debbie wanted to take a nap before lunch. With such smooth river sailing they both almost slept right through lunch! There was an American BBQ up on the Pool Deck, but it is so humid that Debbie said it hurt her to breathe and it was making Margie cough more, so we decided to stay indoors. We went to Compass Rose. Margie was amazed at the people who told her they had missed her and hoped she was better. Yesterday at lunch, a woman came to our table in LaVeranda and asked Debbie how her daughter was doing. Debbie told her she was the daughter, what? Clay walked back to the table and that moment and said louder, She is the daughter. The woman asking, laughed and said nevermind. The parents and grown daughter sitting at the next table, said, did you hear that, she is the daughter. Oh my God! It is possible that we have become characters! But, the point here is that Debbie looks old enough to be her own Mother?!? So, for the rest of the afternoon after the movie, our port side balconies were in the shade and other than the humidity it was pleasant and interesting to sit out there and watch the shore line go by. We saw some houses, some birds, and some people in canoes. We passed a small boat with 4 guys in it just waving and yelling. Hope they didn't need help because we didn't even slow down. We are passing through a whole maze of islands here. It should be dark in about 15 minutes by what they tell us. Terry said the sun pretty much always rises and sets at 6am and 6pm. Tonight is Country Club Casual. Since we are of unanimous opinion that the menus are pretty bad these last few days. So, we are planning to go up to LaVeranda and try out the Argentine Steakhouse/Churassco concept. We haven't heard anything about it yet. More later.
Debbie got her Doctor's bill today. $103.60. Diagnosis: Bronchitis. Visit was $90. Robitussin Chesty Syrup was $10. Sudafed Tabs (12) was $3.60. They must have forgotten that they also gave her some really awful throat lozenges. Since she can't keep one in her mouth long enough to find out if it helps, just as well. They are called Strepsils and Debbie says they burn her mouth. Clay says one side of his throat is starting to feel scratchy. So, he took one of the lozenges. It is unanimous, they are nasty.
Tonight we have to move our clocks back one hour. Ugh! Tomorrow we will anchor at Alter do Chao from 4:30pm to 8pm. Pasted below is the RSSC's website information from the Tour Desk for Alter do Chao.
Independent Exploration
Duration: Varies.
Walking.
Code: ALT-3636
The ship will anchor off Alter do Chao and you will proceed ashore by ship's tender. Upon arrival at the wooden pier located right in front of the main square, you can walk at your leisure one block up (approximately 150 feet) to the Arariba Shop which houses a small collection of indigenous arts and crafts from the area, some with historical significance on display and some for sale.
You can also explore the open-air fair for Indian and regional artifacts at the local square. There is good swimming here in the fresh waters of the Tapajos River for those who want to spend their time more leisurely. On this island you can also venture into the Amazon jungle on foot to explore the wildlife and see the many different species of plants that grow here.
Please note: The Center for the Preservation of Indigenous Art Culture and Science is closed until further notice.
So, not a busy day tomorrow. Plenty of time for people to rest and heal. Not sure if we will try to walk in the jungle or swim. It depends on how everyone is feeling tomorrow.
All of us did eat at the LaVeranda Churassco along with the same gentleman that accompanied Clay and Margie to Latitudes a couple of nights ago. The food was good and certainly plentiful. We started with a mix of cold and hot appetizers that included some local foods like manioc and empanadas. We then moved onto the meats that they carried around the room on skewers. They had at least 2 kinds of sausages, filet mignon, lamb, pork ribs, chicken and lobster. They had side dishes of french fries, rice or onion rings. They also walked around with garlic bread on big skewers. The food was good. The ship was a little wobbly though in the dark and the big skewers seemed a little more dangerous than they had on land.
Margie and Debbie are trying to stay up for a Liars club with the Captain, Cruise Director, Asst. Cruise Director and Social Hostess at 10:45 in the Horizon Lounge. We do turn back our clocks this evening, so they will have an extra hour to recover from the late night.
Entering the Amazon photos
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Day 44 - February 16, 2008 - at sea
No pictures on this sea day.
We are just below the equator now and should cross it about 4pm. Then we will recross it about 7am in the Amazon. We are about 60 miles off the coast of Brazil and land is not visible. The seas appear very calm but we are in some big rolling swells which has people staggering around like a shipful of drunks. Debbie woke without a fever today, but still felt awful. She showered and was ready for a big late Compass Rose weekend breakfast. She went into Margie's cabin to find her still in bed and warning not to get too cocky, because this thing will come back on you. Already it is feeling to Debbie like the awful bug on Voyager's WC and she knows all about the relapses.
Clay and Debbie went to breakfast alone and then Debbie went to the Doctor. He told her she has the "same as everyone else, a cold." He'll be pleased to know the woman behind Debbie in line was there for diarrhea, which she asked how to spell. We saw a lot of teams out sanitizing all the surfaces in the public spaces this morning and that at least is a good sign, whether it will do any good or not. We never saw it being done on Voyager when everyone was getting sick and it was worrisome. Debbie and Clay went to Terry Breen's 9:45am lecture on the Amazon River. Pretty amazing stuff. The mouth is over 200 miles across and the brown sedimented fresh water extends some 200 miles out into the Atlantic Ocean during rainy season, or now. The current coming downstream is about 5km/hr. The sediment does not clog up the mouth of the river because of the tides which can create 10-15 foot waves and keep it flushed out. Terry warned us about the giant bugs that will be attracted to the ship. Not looking forward to that. She asked us not to kill them, but to take photos. OK. Also, she mentioned that we should be conserving water because we cannot take on and treat water because of all the sediment, so we have to make do with what is onboard until Manaus. Which reminds me, Debbie ordered a bowl of raspberries at breakfast since Clay and Margie had watched truckloads of produce being loaded yesterday and she was told there are none onboard. Oh, well. Chocolate croissants though were available today. While we were out we received new hosted table invitations. We are dining on the next Formal night, Tuesday, Feb. 19 with HR Manager Deborah Bennett and Ast. F&B Manager Leser Woodfall. \
They were having a Best of Brazil BBQ on the Pool Deck for lunch. We went. Clay ate it and he said the fish was good but the shrimp bobo was nasty. He only ate half of the sausage that he picked up. Margie had gone up and bolted back to her cabin before getting anything. The coughing/gagging reflex of this sore throat thing combined with the heavy rolling of the ship up on the top deck was just too much. Debbie managed a half-cup of bouillon with a roll, a coke and a small bowl of ice cream. Clay plans to go to the Popcorn Movie, "The Brave One." Debbie and Margie are napping again. The Compass Rose menu this evening is not too appealing. LaVeranda is Churrasco again. Ludovic told Clay and Margie not to go to this one the first night because he was afraid it would be overwhelmed, but it started out slow according to him. No idea what happened later, Not sure what we will do for dinner tonight either. Tonight is Informal.
Late in the afternoon, we saw large squadrons of flying fish off our balcony. They were the little ones that take off is large numbers. Even though the ship is moving around a lot, the sea looks glassy making it easy to spot the flying fish.
This evening, Margie and Debbie were still feeling sick, so we stayed in our room and watched a movie. Margie skipped dinner altogether, Debbie had a ham and cheese sandwich and Clay had a hamburger. Here's hoping that everyone will feel better tomorrow.
Day 43 - February 15, 2008 - Fortaleza, Brazil
Fortaleza photos
Morning came with Debbie taking her turn at being under the weather. She has the same cough, congestion and general malaise that had Margie in bed yesterday. Margie is feeling better, but Debbie is out for the day. She woke with chills and a fever of 101.5F.
We arrived in Fortaleza and the ship was docked on the port side before 7am, its scheduled arrival time. But for some reason, no passenegers started leaving until after 8am. Everybody was taking it easy in this port. Margie and Clay went to breakfast around 7:30 and sat on the outside deck at LaVeranda. It was a windy setting. We saw 4 wind turbines as we cruised in and they were still visible as we ate our breakfast in the breezy place. The breeze was the only redeeming feature weather-wise as it was hot and muggy otherwise.
We were on the first shuttle bus into town and it left the ship at 8:30am as no one wanted to take the originally scheduled 8am bus. Fortaleza is a large city of maybe 1.5 million people. It is spread out along the Atlantic coast. The bus ride was about 20-25 minutes and ended at the Mercado Central. The Mercado is a 4 story building with crafts, food, leather, woven goods and T-shirts. Prices are negotiable. Margie and Clay first walked down a block to the Catedral Metropolitana, a large church inspired by the old Cathedral in Cologne, Germany. The Fortaleza version is smaller than the Cologne version, but they do look the same. We then walked a couple of blocks further to the Nosso Senhora do Rosario church. This church was built by slaves in the 18th century. We then continued our walk for another 6-8 blocks, ending in a park right before the main bus terminal. Inside the park, we asked a woman in an office type structure to point out where we were on a map we had. She said just a moment in Portuguese and went off to find an English speaker.She came back with a young woman who tried to point out where we were on a map. The problem was that the map did not have all the streets. So, we never did find where we were on a map. The women did say that Clay should not be walking around with a camera on his neck. We took this as a good reason to walk directly back to the Mercado area. The shopping was uniform in nature in that there were specific areas for a trade. One block would be only book stores, another only dentists, another a shoe area. It was a little strange.
On the way back to the bus, we witnessed the police bringing in some prisoners. They were armed to the teeth and major scary. When we finally got back to the market, we stopped and had a beer and Sprite. We also spent about an hour shopping in the Mercado. There was a sorbet place that Clay was craving after hearing about them in Salvador. They are sorvetterias and you pick all the flavors you want and they sell it to you by the kilo. Clay got the strange fruit flavors. Margie got chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. Margie did not think it was as good as the ice cream in Argentina, so Clay ate hers too. Clay thought it was all cold and that was all he cared about.
Debbie was still sick in bed when Margie and Clay got back from town around 12:30. Debbie would remain there all day. Margie and Clay caught a quick lunch up in LaVeranda. Ludovic stopped by and discussed the change over in LaVeranda that evening from Italian Steakhouse to Brazilian Steakhouse. He said he was losing about 30% of the dining capacity because he had to remove tables for the grill area. He thought that this would mean not everyone showing up for the first night would be able to eat there. We told him we had reservations at Latitudes that evening and would wait a few days before we tried the Brazilian Seakhouse. He said good.
Marge and Clay saw the popcorn movie in the afternoon as we sailed away from Fortaleza, The movie was "Dan in Real Life". It was a cute movie that Clay had seen in Raleigh, but as with all movies and books, even the second or third time he sees or reads them, they are still new to him.
The evening ended with Debbie still in bed trying to shake her sickness. Margie and Clay had dinner in Latitudes with a man who lives close to Margie in southwest Florida. The menu was the same Indochine menu we had before. It was good. Everyone had an early night to bed and now we have 2 quiet sea days to rest up.
Fortaleza photos
Morning came with Debbie taking her turn at being under the weather. She has the same cough, congestion and general malaise that had Margie in bed yesterday. Margie is feeling better, but Debbie is out for the day. She woke with chills and a fever of 101.5F.
We arrived in Fortaleza and the ship was docked on the port side before 7am, its scheduled arrival time. But for some reason, no passenegers started leaving until after 8am. Everybody was taking it easy in this port. Margie and Clay went to breakfast around 7:30 and sat on the outside deck at LaVeranda. It was a windy setting. We saw 4 wind turbines as we cruised in and they were still visible as we ate our breakfast in the breezy place. The breeze was the only redeeming feature weather-wise as it was hot and muggy otherwise.
We were on the first shuttle bus into town and it left the ship at 8:30am as no one wanted to take the originally scheduled 8am bus. Fortaleza is a large city of maybe 1.5 million people. It is spread out along the Atlantic coast. The bus ride was about 20-25 minutes and ended at the Mercado Central. The Mercado is a 4 story building with crafts, food, leather, woven goods and T-shirts. Prices are negotiable. Margie and Clay first walked down a block to the Catedral Metropolitana, a large church inspired by the old Cathedral in Cologne, Germany. The Fortaleza version is smaller than the Cologne version, but they do look the same. We then walked a couple of blocks further to the Nosso Senhora do Rosario church. This church was built by slaves in the 18th century. We then continued our walk for another 6-8 blocks, ending in a park right before the main bus terminal. Inside the park, we asked a woman in an office type structure to point out where we were on a map we had. She said just a moment in Portuguese and went off to find an English speaker.She came back with a young woman who tried to point out where we were on a map. The problem was that the map did not have all the streets. So, we never did find where we were on a map. The women did say that Clay should not be walking around with a camera on his neck. We took this as a good reason to walk directly back to the Mercado area. The shopping was uniform in nature in that there were specific areas for a trade. One block would be only book stores, another only dentists, another a shoe area. It was a little strange.
On the way back to the bus, we witnessed the police bringing in some prisoners. They were armed to the teeth and major scary. When we finally got back to the market, we stopped and had a beer and Sprite. We also spent about an hour shopping in the Mercado. There was a sorbet place that Clay was craving after hearing about them in Salvador. They are sorvetterias and you pick all the flavors you want and they sell it to you by the kilo. Clay got the strange fruit flavors. Margie got chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. Margie did not think it was as good as the ice cream in Argentina, so Clay ate hers too. Clay thought it was all cold and that was all he cared about.
Debbie was still sick in bed when Margie and Clay got back from town around 12:30. Debbie would remain there all day. Margie and Clay caught a quick lunch up in LaVeranda. Ludovic stopped by and discussed the change over in LaVeranda that evening from Italian Steakhouse to Brazilian Steakhouse. He said he was losing about 30% of the dining capacity because he had to remove tables for the grill area. He thought that this would mean not everyone showing up for the first night would be able to eat there. We told him we had reservations at Latitudes that evening and would wait a few days before we tried the Brazilian Seakhouse. He said good.
Marge and Clay saw the popcorn movie in the afternoon as we sailed away from Fortaleza, The movie was "Dan in Real Life". It was a cute movie that Clay had seen in Raleigh, but as with all movies and books, even the second or third time he sees or reads them, they are still new to him.
The evening ended with Debbie still in bed trying to shake her sickness. Margie and Clay had dinner in Latitudes with a man who lives close to Margie in southwest Florida. The menu was the same Indochine menu we had before. It was good. Everyone had an early night to bed and now we have 2 quiet sea days to rest up.
Fortaleza photos
Day 42 - February 14, 2008 - at sea
Sea Day photos
Happy Valentine's Day! Hopefully, today our Valentine's Day gift from RSSC will be an afternoon of Internet access! Fingers crossed. Other than that according to Passages the only observance of this special holiday will be Romantic Stargazing. Margie is not too pleased with that but we all plan to stay up late to participate anyway and hope the romance theme does not override the stargazing possibilities as we approach the Equator again.
Margie is still not feeling well and is now running a low fever. She stayed in bed or in her room today. Debbie and Clay went out for early breakfast again so Debbie could go to morning exercise classes. Sadly, in addition to no raspberries there were also no chocolate croissants. Debbie only had coffee and Clay had a bowl of Rice Krispies cereal. Debbie did all the laundry on Deck 10 after morning exercise classes. There was a Rossini BBQ on the Pool Deck at lunch. You never know what that means. So, Debbie and Clay went up and found them grilling lobster tails and chicken thighs and fish fillets. We weren't really interested and it was really hot and humid up there. Capt. Delavault was cooking crepes for dessert with a French waitress but we went down to Compass Rose instead. We came back up for dessert crepes later. It was still really hot and humid, but there were some seats available in the shade now. We got our single crepe each and could fill it ourselves from bowls with seedless raspberry jam, chocolate sundae syrup, caramel sundae syrup, maple syrup, brown or white sugar. Capt. Phillipe has a good flipping technique.
We plan to go to LaVeranda for dinner with the Italian Steakhouse menu tonight if everyone is up to dinner later. Tomorrow it sounds like LaVeranda will become a churrascaria. One of those places with the grilled meats. We'll see. Also, Latitudes has been Indochine for the past 3 nights and is now Asia Fusion or something like that. We have not made any reservations yet. Latitudes has been packed the past couple of nights and Debbie has heard complaints in exercise class about people on this segment not being able to get reservations in the specialty restaurants. If we get anything new or different, we'll report it here. The show in the theater tonight is a Latin singer, Peter Fernandez. Not sure if anyone will be going.
We have been slowly treading water up the coast of Brazil today. Capt. Delavault announced at noon that he is adjusting speed to be on schedule to pick up the pilot tomorrow morning at 6am and expects to be on time in Fortaleza at 7am. We still have no plans here and it will just have to stay that way and we'll figure something out on arrival. The 2 ship's excursions here are not appealing to us. A city highlights tour for 3.5 hours at $42pp. Ride the Cumbuco Beach sand dunes in 4-wheel vehicles for 4 hours for $72pp. So, we'll just have to see how everyone is feeling tomorrow and what we can find to do after we arrive. From here on out most of our ports are very small places without a lot of tourist infrastructure.
The coastline is more distant, or not visible at all today. The weather is hotter still and we are about 4 degrees below the Equator. The seas are rougher. Yesterday they were about 3 feet and today at noon the Captain said they were about 7 feet. Since we are only going about 12 knots and apparently without the stabilizers deployed we are feeling it today. As the afternoon wore on, we got some rolling swells too and the side to side rolling was pretty pronounced.
Internet did show back up, though intermittently around 4:30, but it was so temperamental that we could not get any pictures downloaded before dinner.
Clay and Debbie did make it to LaVeranda for dinner. It was not too crowded as most people seemed to be eating elsewhere. Margie opted for a quarantined room service broth and macaroni & cheese so she would not infect anyone else. She said the M&C was good. Chimi, the maitre'd at LaVeranda gave Debbie a red rose at the end of the meal. It seemed that every woman was getting one that evening in all the restaurants. Debbie was the first to get one as we finished our meal very early, before 8pm. That meant we had to kill 2 and half hours before the star gazing. We spent it uploading our Iguazu Falls and Salvador pictures. It worked out perfectly to fill the time. Getting the pictures uploaded is a matter of luck, patience, perseverance and holding your mouth right as the bits fly by. Margie got her rose delivered by room service. In addition to our regular bed chocolates tonight, each cabin also got a small red foil-wrapped chocolate heart.
About 10:30pm, we all headed up to the Observation Lounge for the Star Gazing. There were about 10-15 people there we got there and sat about 4 empty rows away from a stand that held a hand-drawn book of poster paper with constellations on them. There was a very nervous 2nd Officer, Jean-Renaud, who was going to led the gazing. When the 10:45 time arrived, there were 50-60 people present and all the empty rows were filled, and the 2nd Officer was even more nervous. There was a Star Watch handout available, but not enough for all the people present. David, the assistant cruise director, introduced the 2nd officer. David said that they were not expecting this many people for the gazing. In fact, he said that this was the most people he had ever seen up this late. He put a sign-up sheet at the back of the room so he could provide copies of the Star Watch booklet to everyone present. He also said we would get Star Gazing certificates. Jean-Renaud did a good job. His nervousness wore off as he got to showing us the stars. The first 5-10 minutes of the discussion was done in the lounge using the posters. He also showed us one of the two sextants that they had on the bridge and a star chart as well. Some woman made a joke trying to calm Jean's nerves. She said that Jean should not be nervous as he definitely knew more about navigation and the stars than anybody else in the room. But then David said thatthe Captain was at the back of the room and everyone turned around to look and Capt. Phillipe waved and everyone started laughing.
When the outside portion of the gazing started, they totally darkened deck 12 and also most of deck 11. So it was darker than when we were up on deck 12 earlier in the trip looking for the Southern Cross ourselves. We first saw Orion's belt which are about the most obvious three stars in the sky. Jean pointed out several other constellations and then finally the Southern Cross. It was what we had spotted earlier. The gazing lasted almost an hour. As we left, we passed Terry Breen and the Captain. Terry Stopped Debbie and told her that see her persistence had finally paid off and the Captain chatted about what we had seen and the surprising crowd and that he was glad that Jean-Renaud had volunteered to do this and about the Certificates that he would be issuing. There was a half moon directly in front of the ship and a few wispy clouds that came and went that detracted a little from what we saw, but it was still a good evening. We missed star gazing in the crystal clear, moonless skies off the Chilean coast, but we did get a pretty good evening here and we were glad for the opportunity.
Sea Day photos
Happy Valentine's Day! Hopefully, today our Valentine's Day gift from RSSC will be an afternoon of Internet access! Fingers crossed. Other than that according to Passages the only observance of this special holiday will be Romantic Stargazing. Margie is not too pleased with that but we all plan to stay up late to participate anyway and hope the romance theme does not override the stargazing possibilities as we approach the Equator again.
Margie is still not feeling well and is now running a low fever. She stayed in bed or in her room today. Debbie and Clay went out for early breakfast again so Debbie could go to morning exercise classes. Sadly, in addition to no raspberries there were also no chocolate croissants. Debbie only had coffee and Clay had a bowl of Rice Krispies cereal. Debbie did all the laundry on Deck 10 after morning exercise classes. There was a Rossini BBQ on the Pool Deck at lunch. You never know what that means. So, Debbie and Clay went up and found them grilling lobster tails and chicken thighs and fish fillets. We weren't really interested and it was really hot and humid up there. Capt. Delavault was cooking crepes for dessert with a French waitress but we went down to Compass Rose instead. We came back up for dessert crepes later. It was still really hot and humid, but there were some seats available in the shade now. We got our single crepe each and could fill it ourselves from bowls with seedless raspberry jam, chocolate sundae syrup, caramel sundae syrup, maple syrup, brown or white sugar. Capt. Phillipe has a good flipping technique.
We plan to go to LaVeranda for dinner with the Italian Steakhouse menu tonight if everyone is up to dinner later. Tomorrow it sounds like LaVeranda will become a churrascaria. One of those places with the grilled meats. We'll see. Also, Latitudes has been Indochine for the past 3 nights and is now Asia Fusion or something like that. We have not made any reservations yet. Latitudes has been packed the past couple of nights and Debbie has heard complaints in exercise class about people on this segment not being able to get reservations in the specialty restaurants. If we get anything new or different, we'll report it here. The show in the theater tonight is a Latin singer, Peter Fernandez. Not sure if anyone will be going.
We have been slowly treading water up the coast of Brazil today. Capt. Delavault announced at noon that he is adjusting speed to be on schedule to pick up the pilot tomorrow morning at 6am and expects to be on time in Fortaleza at 7am. We still have no plans here and it will just have to stay that way and we'll figure something out on arrival. The 2 ship's excursions here are not appealing to us. A city highlights tour for 3.5 hours at $42pp. Ride the Cumbuco Beach sand dunes in 4-wheel vehicles for 4 hours for $72pp. So, we'll just have to see how everyone is feeling tomorrow and what we can find to do after we arrive. From here on out most of our ports are very small places without a lot of tourist infrastructure.
The coastline is more distant, or not visible at all today. The weather is hotter still and we are about 4 degrees below the Equator. The seas are rougher. Yesterday they were about 3 feet and today at noon the Captain said they were about 7 feet. Since we are only going about 12 knots and apparently without the stabilizers deployed we are feeling it today. As the afternoon wore on, we got some rolling swells too and the side to side rolling was pretty pronounced.
Internet did show back up, though intermittently around 4:30, but it was so temperamental that we could not get any pictures downloaded before dinner.
Clay and Debbie did make it to LaVeranda for dinner. It was not too crowded as most people seemed to be eating elsewhere. Margie opted for a quarantined room service broth and macaroni & cheese so she would not infect anyone else. She said the M&C was good. Chimi, the maitre'd at LaVeranda gave Debbie a red rose at the end of the meal. It seemed that every woman was getting one that evening in all the restaurants. Debbie was the first to get one as we finished our meal very early, before 8pm. That meant we had to kill 2 and half hours before the star gazing. We spent it uploading our Iguazu Falls and Salvador pictures. It worked out perfectly to fill the time. Getting the pictures uploaded is a matter of luck, patience, perseverance and holding your mouth right as the bits fly by. Margie got her rose delivered by room service. In addition to our regular bed chocolates tonight, each cabin also got a small red foil-wrapped chocolate heart.
About 10:30pm, we all headed up to the Observation Lounge for the Star Gazing. There were about 10-15 people there we got there and sat about 4 empty rows away from a stand that held a hand-drawn book of poster paper with constellations on them. There was a very nervous 2nd Officer, Jean-Renaud, who was going to led the gazing. When the 10:45 time arrived, there were 50-60 people present and all the empty rows were filled, and the 2nd Officer was even more nervous. There was a Star Watch handout available, but not enough for all the people present. David, the assistant cruise director, introduced the 2nd officer. David said that they were not expecting this many people for the gazing. In fact, he said that this was the most people he had ever seen up this late. He put a sign-up sheet at the back of the room so he could provide copies of the Star Watch booklet to everyone present. He also said we would get Star Gazing certificates. Jean-Renaud did a good job. His nervousness wore off as he got to showing us the stars. The first 5-10 minutes of the discussion was done in the lounge using the posters. He also showed us one of the two sextants that they had on the bridge and a star chart as well. Some woman made a joke trying to calm Jean's nerves. She said that Jean should not be nervous as he definitely knew more about navigation and the stars than anybody else in the room. But then David said thatthe Captain was at the back of the room and everyone turned around to look and Capt. Phillipe waved and everyone started laughing.
When the outside portion of the gazing started, they totally darkened deck 12 and also most of deck 11. So it was darker than when we were up on deck 12 earlier in the trip looking for the Southern Cross ourselves. We first saw Orion's belt which are about the most obvious three stars in the sky. Jean pointed out several other constellations and then finally the Southern Cross. It was what we had spotted earlier. The gazing lasted almost an hour. As we left, we passed Terry Breen and the Captain. Terry Stopped Debbie and told her that see her persistence had finally paid off and the Captain chatted about what we had seen and the surprising crowd and that he was glad that Jean-Renaud had volunteered to do this and about the Certificates that he would be issuing. There was a half moon directly in front of the ship and a few wispy clouds that came and went that detracted a little from what we saw, but it was still a good evening. We missed star gazing in the crystal clear, moonless skies off the Chilean coast, but we did get a pretty good evening here and we were glad for the opportunity.
Sea Day photos
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