Month: January 2024

at Sea

We are heading almost directly west to Hawaii. We were able to make a tee time in Kona. It is going to be cooler and should be nice for golf. Two stops on the big island of Hawaii, Kona and Hilo and then over to Oahu with a stop in Honolulu. It’s amazing how things have changed with starlink. Booking or calling from the ship at a reasonable rate was just not possible before.

The resort in Manzanillo was featured on “Lifestyle’s of the Rich and Famous” back in the day. It’s amazing how things change over the years. I can still hear Robin Leach.

The Pacific Ocean is very calm compared to the Atlantic and I can tell we are not going top speed. The sun is still rising in the rear of the ship and it is a nice view from our balcony.

There are lots of talks on the main stage about the ports in Hawaii. We have already been to Hawaii numerous times and this is the reason for golf. Hawaii is nice but it is so far from home. It is much easier to head directly south from Michigan and spend some time in the Caribbean if you are seeking reprieve from the cold winter weather. Not enough upsides in Hawaii to spend the travel time necessary.

We haven’t decided what we are going to do in Africa yet. We are waiting for the HAL excursions to be updated. Maybe another safari.

Dinner is always a great experience. The chilled soup that is served tastes like dessert. Blueberry or banana or blackberry. I like to start and finish my meal with dessert.

Comedian Jose Sarduy performed on the mainstage. His shared his many life experiences being a Cuban American growing up in Miami. He was nearly 40 but looked like he was 12. This added even more humor to his act.…

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Puerto Vallarta is a big tourist destination unlike Manzanillo. Today we decided to get the items we needed at the Walmart that was right across the street from the ship, and then walk into the old section of town.

We arrived at 8 am and it was a big day for shopping for both passengers and crew. We headed over to Walmart to hopefully purchase more golf balls. No pelotas de golf found here. Unfortunate. We bought some coffee and a few other items and dropped them back off at the ship.

We headed out on our walk at about 10 am. About 4.5 miles to Old Town Vallarta. Walk was ok but like other parts of Mexico, keep your eyes on the sidewalk. Many holes and other traps to collect legs and other spare body parts. There was even a walkway next to a 15 ft drop into absolute muck. No safety rail, no sign, no nothing.

We arrived in the old section just in time for lunch. Lots of gringos here. Bald men with pony tails. That tells me a lot. Ship people are obvious here. They seem to share a similar look. Maybe its the goofy hat but I believe goes beyond that.

Lunch was very good. I had a steak burrito and Terri the nachos. I had a Bohemia Oscura beer and Terri some wine. We spent about an hour relaxing here and then visited some of the shops. The call for tequila tasting was everywhere.

This picture shows shops and cobblestone street. Nice area. Nice weather.

We spent an hour amongst the shops and started the walk back. All aboard was 4:30 and we arrived back about 3. A letter in our mailbox was the information we were expecting. An itinerary change. No Red Sea or Suez Canal. That meant no India, Oman, Dubai, Italy, Spain. Instead we would go around the southern tip of Africa. There is no other way. Not enough time to go into the Mediterranean from the west side. This was a huge disappointment and we would be visiting many of the same ports that we visited on our trip around Africa last year.

After dinner, we started cancelling all of the tours we had already booked. About 6 months of work. I know that some folks did not go on this cruise because of the potential of changes in the itinerary. To do that, trip insurance must be purchased. It is not cheap. It is over 10k but it does allow one to cancel for any reason.

…

Manzanillo, Mexico

Today we arrived in Manzanillo, Mexico. We decided after reviewing all of our options that we would play a round of golf. Las Hadas was the closest course and were able to book a 2 pm tee time.

The ship had a later than usually arrival time and we were able to get off the ship a bit after noon. This gave us the opportunity to have breakfast and lunch on the ship.

There was a long pier for the ship. We collected our clubs at guest services and were on our way. Long walk off the pier and then we did manage to secure a taxi for the 10 mile drive. Much more reasonable here than the other locations we hired a taxi for. $15 out and $15 back. Raul spoke no English but I managed to communicate that he could come back to get us at 6 pm.

I had learned earlier in the week that Manzanillo was made famous by being the location that the 1979 movie starring Bo Derek and Dudley Moore “10” was filmed. What I didn’t realize was that the course we played was at the Las Hadas Resort that was made world famous by the production. I never thought much of the movie but it did make Bo Derek, the cornrow hairstyle, and Ravel’s “Bolero” famous.

We met the golf pro Jaime that I chatted with yesterday. We questioned the high price for a round of golf and only managed to get use of the driving range for free. Jaime recommended a caddy since the course was not marked well. We didn’t use the caddy. Jaime said it is a challenging course and 14 of the 18 holes have water hazards.

We followed the driving range attendant to the range and met another golfer that obviously was not Mexican. He was from Alberta, Canada but now lived here permanently 6 months out of the year. Our first clue about the condition of the course came from this gentlemen and the range attendant. There were no balls ready for us on the range. The attendant took a shag bag and his cart and proceeded to pick up balls using the shag bag. The Canadian told us how the course was built after the filming of the movie and it was absolutely beautiful. Hard times hit and the course went into a slump. An investor purchased it and decided to put some money into it. I got the feeling that this golfer lived down here because it was famous 45 years ago. Maybe he thought he would find Bo Derek here. The city of Manzanillo saw no signs of being famous and neither did the resort. The golfer I chatted with joked about how many balls he loses on this course during a game.

I did a search of the course from the 1970s and it looked beautiful. The many stone bridges that went over a river that flowed through the course now only went over weeds. The pumps that kept the water flowing are not running and some of the bridges had collapsed.

The greens weren’t bad, the fairways were ok but if a ball went off the fairway, good luck finding it. If I ever play this course again, I’ll be sure to bring a wheelbarrow full of balls.

We did enjoy our round of play and our many jokes about the condition of the course. I had asked Jaime if we were going to have the course to ourselves and he said that the members will start to show up later in the afternoon. We had the course to ourselves. No members showed.

We finished about 5:30 and stopped in the clubhouse for a drink. Raul showed up on time and took us back. We had dinner back on the ship and finished with some cards on the Lido while the ship left for our next destination, Puerto Vallarta. We arrive tomorrow at 8 am and then a 6 day cruise to Hawaii follows.…

at Sea

Roughest time at sea yet. About 1 am through 6 am. Cupboards opening and slamming and things sliding off the desk. Better than zip lining.

We spent the morning in the gym and decided to golf in Manzanillo after all. We will apply the full nelson after we arrive at the pro shop for a better deal. Highly unlikely but it will be fun trying.

Team trivia had a nice prize for the spa. We were close but no winner. I was able to name the director of three films, one being the ClockWork Orange. Stanley Kubrick. We knew the numbers of brothers and sisters in the sound of music but were unable to name more than two of them. That question was worth 8 points. Killer question. What is name of the tune with the line “those were the best days of our lives”. We couldn’t come up with the Summer of 69.

Susie joined us for dinner since Clare would be watching football. Fascinating life story. She grew up Norther Ontario but spent time all over Canada. Up in the Yukon. Bears in the backyard, log splitting 4 cord for heat. Run to the store? 4 to 5 hours away. She also lived in a city that had only air service. No roads except in the winter when you can drive across the lake. She was a medivac nurse. Her husband has been gone about 7 years and she has been cruising for about 4 years.

After dinner, we decided to skip the evening entertainment and watch the Lions and 49ers. Lots of 49er fans in the Gallery bar. We traded being sad. First half for them, second half for us.…

at Sea

We are still heading somewhat west as the sunrise it right out our window. We are hauling. As fast as a cruise ship can go. Maybe 18 mph. We are supposed to have a rough night as the area we will be traveling through has some major swells.

We called some golf courses in Mexico. They are above our level of play. We don’t think we are good enough to pay $300 – $400 for a round of golf. We are going to pass on golf in Mexico. We have two stops. First stop is Manzanillo and the second is Puerto Vallarta. The excitement for the for the first stop for many passengers is the Super Walmart which is located closed to the pier. We have been on the ship for about 25 days and there are things we need. Medicines are difficult to find in other countries, especially over the counter. They don’t have the same ingredients, they have different names, or they don’t exist.

We planned the two stops during lunch today since golf is off the list. We will do a hike in Manzanillo and in Puerto Vallarta we will visit old town.

Group trivia was interesting. Most we could answer. 3 points for what LAN stands for in computer network lingo. The sea that separates Turkey and Russia. We missed the ABBA tune that is spelled the same forward and backward. Mama Mia didn’t work. Here is the question for all time. What are the names of the three wise men? We tried Jeff, Clare and Richard but that didn’t work. Mary said we have got to get our guys to go to church. I told her I went to catholic school for 12 years and also taught at a Catholic University. I didn’t even know the wise men had names.

What better thing to do at 3 in the afternoon than an ice cream social? We were on the Lido early because we knew the line would wrap around the ship. There was a barbershop quartet near the Sea View bar but the crowd really kept us from enjoying it. The ice cream and toppings were great!

Dinner time is an experience. Every single employee that you pass welcomes you when you walk in and thanks you for coming on the way out. If they know your name, they use it. It’s hard to unlearn this kind of treatment when we get back home. Here everyone is using English as a second language and the folks that serve us back home struggle with their first and only language. I know it is a business and this is their model. It is the reason that so many come back and do this again.

Rumors about a change in itinerary are floating around the ship. Some think we may go around Africa. HAL is supposed to make a decision soon as we pick up a new Captain in Honolulu.

The evening entertainment was vocalist and comedienne Michelle Montouri. Beautiful and powerful voice. She did some Bond tunes, a few Carpenters numbers, Etta James. Wonderful performance. Her humor was ok. Unlike Chris Pendleton who is very striking and thin but for stage reasons had on a fat suit, Michelle had on no such costume but appeared similar. It was a distraction to her voice. I would reconsider my costume. Voice 10. Act was an 8.…

Costa Rica

We arrived to Costa Rica about 6:30 am and the ship was cleared and set to tender about 7:00 am. We made it down and boarded the tender about 7:15 and the tender ride was about 15 minutes. It was already very hot and humid.

Our driver met us about 8 am in the marina. The ride over to the Manuel Antonio National Park was about 15 minutes. There is a limited number of tickets sold each day. Fortunately we set up this tour many months before we even left home.

Our tour guide was Manuel. It was his tour company and he had 4 other guides working with other guests. 6 of us went with Manuel. He was extremely knowledgable about all of the wild life we saw in the park. He carried a spotter scope and was able to shoot video using it. He took most of the best photos and videos and air dropped them to us at the end of the tour. It was a 3 hour tour in the park and we commented that we saw so much more wildlife than we did in the Amazon.

One of the more interesting things out side of the wildlife was the young lady that opposite me in the group photo. She was a tech consultant who lived in Chicago. She quit her job to go see the world and told us it is no longer a negative when you have large gaps on your resume. She would be staying Costa Rica through March. I guess a lot has happened to the world since I last worked full time. Maybe lack of responsibilities leads to this but I know by the time I was her age I was already in the midst of my teaching career and had two children. No one dared to quit a job with those kind of responsibilities.

We said our goodbyes and decided to have lunch back in the marina. Great food and drink. I don’t know what I thought Costa Rica would be like but this wasn’t it. Obviously lots of money here, at least in the marina.

The Captain spoke around dinner time and said that he will need all 4 engines and favorable currents to get to the next port of Manzanillo, Mexico. Our goal is to play golf nothing booked yet.

The evening entertainment was the return of Chris Pendleton. She came out in her fat attire and cracked more eating jokes. She also sang and played some amazing electric violin. Second show was as good as the first!…

at Sea

Today I decided to go to the medical center about my knee. One step on the treadmill did it. Probably meniscus tear. Same knee I had scoped years ago. I’m really having difficulty walking. Now I fell like I really belong on this ship.

Medical center is amazing. No appointment. No line. No insurance so no government BS. Everything is quick and to the point. Amazing what can be done when you aren’t trying to push the payment of your medical care onto someone else.

Doc did a couple of twists and turns of the knee. No pain. Probably not a tendon or ligament tear then. Good news. Knee feels tight as it should. Precautionary x-ray was done. Doc says he sees nothing to be concerned about on the ship. Gave some meds and knee brace. If I continued with pain he would help schedule an off ship trip to the doc.

I joked with the nurse that this is the future of health care. Ships in international waters that have no government BS to deal with. Insurance can go back to how they used to operate. Risk sharing for major health issues. The nurse laughed but she may not see what we do at home.

Group trivia was not a complete failure and we did score near the top. Literature is probably my worst topic. Science is definitely my strongest. We did know that Springfield was the town the Simpson’s live in. This quote is attributed to who “The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work”. My guess was Thomas Edison, Mary guessed Ben Franklin. The team went with Ben Franklin. The answer? Thomas Edison. We missed Hemingway’s first book. You will have to look it up. I still don’t remember. We know the animal that the Swedes made from the words for whale and horse. Walrus.

This after noon we sat out by the Lido pool. The roof in this area can be opened and closed. It can be a really nice sitting out there. I haven’t done laps in the pool yet. I’ll wait on the knee. It is small but it may work. I did the eye the comedienne from the other night sitting by the pool. Her stage disguise was perfect. There she looked overweight and had a long blond wig on. Here she was quite thin with long grayish hair but couldn’t hide the smile she has. I wouldn’t say she is famous but I know that the musicians and other entertainers just want to be left alone. Other than her weight, she was able to fit in with the rest of the passengers quite easily.

In the Lido, the staff prepared a collection of “flour-less” cakes. These events can draw long lines. It’s tough when it has been over an hour since your last feeding. This station overs some kind of international food everyday at lunch. Brazilian, Mexican, Costa Rican….

Dinner was outstanding as usual. After every dinner, one of the kitchen or dining room staff will come to the table to ask how the meal was. The dining room manager, the head chef, assistant head chef, many sous chefs, the cellar master and the sommelier have all come to the table. We haven’t had a complaint, only compliments.

Tomorrow is Costa Rica and it is a tender port. We booked a tour through trip advisor and our pickup time is 8 pm. We move the clock another hour back and we will be on central time. A national park is our destination. It will be our first time to Costa Rica and we are unsure of what to expect. I did manage to contact the tour director on whatsapp to confirm our pickup time and location.

…

Panama Canal

Large pictures and videos. Patience on loading. The last video was still rendering but it is worth coming back to see it.

Today we arrived for our transit through the Panama Canal. We have an appointed time of 7:30 am. By 7 am, passengers were already out on the main part of the open bow to see ( or was it to get the famous Panama Canal muffins?) the canal. It is really underwhelming. There is no huge sign that says “Welcome to the Panama Canal”. You could easily go by it and never know you missed it. This photo is off of our balcony on the back of the ship looking east.

The canal is an engineering marvel. Ships are raised up to the man made Gatun Lake. The ships transverse the lake and then are lowered back down to the ocean. It doesn’t matter which side the ship comes from, Atlantic or Pacific. The process is the same.

The canal begins just beyond the Puente Atlantico bridge. Notice every passenger has a muffin.

This photo shows the entrance to the first lock. Three locks up, three locks down. Estimated transit time through the canal is 10 hours. Look carefully and notice the container ship on the right being raised in the first lock and another ship on the left being lowered. This is the entrance to the world famous Panama Canal from the Atlantic side. I think the Big Ball of Twine in Kansas at least has a sign.

This video shows the ship to the left of us move through the lock. The ships are very close to each side of the lock.

This photo shows the lock closed in front of the ship. The pressure of the water seals the two doors tight.

Interesting and hot day. Group trivia was a new low. City with the oldest city park? Which Apollo mission sent back the first photos of space? Usually the folks that know these heard that answer from another trivia game. It is not so common knowledge.

We exited the final three locks during dinner. The other side of the canal is just as underwhelming. The view of Panama is incredible. We sat in the harbor area of Panama all night. This was a spot we loaded up on bunker fuel to continue our cruise.

For dinner I had something the chef created. Dan’s dirty burger. Beef patty on each bun, melted cheese on top of that, one side had chopped unions, the other side had a fried egg. I tried to make one sandwich out of it but it was too unstable. Yes, finished it all. Delicious! another 10! The burger was so good I only gave the dessert an 8!…

at Sea

The ship is moving quite fast and we are going through some major swells. Watching the horizon against the windows on the Lido deck, one can see the horizon move from the bottom of the window to the top of the window.

We tied for first in group trivia which led to a playoff question. At the end of which century was the term “home sick” coined. I can tell you it was not the 19 C. Which baroque composer had 22 children? Which Elvis Presley movie was his first?

The staff set up a miniature golf course on the lido deck next to the pool. Nothing like Putt Putt but we tried it anyway. The putters heads were coated with a thick rubber so if you grazed the artificial turf, the turf grabbed the club. Terri and I placed 1st and second. The folks that tried to take it seriously really did quite poorly.

The Captain is moving full speed as we have a date with the Panama Canal tomorrow. The fast speed along with the stabilizers really cut down on the ship’s motion.

The evening entertainment was comedienne Chris Pendleton. The fact that the name is Chris and the daily program said comedian, one expected a man. That was her first joke of the show. She sang a tune about the Buf-fet to the song My Way. Hilarious. Beautiful voice. I think she tried to down play her appearance for comedy sakes. She wore rather large clothes and probably a wig. I don’t think I could pick her out on the Lido.

She is from South Caroline but she made lots of cracks about Michigan temperatures and Michigan drivers in the winter. We all know about that.

Her father was a classically trained violinist that performed in the Baltimore Symphony. She finished the show by playing the electric violin. Outstanding! another 10!…

Curacao is part of three islands and together with Aruba and Bonaire it forms the ABC islands often called the Dutch Caribbean.

We arrived at 8 am and were quickly cleared to go ashore. We went down to get our clubs and we were off. There is Uber but no drivers were available so we took a taxi. John dropped us off and would pick us up later. The Blue Bay Curacao Resort was less than 10 miles from the pier. We arrived early enough to hit a few buckets of balls. Each bucket contains 17 balls. I found that very strange. Who counts these? The driving range attendant does. He dropped 17 balls in each bucket.

Beautiful, hot, sunny and windy. These islands of the Dutch Caribbean are exposed to the eastern trade winds. This is always pointed out in any description of these islands.

Challenging and fun to play course. The wind did play a role here. Probably like this all the time. We finished about 2 pm and sat outside and had lunch. A storm came through on hole 18 but it was over in a few minutes. We enjoyed lunch and our driver was back at 2:45 pm to take us to our ship. We dropped the clubs off and walked back to a drugstore in town to pick up a few items.

The ship did take off during dinner and there was an obvious storm we were heading in to. Captain gave a warning about using handrails in the hallways. The ship will be rolling.

We were wiped out from golfing in the heat and called it an early night.…

Breakfast at the usual 6:30 am. People tend to sit in the same location everyday and the staff learns names quickly. Nothing like personal service by name. Juan has been taking care of us

Team trivia was interesting as Thomas uses fascinating pronunciations for words. Dow Jones Industrials? Try dough jones industrials. Baja California? Yes, pronounce the j as in English. We didn’t do as well as we have been. I got a 5 pointer telling what each letter in CD-ROM stood for. Also nailed the color between green and red in the rainbow. The Dow Jones questions we missed was the day the market lost 22%. The team said 1929 but I knew was in the 80s but didn’t know which year. Either way we didn’t get that one. Mary knew the number of years to complete the Taj Mahal. We did get the Baja California one. Name the fault it is on.

Terri is not feeling well and she stayed in the room all day. We did go to dinner but skipped the tropical theme on the lido and went to the main dining room.

We are golfing tomorrow in Curacao. Tee time of 9:30. Ship arrives at 8 and the staff said they will have our clubs waiting for us. The Captain warned of a big storm after we leave port tomorrow. 20 ft swells and winds gusting to 45 mph. Should be a fun ride.…

St. George’s, Grenada

Today we arrived in St. George’s, Grenada at 8 am. We docked next to another ship, the Britannia. The folks on that ship are on a 2 week Caribbean cruise and are on their 4th port. The ship is much larger and has over 4000 passengers. I doubt that it can pass through the Panama Canal and it may just do Caribbean ports of call.

Our meeting time with our guide was 9:30 am and we left the ship at 9:10. We carried nothing with us which makes it nice. I don’t like carrying water bottles, food, insecticide and any other needs.

The tour company contacted me through whatsapp. Most of the world uses this and wifi is all that is required to use it. We have t-mobile cellular and have cellular service included for most of the world. I’m very surprised that most travelers don’t use this company. They constantly rely on wifi to connect with the rest of the world while they travel. As we walked through the port and into the port buildings, we saw countless passengers from both ships sitting inside and taking advantage of the free wifi and sending/receiving email and making wifi calls.

Our pickup place was in front of the sweet inspirations cafe outside the port. Jeremy was right on time and we hopped aboard. We were unsure about the number of passengers there would be but were delighted to learn it would just be the three of us.

Jeremy started to give us a run down of the complete history of Grenada. They soon will be celebrating 50 years of independence. My own recollection is 1983 and Ronald Reagan sending in the US Marines to put down an attempted take over by Cubans and Soviets. Operation “Urgent Fury”. It’s nice to remember times when we put down communism instead of inviting it in. I got the feeling when I brought this up to Jeremy, the people of Grenada love Ronald Reagan and the US military.

Jeremy asked if 9:45am was too early to hit the distillery and do some sampling. We agreed it was a perfect time. Our destination was the Grenada Limited Distillers.

This was a Rum distillery and Jeremy said to use the hand sanitizer on the way in. “It smells like Rum and Coke”. It did!

5 tastings each for $2 each. The nice woman behind the counter described each rum before pouring a sample. She spoke with an accent that reminded me of Jamaica. Jeremy said that the language is English but the locals have a dialect that they use with each other. Patoi is what it is called in Jamaica. It sounds like mumbling broken English.

The brewery has won numerous International awards. The tastings went very well and we made a selection of 5 bottles. Unlike back home, we were very happy with the final bill. $80 usd.

We might have been at the distillery about an hour. We were the only visitors at this time and our host went way past the “5 tastings” each.

Our next stop was up a mountain to Fort Frederick.

Jeremy added interesting history to the Fort. Originally facing the Caribbean Sea, the English gave the French Fort a new front facing inward to thwart an inland attack previously used by the French.

Our next stop was a spice garden. We happened to arrive just at the time a HAL tour was starting. We joined them. We ran into two others that we had met on the Africa trip. Two men, one in a wheelchair. The able bodied gentlemen we remembered because he complained about everything that was not ADA compliant on behalf of his partner. We had a notice in our room just today about how HAL has made ADA accommodations and reminded us to observe them. We know that it is big business for some to go after large corporations for non-compliance. They measure sink height, table height, etc, etc. and then file lawsuits. Big corporations settle for what they consider “nuisance fees”.

We were able to see and sample all kinds of spices that are exported all over the world. The chocolate experience was interesting. The cacao tree has pods that when broken open expose slime coated smaller pods. We were given a slimy pods to suck on but they didn’t really have a taste. Inside of that was the cacao seed. This is what makes chocolate.

We finished the spice tour and went to chocolate store. The roads here are very narrow, especially in the city. Most are one way. Outside of the city, the many switch backs to climb the mountains create a very slow travel speed. Jeremy pointed on a map to where he lived. 2 hour drive. The length of the entire island is only 13 miles long by 7.5 miles wide. Jeremy said that driving the circumference would take 5 to 6 hours. No thanks.

Not much new to learn here. We have already been to the Hershey tour but we did try some 100% cacao. Needs sweetener.

We finished our tour and thanked Jeremy. We went back to the ship to drop off the rum (which the ship confiscates until the end of the cruise). It is possible to smuggle some in and I will leave it at that. We went back out and had a drink where the locals hang out.

We called it an early night after dinner. I think Terri now has what I had and the rest of the ship seems to be getting. Rest is needed.

…

at Sea

We spent the morning up in the gym. I have been fighting a cold that I think is making its way through the ship. I hear many with a similar cough and also notice many “no thank you” tags in door locks as we walk through the hallway. Not much one can do when on a cruise ship. This is the way a cruise goes.

Group trivia was fun as usual. Everyone on the team usually shows. Clare is the only unpredictable one. We finished quite well but one other team beat us. We missed the animal that can survive without water the longest. Longer than the camel. We did manage to know what an oboe and clarinet reed was made of and what character had an infinity for green men.

Today we celebrated crossing the equator. King Neptune was on board to pronounce those crossing for the first time as trusty shellbacks. This is a production generally for the crew and staff. First timers are doused with soap and made to kiss a dead fish. I think the crew really enjoys this. Reminds me of the harassment high school sophomores give freshman as payback for what the now juniors did to them. Somethings just don’t change no matter what the age.

We spent the afternoon near the pool on the Lido deck. We also made arrangements for a tour in Grenada through Viator. Start time tomorrow is 9:30 am. Not enough to see within walking distance so we hired a driver. Distillery and chocolate factory are on the tour. What else could one need?

We finished the evening with cards on the rear deck of the Lido. Another one for Terri. I am behind 2 games.

Tomorrow we are in Grenada and Monday in Aruba. We then head toward the Panama Canal and into the Pacific Ocean. We will be in Costa Rica a week from now.…

at Sea

We are out of the Amazon and on our way to Grenada. Nothing from the Captain on water conservation. How did we do? How about a thank you? Has the restriction ended?

Dumping in the Amazon is not something the ship can do in the Amazon as it is too close to shore. As far as the water, the ship makes drinking water by running sea water through the engine and distilling it. A better approach would be telling the passengers exactly what is going on. Big ship, shallow waters, we want to keep the holding tanks as empty as possible. I’m very surprised they didn’t threaten the cookie supply. Use too much water and we can’t make cookies.

I guess that one goes along with 59 f forecast.

I haven’t been feeling well and I have been taking it easy. A bad cold I guess.

Group trivia went well but we were not a winner. I knew what the opposite of claustrophobia was. I nailed the number of keys on a standard piano. The name of the sea that the Volga River empties into? Richard knew that one. Can a giraffe swim?

The evening entertainment was a group call the Flyrights. A trio of male vocalists from London. Motown is what they sing. We saw them on the 2019 world cruise. Even better this time. One Motown hit after another done very well. I gave them a 10.

After the show the group was up near the shops selling CDs. I guess they may sell a certain amount but I’m not sure why they would think they could sell any? All covers done in the style of the original artist. Why would you buy this and not the original recordings? Family and friends? Definitely. General public? Not a chance.

We have been listening to a piano trio right after dinner. Violin, ‘cello, and piano. They play very well and we enjoy listening to them.

After the evening show, we often will listen to a trio in the Ocean bar. Bass, piano, guitar. They were put together to play on another ship. Guitarist is from Rio de Janeiro, pianist is from Shanghai, and the Bass player is from San Diego. They play extremely well together. Caleb, the bassist and group leader, can really play the string bass. He is quite outgoing and introduces himself to each member of the audience when they take a break. Great idea!…

at Sea

To day we passed the city of Macapa at about 11 am. This signaled our leaving of the Amazon river and back into the Atlantic Ocean. The river is so wide at this point it is not possible to see land on either side. The silty Amazon river water was still mixing with ocean water here and patches of brown water were intermixed with patches of blue. The ship was beginning to rock here again as the swells of the Atlantic picked up.

We spent a few hours in the gym this morning. I am doing exercises for my back only along with weightlifting and some running on the treadmill. Terri likes to do her power walking out on the Promenade deck.

Two games of team trivia today. Not a winning score but a high one. Saltiest Sea? Of course we said the Dead Sea. Our host Thomas said it is the Red Sea and his answers cannot be argued with. The most abundant element in sea water? Inert gasses? It was a challenging few games.

We made plans to golf in Aruba today. We have been to Aruba before and we think this is the best option for us. Grenada is our next stop on January 20. Aruba follows. No golfing for us in Grenada. Maybe a distillery visit.

The improvement in the internet changes a lot for us. We can make wifi calls without issue. Facetime audio call were possible before but that was for family use. Now it is possible to call a business from the ship using wifi calling.

The evening entertainment was Santiago Michel who has the title of mentalist. He was able to do several feats of mind reading. An entertaining show.…

Santarem, Brazil

Contrary to our cruise director’s forecast of a high of 59 today, we reached a high of 90. I don’t remember her giving us an “update” since her forecast last week but maybe I missed it. Santarem, Brazil, did reach a high of 61.

Today we had no excursion booked and we left this port open to see any sights or do some shopping.

Another tender port, we made no rush to get to the tender. When we did arrive, there was little waiting. The ship was using its’ tenders and also some from shore. They looked similar to the tenders from the last port and we were happy to be on one of the ship’s tenders.

Some of the passengers are still angry about the Brazilian Visa fiasco. Many commented on the conditions of the cities visited and said things like “they should be paying us” to visit, not the other way around. Arguing with or about the government is a waste of time.

20 minutes on the tender brought us to the port. We boarded a complimentary bus to town. We decided we would walk back to the port later in the afternoon. It was a 4k ride out to the center of town. One of the things to see in this area is the “meeting of the waters”. The Rio Negro and the Amazon river mix in this area but the waters run side by side without mixing for 6k. The speed, temperature, and amount of dissolved sediments create this phenomenon. One can see the “black water” running side by side with the muddy amazon.

We snapped a few photos and were on our way to explore the town. We wandered into a store that obviously made uniforms and other customs items such as baseball caps with logos and other things printed on them. Unlike Europe, most in this area do not speak English. There isn’t enough tourism in this area and those in the souvenir trade feel comfortable with learning how to say hello in 5 or so languages. Communicating with the store clerk here was fun. Both sides were laughing. Google translate helped us out of a jam. We saw something for one of the grandkids but decided to return later when we received verification of the correct size.

Next shop was the makeup store. More fun here. Confirmation of understanding was made by a thumbs up on both sides. Thankfully the store took credit cards. This was our last Brazilian port and we didn’t want to go the ATM and have extra Brazilian reals to take home. The US dollar was worth about 5 times the Brazilian dollar. This made everything very inexpensive. We had the opposite look that we have back home when we get the final bill. You know that surprise look you get when you empty your practically empty shopping cart and then get the final bill? We had a similar surprised look but we were happy, not disgusted.

Shoe store was next. Quality appeared to be very high. Shoes made in Brazil. Do we get these at home? I don’t remember seeing Brazil on anything at home. Viet Nam, yes. China, yes, yes. Brazil, no. Terri tried on some shoes she and the sales woman laughed as they tried to communicate. It was like a sporting event. My turn came when it was time to pay. “Credito or Debito?” That one was easy. The little handheld device card reading device was now showing option 1, option 2 and option 3. All the sales people nearby tried to help. They could certainly communicate the numbers, uno, dos, tres with words and fingers but they could not communicate what each option was for. I thought back to a time that we were in Normandy, France at the local supermarket. I gave the cashier my credit card and she was asking for something else. As I tried to communicate she got angry and then disgusted that I couldn’t understand. She didn’t seem to realize that louder and slower French didn’t help me. How could I be so dumb? No such problem here. Everyone was laughing and somehow the credit reader advanced to the next screen and we were good to go. I learned later the options referred to which currency would you like to pay with. 1 Brazil, 2 USA, 3 Euro, etc.

We found a dress at a shop that was not more than 4 feet wide. The woman running the establishment was sitting on a staircase and the walls of the shops next to her reached the sides of the stairs. We were able to tell her that we would return a bit later when we confirmed our grand daughters’ size. When we did return, it was time to pay. I showed her my credit card. She shook her head no. I was not surprised. Very little infrastructure on a stairway. She said something that sounded like digital payment. I showed her my paypal account on my phone and we were good to go.

Next stop was a restaurant for a drink and some food. We ordered an appetizer. When it arrived we had a hot plate of beef and onions and a side dish that looked like parmesan cheese. We asked what this was. Farofa. A Brazilian dish made from toasted cassava flour. Dip the meat in it. Delicious! We shared the appetizer. It was more than enough for two. We paid our bill, had another big smile and started the trek back to the port.

90 degrees and sunny made the walk seems a bit long. When we finally reached the port we were handed a cold wet towel and something to drink. HAL sets up a tent with chairs, cold drinks, and cold towels at every port whether it is a tender port or not. Nice touch! The tender ride was slow and hot. It was nice to have the AC back on the ship.

At dinner, we watched the ship cross over from the black water to the muddy Amazon. Exciting stuff! No picture gives it justice.

Evening entertainment was the Oi Brazil group. They have been on the ship for a week. They were …

Parintins, Brazil

This arrived last night. Great way to start the day.

Today we arrived off of the coast of Parintins, Brazil. A tender port for sure and one that required the use of local tenders.

This was one craft that was being used as a ship tender. It looked like it would last at least one more day so we felt confident. The shipped was cleared at 10 am and we decided to grab a few items to take with us for lunch and then go and get tickets for the tender. The Captain warned of large swells and cautioned those with mobility problems. We had a show to see at 1:30 pm but the rest of the day was on our own. The tender ride was uneventful and the line to board was not long. Our experience with Easter Island years ago keeps us diligent in accessing each tender port.

After coming ashore we were approached by all kinds of folks offering their services. T shirts, hats, local artwork. One gentleman offered a 30 minute tour of the town for $10 USD. Bargain we thought. His English consisted of “thank you” and our Portuguese was limited to “Ola”. This should be fun, we thought.

His vehicle was a metal wagon that had a motorcycle attached. We sat and a small bench in the wagon. The wagon had a tailgate similar to a pickup truck. We were to see 5 sites.

The first thing to see was a church. Churches are generally constructed with high end materials and are built to last. They often have an impressive appearance both inside and out and usually one of the things to see on any tour.

Next on the tour was a stadium. This stadium was not to see a sports team. The Bumbodromo. A 35,000 seat venue was used to present the Parintins Folklore Festival, or often also called Festival do Boi-Bumbá, Bumba Meu Boi, or simply Festival. I managed enough Spanish to ask our guide what month the festival took place. Junio or June was his response.

After doing some research, I learned that this festival takes place for 3 days every year near the end of June. Our 1:30 show was an indoor presentation of what takes place at this festival. This show was a presentation for those purchasing tickets through HAL and was not open to the public.

Our tour generally consisted of sites relating to the festival. We thanked our driver. “Obrigado”. We had to understand more Portuguese here than we did when we visited Portugal. We decided to take a walk up the street. Terri needed some sunglasses. We found a spot, she purchased a $4 pair and we went across the street to get a cold drink. We had two “Brahma” beers and cooled off while we chatted with another couple from the ship. It is obvious in a small town like this who the outsiders are. Ship people even walk differently. Probably from walk on a surface that is constantly moving in different directions. He was from Toronto and she from Delaware. She lived close to Biden. She didn’t elaborate but just shook her head in a negative fashion.

The chair is reserved for the fire marshal.

Terri’s sunglasses didn’t make it past lunch. I expected $4 of quality to go a little bit further. Luckily, the sunglass store where she purchased them was right across the street. The merchant was more than happy to replace them and off we went. This pair lasted almost back to where the tender dropped us off.

The Boi Bumba show was in rectangular shaped commercial building. A place I imagined would have desks and people working at them. Rows of folding shares were set up. Some of the folks stood in costume and folks took pictures with them. We didn’t expect much. We had never heard of the festival nor did it look like the people who lived essentially in the middle of the Amazon Jungle knew how to perform. The place was air conditioned and we were prepared to give it a chance.

The performance was unbelievable. Jaw dropping. Ready for broadway. A solid hour of non stop music and dancing. The entire show was extremely well rehearsed. I tried to make some recordings but couldn’t do it justice. This video gives a great explanation.

These pictures were all taken at the festival presentation which was done by the blue team. I saw a guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, several vocalists and a few percussionist playing floor toms.

I gave the music performance a 10. Costumes 10. Production 10. A flawless performance and they are months out from the battle that takes place in June.

The Blue Team

Very impressive performance. “Bucket list” kind of event. We are already talking about coming here when the festival takes place. It has to be a blast.

After the show we headed toward the tender. It was already close to the all aboard time.

The evening entertainment was Syd Davis doing a second set. In some ways it was better than the first. A very relaxed story teller and has the ability to tailor his show for his audience. 10 in my opinion!…

Manaus, Brazil

We arrived in Manaus, Brazil at about 8:30 am. The Captain said there was an issue taking on 2 pilots at about midnight and then having to traverse very slowly to navigate through some difficult parts of the river. The past few hours he had all 4 engines running at top speed to make up some time.

Manaus had a brand new pier as the previous one sank sometime during the pandemic. It was nice to have a pier to walk out on instead of boarding tenders.

Kimberly reminded passengers to take small amounts of money and eliminate jewelry. Crime was a problem here.

We exited the ship about 9 am and were directed to a shuttle that would take us out of the port. We had no excursion today and were planning to explore on our own. The shuttle just took us to the port exit. It wasn’t far but this was a working port and no pedestrians were allowed.

Upon exit we organized ourselves and began our journey. I was using a gps map program and selected a route to the Teatro Amazonas or the Amazon Theater. We began following the map and I saw a sign “saida de peds” or pedestrian exit in Portuguese. We walked amongst a few buildings and followed some arrows. We appeared to be going farther into the port rather into the city. Two port officials approached us. Using google translate, they told us that Manaus was not safe. Someone will pull a gun on you and take everything from you. Cell phones were highly sought after. They directed us onto a bus that took us back to the ship. We spoke with ship security about what happened and they laughed. Out of all the folks on the ship, I would say we were the least likely to be targets. We saw Janet and Brian back on the ship and decided to team up and try it again.

Success this time and we were off to the theater.

Manaus is the capital and largest city in the state of Amazonas. About 2.2 million here. Manaus is in the center of the Amazon rain forest and at one time was the richest city in Brazil. This was center of the rubber boom of the late 19th century. Buildings built during this time period were spared no expense. The Opera House was built in 1896 at a cost of 10 million dollars. In one season, half of the visiting performing troupe died of yellow fever. The theater closed for most of the 20th century and did not open again until 1997.

Impressive structure from the outside, we decided to have a look inside. There were many tour busses here and learned that we could not get beyond the lobby unless we were on an organized tour. I was able to drift up the stairs with an organized group while the others waited because they were stopped by security.

I was able to take pictures of a few areas but learned the performance area was closed for renovation.

When the seeds of the rubber tree were smuggled out to be planted in southeast asia, Brazil lost it’s monopoly on this product and Manaus lost its’ status. Remnants remain of great buildings now abandoned. Homeless people are sleeping on the streets although a fraction of what San Francisco has. Crime is an issue and the drug trade rampant.

We wandered around the city looking for the recommended sites not to miss. One was the municipal market that sold spices, elixirs, and tourist souvenirs. The main drag was also closed for part of the day and venders set up tables to sell their wares.

We parted with Janet and Brian at the market and went back up toward the theater to have lunch and a drink.

The restaurant was right across from the theater. It had outdoor seating and also had a generator running for electricity. No clue as to why there is no electricity here. Corruption I would guess. We had a shrimp appetizer, a beer and a locally created drink. Very good.

We wrapped up our time at this stop and headed back to the ship.

The ship left the port while we were having dinner. Nice sunset out the back window.

We finished the evening playing dominoes using a set we purchased at the market. Interesting game. My first time playing.…

Boca da Valeria, Brazil

Further west up the Amazon our stop today is Boca Da Valeria. After advancing our clocks 2 hours because of our eastern travel, we went back one hour before reaching this port.

This is nothing more than a little village in the amazon region. We arrived at 8 am, and all aboard is 1 pm. My guess is that if we spent 2 hours on Devil’s Island, we will be here less than 1 hour.

The ship took up a collection of goods to be donated to the people that live here. This tells me that HAL wants to keep this as a port and they are supplying goods to the people to keep them happy.

There were only five things to see in this village. Church, school, refreshments, houses, animals.

We took out time in the morning to get to the tender. There was no hurry here. We got to the tender about 9 and there were already people coming back.

This is one example of the many villages along the amazon. This one is able to capitalize on a cruise ship.

We were back on the ship in a few hours. The Amazon river was definitely on our bucket list. This village not so much.

We had lunch in the Lido and sat out by the pool. The ship was supposed to be underway by 1 but there was a call out for a woman that I guess was not on the ship. We learned later that she broke her ankle in the village and would be going to the hospital in Manaus tomorrow. We were about an hour late leaving. Lots of things to watch out for in the little village. Breaking an ankle would be easy to do.

The evening entertainment were the Zuiderdam (rhymes with cider) singers and dancers. Normally I give this group a 10 but the dancing was clearly a 7 and the singing maybe an 8. All canned music and some canned vocals also.

…

Alter do Chao, Brazil

Today we have a HAL tour to the Tapajos National Forest. Our ship anchored off the coast of Alter do Chao and our tour meets at 10:45 am. We grabbed a few items at breakfast to take with us. There is no lunch and no place to grab anything to eat on this tour. Something I learned from Mary Jane, Terri’s mother. Always have a ziplock bag with you.

Back in our room we were sure to pack plenty of water, umbrellas, insecticide, and collapsable hiking poles.

A benefit of the HAL excursions at a tender port is that the tour is the first off the ship and into the tenders. The tour description listed this tour as strenuous. We hoped that all who are on this tour can do strenuous. The swells in the river were moderate and it did take some timing to get into the tender. By 11:30 am we were off on the tender.

A bus was waiting to take us to the National Forest (Jungle is the word we would use). The bus had no air conditioning and was well used. Ed was our guide and said we would be traveling 60 – 90 minutes depending on the traffic. There was one paved road in the area and the forest was about 100 km away. Ed described how Brazil is a mixture of native people, the Portuguese, and African. He use himself as an example. He has curly African hair on part of his head and straight the other. His nose is African but his skin is not black.

Everyone has their own way to prepare for this kind of excursion. I thought this was a bit extreme for a bus ride in the Amazon. Temperature in the 80s and humidity just as high. No AC. They were committed and kept this on for what turned out to be a 2 hour bus ride.

The view along the way. I was surprised also.

Ed spoke the entire time on the bus. He talked about the rubber trees and Henry Ford. He also talked about Brazil Nuts and pointed out some trees. One of the oldest living trees in the Amazon, this tree can live to 1000 years. Ed said that the trees need to live next to each other as the orchid bees that are needed to pollinate the tree do not fly. They can only hop from one tree to the next. The seed pods are like cannonballs and fall to the forest flour when they are ripe. The pods contain many seeds or “nuts” and can only be opened by one animal in the rain forest. The agouti.

The entrance is to the National Forest can easily be missed. We turned right on a very narrow rode and Ed told us it would be 10 more km before we would stop for a restroom break. Tree branches scraped the top and sides of the bus the entire 10 km. The rode was nothing but wet red clay.

The jungle is dense just as you might imagine. Not a place you want to get lost in.

Ed shows a plant that contains a dye that natives used for makeup. Some can seen on Terri’s hand.

Mangoes and papayas can be found here.

This tree began at about the time of Christ. The original tree can be seen in the center. After three or four hundred years the “wings” start to grow to support the massive tree.

Termite nests can be found in these trees.

The leaves above are dried and used as an absorbent cloth.

Brazil nut “cannonball”.

We saw a juniper berry plant where gin gets it’s flavor and a tree that is used for quinine which is used in tonic water. I saw a few monkeys at the top of this tall tree and assumed they were making gin and tonics.

We also saw a plant that has an oil that is used in toothpaste. All toothpaste. Yours too!

This tree has a parasite tree growing on it. The parasite attaches itself to the host and eventually kills the host and itself.

Scratch this tree and you get a resin. Light the resin with the lighter you got off of the bic lighter tree and you have a way to light the night.

Put your hand on this ant nest and let the ants crawl on you. Take your hands and rub them together. You have just made an insecticide.

The ant on this stick will bite and deliver a powerful poison. Ed says you will be violently ill for days.

We spent 60 – 90 minutes in the jungle and then boarded the bus back to the ship. No need to worry when you are a HAL excursion. The ship will wait as we will be late. 2 hours back to the tender. We boarded and the ship soon left.

We had dinner in the Lido since it was already late and we didn’t want to change. Same good food but no dress code or tablecloths.

The evening entertainment was a second set for Chris Ritchie. He covered Johnny Cash, Bobby Darrin, Neil Diamond. A crowd pleaser! He had some great stories in between numbers also.…