January 27
Got up around
7:20 and went up to Deck 12 & 14 for a 31/2 km walk. It was a good workout on the
windy side on Deck 14, where you had to push against the wind for forward
progress. The waves had white caps and there was a 11/2 meter swell. The sky was clear and
sunny. The ship is cruising parallel the Nicaraguan coast which is not visible,
temperature about 24. After showering, we went to the dining room for breakfast.
In the daily activity memo, there was an announcement that you could stuff a
paper laundry bag with soiled clothes (about half a small suitcase of clothes)
without the bag tearing, the clothes will be washed and folded for $45. We went
to the fourth Panama Canal 50 minute presentation at 10, then went for a mocha
coffee on the pool deck. It is still
windy, sunny and 27C. Then there was a presentation on the emeralds of Columbia
followed by an emerald jewelry display in the ship’s jewelry store. The next
ballroom dance lesson was Salsa at 12:30, but the instructors, from the Celebrity
dancers, were told it started at 12:45.
Today’s activity memo had at least four time errors and a dinner special
error, listing yesterday’s special. We got to the dining room before the 1:30
close and sat with two American couples, one couple was on their first cruise
and enjoying themselves. Returned to the stateroom to update the blog then, we
went up to the pool deck for a short walk and to see what the ice cream
selection was today. We both chose
Praline ice cream. About 2:30 we
returned to the stateroom, for a glass of wine and a best of three Cribbage
games match. There was time for a trip
to the Casino before getting ready for Formal Night. We
danced 20 minutes before dinner. Our
table had a blue flamed battery candle like all the other tables, we have not
had any battery flamed candle for the last six evenings. We had Wild Mushroom
Vol au Vent or Cajun Shrimp as appetizers, followed by Lobster Bisque or
watermelon and tomato salad and either Chateau Briand for entrées. For dessert,
we ordered either frosted ice mousse or pineapple upside down cake. After
dinner, most of our table (Marilyn, Anita, Bertha, Brendene, Brian, and Joan)
also went to the Crystal Room for the 40 minute band set. They joined Zanny and
Helen and us. Larry danced a dance each
with Marilyn, Anita, Bertha, and Joan. The set was over before Brendene or
Helen had a chance to dance. Neither Brian nor Zanny wanted to dance. Bertha
asked if we could request a Tango so they could watch our Tango, which was also
the last dance of the set. Then most of us went to the Celebrity Theatre at 9
to watch the production show featuring the Celebrity singers, dancers and the
aerial artists. Before returning to our
stateroom, we climbed the six flights of stairs to have a hot chocolate and
were back in the stateroom by 10:30. As
a precaution, we got our passport, cameras, money and excursion tickets out of
the safe tonight and had no problem with the safe.
January 26
We got up
before 5:45 a.m., climbed the seven flights of stairs then went to deck 12 to
photograph the sunrise and ships waiting just outside the harbour and saw the
pilot boat coming to drop off the pilot so that our ship could enter the
harbour at Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. The deck 11 breakfast buffet was bustling
with passengers. Roy and Lavona joined us for breakfast. After breakfast, we
returned to deck 12 for more photos. There are several volcanoes including two
close enough to look like a double peak. There was a white vapour near its peak
making it looks like it was smoking. The
sky was sunny, and a temperature about 21 C, with little wind. We went to the
Celebrity Theater, on Deck 6, for 7:15 to get the excursion stickers for trip
to a coffee plantation, Finca Columbia, and the old Central America capital of Antigua,
Guatemala, which is at an elevation of about 1600 meters above sea level. We
met our tour guide Mirko and he led us to bus 31. There were 28 people in the group mainly from
England, Canada and USA and we left the port at 7:35. We are exited the ship
from deck three today.
After we left the ship, we passed through
sugar cane fields. Sugar is the number three export of Guatemala. Other exports
are cotton and cacao. The national bird
is the Quetzal, which is also the name of the Guatemalan currency. It is about 7.2 quetzals to a Canadian dollar.
We passed gas stations where the low grade gas was about $4.50 U.S. an American
gallon. There are 37 volcanoes in Guatemala; we saw Fuego and the double
volcano Pacaya. This was erupting steam intermittently. The sky was clear as we drove to the interior
with wonderful views of the volcanoes of the area. The colourfully painted
local Guatemalan buses transport the population to between towns and are called
“chicken” buses since people use them to take their goods to market including
chickens. WE saw people waiting at bu stop with a roof to protect from rain or
sun. Corn, beans and squash are staples of the Guatemalan diet. We saw many
roadside stands containing fresh bananas, watermelon, pineapple and mango. Beside the two close volcanoes was a
formation called the lady laying down watching the stars, which we
photographed. Then when we got closer, from a different angle the formation resembled
the Egyptian Sphinx. The Guatemalan brand of beer is called Gallos. We took some pictures of houses in towns
along the highway. We arrived at the coffee plantation, Finca Columbia at 8:50 and
were taken on a 40 minute walk through part of the plantation and learned about
coffee growing. Ripe pods are yellow or red since they grow two varieties. They harvest the crop by hand between
December and April. During the rainy season the plants sprout white flowers
which smell like jasmine. The coffee plants are either bushes or short trees
and are grown shaded by Australian trees that are trimmed and give a shade
canopy. A mature coffee plant can yield between 10 and 15 pounds of coffee
beans per year. Most pods contain two
coffee beans and they have a thin layer covering them like a peanut skin. A coffee plant starts to yield at two and
half years. The leaves that occasionally
drop are left to compost to keep the moisture in the soil. The new plants are
planted two to a hole, with two metres separating the holes. Next, we were
directed to the mill where the picked pods, which taste sweet, are separated (green
from ripe) and then the ripe pods are put in tanks of water to separate the double
from single bean pods. Then put in a
machine to remove the pulp from the beans.
The following day they are laid out to dry and in the evening they are
piles up and covered with bags because of the overnight dew, then are laid out
to dry the next morning and the process repeated for a week or more. At 10 we went to the patio of the house and
had the roasted Finca Columbia bean coffee with hard cookies for dipping in the
coffee like biscotti. Then we watched as
tortilla were made and browsed their porch for roasted coffee beans at $8 U.S
and some handicrafts before returning to the bus at 10:45 to continue to the old colonial city
of Antigua which was abandoned by 95% of the population in 1773 who moved to
the next valley, where Guatemala City was established because there were fewer
earthquakes. The city has preserved 18th century buildings. There
are over 30 churches in the walled old city, which has a population of 40,000
with buildings no higher than two storeys, except the church of Francis of Assisi.
The first stop was at the Jade Museum where we learned that the Mayans had jade
mines before the Spanish invasion, but all knowledge of them were erased within
20 years of the invasion. American archeologist Mary Lou Riddell found an old
jade mine in 1974 and she explained that there are many different colours of
jade, which is naturally white, depending on the minerals surrounding it. We were able to find a set of jade cuff links
with a Mayan symbol and a set of jade tuxedo studs. After 30 minutes the group
assembled for a three block walk along the cobblestone streets, to Antigua’s
central plaza. There were many women
selling necklaces, table runners, placemats, scarves and pot holders and men
selling necklaces or Guatemalan flutes as you passed on the street and in the
plaza. There was a six piece band
playing Guatemalan music. We took pictures of the plaza with the central
fountain based on a fountain in Balognia, Italy, cathedral, royal palace for
the throne’s representatives, (now a museum) the university and stores. The fountain was the city’s main source of
water in colonial times. We had 40 minutes to explore the area and met at 1 to
go to lunch, back three blocks to a lovely enclosed courtyard for a leisurely
buffet lunch of roasted chicken, refried beans, fried plantain slices, beef
stew and homemade tortillas. We sat at a table of two American couples and a
couple from southern England. At 2, we
started to walk the two blocks back to bus and returned to the port about 3:30
and walked through the market of vendors selling t-shirts, jewelry, table
runners, leather belts, scarves, and purses.
We were back on board the ship in time for 4 p.m. trivia. Then, wrote today’s blog. We went to dance before dinner at 5:30 in the
Rendez-vous Square, the guitarist, Ron Ondras was playing. We danced 20 minutes before dinner. We had either Escargot or Hawaiian Tuna as
appetizers, followed by beet and ricotta salad and either Swiss cheese &
mushroom stuffed chicken or Moroccan spiced lamb skewer for entrées. For
dessert, either banana slices with ice cream or Pear Crumble. We danced for 30 minutes after dinner at the Crystal
Room before going to the Celebrity Theatre at 9 to watch Travis Turpin, a
guitarist, vocalist and impressionist, but decided not to stay for the whole
show and went to Deck 11 to have a mocha coffee. Then we returned to the room
to update the blog before seeing the last of Travis’ act and listen for
Monday’s activity highlights.
January 25
Got up just
after 7 and went up to Deck 12 & 14 for a 31/2 km walk before Tai Chi at 8. The sky
was sunny, temperature about 21 and the sea had swells and waves with white
caps. The wind up on Deck 14 was about
20 km/hr. Pat joined us for the Yang style Tai Chi and there were more people
about 35, but we continued from where we left off yesterday. For breakfast in the dining room, we were
joined by the English couple from East Angela, an English couple from Liverpool
and a couple from Rochester, New York. At 10, we went to the Celebrity Theatre
for the third Panama Canal lecture on how the canal and its locks work, we had
to leave early for a Navigation Deck tour at 10:50, then walked back to Deck 14
with Virginia to tell her about our camel ride excursion. The wind up on Deck
14 was about 50 km/hr and the swell and waves were higher. When we changed
direction to go down to Deck 12 we had to push against the wind to step
forward, it was a relief to get to the shelter of the glassed in pool deck. The
ship has been rocking more each hour. We
read in the seating area of the Grand Foyer before going to lunch in the dining
room about 1. We sat with a couple from
Maryland. At 1:30 we went to the history trivia game and teamed with Terry from
Transcona and her sister Linda from Coquitlam.
One team got all the answers correct.
The answers were all historical world leaders. We went back to the stateroom, lower inside
where the swaying of the ship was less pronounced, but still quite noticeable,
and read or went to the Casino. The sea
was so rough that for a few hours in the afternoon the doors to the outside
desks 6 and 7 were barricaded and one of the pools had been drained to keep
water from sloshing over onto the poolside deck. By 4 the doors could be
used. We went up to deck 11 for ice
cream then walked on decks 12 & 14 over 21/2 km in about 30 minutes. The wind was
still quite strong but the swells and the white capped waves were smaller and
there was no longer spray flying from the white wave tops. We danced 30 minutes before dinner and the
ocean was back to normal and didn’t cause any balance problems while dancing. We both had spinach turnovers as appetizers and
Veal Cordon Bleu for entrées. In between we had either Louisiana Gumbo or a
garden salad then for dessert either a yogurt fruit mousse or custard stuffed cannelloni. We danced for 30 minutes after dinner at the
Rendez-vous Square before going to the Celebrity Theatre at 9 to watch
comedian, Dan Bennett’s show. Our table
mates, Anita, Joan, Bertha and Marilyn had stopped at Rendez-vous Square and on
the way to the show commented to us that they enjoyed our dancing and wanted
Larry to dance with them on Monday. Then
back to our stateroom, but were delayed in getting ready for bed, by the
malfunction of the safe for the third time.
The technician arrived within 10 minutes of the request being made. Then
we read for only half an hour before bed since we have early start tomorrow.
January 24
Awoke around
7, then got ready to walk about 2 Km before going to a 45 minute Tai Chi class at
8, there were about 20 people about half had done Tai Chi before. Next we went to breakfast in the dining room,
where we sat with a couple from Atlanta and a couple from North Dakota. This
morning is hazy on the horizon but the temperature is around 23 C, but sunny
and a high predicted of 29 C. We created a route including decks 12 & 14
where we walked 452 steps plus 30 stairs up and 30 stairs down for one circuit
(about 400 meters). Today is a Sea
Day. The Panama Canal lecture was at 10:30. We walked another 1 1/2 km before going to the dining room
for lunch. At 1, we went to a Tango lesson in the Crystal Room, deck 7, and
picked up three new moves – basic corté, promenade to the scorpion and an opening
up to side by side with an underarm turn twice to return to line of dance. It
was warm in the Crystal Room, so when we finished dancing, after 55 minutes,
went took the stairs up four flights to get some pineapple ice cream. We
stopped to chat with two couples who asked about our dancing. The doors to the
outdoor pool area were open and it was warmer on Deck 11. So far, we have not used an elevator or
escalator on the ship. At 3, there was Music Trivia in the Crystal Room, our
hosts joined the team. Then we went to decks 12 & 14 to walk, practice some
Tai Chi and the new Tango steps before going to the group cocktail party at 5,
where we enjoyed Frozen Mango Marguerites, then went to dinner at 6. Our
appetizers were crab cakes followed by either a pear salad or broccoli soup,
then the entrée either roasted chicken saltimbocca or Cajun spiced drum fish
then either olive oil cremeux (like mousse) or apple tart for dessert. We danced for 30 minutes after dinner at both
the Crystal Room and the Rendez-vous Square before going to the Celebrity
Theatre at 9 to watch Vibraphone and Theremin instrumentalist, Kuba Kawnik’s
show, which was quite entertaining. After
the show we went to the Crystal Room, but Jazz Trio band was not playing music
that we liked to dance to and the Rendez-vous Square, even though that band,
the Celebration band was playing there were already three couples dancing on
the tiny dance floor, so we went up to Deck 11 for coffee and sat with Carol
and Don, before retiring for the night.
January 23
After awaking to the alarm at 7:50 a.m., we had breakfast in the dining room again. We sat with Char & Larry from Seattle. This morning is overcast, but warm anticipating a hot day with a high 30 C. We dock in Puerto Vallarta around 1 p.m. The buckle on Claire’s cheap vacation watch broke on Wednesday, but today, in the Atrium, there was $10 Madness on some handbags, watches, bangles and some other items. There a big choice of watches. We returned to our stateroom to sort our photos and decide which of Wednesday’s 52 pictures to add some pictures to the blog. By 10:30 the clouds were just thin and the sun came and the temperature was around 75. We set off to deck 12 to walk about 2 km and stop to take photos. Then shore was enveloped in a thin mist, we took photos as we approached Puerto Vallarta and spotted a whale spouting. Most of the deck loungers on the pool deck were taken and people were enjoying the heat of the sun. We ate in the dining room for lunch with a couple from Lethbridge, two women from Montréal and two women from San Diego. The ship docked at 12:45 p.m. and after the port authorities cleared the ship, passengers were allowed off the ship in mainly sunny 28 C weather. The ship sails at 8 p.m., taking more than two days to sail to Guatemala where we will arrive on January 26th.
We
disembarked about 1:30 and went to the Internet café nearby, where we bought an
hour of Internet time for $5. It was not
high speed internet and took a long time to connect, but the blog did not load
properly after trying for 26 minutes. After
a quick email home, we tried again and the slow speed was frustrating. We returned to the ship to spend the
afternoon by the pool reading and at 4:30 listened to the Marinachi band at
poolside, before changing for dinner at 6.
We joined our table for dinner. Our appetizers were shrimp cocktail or
Tomato & mozzarella cheese salad, followed by Beet Salad, then Rib Eye
Steak or Couscous Cake for entrées with Tiramisu for dessert. We danced for 40
minutes after dinner before going to the Celebrity Theatre to watch comedian,
Rondell Sheridan’s show. Then back to
our stateroom to read before bed.
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