John and Diane's Lucky Number 7

[ozcruizer]

Loving following your blog and even more so now that you've introduced photos.  We did the Panama Canal years ago when passenger ships were operating from Australia to Europe - a never to be forgotten sight.  

[Krazy Kruizers]

Wonderful report.

 

We have also done the full transit quite a few times.  Always see something new.

 

So glad that you are able to post pictures.

[cat shepard]

Diane, I did not believe you could better your posts. You have such a way with words. But your pictures add just enough.

 

Thank you for your efforts.

 

p.s. - That sword looks dangerous.

[Mr. Boston]

I’m really enjoying your trip reports.  The Panama Canal looks fascinating, I hope to see it some day.  Thank-you for bringing everything to life!

[cccole]

I would like to join others in thanking you for taking us along on this WC.  I was so happy to see that you were again going on the entire cruise.  Your positive attitude and view of the world is fabulous.  Love the photos of your "table" so that I can put faces to the names.  Again, a HUGE thank you.  Cherie  

[tennisbeforewine]

Monday, January 28, 2019

Fuerte Amador for Panama City

 

If you’re ever planning to travel to Panama City, which is a beautiful place, be sure not to do it when the International Catholic Youth Conference is held here, and especially not in the days after the Pope comes to speak.  This conference is held annually, each year in a different international city, and it attracts as many as several hundred thousand young people who come to share their faith. We found out how crowded that many young people can be.  

 

We anchored off Panama City last evening, but most people stayed on board until today.  John and I had our usual gym/breakfast/shower routine before jumping on a tender for the port.  Once there, we decided that the best way to have an overall view of Panama City would be to take the Hop-On, Hop-Off (HOHO) bus.  Panama City must really be seen to be believed.  It looks like a slightly scaled down version of Manhattan with high-rise buildings and traffic everywhere.  We’ve been here several times, and each time I think I must have remembered it as bigger than it is, and each time I am proved wrong.

 

Our goal on the HOHO bus was to get off at Miraflores Locks, the last ones when traversing from the Caribbean to the Pacific.  They have a really interesting visitors’ center, viewing platform and IMAX presentation where we’ve never spent any time before, so we disembarked the bus, only to find out that at least half of the young people here for the conference were waiting in line to get in.  There’s a $20 entrance fee (plus another $15 for the IMAX), but from the length of the line, you’d think they were handing out free IPhones.  We joined the young people in line (thereby increasing the average age by at least 10 years!), and when we had moved about five feet in ten minutes, we decided that this was not the day to see more of Miraflores Locks.  Having made that decision, we only had to wait about an hour for the next HOHO bus, and we enjoyed watching the groups of young people who were happy and positive and really riding on a “high” having seen Pope Francis.  In addition, we hadn’t seen so many nuns in habits since the last time we were in Rome.  If we had to fight huge crowds, it was nice to have them be such happy ones.  

 

When we got back on the bus, we decided that instead of getting off in Old Town, we’d just ride it back to the harbor and board the ship in time for lunch.  As we approached Fuerte Amador for the tender, we noticed a lovely restaurant across the parking lot.  Although it was only one story, it somehow reminded me of the old Swiss Family Treehouse at Disneyland.  We still had plenty of time until the last tender - hours, in fact - so we walked across the parking lot and enjoyed a leisurely lunch at Sirena Seafood Restaurant.  The calimari was perfect, and our salads (Greek for John and avocado/chicken for me) were wonderful.  My sangria wasn’t bad either!  

 

Having returned to the ship, my sangria told me it was time for a nap, so that’s what I did.  We had arranged with our kids to call at 4:45 (1:45 California time), and after waking up, our only challenge was to find a spot on the ship which was quiet enough to have a phone conversation.  Everyone and everything at home is good, so we can relax for another week!  

 

We were supposed to sail at 5:00, but the captain came on shortly before that and announced that two tour buses had been delayed because of a large traffic accident, so we would, of course, have to wait for them.  Finally, at about 5:50 he came on again and said that the police had escorted the buses around the accident and that the passengers should be on board at about 6:15.  Right now it’s 6:25 and we have just begun to sail.  At sea, you just never know what to expect next.  

 

Now it’s off for two sea days (hooray!) until we arrive at Salaverry, Peru.  I can’t wait to get my last few bits of cruise paperwork in order and then to be ready for another port.

 

[RuthC]

As always, I am enjoying your narrative. You have such pleasant days, and times aboard.
Even more, this year, I am pleased with the pictures you have added! They make the narrative come alive.

Enjoy the time at sea.

[josumello]

Enjoying all your narratives and the pictures are wonderful. I did do FB friend request. Suzanne Mello 

[kazu]

Very much enjoying your thread 🙂 

 

Your pics are great and really adding to your narrative.

 

Thanks so much for taking us along 🙂 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Great reporting.

 

Glad that the police were able to help escort the 2 buses back to the ship.

 

Love the pictures.

[puppycanducruise]

Wonderful pictures and commentary.

Thanks for taking us along.

[Lido deck main]

Just chiming in as I have been following and haven’t commented yet.  Thank you for your posts and awesome pictures.  

Mary

[tennisbeforewine]

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

At Sea en route to Salaverry, Peru

 

If I haven’t mentioned it before (only several times on past blogs), I LOVE sea days. You don’t have to do anything, and there’s plenty of time to do it.   They’re not for everyone and if you can’t find things to entertain you, you might not enjoy them, but I think they’re just wonderful.  Today, being a typical sea day, has plenty to keep us busy.

 

The day began as it usually does, with our gym/breakfast/shower routine.  Breakfast was even more fun today because our friend Bob Stimmel, joined us.  Bob is a fellow Methodist from our church in San Luis Obispo, and he’s traveling with the Road Scholar group (formerly Elderhostel).  There are, I believe, 47 of them along with two leaders and a rotating lecturer (great mental picture, isn’t it?).  On sea days they have lecture sessions preparing for the next port, and then on port days they have shore excursions.  Yesterday, for example, they walked a lot through Panama’s Old Town, and then visited the Miraflores Locks with the three million young people. Fortunately for them, they had tickets purchased in advance, so they got right through, but Bob felt the same way about the crowds that we did.

 

Also during breakfast, John and Rich decided to have another pickleball session this morning while I came to my usual spot in the library to write, at the beautiful mosaic-topped marble table near the main internet server, with a stop at the coffee bar along the way for a cappuccino, of course.  Afterwards, we’ll meet at 11:45 for Trivia as long as they haven’t kicked us off the team for forgetting to come on Panama Canal transit day.  That should take us through until 12:15, giving us 45 minutes to have lunch before our wine tasting, which the invitation said is set for 1:00.  In the past we’ve usually skipped the wine tastings since they were set for 10:00 or 11:00 in the morning (waaaay too early for us), but 1:00 seems reasonable, so it will give us a chance to try some of the wines in the three available packages. We’ve chosen Package #2.  

 

Most of our afternoon is free and may include a nap, but John and Rich will probably hit the pickleball court again and I may try to run a couple of miles on the Deck 9 track.  

Since we just picked up our first Book Club selection (it’s Something in the Water, SJSU Librarian), we’ll have to fight over who gets to read it first.  The meeting to discuss it will be February 9, so I think we’ll both probably have it finished.  According the the blurb on Amazon, it’s quite the page-turner.

 

One bit I forgot to mention the other day was the heroic actions of our friend Jane.  We were near the end of dinner the other night when I turned around and noticed that an older lady (I should talk!) had tried to stand up from the table but then began to collapse.  Fortunately, her family members supported her and had her sit in a chair.  I called Jane’s attention to the situation and, as a retired nurse who retains her license, she was over there and in charge of the situation in a flash.  Jane spent quite some time calming the woman and assessing the situation while calling for a wheelchair.  The last thing she told the family members was to have their mother (it turned out) looked at by the doctor.  

Afterwards, Jane was asked to write up a summary of the situation for the ship’s physician.  Later, we found out that the lady had been diagnosed with a TIA (small stroke) and that she was medically evacuated from Panama City.  If you have to have a medical emergency, make sure Jane is around.  It worked well for me two years ago on a flight in India when I passed out from dehydration.  She took excellent care of me, made me drink several small bottles of water and had me moved to first class so I could stretch out.  

 

Whoops - almost time for Trivia.  I’ll leave you with three photos:  my favorite table, the coffee bar, and our first formal night with Henk Mensink, the Hotel Manager, as our host.  See you tomorrow. 

[cat shepard]

Go Jane! Generously sharing your gift and skills.

 

Diane, that table is exquisite. Another stellar written and pictorial report.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Thanks Diane, for the first book selection.  Just requested it from my Public Library. Barbara

Edited January 29, 2019 by SJSULIBRARIAN

[ozcruizer]

Is Something in the Water the book by Catherine Steadman, Diane?  Looks very interesting.

Thanks, Daphne

[tennisbeforewine]

Yes, Catherine Steadman is the author.  John is already 1/4 of the way through and he says it's great. 

[ozcruizer]

I will download it to my Kindle for our forthcoming cruise!  Good title for a cruise!

Thanks

[Ineke]

I would love to read your FB posts, and will send Friend request under Irene Storteboom.  Glad to see your blogposts on this year’s World Cruise.  Thanks!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Enjoying your reports.

 

Really enjoy getting to see pictures during your travels.

[tennisbeforewine]

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

At Sea en route to Salaverry, Peru

 

What a busy day we had yesterday - and a lot of fun, too.  As I mentioned, we had Trivia at 11:45, which is always fun but not fun enough, since we haven’t won yet.  The “prize” procedure is different this year.  In the past, teams who came in first, second or third earned a certain number of “dam dollars” which could later be exchanged for various items like Amazon gift cards, phone chargers, or HAL merchandise.  This year, every person who plays is given a gift card good for 10 cents on Amazon, the idea being that one accumulates enough of these cards to actually get into dollars.  I think we have sixty cents worth now.

 

After Trivia and a quick lunch, we headed up to the Crow’s Nest for a wine tasting.  As we entered, we were each given a wine glass and the arrangement of tables was explained.  There are three wine packages, conveniently numbered 1, 2, and 3; each of which has 16 wines to choose from.  There were three tables, each representing one of the wine packages and each of its 16 wines.  It turned out to be an excellent way to allow all of us to try any of the wines we wished, as many as 48 if we were so inclined (we weren’t!).  Since we have Package #2, we of course headed to the Package #3 table and I had a generous taste of their quite excellent rose, one of my two favorite wines.  I also like good sparkling wines, since life is too short to drink bad Champagne.  We also sampled a couple of wines from our package that we hadn’t tried and then ended up having one of them last evening with dinner.  

 

After an hour of wine tasting, a nap would usually be mandatory, but we didn’t give in.  Instead we had outdoor activities to enjoy.  John and Rich went up to the pickleball court , where John made an effort to become mediocre.  When asked when he would join the players that meet every morning in doubles matches, he answered, “When I’m at least mediocre.”  According to Rich, he’s almost there.  While they hit, I threw on my exercise clothes once more and jogged around the Deck 9 track.  It’s not really a proper track, but it says that eleven times around is a mile.  My goal was to jog for half an hour, or about 2-1/2 miles, but the wine made that goal an unreasonable one.  I did get in one mile and then decided to call it a day and try it again tomorrow.  

 

I was tempted to give in to the urge for a nap, but instead I picked up a book and had a good read.  I knew we’d need to be ready early that evening, so I just uploaded yesterday’s photos and enjoyed the ocean going by.  

 

The evening’s activities were full of fun.  The late seating dinner folks had their show by the Amsterdam singers and dancers at 6:00, because it was a gala night with a black and silver theme.  There was a Black and Silver ball scheduled for 10:00, making our show much earlier.  After the show ended, we headed up to the Crow’s Nest for our nightly visit with friends, and then at 8:00 we headed for dinner, where we found beautiful black and silver masks at each place.  One of them will go to our granddaughter, who is in love with all things sparkly.  Although there were the usual seven or eight main course choices, everyone at our table ordered either the filet or the rack of lamb.  I was in the lamb category, and it was delicious.  

 

After dinner it was time to head forward to the ball, which

 was really well attended.  The wooden dance floor in the middle has been covered over by the new carpet in the Queen’s Lounge, and it seems to have provided more room to dance.  It was so much fun!  On our first couple of world cruises, the orchestra played what we used to call “music to snooze to” but this year we have The Station Band which plays really excellent rock and roll.  We danced to everything from “YMCA” to “Old Time Rock and Roll”, which I think is the best dance song ever.

 

As with all good things, it had to come to an end, so at 11:00 the band played the theme from “Rawhide,” which is their signal that the music is now over.  With smiles and sore feet, we all headed off to bed.  What a great day!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Wonderful report.

 

I like that new idea for the wine tasting.

 

I have heard about this new idea of collecting Amazon cards for those playing Trivia on the longer cruises.

[tennisbeforewine]

Thursday, January 31, 2019

Salaverry (for Trujillo), Peru

 

What a wonderful - and exhausting - day we had.  This is a new port for us.  We’ve been to the port for Lima but never to Salaverry or Trujillo, the third largest city in Peru at just under a million inhabitants.  

 

We were picked up at 8:15 for our private tour which turned out to be such a bargain.  There were three busses and we were in Bus #1.  Our vehicle held 29 people, but there were only 15 of us.  Not only that, but our guide was Alfredo, whom we later found out wrote the guidebook to Trujillo and the historic sites in its vicinity.  Each of the couples or singles was given a copy of the guidebook and it will be a wonderful souvenir.  

 

Our first stop was at the Huaca (or temple) del Sol and Huaca de la Luna.  The first isn’t open to visitors because of the work being done there, but the Temple of the Moon was a fascinating look into second century Moche civilization, which continued until overthrown by the Chimu in about 850 A.D.  Much of what is advertised as Inca civilization was actually Moche or Chimu, since the Incas only ruled in Peru for 80 years before being overthrown by the Spanish.  Those first two civilizations were brutal ones, where human sacrifice was the norm.  The Moche sacrificed warriors who lost one-on-one battles, while the Chimu preferred to execute women and children.  

 

This area is as dry as any I’ve ever experienced.  Strangely enough, however, the early civilizations coped with the dry conditions and dreaded the El Nino storms that seemed to come about every 20 or 30 years, primarily because their buildings were adobe and would fall apart in the rushing water.  Much of the human sacrifice was for the purpose of preventing or stopping one of these El Nino storms.  When a Moche king died, he was mummified, his temple was filled in, and his heir would then build a new temple.  The advantage to this system was that the filled in areas were protected and many of them look like they were carved and painted yesterday.

 

We then drove to the beautiful downtown main square of Trujillo which has colonial buildings and an impressive cathedral.  The colors of all buildings, inside and out, were vibrant and fresh looking.  We would have liked to stay longer, but it was time to continue.  

 

AfterTrujillo, we headed to the Chan Chan complex, which covered 14 square kilometers or nearly 3500 acres.  It is considered to be the world’s largest mud brick city.  Under a several-acre tent is a huge maze-like construction which, on first entering, reminded me of the Chinese warriors, although there are no human statues, but only designs.  I’ll include a photo to show what it looked like.  We walked a total of about a mile and half while visiting Chan Chan (according to my IPhone app) and saw amazing carvings in the mud bricks. 

 

Next, we headed to the seaside town of Huanchaco Beach, home to dozens of reed fishing boats, whose history goes back to the Moche and Chimu.  It reminded us of our neighboring town of Pismo Beach, with surfers everywhere and shops and restaurants dotting the other side of the street.  This was our 2:00 lunch stop, so we headed across the street to El Sombrero, where John and I shared a plate of grilled sea bass, roasted potato slices and rice.  It was delectable!  What made it even better was the Pisco sour accompanying it.  This is almost the national drink of Peru and we loved ours.  Pisco is a brandy derivative and one is more than enough for me, thank you very much.  

 

Then it was time to head back to the ship.  We had seen so much and learned so much that our heads were spinning, so we decided to put those heads on pillows for a bit of a nap, in preparation for the Sommelier Dinner we were to enjoy later.

 

Rested, bathed, and dressed appropriately, we wandered down to the Pinnacle Restaurant at 6:30 for the first Sommelier Dinner of the cruise.  We’re signed up for two more with our dining table group, but this one was a “date” just for the two of us.  The guest chef was Peruvian, and he produced an amazingly good series of courses, each paired with the perfect wine by Jacques, the cellar master.  

 

We began with tuna ceviche.  I’m really not a raw fish fan, but the ceviche, “cooked” in lemon juice and Peruvian “tiger’s milk”, was excellent and I ate the whole thing.  The accompanying wine was a Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.  Next was my favorite course, a Pac Chicay lobster, steamed and served with ginger brown butter, topped with crunchy bits of cassava.  The wine was Cloudy Bay chardonnay, and since I’m not a chardonnay fan, I just had another glass of the Villa Maria.  After an “intermezzo” of passion fruit sorbet, our third course was plantain gnocchi with crispy prosciutto on top.  It was really deliciious, but just too much, so I ate only three of the five gnocchi.  The wine, Sokol Blosser Evolution from Oregon, was my very favorite.  

 

Then came the fourth and main course:  Berkshire pork loin adobo.  It combined pork and adobo beautifully and came with sweet potato puree, but it was another course I just couldn’t finish. Then it was time for dessert, called “Choco Lucuma Garden.”  Lucuma is a fruit which is native to the Andes valleys of Peru and Ecuador and, in this case, was used to make foam with chocolate crumbles on top, decorated with tiny (real) carrots marinated in passion fruit juice.  It was unlike any dessert I’ve ever had and was absolutely lovely.  It was accompanied by a tiny ice cold glass of a sweet (but not too sweet) wine like a muscat.  It was written up as a “Mystery Reserve Wine” and that’s what it was.

 

It was a wonderful dinner and we’re looking forward to the next one.  After that, we actually made it to the show, but when our heads hit the pillows it was “lights out!”

[DFD1]

Your postings are always interesting and great fun to read. Thank you for sharing your amazing journey with all of us.

[Krazy Kruizers]

You really had a long and wonderful day.  The dinner sounds wonderful.  I have also found that there is just too much food served at those Cellar Master dinners.  Your excursion sounded especially since you weren't crowded on the bus.

 

Great pictures.