Another nice day at sea was what we got this fine Wednesday. Just as we remembered, the climate is tolerable as we head south towards Peru. Breezy, not too hot or humid, and a comfortable 75 degrees. We’ll enjoy it while it lasts.
What a treat we had while walking the lower promenade this morning…….numerous sightings of dolphins. Even whales spouting in the distance. Doesn’t get much better for the wildlife lovers among us. It is a good indication that the ocean is healthy and thriving, at least in this part of the world. And if memory serves us correctly, the Humbolt Current coming from Antarctica has a lot to do with the prolific sea life on the entire coastline of western South America. Whatever the reason, the sightings of feeding dolphins continued all day long.
A funny thing happened at the Captain’s Dinner last night….the very first one of this grand voyage. The centerpieces on each table were cylindrical glass tubes that resembled the actual stem of a rose, complete with thorns in various colors. Each slender vase held one long-stemmed large red rose bud. Everyone at our table, as well as all around us, remarked on how nice they looked. So of course, when it was time to depart the room after dinner, mostly the ladies assumed these single roses and vases were part of the “gifts”. In fact, our hostess, Alina Marin, the Purser, suggested that these flowers “may” be intended as extra gifts for each lady at the tables. And knowing we would be gifted with a box of something, many of the guests had brought the blue HAL shopping bag to carry their gifts back to their rooms. The roses just happened to fit in that bag too. Jokingly, one of our buddies slipped the entire vase down the front of her dress, leaving the rose sticking out. Some of the fellows stuck them in their inner jacket pockets. Needless to say, we were laughing hysterically.
Well, wouldn’t you know it, the wait staff was waiting for everyone at the exit (prior to passing by Captain Mercer) to separate the roses from the guests! The message was relayed that these were decorations only, and if wished to buy them, we could contact the floral department. The entire room of guests all said…just kidding…mostly to save the embarrassment of the mistake. Better believe, that the next Captain’s Dinner will have notes on the tables saying “For Display Only”! Where else could we have so much fun??? Oh yeah, the real gifts we received had a total of six plates, not four.
Did we tell you that Hamish, our cruise director, came back? From what we understand, he had an injured knee, and needed to be cleared to re-join the ship in Colombia. He has such a distinctive voice, we knew immediately that Ian was back to his regular job, since his accent is decidedly British.
The Shops Onboard have a totally different look, as we discovered yesterday. The shops have much more upscale merchandise, and naturally, more pricey. They are run by a group of most friendly salespeople from Dufry. One of the salesgirls explained how they happened to replace the other group. Apparently, several of the ships of the Carnival group have been changed over to Dufry recently. They are also working on getting onboard the Princess ships next. For example, in the clothing shop, there are no more Grand World Voyage t-shirts with the itinerary printed on the back. All that you can buy now are sweatshirts or jackets with the cruise date and year on it. The jacket, although smart-looking, cost $210, and run on the small side.
A few days ago, we had requested for the air conditioning filter to be replaced in our room. Ever since day one, we both have been sneezing. Today we had a call and a note delivered confirming the work had been done. Somehow you never picture dust on a ship, but it is worse than at home. The way you can tell is by keeping an eye on the computer screen. If in two days you can write your name in the dust, then it is well past the time to have the filter replaced.
Another thing we asked about was the embarkation photo we had taken with Orlando Ashford and Gerald Bernhoft. They only do this for a very small group of us, and without fail, we have always been gifted the photo within a day or two. Well, it never showed up, so we asked if they had dropped this perk. Our girl Friday at the front desk, Barbara, said of course, we should have received it. Expect it tomorrow. It arrived this afternoon, and for a change, it came out nicely. We asked Barbie if she got hers, and she said yes, thanking us for doing it.
A job we had for the afternoon was playing with dirt. But with all the stories we had for today, we’ll save the dirt tale for tomorrow.
This evening we were invited to the first cocktail party hosted by our travel group. It was well-attended, and why not? The drinks of your choice flowed freely and the hors d’oeuvres were excellent. Bitterballen, a Dutch favorite, coconut-crusted shrimp, and pot stickers were among the snacks. They certainly put a dent into our dinner appetite. The Captain and his wife Karen strolled into the gathering, and eventually ended up at our high top table we shared with Barb, Howard, Gyl, and Sue . He told us he will have to get up at 2am to embark the Peruvian pilot tomorrow, since our docking time will be 3:30am. The shore excursions onboard have a three day two night tour to Cuzco and Machu Picchu. The silver tour runs about $2600 for one, while the gold version costs $3800 per person. The more expensive one involves the train ride on the Hiram Bingham railway. And perhaps a higher-priced hotel. And at the time the tour booklet was printed, both of these excursions were sold out. And this is the reason the ship needs to dock so early to accommodate the early flight for these folks. Many of our friends have arranged their own private tours, but were able to make flight arrangements at a much better time. Even the Captain admitted he has never seen the famous site, but it may be on his bucket list once he retires.
The party broke up by 8pm, and the three of us went to dinner, happy to be back with our sweet waiters. Guess what they did for us? They had saved the black and silver masks for us that were given away last night. On top of that, Don MacD had sent down three slices of his birthday carrot cake to our table the previous night. We all must have left by then, and our waiters ate it all. Soooo, Slam went to the kitchen tonight, and rounded up three generous slices of our favorite cake. Pretty nice, we thought. We are so enjoying our table this year.
Bill & Mary Ann
