1. Amelia Glacier
2. The piece of ice 20 hours after it was rescued from the bay
Wednesday, 28 February 2018
DAYS 32-34 - PUNTA ARENAS & 2 SEA DAYS
PUNTA ARENAS , CHILE - Pop.127,000, Spanish, Chilean Peso 570 = $1. US.
This is another tender port and it's Sunday so not many shops open in town. Known for it's winds we're lucky to have partly sunny with light breezes. We wandered around town and again purchased wine. Chile is the world's 9th leading producer of wine.
Punta Arenas is under 900 miles from Antarctica and one of the shore excursion options was a 2 1/2 hour (each way) flight to visit the research station, maybe hike a little and, hopefully, see some wildlife such as penguins and whales. This cost a mere $3500. US each - so, no we didn't partake. It turned out that no one got to go to Antarctica because of fog.
MONDAY - Seas are a little rough again. There was a big sale of S. America warm gear by the pool but they don't understand the concept of a sale as the prices were the same as in the stores last night. Every day should get warmer as we're going north but the wind is wicked.
Around lunch time we entered another channel on our way to Amalia Glacier and the seas calmed. We are in the Chilian fjords. There is more than 1 glacier here and at first glance they don't appear massive but as we get closer they are impressive. Aparently, the Amalia Glacier is the largest in the world. They are quite blue and and we can see the results of the calving in the number of ice bergs around the ship. One of the little orange rescue boats was put into the water with photographers, etc. on it and they were able to grab a big piece of the ice to bring back on board. The Amelia Glacier has retreated 7 km, the most of any glacier in the world. Animals that were spotted were sea lions, a deer-like animal and an albatross.
TUESDAY - Seas are a little calmer, winds a bit lighter and it's a tad warmer. A quiet day on board- some reading, a screening of the video covering the ports since Buenos Aires with commentary by the Captain and the usual gym work. Ric Steel a singer from the Grand Ole Opry was the entertainment and there was a country/western party later in the evening.
Sunday, 25 February 2018
DAY 30 & 31 - USHUAIA & DAY AT SEA
USHUAIA - pronounced osh why a. Pop. 65,000. Island that is part of Argentina. Only 150 km from Cape Horn and 1000 km from Antarctica.
A pretty port surrounded by mountains that still have some of last winter's snow although it's the middle of summer. It's around 16 C (low 60's) which is about as hot as it gets with little wind. They average 25 days a year of full sunshine - today does not count as we had some clouds mid day. Tourism is the big industry but it's interesting to note that China outsources some of it's electronic manufacturing to Ushuaia (tvs and cell phones). Low taxes is the appeal.
Houses are a variety of colors and shapes but all have metal roofs due to the winter snows. Every house seems to come with a dog.
The authorities thought the island was ideal for a maximum security prison similar to Alcatraz as it would be almost impossible to escape. We rode on a replica of the original prisioner train - still steam powered and on narrow gauge rails. The train passes through some picturesque areas into a National Park where we visited Ensenada Bay. Wild horses roam the grassland. Across the Bay is Chile and the strait leading to Cape Horn. The Park is reminiscent of some of our National Parks with beautiful scenery but it us not developed at all. The post office was the only amenity and the roads are all dirt.
The Island is visited by around 350 cruise ships each year, most of them being small 100 - 200 passenger ships on their way to explore Antarctica. During the winter many Brazilians come here to ski.
Ushuaia is considered the "end of the world" and ,as a result, you see the southernmost post office (where it cost $20. US for 3 postcards and 3 stamps), the southernmost railway, etc.
SATURDAY - We're sailing among a chain of islands. Once we reached the open seas it got very rough with high winds. The bridge announced we'd be running into some brief showers which turned out to be an afternoon of heavy rain. Once we entered the passage to Punta Arenas the seas calmed and it was a pleasant evening.
Formal night tonight. Princess is cutting back on many things. Usually a corsage is delivered to suites on the first formal of each segment - not this time. Also there is usually a Captain's Circle party with free drinks and minimal appetizers where the most traveled passengers (certainly not us) are honored with a bottle of champagne or bouquet of flowers. Again, not this time - maybe the next segment.
Friday, 23 February 2018
DAY 29 - AT SEA & CAPE HORN SCENIC CRUISING
THURSDAY - To put our location in perspective we are as far south of the equator as Ketchican is north of it. Much cooler (lower 40's) and windy. The port side of the ship was wet from sea spray so it was short laps for my walk and I finished it in the gym. Waves are no more than 12 feet which I understand is almost calm for this area. Estimated time to arrive at Cape Horn is around 7 pm. I believe we'll cruise around the island. There will be destination expert aboard to describe the experience. We'll see a big rock with a lighthouse and a monument of an albatross. Sunset isn't until 8:30 so we should be able to get some pictures.
Another pub lunch to break up the day.
The Captain had a couple choices as he sailed towards Cape Horn and we're happy that he chose the smoother course. As we approach Cape Horn we're cruising through a passageway and the seas have become quite rough (the map on TV says in the vicinity of 6+ meters). Passengers in the window seats in the dining room will attest to that. A family of 2 adults and 2 children live in the lighthouse and are scheduled to be there for a year before being replaced. We were cruising around Cape Horn for just under 2 hours and when we exited the passage the seas became quite calm.
We ran into the first head waiter (Nelson) on the World Cruise and had a lengthy chat. You may remember me mentioning that we had a head waiter who could remember everyone's name. Len gave him a phony name (Mike) and he was called that every time we met Nelson - in the buffet, on shore among others. He didn't remember our names after 2 years but he recognized the faces.
Wednesday, 21 February 2018
DAYS 28 - 29, AT SEA AND FALKLAND ISLANDS
TUESDAY, DAY 27 - A fairly nice day - blue skies and little wind. We had a mandatory safety drill in the morning. Apparently, new laws have been passed and this is required at least once every month. First time we've ever done this on a sea day but most of us were off the ship when the drill was conducted in Buenos Aires so they picked today to fill the requirement.
While having a gin and tonic in our cabin about 7 pm the Captain made an announcement that there was a sailboat in the area but the sailor was ok. Some passengers had noticed the sailboat and were concerned so the ship turned around and made contact with the sailor to make certain he was not in distress. The bridge had already been in contact with him but to ease the anxiety of some passengers they contacted him again. He is a single sailor making his way from New Zealand to France. I can't imagine anyone thinking that would be fun but he's already made it around the Horn so that's an accomplishment. A fellow from Surrey who is a big sailor says it will probably take him until this time next year to complete his journey.
FALKLAND ISLANDS - Pop. - under 3,000. British. They have their own currency - the Falkland Islands pound. This is a tender port and, because it can be very windy, no one was certain that we'd be able to stop. It is breezy and cool with a chance for showers.
We did take the tender to town. It's very small - quite a few cafes and souvenir shops. The big thing to do here is to view the penguins but, as we've seen them in both Melbourne, Australia and S. Africa we opted to just walk around. One of the main attractions seemed to be the old English red telephone booths and red mail boxes. The roofs of the houses are a variety of colours - red, yellow, blue, black, tan.
On the tender back to the ship we talked to people from Okotoks, and Alberta, Alabama - we've never heard of Alberta, Alabama.
Tuesday, 20 February 2018
DAYS 25-27 AT SEA & PUERTO MADRYN, ARGENTINA
SATURDAY - We should have still been in Argentina but sailed at 7 am rather than the advertised time of 4 pm. Apparently, the Argentine navy planned maneuvers in the bay and our ship had a choice of sailing at 7 am or 11 pm. It was a head office decision (and not a popular one) to sail early morning. Had we left at 11 pm the next port would have been scratched. We certainly disagreed with this decision as we had hoped to see the city of Buenos Aires during the day. Because we had an extra 9 hours to make our next stop we sailed very slowly during the day. The Buenos Aires pilot disembarked the ship around 9:30 am, the 2 river pilots disembarked around 5:30 pm. All this time we were sailing down the Platte River which is a huge river that flows between Uruguay and Argentina. Again, this river looks a muddy brown color due to the soil but it is filtered and is the Buenos Aires drinking water.
New entertainers onboard and tonight's feature was someone playing the harmonica. Seems like quite a downgrade from a classical violinist but we didn't see the show so we shouldn't comment.
SUNDAY - A quiet day for us at sea. None of the seminars were of any interest to us and it seems all the movies they're playing are old. We did have a long discussion with a couple who did a city tour and tango show in Buenos Aires. She is a former dancer and one of the 2016 World Cruisers. She says she had never seen such a wonderful display of dancing. We're sorry to have missed that. Too bad that it's such a long trip down here.
There is a pickle ball court on board (a first for us) and even though it was windy and we didn't know what we were doing we gave it a shot. Len then shot a few hoops before going back to the gym.
A couple of acrobats were the entertainment. Donovan and Rebecca have 4 World Records and, if you watch reality shows, you may have seen them (we don't watch them but they appeared on whichever show had Howard Stern as a judge). We'll try to attach a picture but this Wi-Fi is balmy and we have trouble sending pictures.
PUERTO MADRYN - Pop. 59,000. Spanish spoken. Argentine peso.
Very windy and cool as we approached the port. We just wandered around the town. Most people did not speak English but I found a young girl in a wine shop who was quite fluent. I didn't know anything about Patagonia Malbec but she tried to educate me about it. I ended up buying a Mendoza Malbec but when we went back out we bought a couple bottles from Patagonia.
Entertainment at night was a comic from Toronto. He will perform again in the Explorers Lounge in a couple nights. I take back my earlier comment about the Harmonica player (another Canadian). Apparently, he was very good and has played on the Montreal Philharmonic.
We now have 2122 passengers on board, with 1301 US, 487 Canadians, 74 British and 51 Aussies. Argentina was the biggest loser going down to only 18 as a lot left the ship in Buenos Aires.
Monday, 19 February 2018
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA - DAY 24
BUENOS AIRES- Pop. 2.8 million, 12.8 million in metropolitan area. Argentine peso (20 = $1. US).
We had a full day excursion booked to Iguazu Falls which are on the borders of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. The ship docked at 7 am and we were on our way to the domestic airport by 7:30 for the hour and a half flight. Upon landing a local guide joined us and we were off to a buffet lunch which included a barbecue. Argentine beef is good - maybe not as good as Alberta beef but good. After lunch we headed to the Upper Falls trail. The Falls are in a National Park and the park has done a great job of making the trails accessible. Most of the trails are over the river and are metal mesh bridges. There are actually around 300 diffefent falls but when it rains as it did for the 5 days prior to our visit many of the Falls merge into one. The Falls were formed thousands of years ago and are on the Iguazu River which flows south from Brazil. The soil is red and as a result the river is quite brown so some of the falls are not the pristine white you expect. We had great views of the Falls and they are quite spectacular. After completing this trail which took about an hour we hopped on a train for a 20 minute ride to the next set of trails. These trails also took about an hour - same falls but different views. Back on the train for another 20 minute ride to the first station. From there we walked to the hotel where dinner would be served. Some of the people went straight to the hotel but the rest of us went to the Lower Falls trail. We could hear the roar of the water although we couldn't see the Falls. This trail leads to the bottom of the Falls. The views are amazing and you can get quite wet from the spray. Back at the hotel we had a great buffet dinner with wine and beer.
The Park is home to 3,000 species of butterflies and we saw a lot of them. They are wonderful colors and their underwings are different from the outside wings. The Park is home to many different animals including the jaguar. Our local guide was 38, has lived in the area all his life but has never seen a jaguar while some people claim to see one on their first visit. Animals we did see were the coati (a type of raccoon that looks quite different than the Canadian ones but are just as mean), crocodile, monkey and deer.
We arrived back at the ship at 11 pm, tired but so glad we did this tour. Arriving at this late time meant that the shops in the terminal were closed so our planned purchases of malbec and Quillems beer will have to wait to our next port. A German brewer started this brewery in 1888 and the beer is almost a national institution.
We have now seen Niagara, Victoria and Iguazu Falls and you can't really compare them. Both Victoria and Iguazu Falls were at their best when we saw them and each have their own personalities. What stands out about Iguazu was the view from the bottom.
Pictures to follow.
Thursday, 15 February 2018
DAYS 21-23 - AT SEA & MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY
TUESDAY - 2 days at sea - the first was windy with rough seas. The open decks were blocked off so it was off to the gym. Finally, I ducked under the ropes and walked on the Promenade deck. There was another gathering of world cruisers in the afternoon. Not as well attended as the first but both the Captain and cruise director attended. It was another formal night so the singers and dancers performed. The violinist I mentioned before (Chris Watkins) also had 2 shows in the Explorer's Lounge. This fellow is so popular that even though it was his third performance it was standing room only. We've never been on a ship where the performers are on for an extended time but a group of about 6 or 7 have been onboard since the Canadian entertainers left - probably 15 or 16 days, so they do new shows at least twice.
WEDNESDAY - Calm seas so much more enjoyable. Valentines day and it is a Princess tradition for couples to renew their marriage vows. A large group participated including the Captain and his wife. The violinist and Broadway singer entertained prior to the ceremony. A lot of entertainment on the ship today. The singers and dancers did another show in the afternoon, a comedian had 2 shows at night, and then the violinist again performed in the Atrium. This was his 5th performance onboard and he did 2 shows per night for 3 of them. He leaves us in Montevideo and we'll be sorry to see him go.
MONTEVIDEO - Population 1.3 million, country of Uruguay 3.5 million, 35 million cows. Second smallest country in S. America. Spanish. We did a city tour. There are a lot of old buildings and a lot of them are of locally made brick. Some of the roads are still cobblestone. The city hosted the first ever World Cup in 1930 and the stadium still exists. I believe that Uruguay won the game. Education is compulsory from kindergarten to 10th grade. Public schools and universities are free but private ones have fees. Everyone contributes to health care based on their income. They have both public and private health care and the people get to choose which system they want to use but if private is the choice there are added costs. Uruguay supposedly has some fabulous wines so that was our major purchase. Still no problems getting wine or beer onboard.
Pictures - 1 - the soccer stadium
2 - Chris Watkins, the violinist
3 - the singers and dancers
Monday, 12 February 2018
RIO - DAYS 18-20
SATURDAY - Arrived in Rio this morning to a beautiful sunrise. We had a morning tour that was supposed to depart at 8. Instead it was just before 10 when we left and we returned to the ship at 3 rather than 12. Knocks the heck out of a day. It was a city tour with Sugarloaf Mountain. Our first stop was to be Copacabana Beach. We did see the beach - crowded with umbrellas, people and souvenir booths - but, due to Carnaval, the buses were not allowed to stop. Copacabana Beach is 4 kilometers long. We carried on to Sugarloaf and there were huge lineups. It took well over 90 minutes to get to the tram. The trip up the mountain is in two stages. The first tram takes you to the top of the first mountain which is 220 meters high. The next tram takes you to the very top of Sugarloaf - about 400 meters. There are spectacular views from it. It was a bit hazy so the statue of Christ the Redeemer is not very clear in our pictures. Interestingly, hawkers were selling agua (water) in the lineup up for $1 US, at the top a bottle was $5 US and when we got back down it was $1.50 each.
There are 10 million people in the metropolitan area. The port which they say was renewed for the 2016 Olympics is downtown which has certainly not been renewed. There is garbage and graffiti all over. The buildings are slum-like. It is really hot and humid.
A local folkloric group performed for us as the evenings entertainment. About 10 beautifully, but scantily clad women were backed up by a mostly drum band and a singer. I'm not sure how they get their bodies to shimmy that fast and long.
SUNDAY - We started the day with a champagne breakfast on the balcony. The main course was quiche with a side of crab legs - delicious. There was a local parade with about 40 floats which we were able to see from our balcony. Very quiet day for us as we had an excursion to Carnaval at night. It took us over an hour to get to the stadium from the ship. Along the way we'd see huge groups of people who would gather, force the streets to be closed and have their own Carnaval. These would be locals who could not afford to attend the official party. Some of the crew I talked to during the day say they ran into these groups late the previous night and they were welcome to join the party but it helped if you were willing to get naked.
Carnaval is quite an experience. Sunday night there were 7 samba schools performing. Each has a time limit of 75 minutes to complete their parade with the first group starting around 9:30. It's clear that they start this late to give the temperature a chance to cool down but it was still well over 30 C (90 F). Each school has 3000 students and they all partake. The stadium holds 90,000, is long and narrow with cement bleachers. If you opt for the box seats (twice as much as a bleachers seat) you get a plastic chair to sit on. Fireworks for about 5 minutes signal the start of a parade and it then takes at least 20 minutes for the first group to get to our section which was directly across from the judges stand. There are huge, beautiful floats separated by several brightly costumed groups. They are dancing the whole time as they pass by the stands. It is a sea of color as you look in either direction. I will send another blog with some pictures so you get an idea of the experience. After each group the floor is cleaned similar to a zamboni cleaning the ice between periods in a hockey game. We only made it through 5 schools before better judgement kicked in and we headed back to the ship where we arrived just before 5 am.
MONDAY - The last of a 3 day long holiday weekend in Rio. Due to the little sleep we had it was a quiet day but again there was a local parade passing by the port. These people know how to party. We leave here at 4:30 pm and will have 2 sedate days at sea to recuperate.
Friday, 9 February 2018
ILHABELA, BRAZIL - DAY 17
Located 4 miles off the Brazil coast, 210 miles south of Rio. Population 30,000. Average temp. 75. Portuguese. Because of the strong winds and calm waters - 80 miles of coastline has earned this island's reputation as Brazil's national capital of sailing. The waters are green, blue, turquoise and sapphire colors. Ring-a-ding - Bell's beach located on the islands northwest coast gets it's name from rock formations which produce a bell like sound when the rushing surf crashes over the rocks. Among a bounty of seafood, prawns are the star of most menus.
This is our first tender port and it did not go smoothly. The ship blamed it on a medical emergency but they were only using 4 tenders with a capacity of 90 each. It only took about 10 minutes to get to the port from the ship but it took a long time to load each tender. They started tendering people off around 9 am and it was 1:30 before there was no longer a lineup to get off. It was fine for us as we planned to get off around then and spend an hour walking around the town but a lot of people were very irate.
It's a pretty island but an island is an island. There was the usual array of souvenir shops and cafes. The sidewalks are paving stones and very uneven so you have to watch each step. One lady from our ship tripped, fell and broke her nose. Don't expect that she'll enjoy the next few days. Our big purchase was again a 6 pack of local beer which we successful got through security.
Celebrity Infiniti is moored next to us. This is only the second port that we've not been the only ship in town but it will be different tomorrow when we get to Rio.
Thursday, 8 February 2018
Pictures
1. Devils Island
2. Fortaleza - the beach across from some of the many condos
3. Fortaleza- ceiling in the theatre
4. Fortaleza - stained glass windows in the church
DAYS 13-16 FORTALEZA & 3 DAYS AT SEA
FORTALEZA - Population 3 million, Portugese. Has some of the longest coastlines and nicest beaches in Brazil. We did a city tour and visited the Metropolitan Cathedral - the 3rd largest church in Brazil. It can accommodate over 5000. It has many beautiful stained glass windows and, although it appears older, has only been around for 40 years. It did take 40 years to build.
We visited the Jose De alencer Theater. Opened in 1910 and across from a very busy, dangerous square that we were warned not to visit. Next stop was Central Market with over 500 small stores with local handicrafts on 3 floors. - t-shirts, caps, leather goods - typical flea market atmosphere.
There is a lot a garbage in the streets. Garbage is picked up a few days each week but it's just thrown in the streets between pickups. Most buildings are covered in graffiti. Poverty seems to be at an all time high - 8% unemployment.
Out tour guide said the area was under a terrible drought, but we brought relief as we have done for all our stops.
Our final stop was at a pier along the beach. This spot is very popular - people were walking, jogging, biking and sunning. Across the road are many high rise condos and hotels. In the newer condos a small 2 bedroom condo goes for around $400,000. Most people live in condos - we did not see any single family homes.
We went to a wine pairing dinner in Sabatinni. Six courses - smoked duck, octopus, risotto, veal osso buco, tagliata di manzo (sliced steak), and lemon cake - each served with a fine red wine (except dessert which was accompanied by limoncello). It was this ships first attempt at a wine dinner and was very good. They are awaiting feedback before deciding if this will become a tradition.
TUESDAY - Finally a day with no rain. There was a pub lunch in one of the specialty restaurants so we just had a light breakfast and did lunch. Runway at Sea was in the afternoon - about 20 people paraded on the stage in the Explorer Lounge, wearing clothes from the shops and escorted by the Captain and some of his senior staff. This captain is more involved in everyday ship life than most. He stops into our breakfast room a couple times a week to chat with the eaters, was interviewed by the cruise director at Coffee with the Captain and is seen all over the ship. His wife and son are with him on this cruise.
A very talented violinist entertained us in the theatre before dinner.
WEDNESDAY - We had our usual morning of exercise and breakfast then went to the movie Snatched with Goldie Hawn and Amy Schumer. Good for a laugh.
Tonight there is a cocktail party before the show and dinner. The entertainer was a singer - sang many songs from Les Mis. He will perform again in couple of nights with the violinist.
THURSDAY- A relaxing day as we have a few busy days coming up. There are the usual things we could partake in such as arts & crafts, choir practice, enrichment lectures but we chose to exercise and read a book.
We got a printout from the front desk showing that there are 34 different nationalities in the 2118 passengers aboard- 1272 US, 475 Canadians. The next largest group are Argentians with 97. We understand that about 400 will leave us in Buenos Aires and 500 will take their place.
Monday, 5 February 2018
DAYS 9-12 AT SEA
Thursday - The highlight today was a gathering of previous World cruisers. There are at least 60 onboard, although not all from our 2016 cruise. We've met up with over a dozen who were with us in 2016 and there could be more hiding around the decks. The rest of the day was our usual - breakfast, exercise, happy hour, entertainment, dinner and more entertainment. There are 3 female violinists who play in the atrium 2-3 times every evening who are really good and there is a fellow from Toronto who plays the piano and sings songs we would all remember. The show was a ventriloquist. We didn't make the show but I understand he was really good and will be performing again next week with a new show so we'll try to catch him then.
Friday - We stopped for about 3 hours in the bay by Devil's Island. There are actually 3 islands owned by French Guyana. Most of you will know about Devil's Island from the many books and movies, notably Papillion with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. This was not actually a port of call - we were just supposed to do a slow cruise past them. The Islands have become a tourist destination and have around 50,000 tourists each year. They also have the usual t-shirts, caps, fridge magnets, etc. which one of our tenders transported to the ship for sale.
At lunch we attended a wine tasting. There were 6 different wines starting with a champagne and ending up with a high end red from Tuscany. There was a plate of appetizers for every 2 people and we were told which ones to try with each wine. Just before we started with the 3 reds the maitre d' cooked up some pasta for us. As far as the food went, it in no way compared to the ones we attended on the Pacific Princess but the wines were very good.
Saturday - Not much planned for the day although there are some good movies on around the ship. I went for my usual walk around the Promenade Deck.
We still have a lot of wind and, for some reason, the starboard side gets very wet. I'm sure a salt water facial must be good for the skin - right?
This is a formal night so the dancers and singers will perform. Some of the passengers take formal night very seriously- one fellow was decked out in a tux, top hat, white gloves and a cane.
Sunday - We crossed the equator during the night and a crossing ritual is required so it was held at 2 pm. A couple passengers along with several crew take part and it gets messy - spaghetti, raw eggs, jello among other liquids are involed. The captain, his son and 3 of his senior staff end up in the pool.
Going in Style with Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine was the movie under the stars. Good for a couple hours entertainment. Super Bowl is being aired on the big screen (movies under the stars on Decks 14 & 15) as well as in one of the lounges but has a start time of 8:30. Luckily, the downpour stopped and the game could be seen on the decks. ESPN broadcast the game, (likeCanada) deleted all the US ads and showed only their own ads. We did get to see the half time show.
Sunday, 4 February 2018
DAYS 6-8 ST. VINCENT, GRENADA, TRINIDAD
ST. VINCENT - Population 100,000, Eastern Caribbean Dollar. Only 90 miles from Martinique. Again, our plan was to do a walkabout. Again, rain was the predominant feature of the day. They advertise the island has seemingly never ending sunshine and this is supposedly the dry season but the sun was a rare sighting - maybe tomorrow. We did venture out for about half an hour armed with a Princess umbrella. When we returned to the ship, security told us we were each allowed to bring a bottle of wine or 6 pack of beer onboard (hard liquor not allowed). So, of course, to check it out Len went back for a 6 pack which he successfully got through security. They are usually so strict about bringing wine and beer on board so we're not sure why this change of heart.
GRENADA - Population 110,000, Eastern Caribbean Dollar. The Spice Isle, home to nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cinnamon and cocoa. Although we don't dive, Grenada is home to the first ever underwater sculpture park designed by a British sculptor. The rain was sporadic today and we did get a walk in without getting wet.
We've gone to 4 shows and 3 of the entertainers have been Canadian (Vancouver - Lovena Fox, Toronto - Karin Grainger & Scott Harris). All the entertainers including those performing in bars are leaving the ship in Grenada or Trinidad so we'll get a new bunch starting Wednesday.
We went to the Crab Shack, a speciality restaurant they have periodically. Crab legs are never on the menus in the dining rooms (at least on ships we've been on) so we really enjoyed them.
TRINIDAD - Population 1.2 million, Trinidad and Tobago dollar. The 2 island nation covers about 1900 sq. miles. Trinidad is only 7 miles off the coast of Venezuela. Trinidad produces over 100,000 barrels of oil a day and is second richest Caribbean country next to the Bahamas. The Island is considered to be the birthplace of calypso music. Angostura bitters are distilled here.
Woke up to another day of rarely sunny and have had several heavy showers this morning. Glimpses of sunshine in the afternoon. Another successful beer run. The terminal was quite a walk so they did provide shuttle buses for the mobility deficients.
This is a very busy container port. It's quite interesting to watch them moving and loading the containers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)