Days 81 & 82 At sea - still. Yawn...

We were a bit early going to breakfast but we still met Darryl & Sue!  Sunrise is quite late really, about 7am.  Having had the UK and the Baltics with really long hours of daylight, it is quite a change.  We opted for a cuppa in the atrium to get tea in decent china cups rather than the plastic mugs of the buffet.

We headed back to the cabin but our routine was thrown a little out of kilter as the water was turned off, as they were replacing water pipes.  On-going maintenance must be a nightmare.  Paula escaped to Zumba and I went for a haircut by Sarah from Denmark.  It certainly is a very international crew.  A bill for $30 wasn’t too painful and helped reduce our on board credit.

Trivia score wasn’t worth bragging about but as we had already had a decent drink, we headed for the atrium anyway.

Whilst Paula had a mooch around the $15 items for sale, I approached the front desk.  I asked if we could withdraw cash from our on board credit as the cancelled Easter Island tour put us $400 up.  Up until now, we had contemplated the best ways to use up the credit, ranging from registering for the casino slots and then claiming cash back as winnings, to buying things on behalf of others and them paying us cash!

As it turned out, getting cash back from the front desk was no problem at all.  They merely checked that we were in credit, so handing out cash was no big deal.  At least we now know we can do that, so it may help others in the future.

Lunch, I grabbed soup and a couple of pieces of fish whilst Paula made do with half a roll and some rice pud!  On the way out, the whiff of fresh chips was just too much - so we shared a portion.

Ukulele class was mainly practice on what we’d already done plus another sheet of music that brought in one new chord.  Watching some of the others, it is quite interesting to see that some have great difficulty with even a basic chord change, which makes me feel a lot better.  Even though the class finished a bit early, a rush to trivia, where Kim was already on question 14!  She is probably the fastest trivia host.

Last but one formal night for us and we opted to head for the atrium for a pre-dinner dance, which was a good move, as several of the dancers were there and they managed 3 or 4 New Vogue dances on the trot which we knew - Merilyn, Gypsy Tap and Tangoette.

It was billed as a special dinner, but with just four mains to choose from, it was less special than usual.

Late theatre show was Rebecca Lowe again, but this time, husband Kuba joined her for most of the show.  He really is talented as he not only played guitar, piano, drums and the electronic vibes, but by special request, had also written an arrangement for the orchestra for an Edith Piaf set.  He is from Poland and the couple now live in Nashville and apparently, Country and Western music is unheard of in Poland, but he has really taken to it, so they did a Johnny/June Cash number.

Rebecca also went into the audience and found a couple who had been married for 58 years and dragged them on stage whilst she sang something about ‘Dance’, whilst the sweet old couple shuffled around the stage.  Maybe she should have limited that number to just two minutes instead of dragging it out, as we feared the old couple might just keel over!  Thankfully, they survived.  A thoroughly enjoyable show with Kuba doing his own show tomorrow.

Down to the Atrium with D & S and also M & M for a late night hot chocolate, before once again, walking through Jammers – just for the hell of it.

Just two weeks tonight and we’ll be home and in our own bed.  Frankly, we are now ready for it.  Billing Easter Island, for example, as a feature stop in the brochures, is a good sales pitch, but the reality is that even the Customer Services Director has failed to land on all 5 cruises!   A ten day run of sea days when often it isn’t even warm enough to sit outside without wrapping up well, is no great attraction.  At least the Cruise Director’s team have been working flat out to try and fill in the gaps and they have certainly tried to make the atrium a more popular place, especially in the evenings, but…

A(nother) new rage emerged today.

During the early afternoon, they cleared the central, carpeted area of the atrium on deck 5 and put up the table tennis table, with a match between the staff and the passengers.  This was hugely popular with spectators on decks 5, 6, 7 and 8.  Lots of cheering from all levels apparently, when a grumpy woman (presumably a card player or something), yelled down from deck 8 “WILL YOU LOT BE QUIET!!!!”

From the assembled masses “NO!”

Apparently this happened twice!  So stupid.  Firstly, it was advertised in the Princess Patter and secondly, there are dozens of places where you can go for a bit of peace and quiet.  I just wish I’d been there to identify her, as I just love to know who these people are with the reverse Botox!  (Thanks to Shane O’Shea for that description.)

Thursday August 14^th

We were locked out of the vista lounge whilst Zumba was on, as apparently some impatient old guy tried to muscle his way past yesterday and caught a flying elbow, and word is (unsubstantiated) that he was bowled over.  So, they took no chances today.

The delay didn’t help our score and Mark had used his two days confined to cabin to come up with a brand new quiz.

There was a programme clash with ukulele class and a tea dance with the orchestra in the Vista at 3:30.  I spent a couple of minutes at the class, grabbed the latest sheet and shot off to the Vista.  A tremendous turnout though Paula and I declined the tea, sandwiches, scones, cream etc.

Back to the 6:15 show and Jonathon Neale again. Another good show with more tricks we can’t explain…

After dinner, late show – Kuba Kawnik again, but Sue was a bit off colour so they skipped it.  Another great show.  As someone had pointed out the theme for ‘Midsomer Murders’ used a Theremin, he once again did an arrangement for the orchestra in double quick time, though the movement of the ship made it a bit difficult.

On to the Wheelhouse bar for a couple of dances.  Clocks back 1 hour again tonight and tomorrow, we cruise Pitcairn Island.

 

Day 80 - All at sea instead of on land...

Oh dear.  An early Tannoy announcement from the Captain was that with a considerable swell and a tender port, on the grounds of safety, it wouldn’t be possible to tender ashore, so we’d simply cruise slowly around Easter Island.  Oh deep joy.

We have already had 4 days at sea, so this is the 5^th, to be followed by 6 & 7, then scenic cruising (again!) of Pitcairn Island (8) followed by two more days at sea (9 & 10) before Papeete, Tahiti…

No point in getting upset by it, as safety is, as always, paramount, so no-one is to blame, but ten sea days on the trot merely confirms that our decision for next year is probably sound. 

We are sorry to miss out on Easter Island (Chile) but the upside is that we now have $400 extra on board credit…  Maybe we can just cash it in?

So, a leisurely stroll up to the buffet with the majority of passengers firmly ensconced on the port side, armed with binoculars and cameras with long lenses, ready to try and salvage usable photographs of an island with a fascinating history and strange statues with a somewhat uncertain history.

We stayed on deck near the ice cream parlour - but that didn’t open for coffee until 11am, so Darryl and I went back up to the Horizon Court for the hot chocolates, oh, and some Danish pastries that looked lonely and forgotten.

As we rounded the island, we managed a pic or two of the statues, but at such a distance, not really what we wanted.  What you see here is either a cropped still from the video or an even more severely cropped image from the Nikon.

We even skipped trivia and after a while, we returned to the cabin – and it wasn’t too long before we’d finished one complete lap and headed west again.  Horizon court for a late lunch which included a very nice meat cannelloni, some stewed beef and what looked like a pork rissole.

Paula headed to the theatre for a showing of the ship’s Machu Piccu video.  I dozed whilst watching the animated movie ‘Frozen’… Later in the day, we started to get some TV channels back again, but were very saddened to hear of the death of Robin Williams.

Just for change, we each had a pot of tea in the atrium, so my pot ended up with 5 tea bags as the others prefer a weakfish sort of a brew.

After dinner, we debated on whether or not to go to the theatre for entertainer, Bayne Bacon.  Why the debate?  Quite simply, out of 7 cruises with Princess, he has been on all except the recent Baltic’s cruise - and his act never changes.   He is a fine guitarist, a fair pianist but his patter never changes.  Sadly, tonight was no exception, though we didn’t walk out.

Afterwards, we went to the Wheelhouse bar intending to dance a little, but there weren’t many there and the music was a bit slow, so we ended up chatting to Deputy Cruise Director Matt and he was joined a few minutes later by CD Mark, now recovered after a couple of days off.  I happened to mention Bayne Bacon and how the repeated shows were a bit of a drag and that I listed and marked the entertainers for my own reference.  He asked for a copy of the list, so that is a job for tomorrow - there will be plenty of time…

We called into Jammers night club on the way past along with Darryl & Sue, Mike and Sue and that made the numbers up to 20 – excluding the cruise staff and the Captain’s wife!  We didn’t stay long.

Clocks back another hour tonight.

Days 78 & 79 - More sea days

After breakfast, we called in at the future cruise desk and cancelled next year’s sector from Southampton to Sydney.  We were able to book a suitable cabin from Sydney to Southampton.  There just hasn’t been the same sort of ‘must do again’ feeling about the second half of the cruise, so we are confident we have made the right decision.  The bonus for me is of course that we’ll be able to catch up with family and friends in the UK, but getting back to Auckland half way through winter, may have us grumbling next year!

An uneventful, relaxing sea day from then on with nothing out of the ordinary until we ended up sitting in Magnums (bar) on deck 7 as there were no seats in the atrium on 5 or 7.  There was much talk about last night’s show and people sitting near us were playing cards.  They broke off to join in the chat and the gentleman, although now with a shaky hand, did one or two card tricks for us which was a pleasant way to spend a bit of time.  Whoever we spoke to had a different theory about the tied thumbs illusion, so Darryl was the star wherever we went.

I took a Panadol as the toothache was annoying.  What annoyed Paula was that the satellite TV channels (all 7 of them) have dropped out and she missed the Toronto tennis final.  It also means a total lack of World news and weather info at the moment.

Dance class was the Chicago Swing, but John’s classes always start and end with a couple of progressive dances and quite a few people really don’t like them.  (I won’t go into their reasons but they will be fairly obvious to regular dancers).  Then it comes to the new dances, they often find themselves with a stranger and would prefer to learn with their own partner.  Alana’s classes on the other hand concentrated totally on learning the new dance and she broke it down into segments, guys at one side, girls  at the other, then you’d practice and learn the first segment pretty well before moving on to the next.  My preferred method.  John tends to go through the whole dance virtually in one go and this makes learning so much harder – or does for me!

We opted out at the change partner stage and went up to the rear of the lounge - but didn’t really do much.  The Chicago Swing isn’t a really difficult sequence dance but it isn’t danced in NZ.

On to the HC and a nice lasagne and a couple of pieces of fish.  No ukulele class today (boooo!) so on time for round 2 of the progressive ‘ship’s trivia’ quiz, over three days.  Mike and Sue were on fire as it was a pictorial one, with bits and pieces around the ship - and they got most of them.  I think we may have got 13/16 and we were then in about 4^th place overall.

Sadly (for them), Sue and Mike were dining at the pizzeria with other friends and missed out on the Indian meal.  Both Darry and Sue and Paula and I ordered three mains between us, so we managed the beef, the prawn and the tandoori chicken curries.  The consensus was that the chicken was the best.

On to a new production show – ‘Rock This Town’.  The music was pretty good and the costumes OK, with some good singing, (particularly the female lead singer doing ‘River Deep, Mountain High’ but once again, a totally lack lustre backdrop.  The unexpected appearance of Matt dressed as one of the Supremes was a small but significant piece of humour!

People have been quite critical of the overall cast so far and I’d have to agree.  Not the best group we have seen.

Another day at sea tomorrow but it is getting slightly warmer – at last.

Monday August 11^th

We managed seats in the atrium deck 5 late morning for our hot chocolate (the other 3) and coffee (me).  We then settled in for the Dixieland Jazz session.  (Not all of it is Dixie, but it isn’t modern jazz either) and witnessed music rage for the first time!  Some oldish chap had been chatting to us earlier and laughing at the slow progress of some of the less mobile passengers.  When someone then stopped to chat to friends and blocked his view, he went ape!  Bearing in mind we were there to listen, the irony wasn’t lost on a couple of other passengers.

The drummer in this band, unlike the drummer on the Emerald, didn’t have the wooden blocks (no idea what they are called – brother Dave will no doubt tell me!) and some of the character of that sort of jazz was lost.

Paula and Sue headed off to the theatre to see ‘The Sound of Music’ (yup, loads of modern movies on here) and I retired to the cabin until it was ukulele time.  About 40 people again and there are still new ones turning up,  but this time, we rattled through our repertoire of 5 pieces quite quickly. The chord changes on one of them I struggle with, but the others are fine.  A good class though.

I managed the last 4 questions at trivia bit I think we fell off the leader board, but Mal & Meg, with Ed and Bev and two others came out on top.  Well done Kiwi Kruisers!

D & S corrupted us by dragging us up to the buffet again.  Toasted sandwich and a scone and cream plus tea.

Afterwards, we sat out on deck 7 for a bit of sunshine then just before dinner, one heck of a lightning and thunderstorm with heavy rain.  It didn’t last too long.

Dinner was OK and then to the Vista for Maggie Scott’s show.  Now I have to confess that I wasn’t sure about this as she (like Bayne Bacon) seems to be on most cruises in the Australian region and if the shows ae the same, I’m not too keen.

This appeared to be a mainly new show with more singing than comedy and she also played piano and sang.  Maggie can be a bit bawdy at times and did use a naughty word (she doesn’t normally) but it was a very good show.  She sang along to a slide show for a couple of numbers so there was a bit of variety and somewhat unusually, bearing in mind we have seen her before, that I still rated the show a 9/10.  We seem to be doing well with the guest entertainers at the moment.

Just Paula and I for a late night drink and we had the whole of the deck 5 atrium to ourselves at 10:50!

Easter Island tomorrow – we hope, as the previous record for landing here isn’t so hot.  As the first tender port of this cruise, it depends far more on sea conditions than a traditional port.  We are booked on a Princess 1:30pm tour, so no need to get up early.  The day’s schedule is arrive 7am and depart 6:30pm, so a long stop at a very, very small island.

Day's 76 & 77 - At sea yet again

Not a good sleep for either of us so no surprise to hit the buffet as late as 9:30.  As a sop to weight-loss, I stuck with just fruit for breakfast.  I’m sure there were far more calories in that than a cooked breakfast.

After a forgettable trivia, we headed for a coffee but the atrium was hosting the famous crossing the equator ceremony (indoors as it hasn’t been warm enough outdoors) and the usual colourful buckets of goo and spaghetti were replaced with cream pies (well, cream anyway) as they are much easier to clean up.   New boy Jase made a very fetching ‘Queen Double Dee’ (work that one out for yourself) and Customer Services head, James Eaton was the sacrificial Officer.

The middle of the day was uneventful and we watched part of the tango class, but didn’t take part, then headed up for food, before the next ukulele class.  Still good exercise for my left hand but some chord changes are a bit tricky.

After dinner, to the theatre for ‘multi-instrumentalist’ Kuba Kawnik’.  A great show.  The electronic vibes, like several other electronic instruments these days, such as keyboards and accordions, are capable of replicating a whole range of instruments although in this case, mallets are still used plus a sustain pedal and no doubt, other electronic goodies.

Kuba played a good mix of pieces and once again, Sarah had to be on top form to keep in time with him. He then played a small African instrument (the name of which escapes me) then a ‘Theremin’ I think it is called.  This is an instrument you don’t touch and it is an electronic device with two aerials sticking out of a wooden box, at 90 degrees.  One hand above the horizontal aerial controls volume and the other, the pitch. Interesting and a tough instrument to master and rarely seen, though it does feature on the Beach Boy’s hit, ‘Good Vibrations’ and also the theme to ‘Midsomer Murders’.

We opted for a late night hot chocolate, just the two of us, then crashed about 11:30.

August 9^th – At sea with future changes and a bit of magic

Another less than perfect night but then at 6am, a Tannoy call from the bridge relating to a potential fire on deck 9, calling the incident crew.

It was dealt with OK with two further announcements from the Captain, the second ordering the team to stand down.  Something to do with a smoke alarm or a ventilation system fault.

After another uneventful trivia other than it was Cruise Director Mark’s birthday, we couldn’t get seats on decks 5 or 7 with D & S, so we headed up to the pizzeria on deck 8 and ordered a pizza between us – and hot chocolates and a coffee!

We didn’t join the dancers on the floor but did head up to the buffet with a group of them.  Beef curry.

Ukulele class yet again for me and afterwards, in to see the Future Cruise consultant to check out some options for 2015.  She sorted out an option for us that we will probably take.

Dinner, I had a superb surf and turf with a perfect, tasty piece of steak - and I must learn how to do béarnaise sauce one day…

Vista lounge late show was an illusionist/magician, Jonathon Neal.  We had been pre-warned to volunteer Darryl as his second assistant.  (His first was Liane who was far better dressed - and far better looking.)

A fast moving show and a very good one, but Darryl’s job was to tie Jonathon’s thumbs together.  The illusion was passing his still tied thumbs past a sabre held at both ends by Darryl.

There were several other ‘tricks’ and the humour was pretty good too, so overall, a good show.  Maybe an 8.5/10?  I may have to firm up on that after his next show.

With D & S for a late night hot chocolate then bed about midnight, but as we continue to head due west, another hour back tonight. The toothache is back.    

 

Days 74 & 75 Caillao/Lima - Peru's Premier Port

This was a double day in port - and a double port day, almost, as although Paula got up in the night unable to sleep, she was also unable to get the cork out of the port bottle…

We’d docked at Peru’s largest port at Caillou (pronounced Kayo), which over time has morphed onto the outskirts of Lima itself, making one very large city of about 8 or 9 million people.  The port is a working container port so passengers are not allowed to walk around. They must exit via a free shuttle bus to the gates and were then advised to grab a taxi, or, take the $8 Princess Shuttle to the San Miguel Shopping Centre or, like us, take a Princess tour.

It was a bit grey looking outside and first thing, we donned sweatshirts for the walk across the open deck but I then opted for a normal shirt and the old faithful rally jacket.

We had to meet at a leisurely 9am so an easy enough start to this two day stopover.

Our tour guide was Ada and the coach was immaculate, complete with pristine white headrest covers, though it was a bit chilly with the a/c on.  The sound system had a lot of echo on it and as we sat at the rear of the coach, I only caught about half of the commentary.  We’d booked on the half day city tour and Indian Market.

Almost the first thing Ada told us was that in spite of the very light drizzle we may have experienced first thing, it rarely actually rained!

Downtown Caillao was indeed a bit grim, but probably not as bad as we’d been warned.  Sadly, once again, graffiti everywhere and even very high up on some abandoned buildings.  It is obviously a worldwide problem and judging by the size of some of the tags, the perpetrators must be carrying around pails of paint, not the spray cans that most of us use in and around the garage, which seem to run out in a matter of minutes.

As we approached Lima itself (no discernible border) the traffic seemed to be NY style on the main road in, with constant traffic light delays.  (No subway here either.) Drivers tend to be quite aggressive (Ada’s comment) and even our coach driver seemed to muscle his way through pretty well when lanes merged.

Our first stop was at the Plaza in central Lima but this seemed to be blocked off to traffic, so we were allowed just ten minutes or so to follow our guide through to the plaza and take photographs. I thought it rather amusing to see three (friendly) policewomen with riot or crowd control shields.  Think about it.  Three…

Out of the square and to catch up with the coach again at a different place.  Ada was panicking a bit as she was one short on her count.  Maybe if she’d counted us OFF the coach, she wouldn’t have worried, because as the bus drew up, there was still one lady on it happily waving to us!

There was quite a lot of waving throughout the day as the locals seemed extremely friendly.  Waving from cafes, traffic lights, police, adults, children etc.  There are a lot of police around but there are several sections.  Those wearing white lanyards are tourist police and they’ll do anything to assist wherever they can.  There are local police who are there to patrol and keep an eye of things then there are the traditional police – who by the way, also seemed very friendly.

The next stop was a 5 minute photo stop on the cliff top above the beach at Miraflore.  This was what could be translated as ‘Lover’s Park’ dominated by a large sculpture of an embracing couple.  The pose was being echoed by a couple of engrossed locals, who were somewhat surprised and more than a little embarrassed, when two coachloads of Princess passengers converged on the park, with a chorus of whistles, cheers and applause!   Looking down between the mosaic murals down to the sea front was a traditional British style seaside pier.

On then to the Indian Market – but not the Asian Indians.  First port of call was a comfort stop but it wasn’t free, but our calls were paid for by one of the tour leaders. 

This was just one section of what is probably a large area with many traditional stalls – but in the section we went to, no food stalls at all, which was a little disappointing, not because I was hungry, but as you will have gathered from earlier posts, I do find them interesting.

We had about 50 minutes here before boarding the coach for the run back to the ship, but instead of going through the traffic clogged city, the driver took the coastal route, but not before he’d driven along the cliff top again.  Just over a small wall on the sea side, we couldn’t help noticing loads of unaccompanied dogs.  Ada explained that locals, rather than leaving their canine companions cooped up all day, heaved them over the wall in the morning, on the way to work and hopefully, Fido was still there when they got home at night!  It isn’t always so…

The seafront road was quite bumpy with heaps of speed bumps as well as rough patches so taken at local speed, it was a bouncy run back to the ship.

Now logic dictates that if there are 9 coaches doing a tour and leaving the ship around the same time, then surely, with an overnight stop, with no time pressures, someone would co-ordinate a staggered arrival back at the dock?

Nope.  About four hundred passengers arrived at the same time (port and shop shuttles were also returning) so the queue to re-board was about 200 metres by the time we joined it.  Fortunately there was no blazing sun so we weren’t baked, but not the ideal end to what was a pleasant tour.

Needless to say that at 2pm, the Horizon Court buffet was also rather busy – but at least there was a beef curry to enjoy, before ambling down to deck 5 again for an overdue coffee.  Whilst there, the Captain was welcoming back the Princess group who had been to Machu Piccu, with a drink!  Mrs Captain had taken the tour so that might have had something to do with it.

We chatted with Len who was one of the returning group and he thought it a great experience.  The private tour group were arriving back a day later, but it appears that the Princess group arrived back in Lima last night, so were already in the City when the ship arrived.  Quite why we needed an overnight stop hasn’t really been explained.  Not being able to walk off the ship and into town at will makes it difficult to make the most of the long stop.

Paula and I relaxed in the cabin as it wasn’t warm enough to be outside and with it being open dining, had planned on eating at the buffet, but at about 6:40, Darryl rang to say they’d just returned and after a shower, would meet us in the dining room as usual.   Fine by us.

We went to the Folkloric Show in the theatre.  Although very colourful and the group played well, the South American music is a bit repetitive.  The main dancers were good, but the stars of the show were two young guys who did a Peruvian version of what could best be described as acrobatic break dancing!

So ended day 1 of two, with nothing planned for tomorrow, but all aboard at 3:30pm with sailaway shortly after.

Day 2

Just for a change, I skipped the Robert Timms coffee (bag) with breakfast and had lemon and honey.  Two reasons.  One, my supply is running low. Two, it must be healthier… (This change will only be occasional won’t last long.) 

We debated the merits of getting the $8 each way shuttle to a shopping plaza, but those who had been said it wasn’t really worth the effort, so we ambled down to the atrium for a leisurely late morning coffee.  We sat with Ed & Bev and Bev showed us some nice $5 items she’d just bought at the local stall/market, situated somewhat surprisingly, half way between the ship and the dock gates.  Paula decided she may as well have a look and Bev opted to go with her.  Ed decided to stay on board and so did I…

They took the shuttle towards the gates and hopped out at the market.  To get back, they had to hop back on the (8 seater!) shuttle when others hopped off, carry on to the gates then stay on for the return run.  It was worth it as Paula returned with two colourful hats for herself and two small gifts for the twins.

Meanwhile, I had the camera with the long lens with and spent a happy half an hour or so snapping away, getting some great shots of the local pelicans.  Pity the sun wasn’t out for better colours, but I was still pleased with the results.

Up to the buffet only to get an announcement over the ship’s system that there was a compulsory lifeboat safety drill in 15 minutes!  As I may have mentioned earlier, new maritime rules are that the drill is compulsory every 30 days, so even though some had only got on in New York, everyone had to sit through it again.  All of it. Maybe they need a refresher drill rather than the full one for those who have recently done one, as some of the message is  somewhat irrelevant such as using your cruise cards when getting of the ship and the no-smoking rules.

As mentioned earlier, all aboard was 3:30 and leaning on our balcony rail after the drill, I watched a van delivering fruit and veg still being unloaded at 3:40, when a Princess coach returned.

The gangplank stayed down and at 4:10, two more coaches returned…  Traffic in town was apparently horrendous and several people later mentioned that their taxi drivers were most apologetic.  (By the way, taxi fares sounded very reasonable with fares of $7 or so per car being about normal for local trips to Miraflores for example.)

Dinner was generally OK, but Darryl & Sue thought their suckling pig a bit too fatty, so asked for extra meat – which of course was no problem.  Mike and I had Argentinian veal which to us was just sliced roast veal, but it was nice.

On to the theatre where we weren’t too sure, so sat at the rear.

Female singer – Rebecca Lowe.  Her best number was her final one – ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’ when she was joined on stage by her hubby (who she met on a cruise ship!)  playing the electronic vibes.  He has a concert of his own tomorrow night.

A run of four sea days now as we head to Easter Island, but overall, it is a lot cooler than we thought it would be, especially as we have only just crossed the equator.  The ‘motion discomfort devices’ (barf bags’) have reappeared on the stairwells, so it might be a bit choppy again.

As it has been much cooler than we expected on this leg, our thoughts and discussions are now focussed on next year, as we have booked the whole trip, Sydney to Southampton and back to Sydney.

Days 72 & 73 - at sea and strumming along nicely.

The sip of port seemed to do its job OK and I awoke without the tooth-ache.  The first thing on the agenda was of course to wish Paula Happy Birthday and hand over her cards and present.  We’d chosen and purchased her present way back in Nottingham, so that was easy.

For those sending Facebook messages, many thanks from Paula - but she can’t access her own site at the moment, so I add messages for her!

A bit cool and damp on deck as we are now in a South American winter, so no-one sunning themselves.

With 1900 or so passengers you’d think that catching up with your friends without pre-arranging a time would be quite difficult.  In theory, yes.  In practice, most are creatures of habit, so as we tend to use the starboard side buffet (Nadim has my onions on the griddle now on as I walk in and Danka puts my bread through the toaster just twice…) and also sit that side, around the centre front of the ship, it is no surprise that almost every morning we have met Darryl and Sue.  Their body-clocks seem to be in sync with ours.

At trivia one question was ‘In which sport would you use a chukker’?  Although Polo was the majority decision and deemed the correct one, I wasn’t happy with the phrasing as ‘a chukker’ is a period of play, therefore not something you would really use!  Quizmaster is always right…  We wouldn’t have won anyway.

Other than coffee on deck 7 then dance time (though we didn’t participate) we headed up to the buffet, late again.

I excused myself just before 3:30pm for Alex’s ukulele class. Good exercise for my left hand but some finger positions are just impossible for me, so I have to improvise.  Again, over 30 people attended.

As it was Paula’s birthday and I was sworn to secrecy, (no chance of that with our regular table mates of 2011 and 2013…), the other 4 were surprised to find their wine paid for when they arrived for dinner and only then did they find out.

Vasco’s team of waiters sang Happy Birthday and once Paula had blown out the candle on her Princess cake, Vasco picked it up and said he’d now take it to the next table where there was a birthday…  Typical Vasco. He really is a great fun head waiter and the Maitre d’ (Jacques) is another with a good sense of fun.

The Production show in the theatre was “Classically Yours”.  Not really my cup of tea at all.  Three of the 4 singers were basically singing operatically and in the somewhat out of place, ‘River Dance’ set, the 4^th gave us what is probably the worst rendition we have ever heard of Danny Boy.  One female dancer was sick (probably part way through, as we are sure she was there at the start) so the final number with just three female dancers didn’t really look right at all.

The couple from “Two on Tap” were sitting in the row behind us and Darryl and Sue (who were closest to them) found out that they had been dancing together for 20 years.

For the first time this year, we managed a late night hot chocolate and chat with Mal & Megan down on deck 5, where there was initially, just two other couples. They soon left so we had the place to ourselves.  Who says that with 1900 passengers on board, that the ship must be crowded?

Latish to bed at 12:15, but no reason to get up early as another day at sea tomorrow.

Tuesday August 5^th

Another cool day. Not quite sweater weather but not far from it.

Once again, without any prearrangement, even though we were a bit tardy in getting going, we still met D & S.

Sadly, Zumba instructor Kim was sick again, so 4 lady passengers who knew the routines, managed to get the Vista sound engineer to play Kim’s usual music and they led the class.  Just the sort of thing that could only happen on a longer cruise.  Paula participated.  I didn’t.

We didn’t win the Trivia which follows straight after either, so we shot off before the hordes and whilst there was still the chance of a seat on deck 5 in the atrium.  Melody not only brought our drinks, but also a plate of savouries and one of sweet cakes/pastries.  We love the wait staff…

Later, we called at dance class (modern waltz) only to pick up Sue and Darryl on the way to the theatre for a film.  Woody Allen’s ‘Aging Gigolo’.  Too slow and far too Jewish to be entertaining.

Straight up to the buffet afterwards for what is proving to be a traditional late lunch, before once again, I left them to it for the ukulele class. A full house this time as all 36 ship ukuleles in use.  (They do in fact have about 50 on board, but for Alex to tune 50 before each session is asking a bit much.)

Good exercise again for my left hand, but also very frustrating, as it is now exactly 19 months since I lost the use of it and no sign yet of the nerves reconnecting.  I’ll be ecstatic if and when that happens.

I managed to get to quiz about question 14 – but we still didn’t win.

Oriental dinner – which is a menu we have had several times before. What you do notice on these cruises is the repetition of menus even from ship to ship.  Maybe it is about time they overhauled some of them?  

The Vista show was the final appearance of three acts, one act we hadn’t seen – Jade & Sam.  Jade is black and sings soul (very well) and Sam is white and plays bass guitar.  A strange combination for a duo, even with the orchestra backing.  He never says a word on stage but he did play a bass guitar solo, which was very impressive.

They were followed by Sean O’Shea, who needs a longer session to really get into it, but he was still good, with his own lyrics to a Johnny Cash number which was also a very good vocal impression.

The final act was the very talented ‘Two on Tap’ (Ronnie & Melissa?) who got a tremendous reception when they appeared and great applause at the end.

A good chat with some of the entertainment staff afterwards and bed just before midnight.

An overnight stop tomorrow in Callou/Lima in Peru.  The ship have been giving out warnings regarding crime in the immediate area, so most people are already on their guard.

Day 71 - Manta - Panama hats, ivory nuts and a nutty entertainer!

Although awake before the alarm, up in the Horizon Court it appeared quieter than usual.  We managed our usual fill before picking up the backpack and heading for the theatre for an 8:15am meet time.  Our coach, though of modern design, was a bit tired and a bit noisy towards the rear, and that meant that although not full, we couldn’t really hear the tour guide very easily, especially as the microphone kept dropping out. That was OK by me… 

Fortunately, a half day tour with two 1 hour stops made for a balanced sort of day. 

Our first trip to south America and Manta seemed quite a poor area.  Plenty of graffiti around and also far more than the usual amount of litter.  

Stop one was at Montecristi and a Panama hat demonstration, from the plant stage, stripping and boiling the fibre, to weaving the finished article. The ladies making the main body of the hats did so, leaning forwards over the former.  It didn’t look too comfortable.  I can’t really go into the intricacies of what makes a genuine Panama hat, (other than made in Ecuador) but the ones we saw there being made, ranged up to about $200 locally - if sold in Hawaii for example, they could well fetch $2,000!

Whilst the demo was going on, other traders were trying to sell leather belts which seemed exceptionally good value. 

We walked around the corner to the market square and even though this is a strongly Catholic community; and it was a Sunday; and also the square was right in front of the large church, the market was in full swing.

Locals were doing a roaring trade in genuine Panama hats to tourists.  I managed a genuine hat (complete with balsa wood box), for $25.  The cheapest were just $20 but according to some, these were only expected to be worn once, which seems a bit extravagant.  The genuine article can be rolled flat and pulled back into shape and lets in neither sun nor rain.  Paula bought a scarf or two and three small carved items made from ivory nuts, for $5 the 3.  At least we did our bit for the local economy.  Although there were many similar stalls, the locals were all very pleasant, polite and friendly and not at all pushy.

On then to higher ground, just a few minutes out of town and just opposite a brand new, large, flash looking 24 hole golf course, to our second stop.  Even though this was out of town, there was no respite from the rubbish at the roadside.  Goodness knows where it all came from.

Through the narrowest of gates (for a coach) to an ivory nut establishment.  We knew nothing about these nuts before today, so it was quite educational.   The nuts grow in what looks like a massive pine cone and when dried, this is then quite brittle and the nuts easily removed.  They are laid outside for three months or so to dry then fed into a machine that removes the outer shell – which is of course not wasted.

The nuts are then either polished and carved or are sliced on a circular saw.  If sliced, the centre is then cut out to be used as buttons.  The outer remains are not thrown away, so much of the nut jewellery has a hole in it.  Now you know why!

Many such ivory buttons are exported and the largest market is China.   Work is going on to try and work out how to use the nuts for covering piano keys, as a substitute for real ivory which it is no longer possible to use.

Although initially edible, (I believe they are related to Soy) and containing milk, like coconuts, once dried, they are incredibly hard.  Some of the items on offer made from the nuts, included various forms of jewellery and knick-knacks to beautiful chess sets, ranging in size from travelling ones at about $15, to full size sets at $75 – which seemed very reasonable.  There were also packs of buttons for sale and one or two ladies certainly bought them.

We returned via the waterfront where there was a fair bit of boat renovation going on, most boats now being made out of mahogany and balsa then skinned with fibreglass.  The harbour also had a lot of tuna fishing boats moored, alongside our quay.  We thought that the nearest one named Julie L was appropriate for Paula’s daughter.

We were back on board just before 1pm and for the first time on this cruise, we headed for the pizzeria.  A filling calzone (with double pepperoni added…) went down very well - and I even had to help out Paula with her pizza.

A leisurely afternoon and a return to deck 5 for a coffee later.

All aboard was set for 6:30pm and we were somewhat staggered to find we were on the move at 6:32!  Normally, we leave about 30 minutes after, so as everyone was on board early, the captain made the sensible decision to get moving.  Going slower uses up less fuel so an extra half hour to reach our next port has a financial benefit (to Princess, not us).

Dinner was fine, though I had to send my medium rare meat back, as it was almost mooing.  The replacement was perfect.

To the Vista lounge for ‘Sean O’Shea’, billed as a vocal impressionist.  The pre-show screen had quite a few funny ex-YouTube clips and other funny stills, so this really set the scene that it wasn’t going to be straight vocal impressions show.  We weren’t wrong.  This was a great show and Sean not only has a fine voice, but really seemed to enjoy performing too.

Doing the inevitable drunken Dean Martin (does every impressionist do this?) and Neil Diamond of course.  He jumped off the stage during ‘Sweet Caroline’ and encouraged the audience to do the usual arm waving.  Spying a couple sitting dead centre, two rows back, sitting on their hands, he couldn’t arouse any favourable response whatever, so gave the two fingers in the eyes ‘looking at you sunshine’ gesture – and still nothing.  So from his back pocket, he whipped out a yellow card.  Simple gag, but effective.

Two minutes later, after prancing about a bit more, still no response from the miserable duo, red card…

He did a very good Kermit the frog impression too.

His finale after a costume change and black wig, sunglasses etc., was an Elvis set which really was good – not just the vocals.  A few jokes relating to the fact that Elvis was no longer with us and during the song, once again, down amongst the audience, he started kissing the hands of the ladies.  He’d done about 4 when from backstage, one of the stagehands rushed out wearing a full medical face mask and from a large container, handed out antiseptic wipes to the same ladies.  Another simple but very effective gag, much appreciated by 98% of the audience.

One of the best, fun shows we have seen and I’m giving him a 9/10.

(We found out later that at the earlier show, during the Tom Jones impression, the audience had thrown a large pair of bloomers on stage.  Quite why it wasn’t done on our show we don’t know.  Maybe the ‘sit on the hands brigade’ from first sitting had complained?)

Pity I seem to have developed a bit of toothache, so hopefully, a small sip of port at bedtime will anaesthetise it.

Two days at sea to look forward to now - and a birthday…