When we woke we were still on our way to Guatemala.

We had breakfast in the Terrace Cafe. Jim had fruit, eggs and brioche. Patricia had muesli with strawberries and blueberries and a donut. We sat at the Terrace Cafe and the rain came down and we watched as we pulled into the Port of Santo Thomas in Guatemala.

Our tour today is a Trolley Town Tour. We rode in a unique trolley from the Port of Santo Thomas through the simple streets of Puerto Barrios which is the nearest town.

Our guide, Fernando, told us history and information about the area. He was also a history teach on the weekends. He talked for an hour which was the length of our tour.

Guatemala has the same area as Tennessee with over 16 million people. The main business is agriculture of which Starbucks buys as much coffee beans as they can produce and Walmart takes 80% of their bananas. The people were friendly but the country is still Third World with dilapidated buildings. Because we came in on a cruise ship Fernando told us that we are considered celebrities visiting their city.

We stopped at a local graveyard which Patricia loves to take pictures at although we didn’t get out of the trolley we were on a good side to take pictures. The graves were very colorful.

We got back to the port and shopped in the handicraft market.

Everyone was so nice and trying to sell their crafts. They would put them in your hand which I think they thought would make you buy them. They said their mothers and sisters worked to make weaving and jewelry. Beautiful work.

Jim found a group of girls that were dancers and charmed them.

We had lunch on the Waves Grill Patio table number 10. We ordered a hamburger and french fries and split it. They were so adamant that we know our table number so it could be delivered to us.

At 4:30 PM we went to an Enrichment Lecture with Donald Goldsmith: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.

We tried to watch Thatcher’s baseball game and we were able to see him get hit by a ball and walk to first base and he got to third base and his team had scored 5 runs so the inning was over. The Dodgers lost 11-7.

At 6:30 PM we left the port. We had a band and dancers (The sane girls that had posed for a picture with Jim) saying goodbye. It was interesting how we backed out sideways from the pier.

We went to the Terrace Cafe for dinner. Jim had a Caesar salad, veal cutlets, crab legs and mashed potatoes. Patricia had spaghetti with garlic, onion and chili peppers. For dessert Jim had strawberry ice cream and Patricia had lemon meringue pie.

After dinner we walked around the ship.

Good night from the Caribbean Sea!

We had another day in the Caribbean Sea on our way to our next destination. this morning we noticed a lot of seaweed.

We had breakfast at the Grand Dining Room at our favorite table. Jim had oatmeal with a banana and a croissant. Patricia had mixed fruit, a chocolate twisted croissant and a pecan pancake.

We walked around the ship then came back to our room and read.

Lunch was in the Terrace Cafe. Jim had a sampling of teriyaki chicken skewer, rice, teriyaki salmon and Singapore salad. Patricia had a green salad with tomatoes and onions and blue cheese dressing. For dessert Jim had nugget ice cream and Patricia had chocolate with mini chips.

Patricia started reading a book that Marjie recommended and come to find out she had already downloaded it on her kindle to read so she began the book today. It is called “Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity and Love.” Jim has been busy following the news about Mueller.

At 3:45 PM we went to the Marina Lounge for an Enrichment Lecture with fellow guest speaker, Frank Fuzzy Furr: Military Intelligence: Blackbird SR-71 Supersonic Spy Plane. We have enjoyed his lectures.

We walked around the ship checking out the artwork.

We have been enjoying our time reading today. At 5 PM we had our chocolate covered strawberries delivered to our room. As you can see there has not been a picture of the strawberries yet because everyday we eat them before we remember to take a picture. They are delicious!

We had dinner in the Grand Dining Room. Jim had crispy scallops pastilles and pan seared pork medallions. Patricia had the crunchy vegetable salad and crispy fried polenta timbale. For dessert Jim had banana pudding with vanilla ice cream and Patricia had key lime pie.

Good night from the Caribbean Sea!

This morning as we woke we were on our way into the port Puerto Limon, Costa Rica.

“Sultry and sweltering” describes Limon, the port community of 90,000. The country’s most ethnically diverse city mixes the Latino flavor ot the rest of Costa Rica with Afro-Caribbean and Asian populations, descendants of laborers brought to do construction and farming in the 19th century.

This morning started out with breakfast at the Terrace Grill. Jim had fruit and a croissant and Patricia had her muesli with strawberries and blueberries. There was a special Belgium waffle that we shared. We loved the presentation.

Because of Jim having a mosquito bite which turned into dengue fever on one of our other cruises he has to be extremely careful as another mosquito bite that carries dengue could be fatal to him his Dr said. We take precautions with clothing and insect repellent and tried to stay away from the rain forests and standing water that might be carriers of dengue fever.

Today we took a walk into town to see what Puerto Limon is all about. At the terminal there was a Calypso band playing fun music.

The cruise ship terminal contained a maze of souvenirs stands. Vendors were friendly and there was no pressure to buy.

We walked through the streets of town that were full of people.

Parque Vargas is a promenade facing the ocean. It is the city’s palm lined Central Park. We were told that there were sloths living in trees but we did not see any. It was a beautiful area with many photo opportunities.

We walked back to the ship and just as we got back it started to rain and rained most of the afternoon.

We had lunch in the Grand Dining Room at our favorite table number 91 which is in the back of the ship and has a beautiful view.

Jim had Maryland corn chowder soup with cornbread muffins and a hearts of palm, avocado, pineapple salad. Patricia had creamy mushroom soup with cornbread muffins and a boston lettuce heart salad with roquefort cheese dressing. Dessert was lemon praline eclair and lemon sorbet.

Patricia sat out on the veranda and watched the rain come down while people watching and read her kindle.

For dinner we went to the Terrace Cafe. Jim had salmon with creamed horseradish sauce and mashed potatoes. Patricia had pork chow mein. Jim had creme brûlée cheesecake and Patricia had a scoop of chocolate ice cream with mini chips.

We came back to our room and talked with Merlin who is the sweetest housekeeper.

Coming back from dinner to our room 11002.

Good night from the Caribbean Sea.

Today we woke up at 6:30 AM and we were at the start of our transit through the Panama Canal. We had just passed under the Bridge of the Americas.

The Panama Canal stretches across the Isthmus of Panama in Central America. The waterway measures 50 miles, including dredged approach chanels at each end. The canal consists of three separate canal locks, as well as other artificial waterways and has artificially created lakes, channels, and a series of water-filled chambers that raise and lower ships through the mountainous terrain of central Panama.

35 ships a day pass through here

92 individuals gates

Cost to go through the Panama Canal for a cruise ship can be anywhere from $250K-$300K.

We went on the Spa deck to watch as we entered the Milaflores Locks (West Lane) which took about an hour.

The next lock was Pedro Miguel Locks (West Lane) which took 40 minutes.

We went to the Terrace Cafe for breakfast and was able to see another crew ship entering the lock in a different lane.

Jim had eggs, bacon,corn beef hash, brioche, orange juice and coffee. Patricia had muesli with strawberries and blueberries and a donut with chocolate frosting.

The Gatun Locks (East Lane) were the last set of locks we went though starting at 12:35 PM.

We went to the Terrace Cafe for lunch. Jim had a caesar salad and tuna salad sandwich and Patricia had a tuna salad sandwich, pita bread and cucumber sauce and salad. Jim sampled some desserts and Patricia had a scoop of chocolate ice cream and mini chocolate chips.

We were at the back of the ship so we watched the last lock fill up and close and open. There was a ship behind us that was very interesting to watch as they went through the lock as well. The locks are an engineering marvel and fascinating to see the process.

The rest of the afternoon we spent reading and looking outside balcony at the marvelous views.

The captain announced that some passengers have gotten a gastrointestinal illness and we need to sanitize our hands and be very careful. If we are affected we need to go see the doctor for a complimentary visit and then you will be quarantined for 72 hours.

Luckily nothing has happened to us. But they are taking precautions on the ship and washing everything down that is touched as well as the food is covered with plastic so no hands can get near it. There is a certain time frame that has to happen when new cases are reported and I guess there were 3 new cases reported today. Always something happening to keep us on our toes.

Tonight we had dinner in the Grand Dining Room. We walked in and there were no table settings on the table because of this virus going around. There were seven people that had it now there are 10 people today. They are taking every precaution not to spread it. They even gave us paper menus that were not in the vinyl menu holder. They also didn’t leave the bread basket on the table.

Jim had guinea pig salad and sirloin steak with ranch fries. Patricia had guava and mango salad and lobster pad thai.

We got back to our room and we had a certificate on our bed that we had completed the transit of the Panama Canal today…another first for us!

Good night from the Caribbean Sea!

This morning woke up with the sea all around us.

We went to the Terrace Cafe for breakfast. The donut was a special treat today so we shared one. Jim had fruit and Patricia had muesli and strawberries.

We came back to the room and read and tried to watch Thatcher ‘s baseball game live but it was not working very well as it would freeze for 30 seconds and stream for ten seconds so we were not getting to see much at all. We did see him walk to first base and steal to third base before the inning was over. Later we heard the Dodgers, Thatcher’s team, had lost.

Then it was time for lunch…we went to the Terrace Cafe. Jim had manicotti, polenta, breaded veal and tomato mozzarella salad. Patricia had a tomato mozzarella sandwich, onion salad and tomato and mozzarella salad.

We went to an Enrichment Lecture with Dr. James S. Kus on A Man, A Plan, A Canal: Panama that was held in the Marina Lounge.

At 4:00 PM we went to the Horizons Deck for Choux & Eclairs Tea Time.

There were sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and eclairs among other things.

Then we had dinner…South American Buffet in the Terrace Grill. We had a little bit of everything. Jim had a caesar salad and crab legs and then some more crab legs, shrimp ceviche, mixed beans and a Brazilian salad. Patricia had banana wrapped Seabass, quinoa salad, mango salad, arroz con pollo and focaccia bread. For dessert we shared raspberry sorbet, a creampuff and churros.

After dinner we walked around the ship and came back to our room.

Today we crossed the Equador and we have a certificate to prove it

Goodnight from the South Pacific Sea!

We woke up in the port of Esmeraldas, Ecuador which is a coastal city in northwestern Ecuador.

We had a quick breakfast at the Terrace Café so that we could catch our tour at 9 AM.

Our tour today is Highlights of Esmeraldas and Atacames.

When we got off the ship there was a band playing and Ecuadorian dancers welcoming us to their city. There was a film crew that was filming us and we found out that we were celebrities. We had been on the news on TV and in the newspaper for the last three days because our ship was coming into the city at Esmeraldas and they were so excited.

Our tour began with a picturesque drive to Atacames which is a coastal resort city rimmed by beautiful beaches. Our guide was from Quito and had driven 5 hours yesterday to be our guide and she said this is the city that her family goes to on holiday. This is a city that attracts artists and craftsmen.

Our first stop was at a confectionery where they make a traditional Ecuadorian dessert known as cocadas as well as many varieties of other sweet treats.

Before we saw the demonstration an official of the town of Atacames welcomed us to the area and told us how happy they were that we were visiting their city. They gave us souvenirs and did not want any money for them. They were very gracious to us.

The sweet treat, cocadas, contains plenty of grated coconut and sugar, much like a macaroon. We were able to sample these distinct coconut candies. We saw various stages starting with the coconut, cutting it in half and shredding the coconut.

We saw them boiling the sugar mixture and adding ingredients.

Our next stop was to a local artisan, Mario Carolando, who makes jewelry using shells, coral, black coral, conch shells and different materials he finds. His work was beautiful and all done by hand and ranged in price from $15-$300. We visited his studio and saw where he makes his jewelry. Patricia found a pair of earrings to purchase.

Our last stop was the local fish market in Esmeraldas near the port. The market is open seven days a week and the hours are until what they brought is sold.

Our group was guarded by four young police officers.

Things we learned from our guide:

The wet season is from January to April but it was just overcast today and 84° and we did not have any rain which they said was good.

Petrol has gone up in price due to taxes now $2.75 for super and $1.75 for regular. Before taxes price was $2.00 and $1.00.

Agriculture is very important and bananas is very big in Ecuador.

Also shrimp is important.

Roses cost 25 for 2 dollars and they have a living rose that will last 5 years for $30-$40 dollars.

Approximately $400 salary a month.

90 percent of people are black from South Africa in this area.

Chocolate is good for you to help you to be happy.

They have 85 to 45 percent chocolate.

Cocoa best chocolate.

Roses chocolate is delicious when you eat it you have a touch of roses.

Fishing is important and they export tuna.

Local Sea bass is great.

Questions to ask when going into a store.

Que es esto?

Quando questa?

Gracias

We came back to the ship and Jim pointed out a few little tables to shop at so Patricia gladly obliged. She found a pair of conch shell earrings.

Came back to the ship.

We had lunch in the Grand Dining Room. We shared a Boston lettuce heart salad with roquefort dressing. Jim had a Hotel de Paris club sandwich and Patricia had a New Orleans style muffaletto sandwich. We shared a slice of chocolate buttercream cake for dessert.

We walked around the ship.

We left the port around 5:20pm today and the tugboat that was taking us out of the port honked their horn and on their bullhorn said “Goodbye, We Love You!” In all our cruises we have taken there was never any message from the tugboats other than waves. Equador really enjoyed our visit!

Tonight our butler, Georgin, was able to get reservations at Toscana Restaurant at 8 PM for us. Jim had an appetizer of their special fettuccine Alfredo, Caesar salad and for his entrée beef ravioli. Patricia had buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes for her appetizer, spinach salad with feta cheese and greek olives and for her entrée she had lobster tail with volcano spaghetti. For dessert we shared a raspberry sorbet.

Good night from the South Pacific Ocean!

Today we woke up in the port of Manta, Ecuador to a lovey view. Temperature today was 83 degrees.

We decided to try the Grand Dining Room for breakfast this morning and it was very peaceful and quiet. We had a lovely table #91 which had a lovely view out the back of the ship. Jim had Swedish pancakes, bacon, croissant and orange juice. Patricia had the Canyon Ranch Spa whole-wheat blueberry pancakes, tomato juice and the almond croissant of the day.

For lunch we ate at the Terrace Cafe. Jim had a caesar salad and a avocado crab salad on a little brown bread round. Patricia had the same little avocado crab salad round and pita bread with cucumber sauce.

Our tour today is Montecristi by Chivas which started at 2:30pm.

When we got off the ship we got on a bus that we thought was to take us to the pier for our tour but it took us to the center of the town of Manta. Jim had our water bottles opened before we left the ship and Patricia’s lid was not put on correctly so the water spilled all over her clothes and inside her purse so she was dealing with that when she got on the bus. We arrived at the center of town where the bus transfers the cruise people back and forth to the ship. The guide, Susanna, had to call the company to make sure that the Chivas bus would stop by and picked us up.

We could hear the music coming from the Chivas bus as we waited on the street to be picked up. The bus was brightly painted with red upholstered seats and no air conditioning and open air. Chivas is the most important means of transportation used by the local people and are usually depicted with overflowing produce, suitcases and the odd basket of chickens tied to the top. They crisscross the country, offering reasonably priced transportation between the towns along the coast and interior sections of Ecuador.

A local band rode atop our Chivas bus for the 30 minute ride to the town of Montecristi, home of the famous panama hat. Sites we saw along the way.

we arrived at Montecristi which was a quaint little town, and still retains the atmosphere and faded elegance of its Spanish heritage.

We were taken to a panama hat demonstration where we saw the process of how a hat is made. We saw 3 different women with 3 different stages of weaving the hat. We saw how expensive these panama hats can be because it can take up to eight months to make one hat which would be of the finest weave and could cost up to $25,000 in foreign countries like Dubai or on Rodeo Drive. The hat maker would be paid $1,000 for the hat after all that work. We saw hats from $20-$300 at this square.

Our guide, took us to a shop that had the best coffee in town but because it was so hot Jim purchased a diet cola.

What we noticed on our trip was that everyone was so friendly and had the biggest smiles on their faces while they waved to us. It also helped to have the band on top of the bus as it made it a party for everyone inside and outside the bus.

Our guide told us that the average salary is $380 per month and that they pay around $150 for rent. They said they are not able to save for a rainy day so when things catastrophes happen they have to ask others for help.

Our guide, Jonathan, was excellent and spoke perfect English.

The temperature was 83° and high humidity. So far this has been the most uncomfortable weather but we are just on day 4. Ha!

Now back to eating. We got dressed up and went to the Grand Dining Room for dinner. Jim had Chesapeake bay style crab cake, lobster bisque and château Briand. Patricia had cantaloupe, grapefruit and raspberries for an appetizer, diakon, carrot and broccoli slaw with sesame dressing and walnut ricotta ravioli. For dessert we shared a slice of Keylime pie. Everything was delicious!

Goodnight enroute to Esmeraldas, Ecuador.

Woke up to the sound of the South Pacific Sea.

Our room is near the front of the ship. We can see the bridge from our patio and saw an officer on the bridge this morning.

Today was a very lazy day for us!

Patricia began the day with an 80 minute Thai massage with Tanny at the Canyon Ranch Spa.

Met Jim on the Spa deck where he was waiting and Tanny brought us some Voya Peppermint Tea and Voya Fennel Tea. We rested until lunchtime.

We went to the Terrace Cafe for a Mexican Themed Buffet. We both had a made to order burrito with chips and guacamole. We have been missing Mexican food and enjoyed it

After lunch we went to the Marina Lounge for an Enrichment Lecture with a fellow guest, Frank Fuzzy Furr, for a talk on Military Intelligence: U-2 Dragon Lady Spy Plane. He was in the Air Force for 27 years and flew U-2 planes. This is a picture of his last flight and his son on the screen is now 37 years old.

We came back to the room and rested and Patricia went outside on our veranda. What a nice way to relax!

Our butler brought us chocolate covered strawberries and some fruit skewers this afternoon. Jim loved the huge chocolate covered strawberries. We ate them before we could take a picture they were that good!

We went back up to the Terrace Grille for dinner. Jim had prime rib with mild horseradish sauce and mashed potatoes. Patricia had a banana leaf wrapped sea bass and potato waffle with truffle sauce and spinach and tomatoes. Patricia started cutting up her food before the picture was taken so it is a little messy but it was a delicious meal.

We tried 3 different little desserts. The volcano chocolate had passion fruit cream inside. The yellow one was a lemon gel with a hazelnut cake inside and the standard vanilla ice cream with mini chocolate chips that always tastes good!

We sat outside on the terrace it was a lovely night!

Walking back to the room and looking at the ships art.

Goodnight…En Route to Manta Ecuador!

We arrived into the port of Salaverry, Peru which was founded by the Spanish conquistador, Pizarro and has numerous archaeological excavations.

Our tour today was to Chan Chan City of Palaces.

Chan Chan is one of the most spectacular cities, and the largest construction of mud in the New World. It was once the capital at the Chimu civilization, predecessors of the ancient Incas.

The city walls enclose eight square miles of buildings, including small wattle and dub huts, medium sized adobe brick houses, and the huge fortresses, or palaces, at the era’s nobility. These palaces typically contained many rooms and patios, and were surrounded by their own walls.

Each palace contained ceremonial courtyards, some decorated with the repeating design of birds or animals. The smallest courtyards were thought to be the most important and only assessable to the inner circle. These amazing buildings range in age from 900 to 1470 A.D.

Security protecting the site.

Rainbow Temple or Dragon Temple in Trujillo.

An adobe pyramid, which is of great importance because its construction is believed to have occurred at the start of the Chimú culture and at the end of the Tiahuanco–Wari culture, between the 10th and 11th centuries. It is estimated to be 1,100 years old. The building has a quadrangular shape and walls decorated with tall reliefs that depict zoomorphic and anthropomorphic figures. The name of the temple originates from one of these figures, a two-headed being with innumerable feet, similar to a dragon. Researchers believe that one of the roles of the site was ceremonial (potentially linked to rites in honour of the rainbow and other natural phenomena related to fertility).

Things we learned on the drive:

Most people build concrete houses as drywall is very expensive. Houses cost 250K and land costs 180K.

If they build houses on hills it is free land so they just have to pay for house.

Asparagus, tomatoes are grown and huge grapes with no seeds costs 2 sols per kilo which is less than a dollar but we would pay $10 per kilo.

They eat guinea pig and rabbit.

Average salary is $500 USD a month.

There was lots of trash in piles everywhere.

Lots of traffic.

Hairless dog

Return to ship and a little shopping!

Dinner at Jacques Restaurant

Hearts of Boston Lettuce with Shallots and Blue Cheese

Green Pea Vichyssoise

French Onion Soup

Dover Sole Sautéed with Crispy Bread Croutons, Lemon and Caper Butter

Crepes Suzette for dessert

Good night from the South Pacific Ocean!

This morning we ate at Gourmet Deli and Jim had a croissant and Patricia had fruit and muesli. They advertised the muesli as crunchy and it definitely was very crunchy so wanted to make sure we didn’t crack our teeth.

Today we leave the Swissotel to go to the Callao Pier. Our bags are packed and ready to go.

Our minivan was late due to heavy traffic and we had a hiccup that they said we hadn’t paid for a minivan after insisting we order a minivan to the concierge but after an additional $20 we were on our way. Our driver was pleasant and we went through lots of traffic for our 45 minute drive to the pier.

Arrived at the port and our luggage was loaded into a bus where we were driven to our ship the Oceania Marina.

Our bags were delivered to our room except for one carry-on bag that we waited all afternoon for. Just before we sailed we were told we had to go down to security as they saw something in the bag and they couldn’t open it without us being present. There was quite a line waiting to pick up bags that had issues. When they looked inside there was nothing that was a problem so Jim’s bag was cleared.

We walked around the ship to check things out and had a tour of the Canyon Spa. Patricia was given a sample Thai massage and she fell in love with it and she booked an 80 minute massage for our first day at sea.

Our room is fantastic! It seems we have a lot of space including a sitting area and walk in closet. We have a nice size bathroom with a separate shower and tub.

We had a mandatory safety/life-boat drill and found our muster station and learned all the safety rules.

We were supposed to leave port at 5:00pm but they were late in leaving. It was so quiet and smooth we didn’t know we had left until we looked out the window.

We had dinner in the Grand Dining Room. Jim had caesar salad and sirloin steak with french fries and passion fruit sorbet. Patricia had shrimp cocktail, sicilian salad, stuffed roasted tomatoes with orzo, vegetables and mushrooms and lemon tart ice cream.