Around the Horn in 80 days.

[rafinmd]

Thank you Krazy Kruizers and puppycanducruise.  I hope this will post in the few brief moments Cruise Critic is working.

 

Day P15, Saturday, January 19, 2019, Iquique, Chile

With sunrise now after 7 I walked my 6 laps in the dark.  I have visited Iqueque once before (Last year on the Crystal Symphony) and it is one of the least attractive ports around with an ugly factory of some sort sitting on the pier almost next to the ship.

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There were 4 tours available, a 3 hour Iqueque Highlights tour while the other 3 went to the ghost town of Humberstone.  A 7 hour tour added a Pica Oasis (a tablemate was not pleased with that tour), a 6 hour tour with Geoglyphs, and a 5 hour tour that was just Humberstone and a quick look at Iqueque.  I visited the Geoglyphs last year and while they were nice didn’t think they justified the extra driving for a second look so I just took the 5 hour tour.

Chile is one of a few countries where fruit flies are not an issue and they aim to keep it that way.  They have agricultural controls as strict as Australia and New Zealand and there is some kind of an inspection at every port. I was carrying quite a bit of food (UHT milk, cereal bars, and cheese and crackers) (plus a bran muffin on Sunday) and all were cleared without issue.  Sometimes you must open all back packs but in Iqueque all the bags were run through a scanner.  We left about 9 and soon after entering the city started climbing a plateau with a nice view of the city on my side of the bus.

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Saltpeter (nitrate) production began in the area in about 1872.  The town we visited went bankrupt about 1920 but was acquired by new owners and re-opened in 1934 with the name of Humberstone.  Production under the new owners continued until 1960 when the operation ceased and the town abandoned.  There is an annual reunion of former workers and family members each year in November.

As we entered the site we walked up a wide street with pieces of old rail equipment spaced along the avenue and elsewhere around the complex.

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Our first stop was the school.  It was one of a relatively few places where all strata of Humberstone society were together and the school ran through grade 6.  To continue their education beyond that children would have needed to board in Iqueque.

.
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The theater was home to mostly movies with the occasional play or concert.  Apparently westerns were quite the popular item.  It is used today for the occasional concert or other event.

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There was quite a nice looking swimming pool complete with diving board.  It looked liked it could easily be filled with water today but I am sure that is not really the case.

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Parts of the original Company Store are restored to lifelike condition while other parts are now used for displays like the scene with a miner breaking up the ore deposits.  Train cars could pull into the building and offload new merchandise.  Payment was with company script under the original owners but cash was used after the reopening as Humberstone.

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The church is pretty small but well maintained.  It is near a market place where occasional vendors had shops and a clock also graces the area.

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On the way out I popped into a house which would have been used by a mid-level employee.  Housing was segregated by marital status and position.  Single workers had very simple accommodations while laborers with families did better and engineers and technicians and management had the best arrangements, all in separate areas of the town.

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We left Humberstone about 11:45.  On our return to Iqueque we drove along the ocean front.  The beach was very nice but the surf was quite heavy and I understand the water was quite cold.  It was a good beach to lie on but probably not so good for swimming.

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We had a final stop in the center of town where there was a drink and a bit of a snack waiting.  It was also the shuttle stop and I decided to just return to the ship, getting back about 1:40.

 

We were all back at table 19.  Everyone enjoyed Humberstone and the reports from the Geoglyphs were good but the was a lot of disappointment with the Pico Oasis, apparently including the ship escort who was not impressed with the tour.  I chose the fruit cup, the pasta, and the mango blueberry crisp.

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The featured entertainment was comedian Martin Beaumont.  I have seen him perform before both on Holland America and on Crystal.  In fact, as another bit of entertainment irony, the last time I saw him was a year ago on the Crystal Symphony the day we were at Iqueque.  He is very good, clean, fresh, and funny.   While we often watched the sunset from table 19 with the clock change there was still some color in the sky after the show.

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My parting shot will be a word of thanks for people participating in acts of service on Martin Luther King day in the US.

 

Roy

 

[travelnap]

Yes Roy, CC was not good today, we missed you on the sail away thread as it kept going in and out.  I don't know what is going on with CC.  I see your page count on this  thread jumped from 6 to 11 pages so maybe they are making some changes in regard to the number of posts per page.  Anyway, I am enjoying your thread and following all of you on your trip.  

[Krazy Kruizers]

Great report Roy!!

 

CC was a mess again yesterday!!

 

I love looking at Old time items in various ports.  We used to have a couple of general stores that sold everything you could think of including food.

 

Great pictures.

 

 

[rafinmd]

Thank you Krazy Kruizers and travelnap.

 

Day P16, Sunday, January 20, 2019, Antofagasta, Chile

We are approaching a full moon (a special one expected Sunday evening) and it was shining brightly when I went on deck for my 6-lap walk about 5:30.

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I went up to the lido for an omelet about 7:30 and we were pulling into the port.  I expected us to be the only ship and I saw something that looked like it was a ferry.  I was sort of right, it was a ferry, emphasizing the past tense.  The former ferry that served Scandinavia and the Faeroe Islands is now the Logos Hope, a mission ship for an organization based in Germany.  It sails worldwide and spends at least 2 weeks at each port.

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I wonder about some South American ports and how much about cruise ships.  It was just a short distance to a nearby mall, perhaps 200 yards/meters but we were not allowed to walk through the port and had to wait for a shuttle bus to get into town, and there are reports they were very inefficient and unreliable.  It does look like they could have made some accommodation if they were interested, the Logos was primarily hosting locals rather than sending people on the ship into town, and there was a path set up for the residents to walk to that ship.

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There were just 3 tours, a 2-night overland tour of the Atacama desert that was closed to new bookings before sailing, a 3-hour tour of the city, and a 5-hour tour to an abandoned nitrate town.  I chose the 5-hour tour.  There were actually 2 stops on the tour.  Our route again quickly ascended to the high desert (about 3700 feet, perhaps 1100 meters) and went through some pretty barren looking country until we came to our first stop at Baquedano where there is a sort of railroad museum.  It is almost more like a graveyard than a museum with most of the equipment quite derelict but there were some decent looking steam engines and a roundhouse with turntable.  

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The roundhouse was obviously also a maintenance facility as there was a pit to get under the cars at each of the parking slots.

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Virtually all passenger service ended in Chile many years ago but the old station was used by the railroad and still looking pretty good.

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To get to the museum we crossed several tracks and while we were there a train pulled up and stopped.  Our guide learned it would be stopped for an additional 10 minutes.  I chose to cross over in front of the train knowing it could not make a jackrabbit start and also walking far enough in front to be visible to the engineer.  The train had about 4 flat cars with large copper plates and then about 30 tank cars with sulphuric acid.

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Our main stop was the former nitrate town of Chacabuco.  It had a short life as a nitrate town (1924 to 1938) and is not nearly as preserved as the Humberstone.  The only building I saw that was at least somewhat restored was the theater.  It apparently fell into extreme disrepair and restoration work was funded by a German organization (the guide said Germany but I have a feeling it was a German cultural organization) and still has an incomplete roof at the stage (thank goodness it is in the desert and not much of a weathering threat), Simple benches replace the old seating but it is sound enough to be used for an occasional music or other event.  It has 3 levels plus the rooftop and there was a library on the third level.

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The rooftop level gave a good vantage point for the rest of the complex with a well restored town square directly across the street.

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In 1973 to 1975 Chacabuco was used by the Pinochet regime as a concentration camp for political prisoners.  A mural and some protest writings are on the wall of one of the former rooms used by the prisoners.  I am told there are a still a number of uncharted land mines surrounding the walls of Chacabuco.

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Nitrate is still produced in Chile but only in one small area and I am sure that by now it is massively mechanized.  On the way bock to the ship our guide pointed out the site of an active copper mine.

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We drove through about a mile of Antofagasta on our way back to the ship, passing a fairly decent looking beach.  I was back about 2, just missing an enticing roast turkey lunch that closed with the lido at 2, so it was fries from Dive-In.

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All aboard was 4:30.  The interdenominational worship service was at 4 and I could hear Captain Jeroen’s sailaway message in the background but not make it out.  I was up at deck 7 for sailaway which was quite brief as we were docked very close to the breakwater and had a direct exit route.  A number of people were waving from the Logos Hope.

I was the only one at table 19 as a most of the regulars were in the Pinnacle Grill.  I chose the Caesar salad, New York Strip, and Cherry Streusel Tart.

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The featured entertainment was a repeat performance by Bailamos.  They were as good the second time around.

When I was in this area 2 years ago on the Zaandam my Captain was Chris Turner.  I saw him again briefly in July on the Volendam.  Captain Turner retired at the end of Volendam’s most recent cruise.  My parting shot will be a wish for a long and happy retirement for Captain Turner and many happy sailing days on the canals of England.

Roy  

 

[puppycanducruise]

Just got caught up.

Thanks for the wonderful pictures and commentary.

[DeeniEncinitas]

Good morning Roy!!!

So frustrated with the CC board. Yesterday 

late afternoon I could not get in to the site at all, and throughout the evening!!

Was able to Finally get on this am. THANKYOU for your reviews and I am enjoying them this morning.Fingers crossed CC will remain good today👍

Denise😊

[Krazy Kruizers]

I love the details of your excursions and the pictures that go along with them.

 

Great reporting.

[rafinmd]

Thank you puppykanducruise, Denise, and Krazy Kruizers.

 

Day P17, Monday, January 21, 2019, At sea, MS Prinsendam

I am posting early today because I have an all day tour on Tuesday.

The day got off to a bit of a strange start.  With the lunar eclipse, in lieu of my normal walk I got dressed the first time I needed to use the toilet (around 2AM) and did most of my walk on deck 12 instead of the lower promenade deck.  I started with a couple of preliminary laps on 7 and then went up top for 35 laps around the jogging track (3.5 miles).  It was very cloudy and perhaps a bit foggy and I saw nothing until a brief view of just a sliver of moon showing on lap 27.  The winds were about 35 knots and the camera was jumping a bit.  When I tried to steady the camera against the railing a few seconds later the view was gone.

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I did not set the alarm but did not sleep much after my walk getting up about 5:45.  As I write around 11AM I still have seen no trace of the sun.  I finished off my 5 miles in conjunction with trips to the lido for coffee and breakfast.

It was a very busy afternoon at sea with a towel folding demonstration at 1:30, a presentation by Tim Calvert at 2 on safety in our upcoming ports, and the Filipino Crew Show at 3.  There was not much of interest for me in the morning other than the 9:30 coffee chat with Bailamos and Martin Beaumont, and I spent most of the rest of the morning catching up on a number of internet activities.

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In his noon update Captain Jeroen reported the lowest temperature yet on the voyage, 63F.

Most of my afternoon was spent in the Showroom at Sea.  Things started off with a towel folding demonstration with 2 of our stewards taking turns creating towel animals.  They explained that they work from a book with instructions for about 40 animals.  Grand Voyages are a bit of a challenge as they do not repeat the animals and the stewards conjure up variations for the other nights, and instruct each other on the ones they come up with.  Each animal is done in the room and takes about 1 minute to create.

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By the end of their time they had created quite a menagerie of animals of various sizes.  They cleared the stage in time for Tim Calvert to give a little slide presentation on the ports of call we will visit after he leaves the ship and also some tips on avoiding crime.

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The Filipino Crew show rounded out the afternoon with a packed house.  The show started off with a castanet dance, typically used to welcome visiting dignitaries.

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Next up was a solo act by a member of the security staff.  He sang a song called Remember Me, mostly in Tagalog but with some English passages mixed in.

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Dances and musical acts pretty much alternated.  While the musical acts involved different people I think the dance team was pretty much a set group.  The second dance was the candlelight dance with origins arising from the wives of fishermen waiting on the shore with candles to guide their husbands back home.

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A mostly instrumental selection was played by a group calling themselves the Underground Galley Band.

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The final dance was one that is always a highlight of the show, the Tinikling Dance, or Bamboo Dance.  The origins are in the use of bamboo poles to trap Tinikling birds, pests in the fields. Two heavy bamboo poles are slapped together in rhythm with the dancers stepping in and out of the space between the poles, stepping just in time to avoid getting hit.  The skill level is quite high as the pole movement gets faster and faster as the dance progresses.

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The show ended with a group song and a final dance.

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At dinner the remaining table 19 people (one is currently on an overland tour) discussed plans for San Antonio.  Three of us chose the Beef Stroganoff.

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The featured entertainment was a variety show including comedians Russ Stolnick and Martin Beaumont and flautist Andrea Amat.  Amat closed the show with a 66 second Flight of the Bumblebee.

My parting shot will be a word of appreciation for the Filipino Crew.  They do not sign on as entertainers but their show comes from the heart with a great outpouring of love.  It is one of the things which makes Holland America special and is especially sweet when time for it can be found for it in the daytime rather than after my bedtime.

 

Roy

 

[DeeniEncinitas]

Since I got on this am Roy to read your blog and responded back to you the CC website has been a mess!! I’m so frustrated. It’s almost 7 pm and I was able to get into the site and it took forever to get to your blog! Not working almost 9 hours! Now I was able to get on Oceania no problem!! Go figure.

congrates to being able to get 27 laps in!!!

2 pm? THANKYOU for trying to get a pic of the Blood Moon eclipse. 

The Filipino Crew show is always so memorable! I’m always surprised how they are good singers and dancers!

Take care Roy!

Have a great tour tomorrow!

Denise😊

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Yes -- this site has been a mess again yesterday and this morning.

 

Great report.

 

Wish HAL would have all the crew shows in the afternoon.

 

Love the pictures.

[puppycanducruise]

Great pictures and reports.

I'm glad you got to see the Filipino Crew show - such wonderful people.

Thanks for doing this for us - keep up the good work.  I love reading about your day.

[rafinmd]

Thank you puppycanducruise, Krazy Kruizers, and Denise.

 

Day P18, Tuesday, January 22, 2019, San Antonio, Chile

The seas were somewhat rough overnight.  I went for coffee and found the winds around the bow pretty brutal.  As I approached the aft stairs water was poring down on the deck, enough that I skipped those stairs and entered at the dining room entrance.  At deck 9 I walked back to the seaview pool and the water was just splashing out onto the deck.  The guy who had been taken off the ship in Santa Marta saw me and cautioned me not to go out, something I had already decided.

I walked around the ship just 3 times in total.  The second was about 7 on the way up to breakfast and we were just picking up the pilot, so things were a lot calmer then.

I have been to the area (Valparaiso) the last 3 consecutive years (Crystal Symphony, Zaandam, and again on Symphony).  All 3 of those times I have spent the day in the Valparaiso area.  There were a total of 9 tours offered, 3 in the San Antonio area, 3 to Valparaiso, 2 featuring wineries, and one to Santiago.  I was in Santiago in 1997 on the way to my first visit to Antarctica (Expedition ship) and decided it was time for another look 22 years later.

Like many South American ports we were required to take a shuttle bus to the cruise terminal and then board our tour buses from there.  The drive to Santiago was actually about 90 minutes and easy until we got into town and encountered heavy traffic.  As we drove past the Presidential (La Moneda) Palace the ceremonial Changing of the Guard was taking place.  I am sure the guards are relieved frequently, but the ceremony only happens every second day.

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We got off for a short walk in the center of the old town.  The plaza is surrounded by magnificent buildings.  It was also a needed bathroom break for many people as the bathroom on the bus had been locked.

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We drove for a while through the city for our second stop which was a large craft market.  We had a half hour there but I actually dozed off and missed the first 10 minutes of the stop.

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Driving through town there were a number of neighborhoods.  A fairly new section is the center of much business and our guide Christian dubbed it Sanhattan.  We stopped at a restaurant just inside Santiago’s Metropolitan Park which our guide indicated was larger than Central Park in New York.  There was no choice in menu but I skipped the whitefish and the rice, a roll, and a carton of milk from the ship were enough.

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After lunch we went up for our final stop which was in the park at an overlook looking down on the city.  We had a good view of Sanhattan as well as a peek at the Andes, and the guide pointed out a brown building with a circular end which was the US Embassy.

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After 22 years the only thing I really remembered about Santiago was the River Mapocho which runs through the center of the city and is a dark brown, both from silt from the Andes Glaciers and pollution.

I dozed again on the ride back to San Antonio.  As we entered town we got a glimpse of a walk along the ocean front and the center of town which was not terribly attractive but conveniently right up to the cruise terminal.  We passed a nice looking fire truck on the way in.

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All aboard was 4:30.  We arrived at the terminal about 4:45 and the ship about 4:50.  Captain Jeroen came on the PA with his sailaway message (we expect some 15 foot swells on our beam and conditions will require extra care.  We only require 10 knots to make Robinson Crusoe Island on time but will travel much faster to make the stabilizers more effective and also to possibly outrun the storm.  Sailaway came very quickly.  I went up the stairs headed for deck 13 immediately after Captain Jeroen spoke and heard the horn while walking up the stairs.  By the time I had gotten to the lido deck we had cleared the car carrier in front of us and were starting to move forward.  I stayed on deck until we cleared the breakwater and then headed back to my cabin to prepare for dinner.

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We had a Chilean theme to the menu and the waiters wore blanket like garments presumably representing the Incas.  I chose the Fruit Ceviche, Pineapple Glazed Ham, and Chilean Apple Crumb Cake for desert.

 

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The featured entertainment was multi-instrumentalist Salvadore Hasard.  I’ve seen him perform several times and decided he is not really my cup of tea.  While stormy in many ways, the skies were clear.  Sunset is now 9PM and I decided to go to the front of the ship to watch it.  The winds across the bow were so strong I was initially blown back to the railing.  I grabbed the rails and went up to deck 9 and waited.  The Prinsendam “Front Porch” has enclosures around the doors leading inside and I waited in the shelter there.

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The sunset was quite nice and after it had set went up to the Crows Nest for a Diet Coke.  Between Stevie’s playing and the motion of the ocean the joint was really jumping.

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I’ll take my parting shot from our recent ports.  A participant on my tour was complaining vociferously about Antofagasta and wishing we had gone to Valparaiso.  On the other hand a reader on my blog who is also on the ship reported having a good experience in downtown Iueque and Antofagasta and enjoying the promenade in San Antonio.  My own take is that while the city of Valparaiso has more to offer than San Antonio the attitude of the port officials there has been a real problem and it is perfectly reasonable to divert to San Antonio.  Antofagasta was not the greatest port but it was probably a once in a lifetime visit so I am glad to have been there.  You can’t please everybody but it is much better to stay open to the opportunities that are available rather than complaining about the ones that are not.

 

Roy

[Happily@Sea]

We are in San Juan PR today, we still have not visited a port on our itinerary. Samana DR substituted for Punta Cana DR, [Samana is not on Atlantic Ocean, San Juan for Turks and Caicos [37Kt winds - unable to dock]. missed HMC because of not being able to hold the ship in place. Tomorrow we will finally reach a port we had expected [maybe] Amber Cove DR. The bad weather has been all around us, there was noticeable motion last night. If we make Amber Cove - that will be our 1st and only original port and then we sail back to FLL. I can imagine those complainers on my cruise. 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Wonderful report Roy.

 

How great you were there for the changing of the guard.

 

Great pictures.

[Krazy Kruizers]

1 hour ago, Happily@Sea said:

We are in San Juan PR today, we still have not visited a port on our itinerary. Samana DR substituted for Punta Cana DR, [Samana is not on Atlantic Ocean, San Juan for Turks and Caicos [37Kt winds - unable to dock]. missed HMC because of not being able to hold the ship in place. Tomorrow we will finally reach a port we had expected [maybe] Amber Cove DR. The bad weather has been all around us, there was noticeable motion last night. If we make Amber Cove - that will be our 1st and only original port and then we sail back to FLL. I can imagine those complainers on my cruise. 

 

Someone on your cruise/ship has started a report and complaining because they booked that itinerary for the beaches.

[RuthC]

1 hour ago, rafinmd said:

You can’t please everybody but it is much better to stay open to the opportunities that are available rather than complaining about the ones that are not.

Wise words.

[Happily@Sea]

21 minutes ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

 

Someone on your cruise/ship has started a report and complaining because they booked that itinerary for the beaches.

 

It seemed they all replaced by beach areas. When I checked the tours for Samana and Puerto Rico - they all included  beaches - whether a stop or all-day.  My knees can't take sand - so I stayed at or on the ship.

[rafinmd]

2 hours ago, Happily@Sea said:

We are in San Juan PR today, we still have not visited a port on our itinerary. Samana DR substituted for Punta Cana DR, [Samana is not on Atlantic Ocean, San Juan for Turks and Caicos [37Kt winds - unable to dock]. missed HMC because of not being able to hold the ship in place. Tomorrow we will finally reach a port we had expected [maybe] Amber Cove DR. The bad weather has been all around us, there was noticeable motion last night. If we make Amber Cove - that will be our 1st and only original port and then we sail back to FLL. I can imagine those complainers on my cruise. 

A bit were of a difference in our cruises.  Your complainers were unhappy because they didn't get what they expected.  I wonder if they would have been happier trying to visit a beach in T&C with 37-knot winds coming at them or trying to catch the ship at HMC from a bouncing tender. 

Aside from cancelling a Venezuela port at the end of our cruise (which has been a relief to most people on Cruise Critic) we have gotten exactly what we were promised.  Yet these people booked the cruise anyway.

Somewhat different situations but the same bottom line.  Still better to enjoy what you have than complain about what you don't.

 

Roy

[DeeniEncinitas]

Good morning Roy!

Loved sunset pic up at crows nest!

Sorry the winds were brutal for you to complete your walk!

Loved the changing of the guard also.

Denise😊

[durangoscots]

I can certainly understand why the Venezuela stop was cancelled. Don't think things are going to improve there. Am enjoying your blog and looking back at some of my photos of some of the ports from my cruise 2 years ago.

 

Susan

 

[puppycanducruise]

Nice sunset picture.

Thanks for showing me a place I have never been.

Looking forward to reading about  more of your adventures.

[rafinmd]

Thank you everyone.  Finally catching up after a perfect morning on Robinson Crusoe Island.

 

Day P19, Wednesday, January 23, 2019. At sea, MS Prinsendam

 

One of the things I like about being on the Prinsendam is that I have a choice of free laundry, either self service in the laundry rooms or via the professional laundry services.  I had some things where I wanted to use cold water and it turned out to be the right day for a visit to the laundry room.  With a wind of 43 knots and swells coming from the side I could not have gone to the Lower Promenade Deck for a walk even if I wanted to.  I did walk about a half hour inside the ship while the washing machine did it's magic, venturing only onto the pool deck surrounded by tall windows of ship bulkheads on all sides.  While the wind and the waves were raging the sky was nice and clear and there was a great view of the moon overhead as I walked across the pool deck for my first cup of coffee.

As Captain Jeroen had mentioned at sailaway, we were moving much faster than necessary and we were more than half way to Robinson Crusoe Island by 7AM.  

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Not much of a day to be outside, there was a very robust program inside.  Tim Calvert left the ship in San Antonio and in his place we have new lecturers who will be on until Buenos Aires.  Before the lectures started we had our 9:30 coffee chat with the "God Squad", the Rabbi, the Priest, and the Protestant Chaplain.  The Priest had a bit of an unexpected story, coming from the Church in India where Priests are allowed to marry.  The Rabbi may be a bit unusual as well, his wife is also a Rabbi.

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The actual lectures started off at 10 with biologist Craig Franklin (from Australia) talking about the creatures of the Chilean coast as well as currents and biodiversity.

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In his noon update Captain Jeroen announced that he had adjusted his course somewhat to lessen our exposure (but things were still quite rocky).  At noon we had only 92 miles to go and would arrive at our anchorage about 7, although we would not be cleared to go ashore until morning.  We were also asked to keep our blinds drawn overnight to avoid attracting wildlife to roost on the ship.  Winds at noon were down somewhat to about 30 knots with a temperature of 16C/61F.  While the Lower Promenade deck did not open until after I went to dinner the jogging track on deck 12 was open with walking a bit difficult but not out of the question and I walked 15 laps there for a total of one and a half miles.  There was a definite surf in the swimming pool but the stewards had started putting out the loungers by the time I finished my walk.

 

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After lunch I walked down via the Seaview Pool which was drained.  The furniture was out and there was a lonely bartender at the Seaview bar but nobody else out there.  There were no ropes across the stairs and I went down to deck 8 but knew it would not be wise to go down to 7.

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There were 2 afternoon presentations in the Showroom.  At 2 Craig Franklin teamed up with Noel Miller on the history and wildlife of Robinson Crusoe Island, and at 3 Heather gave her talk on our next 3 ports, Crusoe, Castro, and Puerto Chacabuco.

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The rest of table 19 had a Canaletto dinner arranged by their booking agency and I decided that would be the appropriate time to visit the Pinnacle Grill.  The Lower Promenade deck was still roped off as I entered but I saw a couple of walkers out the window about the time my entree arrived and it was not much later I could see the cliffs of Robinson Crusoe Island.  I opted for the petite fillet and Baked Alaska for desert.  

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As I left the Pinnacle about 6:45 I could hear the anchor chain dropping and the stormy day had turned into a beautiful evening.

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The featured entertainment was the Divas of Motown.

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My parting shot will be a belated Bon Voyage to those on the World Cruise which had it's first full day on Wednesday.  They left later than usual to get better weather for their visit to Northern Europe late in the voyage and it was a tough choice for many between that voyage and the Grand South America.

Roy

 

[puppycanducruise]

Great pictures as always.

Thanks.

[DeeniEncinitas]

Hi Roy!

great pic of the moon! Was able to get caught up. Getting in your laps on deck 12 good job and 1 1/2 miles 👍

Dinner at PG looked good and I’m glad 

after dinner the stormy weather turned out great.

I enjoyed the pictures.

Denise😊

[Krazy Kruizers]

On 1/23/2019 at 10:57 AM, Happily@Sea said:

 

It seemed they all replaced by beach areas. When I checked the tours for Samana and Puerto Rico - they all included  beaches - whether a stop or all-day.  My knees can't take sand - so I stayed at or on the ship.

 

Neither my knees or back can take walking on the beach.

 

Sometimes we just get off and walk around, other times we just stay on the ship like you.