Here we go! 31-Day R/T Cruise to Incan Empire

[erewhon]

Thank you for the update of your cruise.

[rajkr74]

I think you'd enjoy a Panama Canal cruise on the Westy next April more:D.

 

Sorry can't do it until after 5-16-14. (retirement) You can come with us on the 14 day Alaska on 6-22-14. We have looked at this Incan Empire cruise a couple times and looks interesting.

[Spinner2]

Huatulco November 8

 

Hot, hot, hot! But still a fun day as we walked over to a small city nearby and looked around, took photos, etc. and got a cab back because the heat was really brutal. Now we're sitting within view of the ship, noshing on snacks so we can use the wi fi; free to customers. Its signal is in evidence on the ship, but it's a bit too far to hold long enough to use it. Codes freely distributed here!

 

Maintenance. Always of interest to some. This evening the carpet in the Neptune Lounge, due for replacement during dry dock but not accomplished, is being done. We've seen other carpet and upholstery work in process; it all looks nice. We've heard of a couple of plumbing issues which seem to have been very quickly resolved; one cabin to our knowledge has an air conditioning issue that hasn't resolved and that couple has been moved to a comparable cabin, at least for now. The public rooms have been very comfortable and do not seem to have an issue. Our verandah was scrubbed very thoroughly yesterday; today, it's the adjacent cabin so this seems to be routine maintenance.

 

More on the beef and prime rib in particular: We've not very picky and don't expect to get the quality of prime rib, for example, that we'd find at home in a place like Lawry's the Prime Rib which is one of our favorites in Los Angeles. But what we got the first night was ok with us; more tender in the center, the outside a little less excellent, but more than enough of the center to enjoy it. We haven't had steaks yet; the short ribs were excellent.

 

Dining room manager Putu Dony is very personable; we're enjoying getting to know him.

 

We'll be here tomorrow as well and haven't made any plans yet.

[scopewest]

Thanks for posting, sounds like a great cruise!

[Spinner2]

November 9, Huatulco

 

I wrote yesterday’s entry hastily, sitting at the cafe (Dona Celia’s Lobster House) with the excellent guacamole and an equally-excellent wi-fi. The cafe takes up most of the beachfront where the swimming is; at its far end is the Mexican flag and then it looks like 3 separate restaurants, with tables inside and along the beach, but it seems to be just one.. They distribute business cards with the access codes for 3 separate wi-fi access points quite freely; I got one even before we sat down to eat. Walk on down the beach to this further end; the better wi-fi is worth it.

 

The city that we walked to yesterday was, of course, la Crucecita; I neglected to fill in the name in the previous post, wanting to get the spelling right. It is very walkable; you’ll start out, after leaving the harbor area, facing a moderate uphill climb, but after that it’s level, shady, and for most of the way you’ll be walking in a beautiful walking path area between the two directions of traffic. As you leave the port area you’ll see, at the first traffic intersection, a hotel where you can get a very nice little map that shows exactly where you will be walking and the turnoffs you need to make are well marked. Just ask at the reception desk for the little map. We did grab a cab back; the walking is easy but it was nearly 100-degrees hot and we were pretty hot ourselves. Cost: two dollars.

 

Last night there was a BBQ up around the aft pool, with local dancers and singers for entertainment. We opted instead for another course-by-course dinner on our verandah, enjoying the food and the entertainment down in the water. The most fun to watch, I thought, was the boat pulling one of those banana floats, that people ride on in a line, holding on to hand holds while skimming over the water, pulled by the ski boat. The kids riding the one in the water last night were having such a good time and we enjoyed watching them, and then when the boat slowed down, they’d all slide off into the water.

 

Today I want to get some online work done so I can load it over at the free internet cafe and just continue to relax, getting in more fiction reading than I ever seem to find time for at home. When I went to the library onboard right after we came aboard last Sunday I picked up a novel by an author that was new to me and I noticed that the volume on the library shelf was #5 in a series that now numbers about 10 titles. I quickly went online while I still had internet access in the San Diego Harbor and loaded most of the other titles from the Los Angeles Public Library site, so I’ve been able to read the series in order, either from my iPad or my iPhone. Very convenient!

 

The carpet replacement in the Neptune Lounge was finished by this morning; they worked all night on it and it’s now a lovely dark blue with stars in the design; you’ve probably seen this same pattern elsewhere on the ships.

 

Don't worry; I'll try to check; not sure how but there's bound to be a tactful way.

 

Another lovely day aboard a dam ship.

[cruz chic]

Thx for the update. One of my favorite Mexican ports is Hualtulco.

[sevenseasnomad]

Color me green with envy. What a lovely cruise, and thank you for taking time to keep us updated. Enjoying your posts very much.

[TracieABD]

It sounds as if you are having a remarkable time! Thank you for the live from!:)

[Spinner2]

Monday, November 11

At Sea Puerto Chiapas to Fuerte Amador

 

Time change this morning! We’re now three hours ahead of San Diego, where we started. Tonight’s the second formal night of this cruise; it seems that in our 31 days there will only be six, maybe seven, formal nights. On our seaward journey from Huatulco to Puerto Chiapas we had a rainy, windy night, but Puerto Chiapas served up gorgeous weather, if rather humid, and we saw only a few drops of rain as we departed.

 

We’ve been to Puerto Chiapas before, so we opted for something new; the ship’s shore ex to the banana plantation. It was billed as that, plus a visit to the local school, but it turned out to be much better than that; this is a tour I’d recommend to everyone!

 

Because of the road quality once the bus leaves the main highway,y only smaller vans were used, so there were only about 40 participants. The guide spoke excellent English and was a good speaker, with much to share about the cooperative we’d be visiting. Yesterday was Sunday and the Shore Ex office had been a bit vague about what would be happening on a non-scheduled work and school day, but no worries; the children had been summoned to a school day on a Sunday and the banana processing was in full swing; it’s a heavy harvest time and perhaps they work overtime anyway, but it gave us a full day of sightseeing, even on a weekend day.

 

We visited the school first. The guide explained that being selected as a tour destination was reserved for only the best-functioning co-operatives; we passed several co-operatives that he said were not “on the list” and we could tell from the condition of the housing and such that we were probably seeing “the best” of this system so I was keeping in mind that perhaps our destination would not be typical. What we saw, when we reached the school, was a beautifully-kept facility; parent volunteers were preparing lunch for the students and it appeared to be a regular, if probably very short since it was Sunday, school day for the kids. As we prepared to leave the bus the guide asked us to reach up in the overhead shelves of the bus where there were enough packaged school supplies for each tour participant to take one; we’d be giving these to the principal for distribution as he saw fit. (Their principal was parent- and school committee-selected; he came from Mexico City several years ago where his reputation as a quality educational leader led this school to hire him.) And then, as we left the bus, each of us was given a huge handful of wrapped candy, so here we are, walking into the school’s courtyard, trying to balance our hats, slippery plastic-wrapped school supplies, lots of lollipops and trying not to drop anything. After a short welcome speech, translated, we were invited to the K-1 classroom, where the children had prepared little notes and drawings to give us. Herein lay the only, but major glitch (at least in the children’s eyes!) of the day. They are taught that while the visitors have brought gifts for them (the candy which they’ll get directly and the school supplies which they’ll get as the staff decides) they must reciprocate, so thus the little notes and drawings. So we were sort of “set upon” by eager, delightful children who couldn’t wait to exchange their notes for the candy. Keep in mind that all of us tourists are still trying to hold onto our hats and often water bottles, the slippery bags of school supplies and a large handful of wrapped candy, but loose in that we had no bag to put the pieces in. Kids were pretty much grabbing the candy, usually getting more than one piece and I for one did not have the language to say “one piece only.” When I tried “uno” the kid would give me one more note! This was pretty much enjoyable until there seemed to be no more candy; the guide thought more had been loaded onto the bus but apparently not. So some kids were already not getting any . . . and we were taken then to a roomful of fifth-graders and we were empty-handed, except for the bags of school supplies.

 

Not that those had gone unnoticed. More than one little kid in the K-1 room had pointed to the individual pencil sharpener in each bag and begged silently for that , with those big brown eyes! In the grade 5 room the kids were working on geometry but they too had notes and drawings . . . and we had no candy. The your guide assured us this was ok; the kids were older, they’d understand, but they certainly didn’t! We saw much teasing at the group assembly of those who didn’t manage to grab a candy by those who had been luckier!

 

The children performed local dances for us which we enjoyed and the school director shared their Facebook page URL with me so I can look it up later.

 

The banana plantation was next; after we drove through the fields which range along both sides of the road, we came to the processing area. We could see workers cutting the bunches down from the plants (removing them from the protective bags that cover them from insect and rain damage while they grow) and placing foam rubber dividers between what would later be the individual bunches. On a single cutting from the plant there would be maybe a half-dozen of these dividers, looking like spirals going up the bunch. Then, huge banana bunches still hanging on the line by hooks they’d been placed on in the field, the heavy line was manually dragged along, the bunches moving conveyer-belt style into the covered area where they were separated into smaller bunches. The foam protectors were removed, and the now-consumer-size banana bunches all went into a huge water bath, to wash off the lactose that exudes from the stalk onto the fruit when it was cut in the fields. The banana bunches gradually move toward workers who remove individual bananas that were deemed too small or damaged in some way were removed and separated out; most of those can be consumed locally or sold in local markets. The bunches were removed from the bath, shaken free of most of the water and the sticker of the firm that would be selling them was applied (a local sticker today; but could be Dole or Chiquita or whatever) the now-individual bunches that you’d find in your own store joined the conveyor line where workers grabbed a box, lined it with brown paper and a plastic liner, used a foam shaper to hold the bananas temporarily in place until the box was full; the plastic was folded down around the bunches, the foam spacer removed and the lid placed on the box, with a number-label so the packer could be identified as the workers are paid part salary and part packing bonus of some sort. Boxes roll off very fast, ready to go and each day they pack thousands of boxes.

 

Off to the side, before the bananas reached these packers were box-makers; one person slapped glue (via a large brush) onto the flaps; the box was unfolded on a form which rotated; as it filled with 4 boxes and turned, presses forced the flaps together so the glue would hold and then the finished boxes joined a conveyer belt where the packers could quickly get them.

 

I buy bananas at Costco for prices ranging from $1.20 t0 $1.32 and I have no idea, now that I see what goes into the packaging, not to mention shipping, how they can sell for that price.

 

Then as we left the plantation-cooperative and headed to a local church we learned more about how the cooperative idea works; the land is held in common; there seems to be various formulas for who owns the housing areas; large families usually mean that someone in the family is still using that family’s housing area although these days many move on to the cities and such. I know that we didn’t hear the whole story; it’s complicated. Interestingly, while we in the United States are accustomed to Mexican citizens migrating north to find work in the United States, in Mexico they use workers from Guatemala, very nearby; apparently most of the heavy work is done by Guatemalans. While the guide spoke of government-supplied school needs, including uniforms, further questioning suggested that it’s not that simple; those without Mexican birth certificates, whether non-native born or unregistered home births, seem to not have full school privileges. I’m not sure about this, or exactly how the whole co-operative idea works, but certainly there seem to be quite a few of these in this area. It’s a concept I’ll want to read more about once we’re home.

 

At the church we saw its interesting interior (it has artwork depicting saints particularly honored in this area ) and in the adjoining fellowship area were served banana tamales and thin, fried banana strips which were delicious. Once again, as had happened at the school, we were offered bottled water and/or Cokes; taking our own water had been unnecessary.

 

After the lunch we headed back to the port with time left for a shower and a swim in the sea view pool to cool off before enjoying the sail-away.

 

One more thing about the excursion: security. As soon as we left the port, and with us until we turned into the short road that led back into the port were two vehicles of armed guards, six altogether, I counted. They were never intrusive, but as we exited and reboarded the bus they were never far away, standing outside their vehicles or standing up in the back of one that was more like a small truck. The official explanation was that they were there to make sure no incidents occurred; it seemed routine and not tied to our particular excursion, but it shows, I think, either the degree of concern that there is or the degree of concern that they believe tourists have, whether accurate or not I couldn’t say.

 

The sunset was beautiful last night; we had invited a Cruise Critic friend to join us on the verandah for a little something to eat and drink as we enjoyed the view and got to know a new friend. Dinner for us was the braised chicken for us both; just delicious; I also had the beet salad with slices of tart apple alternating with the beet rounds. Just delicious, both. George had one of the soups as well; a favorite and a favorite dessert for both of us, the strawberries pavlova. Comic Brad Upton was last night’s entertainer and then an early turn-in for a change because of the time forward change.

 

As I finish this up it’s November 11, we’ve heard another chapter in Lecturer Ron Gatepain’s Central and South American early civilizations lectures. He’s one of the best speakers we’ve heard on these series and we’re enjoying them, as well as the port expert, Lance who is equally knowledgeable.

 

Another wonderful couple of days, and it’s all going by way too fast.

[cruz chic]

Thx for the update:).

[sallycruiser06]

Monday, November 11

At Sea Puerto Chiapas to Fuerte Amador

 

Time change this morning! We’re now three hours ahead of San Diego, where we started. Tonight’s the second formal night of this cruise; it seems that in our 31 days there will only be six, maybe seven, formal nights. On our seaward journey from Huatulco to Puerto Chiapas we had a rainy, windy night, but Puerto Chiapas served up gorgeous weather, if rather humid, and we saw only a few drops of rain as we departed.

 

We’ve been to Puerto Chiapas before, so we opted for something new; the ship’s shore ex to the banana plantation. It was billed as that, plus a visit to the local school, but it turned out to be much better than that; this is a tour I’d recommend to everyone!

 

Because of the road quality once the bus leaves the main highway,y only smaller vans were used, so there were only about 40 participants. The guide spoke excellent English and was a good speaker, with much to share about the cooperative we’d be visiting. Yesterday was Sunday and the Shore Ex office had been a bit vague about what would be happening on a non-scheduled work and school day, but no worries; the children had been summoned to a school day on a Sunday and the banana processing was in full swing; it’s a heavy harvest time and perhaps they work overtime anyway, but it gave us a full day of sightseeing, even on a weekend day.

 

We visited the school first. The guide explained that being selected as a tour destination was reserved for only the best-functioning co-operatives; we passed several co-operatives that he said were not “on the list” and we could tell from the condition of the housing and such that we were probably seeing “the best” of this system so I was keeping in mind that perhaps our destination would not be typical. What we saw, when we reached the school, was a beautifully-kept facility; parent volunteers were preparing lunch for the students and it appeared to be a regular, if probably very short since it was Sunday, school day for the kids. As we prepared to leave the bus the guide asked us to reach up in the overhead shelves of the bus where there were enough packaged school supplies for each tour participant to take one; we’d be giving these to the principal for distribution as he saw fit. (Their principal was parent- and school committee-selected; he came from Mexico City several years ago where his reputation as a quality educational leader led this school to hire him.) And then, as we left the bus, each of us was given a huge handful of wrapped candy, so here we are, walking into the school’s courtyard, trying to balance our hats, slippery plastic-wrapped school supplies, lots of lollipops and trying not to drop anything. After a short welcome speech, translated, we were invited to the K-1 classroom, where the children had prepared little notes and drawings to give us. Herein lay the only, but major glitch (at least in the children’s eyes!) of the day. They are taught that while the visitors have brought gifts for them (the candy which they’ll get directly and the school supplies which they’ll get as the staff decides) they must reciprocate, so thus the little notes and drawings. So we were sort of “set upon” by eager, delightful children who couldn’t wait to exchange their notes for the candy. Keep in mind that all of us tourists are still trying to hold onto our hats and often water bottles, the slippery bags of school supplies and a large handful of wrapped candy, but loose in that we had no bag to put the pieces in. Kids were pretty much grabbing the candy, usually getting more than one piece and I for one did not have the language to say “one piece only.” When I tried “uno” the kid would give me one more note! This was pretty much enjoyable until there seemed to be no more candy; the guide thought more had been loaded onto the bus but apparently not. So some kids were already not getting any . . . and we were taken then to a roomful of fifth-graders and we were empty-handed, except for the bags of school supplies.

 

Not that those had gone unnoticed. More than one little kid in the K-1 room had pointed to the individual pencil sharpener in each bag and begged silently for that , with those big brown eyes! In the grade 5 room the kids were working on geometry but they too had notes and drawings . . . and we had no candy. The your guide assured us this was ok; the kids were older, they’d understand, but they certainly didn’t! We saw much teasing at the group assembly of those who didn’t manage to grab a candy by those who had been luckier!

 

The children performed local dances for us which we enjoyed and the school director shared their Facebook page URL with me so I can look it up later.

 

The banana plantation was next; after we drove through the fields which range along both sides of the road, we came to the processing area. We could see workers cutting the bunches down from the plants (removing them from the protective bags that cover them from insect and rain damage while they grow) and placing foam rubber dividers between what would later be the individual bunches. On a single cutting from the plant there would be maybe a half-dozen of these dividers, looking like spirals going up the bunch. Then, huge banana bunches still hanging on the line by hooks they’d been placed on in the field, the heavy line was manually dragged along, the bunches moving conveyer-belt style into the covered area where they were separated into smaller bunches. The foam protectors were removed, and the now-consumer-size banana bunches all went into a huge water bath, to wash off the lactose that exudes from the stalk onto the fruit when it was cut in the fields. The banana bunches gradually move toward workers who remove individual bananas that were deemed too small or damaged in some way were removed and separated out; most of those can be consumed locally or sold in local markets. The bunches were removed from the bath, shaken free of most of the water and the sticker of the firm that would be selling them was applied (a local sticker today; but could be Dole or Chiquita or whatever) the now-individual bunches that you’d find in your own store joined the conveyor line where workers grabbed a box, lined it with brown paper and a plastic liner, used a foam shaper to hold the bananas temporarily in place until the box was full; the plastic was folded down around the bunches, the foam spacer removed and the lid placed on the box, with a number-label so the packer could be identified as the workers are paid part salary and part packing bonus of some sort. Boxes roll off very fast, ready to go and each day they pack thousands of boxes.

 

Off to the side, before the bananas reached these packers were box-makers; one person slapped glue (via a large brush) onto the flaps; the box was unfolded on a form which rotated; as it filled with 4 boxes and turned, presses forced the flaps together so the glue would hold and then the finished boxes joined a conveyer belt where the packers could quickly get them.

 

I buy bananas at Costco for prices ranging from $1.20 t0 $1.32 and I have no idea, now that I see what goes into the packaging, not to mention shipping, how they can sell for that price.

 

One more thing about the excursion: security. As soon as we left the port, and with us until we turned into the short road that led back into the port were two vehicles of armed guards, six altogether, I counted. They were never intrusive, but as we exited and reboarded the bus they were never far away, standing outside their vehicles or standing up in the back of one that was more like a small truck. The official explanation was that they were there to make sure no incidents occurred; it seemed routine and not tied to our particular excursion, but it shows, I think, either the degree of concern that there is or the degree of concern that they believe tourists have, whether accurate or not I couldn’t say.

 

I am very much enjoying your blog..thankyou for taking the time to write.

In reference to the security, we were off the ship in Madeira ( port of Progresso) on a ship sponsored excursion...must of been about 2006... And there were military with machine guns on every corner of the route the buses took. Very scarey! We were told then it was to ensure passengers security due to drug cartel activity and that is much worse now than it was then! Glad you were safe.

[erewhon]

Enjoying reading your review.

Thank you.

[kazu]

Great reports :) Thanks so much for doing this:)

[Spinner2]

Friday, November 15

At Sea, to Salaverry (Trujillo) Peru

 

Before this report continues, I’ll mention that the ship is taking the typhoon very seriously; at least one crew member who lives in the affected area was released to go home and we all received a letter from HAL Corporate about what they are doing to help, with donor information for those who wanted to contribute.

 

And now, the cruise continues . . . .

 

We were so busy having fun across the two days that we were in Panama that I’m just now reporting after a couple of days’ absence. Fuerte Amador is a tender port, and we scheduled everything we wanted to do there so that we’d only make the transit to and from the ship once each day. Thus, very busy and full days!

 

On our first day in Panama George and I selected different options; he wanted to see the Canal Expansion and I wanted to research a location where two titles from a book series that I like were based. Two of (the late) Janet Lambert’s novels were based at Fort Clayton which is now the location of the mostly-residential City of Clayton, with the administration complex serving as the location of Ciudad del Saber (City of Knowledge). I belong to a book group that concentrates on Lambert’s many titles (nearly 60, all historic fiction based around intertwined military families of the 1940-1975 time frame, much of it based on her own family history) and we have Lambert family members to supply background for us, but naturally everyone is curious about how properties that figure in her stories are being used today, so this was, I hoped, my opportunity to contribute a bit of current information. Ciudad del Saber is directly across from the Miraflores Locks and the ship’s port lecturer suggested I go out there by cab, arranging for a flat per-hour fee, so that the cab would wait while I looked around and then take me where my research might lead me further, but this didn’t work out. No cab was interested in being tied up that long for a single passenger. But, as it turned out, no problem at all; what I’d thought would probably cost me $75 or so, based on the port lecturer’s estimate of $25 per hour, was much more easily solved. The ship hadn’t wanted to mention it, but there’s a Hop On, Hop Off (Ho Ho) bus here! And one of its stops is Ciudad del Saber. Easy. A flat $25 would do it. Sort of. The HoHo here isn’t nearly as well-organized as many we’ve used; there are no signs at their stops to tell you where you are, where the busses go, etc; you can only learn that from their map. When the taped message announces the stop the name given sometimes doesn’t match the name on the map. The onboard guide spoke only a little English, but I thought I’d made it clear where I wanted to go. Although it was a published stop, it was hard to understand the onboard tape recording so I wanted to be sure so I’d spoken to her in advance. I was pretty sure I recognized the location when we got there, but the bus didn’t stop, the driver spoke no English and the onboard guide/hostess was upstairs on the open deck. So when we got to the next stop (the Miraflores Locks) I asked her what happened and after a look of horror, realizing they’d totally skipped the stop, she assured me they’d go back. And go back they did! They couldn’t cross the road to go up to the proper stop for Ciudad del Saber, but she walked me across the street, up the driveway, and showed me where the bus would pick me up in an hour (the bus only ran once an hour) and everything worked out just fine. Then, as a bonus, when I got back and sat down in the terminal for a little wi fi time I saw the HoHo bus corporate name come up on the list. I went into their office, showed them my wristband and asked for the password which was quickly handed over. So, for my $25, I got my research done and free wi fi as well for my iPhone. In very little time I checked mail, downloaded 3 books from the Los Angeles Public Library onto my iPhone for reading, and caught up on a few blogs and websites that I enjoy. All in all, an excellent deal.

 

The next day we took the ship’s Panama City tour; it’s the same as the Panama by Night tour except in the daytime you can actually see what you’ve come to see. We had an excellent guide; a British-Panamanian school official who enjoys doing tours on his days off. He led an excellent walk through the old town, and took us to a pre-Columbian museum that wouldn’t have meant much to those of us who don’t speak Spanish since there was essentially no other signage. Our guide explained the exhibits and added additional information. While we heard many people around the ship say they were satisfied just to see the city from the HoHo, unless you’re fluent in Spanish I don’t think one would have gotten much except the views without the services of a guide. I’m certainly not one that expects English to be spoken in otter countries, but I had assumed (wrongly!) that a long-American presence there would have led to more English spoken than I found. Even at the Ciudad, which is essentially a group of international schools, I could find only an occasional person who spoke English, and then it was minimal.

 

My husband George was very happy with the Canal Expansion tour. In addition to getting a good look and explanation of the project, his tour lucked out in not only having a knowledgeable tour guide but also a skilled wildlife spotter in the person of the bus driver. While driving the bus he also spotted monkey families and a sloth with a baby up a tree; stops were made for photos. These nice extras extended the length of the trip by nearly 2 hours; nobody was complaining!

 

We did see people walking up the beautiful walkway along the Causeway; the cruise port is at one end and you can walk a considerable distance alongside, to enjoy the ocean views.

 

We enjoyed this Panama stop very much. While we have transited the Canal several times we’ve never been ashore in the daytime long enough to go ashore. My recommendations for those of you who make this journey later are to know that there is a HoHo bus that will pick you up at the cruise port for a reasonable sum, but that (at least for now) it does not run often and to not expect a lot of guidance in English if you are touring on your own. Cabs are readily available but at least when we were here, they were looking for 4-6 person groups for sightseeing expeditions and the drivers’ English skills were all very limited. It is rare for us to use ship tours (two) as much as we did in this port, but since we speak virtually no Spanish we were glad we made this choice. My solo expedition worked out just fine as far as getting there and back, but I might have learned more had I been able to communicate better.

 

Since my last report we’ve good dining experiences we had some really excellent beef in the MDR (served medium-rare as we like it; beautiful grill marks on it; like slicing through butter) and we had a very nice dinner in the Pinacle Grill. We’ve enjoyed some meal or snack out on our verandah every day of the cruise so far, even enjoying a late lunch on our last day in Panama as the rain came down in buckets. We were dry although the rain was blowing in a bit at the rail, but an occasional glance over the rail showed the last of the returning guests lined up to reboard the ship from the tenders, soaking wet as the rain poured down on them. At least it was a warm rain!

 

We usually go to the evening shows; there has continued to be 3 each evening: 6:30, 8:30 and 10 pm. The only night that didn’t happen was the night of the Black and Gold Ball; it was held in the showroom at 10, precluding three shows that evening. Both the Hotel Director and Dining Room Manager have mentioned that having 3 showtimes helps to even out the flow of guests for dining, but I will say that the attendance at 10 pm is a lot less than at the others. None of the shows or entertainers have been new to us but we have been on this ship twice in the past 12 months so that’s understandable. We’ve enjoyed ourselves regardless; it’s pleasant entertainment and that’s all we expect.

 

Tonight’s a formal night; the menu looks good; the internet is reasonably fast, and we enjoyed high tea on our verandah, despite the wind and slightly rough seas. Life is good today, aboard the Statendam.

[madera1]

Just a quick note, before we head down to breakfast: a couple more changes that we’re happy about: rather than a sheet of information about the upcoming port we’ve been given a very nice little booklet that has similar information about each port of this journey, each location front and back of the same sheet. I guess you could tear it out and take it along but the booklet’s too nice to do that! The port agent information is there, the local map, a few local attractions, etc. And, from the program for today, it appears that once again we’ll have a 10 pm show option. It may not continue, but while we have it, we’re happy about that.

 

Dinner (formal) for both of us was the lamb option last night, very tasty, and the chocolate soufflé was a lovely ending.

 

Cabo today. We’ve been here many times and would not usually stir up much interest, but it’s been a long time since we’ve sailed out to the end of the point for some new photos, so we’re going to do that.

We were in Cabo at our timeshare last week and you were anchored directly in front of our resort.Did you see me waving??? I enjoyed watching the tenders and fondly wished I was sailing on the ship. Thanks for posting and looking forward to all of your reports.

[cruz chic]

Thank you for the update. I'm enjoying it.

[pezhead]

Really enjoying your report--it's my dream to do a trip like yours.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[erewhon]

Thoroughly enjoying reading your reports.

 

We have friends from Seattle who are on your cruise.

[alibabacruisers]

Thanks for your blog! Very interesting to read about your experiences.

[fisheswithbears]

We have this itinerary booked for next March, so we are eagerly following your progress. Thanks for posting!

[shrimp56]

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your voyage. It's been interesting and informative.

[lindaler]

We are excited to travel with you and see your advise as we are on this cruise next year. Same time of year so are looking to see weather, holidays and all that would be the same. We love the report on the shore excursion to the schools.

[Spinner2]

Saturday, November 16

At Sea, toward Salaverry

 

I’m a little behind, (since today when I can post this is actually November 18) but to keep from making such long entries I’ll send over reflections from November 16 and then November 17 next.

 

Today is our Big Food Challenge Day! Through a combination of circumstances, we will eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the Pinnacle Grill, because there’s an Indonesian Luncheon in there for Neptune Suite passengers and we signed up for the Cellarmaster’s Dinner some time ago, and it will be held there tonight as well, too. Two big meals in one day is a lot for me to handle; I’m a pretty small eater. Even my DH George, who can usually manage that, settled for a very small Pinnacle breakfast. I joined him for conversation and nothing else, but both of us enjoyed seeing how beautifully decorated the room was, all in an Indonesian theme. So as I write this, on an unexpectedly chilly and windy afternoon (I gave up walking the Lower Prom Deck; the wind was very strong!) we’ve thoroughly enjoyed the traditional lunch and conversations with table mates.

 

This morning we were treated to the last of Ron Gatepin’s lecture series on the indigenous peoples of Central and South America. If you’re fortunate enough to be able to listen to him, do manage to attend. The showroom has been absolutely packed for every one of his talks and everyone was sorry to hear that the series is over; he’ll be leaving the ship in Lima. His style is information-rich, delivered with humor and a pace that’s just right for an audience of folks of varying levels of knowledge about the topic. His photographs and other visuals are a delight and greatly enhance the presentations. Such a wonderful opportunity to hear such such great presentations! (He’s new to HAL; says he’s really enjoyed it and I do hope he’ll return. How often does a lecturer literally pack both levels of the showroom, day after day, with standing-room only for those who come late?)

 

And now we come to the incredible finale of our Big Food Challenge Day. Incredible hardly describes the Cellarmaster’s Dinner; most of the diners around us thought it was unlikely that such a dinner could be equaled again, let along topped. It was amazing. Every item on the menu was a delight; huge portions, wonderfully-seasoned and imaginatively presented. There weren’t any delays between courses, just a nice pace of the meal, but we were there the better part of 3 hours.

 

The Pinnacle was a lovely location for this event; tables were 4-6 diners for the most part, ad I believe set up in advance to try to put people together who probably already knew each other. There was a short introduction before each course, but it was not intrusive to the meal. I’ll share the menu and you can see what you think:

 

Course #1: “Amuse” (Spanish); Chilled papaya and kiwi gazpacho with shrimps. This was not “a one bite amuse” at all; served in a small martini glass with shrimps on a skewer the flavors were a marvelous combination of sweet and acidic. Wine pairing: Freixnet Cordon Negro, Spain.

 

Course #2: “Flavor of Asia” was a tuna medallion (not small!) with grapefruit and roasted peppers. Absolutely delicious! I could have eaten three or four of these and considered it a complete meal. Wine pairing: Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand, 2011

 

Course #3: “Land and Ocean Delight” and lest you think this is the sort-of-expected “surf and turf” for this meal: I beg you to hold that opinion until later in the meal! No, this was the thinnest slices of duck breast you can imagine, accompanied by a miniature puff pastry filled with escargot. There was a vinaigrette of orange and truffle accompanying the meat. An incredible presentation as well, with those wafer-thin slices of duck splayed out along the plate. Once again, a very generous portion. Wine pairing: Rosemount Chardonnay, Australia, 2012.

 

Course #4: “Brazilian Classic”: A black bean soup with a black rice and white sesame lollipop. Don’t imagine a little espresso cup of soup here; instead imagine a nice-sized soup bowl, filled. It was hard to not keep eating to the end, but I thought the better of it and didn’t. Wine pairing: Castle Rock Pinot Noir, California, 2011

 

Palette Soother: An excellent lime sorbet was brought in a tall champagne glass; on the sugared edge (green sugar!), a delicious apple slice; slightly sticky and very sweet. For those who wanted it, a dollop of Baccardi rum was added and a very long-handled spoon was provided to scoop it all up. Delicious, and I chose to leave out the rum! I just loved the sorbet as it was.

 

By now the average diner would think it’s over. That sorbet was the dessert; goodness knows, if you’d eaten all of this you’d be stuffed to the gills. But wait! There’s more! Much more, as it turns out. For now we’ve come to:

 

Course #5: “Chefs Innovations” which so help me, consisted not only of a very nice-sized piece of absolutely delicious and butter-tender Sterling Silver R&R Ranch tenderloin (cooked to perfection) but also, filling and overflowing the huge plates . . . lobster thermidor. A full-sized whole lobster for each diner, probably 1.25 to 1.5 pounds. The thermidor filling was rich, absolutely decadent; the claws were cracked for easy access to the meat, veggies accompanied and the entire thing looked like a “platter for two” that could easily be the whole meal. Everyone was just blown away; no one could think of any time on HAL that they’ve seen whole lobsters (cold-water style, not Pacific or Caribbean) served to each diner. I did see a few people who managed to eat all or nearly all of this platter, but for most of us, I think you could only eat what you could and regretfully leave the rest behind. It was a stunning “surf and turf” by any measure. Wine pairing: Nelms Road Merlot, Woodward Canyon, Washington, 2010.

 

Course #7: “European Artesian Cheeses” which were beautifully presented with an assortment of crackers passed by the wait staff; my favorite was the cheddar but there were 3 or 4 more as well. There was a port-poached prune on a toasted bread round served with the cheeses, but at this point, who had any room for the side-selections? Wine pairing: W&J Grahams Six Grapes, Portugal

 

And finally, . . .

 

Course #8 “Ultimate Grand Finale” (Italy) Amaretto Cheesecake with berry coulis, a spoonful of apple mousse covered with meringue, and a bit of zabaglione with fresh fruit. I only ate the apple mousse which was delicious and just the right not-too-sweet finish. At this point, for me at least, cheesecake would have been too much and I didn’t try it. I did hear that it was delicious though.

 

Coffee service followed, and after effusive praise to the staff and chef, we all somehow managed to get ourselves out of the chairs and headed to our cabins or other entertainment.

 

 

It was a meal to remember! Our only regret is that we didn’t at least take an iPhone down to the dinner so we could photo these beautiful plates but it just hadn’t occurred to us. I hope someone else got photos and will share them. There’s no point in wishing that we’d eaten less of the earlier courses to leave room for the later ones; each one was so good and while many people were trying to pace themselves, it was a hopeless task. A pleasant hopeless task! This was just an incredible experience.

 

 

Tomorrow is our first Peru stop; I don’t know if there’s any particular reason for the timing but we all received a letter today reminding us of the varying levels of food sanitation (or lack thereof) along our route; urging people to avoid such things as ice cubes, fruits/vegetables you don’t peel for yourself, etc. along with a distribution of a nice foam-sanitizer dispenser for each passenger to take along when going ashore. I don’t believe there are any problems aboard; everything proceeds as usual, but of course we’re in an area of smaller ports where sanitation could be an issue due, if nothing else, to the large influx of tourists on any particular day and varying degrees of water purity must be expected. I’m sure too that with so many leaving the ship in just a few days for Machu Picchu that there’s a strong desire to make sure that none of those people suffer an infection just as they depart or soon thereafter, making it difficult for the entire group to stay healthy while so far away from the ship.

 

So, Salaverry tomorrow the gateway port to Trujillo. We’re spending 7 hours on a ship-sponsored tour of 3 archaeological locations. We researched other possibilities to see these or similar sites, but given how little time we have here, this seemed the most efficient way to see the most possible. The 3 locations are all very different and not close together. The group will be less than 40 individuals; I doubt that a bus any larger than that can get into all of these areas. Chan Chan would not seem to be a problem, but the map indicates that the Temple of the Moon is reached through some pretty narrow village streets. We’re looking forward to it; it’s another exciting opportunity on this wonderful cruise.

[kazu]

Marney - such good reports.

 

Your Cellar Master dinner sounds wonderful!

 

You were wise not to eat breakfast :D

 

Looking forward to your continued saga:D

[Spinner2]

Sunday, November 17

Salaverry (Trujillo) Peru (posted Nov 20; internet issues!)

 

Whew! What a busy, exhausting day we had, touring three archaeological sites in this area! The ship rates the level of physical difficulty at the two-person icon level, but I’d give it a 3. At our first location, El Brujo, there’s a steep walk up (and then back down) to the main temple area. Some of the walkway has steps, and they are of high quality, and the trail is in good repair, but it’s steep. There’s a fair amount of standing in the museum area too; it’s not laid out in a way that visitors can go off on their own. At Chan Chan the area is mostly level but the distances are quite extensive and there’s one place along the way where the ledge that must be traversed (both directions) is so narrow that everyone must go single-file (and maybe not look down over the side!). At our final stop, the Temple of the Moon, the walk up to the structures was a very steep combination of steps (good quality but no handrails) and dirt path; the wind was blowing sand furiously into our faces as the group climbed up, joining other tourists along the way. Although the Temple of the Sun, at the same location, is mentioned in the tour offering, it is not open to tourists at this time. Our “Fit Bit” measurement for the day indicated that we covered more than 6 miles of walking and a climb of over 400 steps. The Fit Bit is not particularly accurate for step-climbing; if we were to believe it on days when the ship is rocking-and-rolling, you’d think we’d climbed hundreds and hundreds of steps; it’s measuring the altitude of the ups and downs! But the physical effort needed to see the entire tour offering is extensive although anyone could have opted out for any part of it and stayed with the very comfortable, air-conditioned bus. You wouldn’t see a lot, though; just as much of Chan Chan as you wanted to walk, the El Brujo museum, and nothing at Temple of the Moon.

 

We had an excellent Peruvian guide; he spoke good, understandable English and was very knowledgeable about the history, symbolism, and architecture in these areas. The three ancient peoples represented by these three areas we visited are quite different, and he explained their histories and the beliefs that so influenced their activities very well. While the museum at El Brujo gave a view of other cultural aspects of the Moche people—I really enjoyed seeing the scraps of weaving and other fabric arts as weaving and spinning are two of my hobbies— the other two locations primarily focused on the religious use of human sacrifice and while the sites were interesting, there wasn’t a lot of evidence of daily life or cultural accomplishments at either. While Chan Chan is, I think, the best-known, I thought that the museum at El Brujo (which seemed fairly new) did a better job of interpreting the people who had lived there. There are actual items to see, including the full skeleton of a woman found buried there, ceramic items, the fabric pieces, and tools. The use of audiovisuals is very skillfully done and of high quality. Pictures are not permitted in the museum, but there are books, DVDs, etc. sold in the gift shop.

 

The Temple of the Moon was indeed reached by navigating very narrow streets of a village which, since it was a Sunday, had its own congestion problems as many people were visiting relatives, little restaurants, a public park (also, through an archway I saw a playground and swimming pool with many children enjoying both) and most seemed to have driven there, judging from the cars parked along the road. We were happy to have a skilled bus driver and a medium-sized bus! Eventually, after clearing the village, the bus took us along routes of fields and walled farming plots, ending eventually at the Temple of the Moon. The unavailable Temple of the Sun wasn’t far away, but in general, the feel of the area was “out in the middle of the field.” Which led to this totally unexpected opportunity: people made their way back to the bus after the temple tour sort of at their own pace, and I happened to be one of the first back. I opened my iPhone to read one of my guidebooks that I have on the phone for such purposes and the bus driver came back to ask in a mixture of Spanish and English if I wanted wi-fi. I’ll never turn that down! He made a phone call and within seconds, I had a good, high-speed connection. Maybe not the safest; there was no password, but someone turned it on for him so it wasn’t a public site, and I don’t keep anything sensitive on my phone anyway. But out in that rural area it was the last thing I expected!

 

Tonight my husband George is packing as he’s going to Machu Pacchu on Monday; I don’t do well at altitudes—I sort of seem to fade in and out, moving around as directed when we are over about 7500 feet, but remembering none of it—so I’m not going. It’s rather a waste of money to take such an expensive trip and not remember it! (Never mind being a nuisance to those around me!)

 

We enjoyed another really nice dinner in the MDR; George had prime rib again and reported that he enjoyed it; I had the lamb osso bucco with risotto and it was really, really good. We skipped the show; we were tired from the day’s activities and George needed to pack, but the show was a reprise of two performers that have been onstage already this cruise so it didn’t seem too much of a loss.

 

Another wonderful day aboard the Statendam!