Around the World. Week 8 Wrap Up

Schedule

• Day 50 / February 24: Manta, Ecuador

• Day 51/ February 25: At Sea

• Day 52 / February 26: Puntarenas, Costa Rica

• Day 53 / February 27: At Sea

• Day 54 / February 28: Acajutla, El Salvador

• Day 55 / March 1: At Sea

• Day 56 / March 2: Acapulco, Mexico

Day 50

As you may imagine, I have a multi-tabbed spreadsheet with all of the details of this trip contained within. My note for Manta, Ecuador says, “Explore at Self Pace / Shopping.” That translated literally into go wander the beach and the mall.

First, at the beach, I seem to always be places earlier than many others, meaning it was mostly deserted while I wandered along the shoreline. When I stopped to take any photos or videos, these annoying, possibly biting black flies attacked my legs, so I kept moving. Once I realized there really wasn’t much to see at the end of the beach even though I was expecting surfers, I headed to the mall across the road.

The mall was not as large as the one in Porto Montt, but was three stories of shops and food courts. Apparently a supermarket took up most of the basement level that I didn’t find while I was wandering around, being informed of it after I was back on the ship. Even without random snacks or treats in hand, the shopping trip was a success though! I finally found dressy brown sandals with a wedge heal (not quite a block heal, but at this point, I didn’t mind). Some of you may know this store - it’s called Payless Shoe Store and not only did they have US size 11, but they also had sizes 12 AND 13! For anyone reading this who also struggles with finding larger shoes, go to Ecuador! Granted the selection for the larger sizes was much more limited than the more average shoe sizes, but again, I am no longer very picky.

After procuring some other items and departing the mall with my hands full, I decided to wander back along the souvenir shops by the beach, with the ultimate direction being to get back to the ship to unload. Once back on board, I briefly considered going back out to venture another part of the city or possibly the grocery store, but ultimately hung out at the pool to cool off.

That evening the Solo Travelers met for a cocktail hour followed by dinner in the Main Dining Room. We had the largest showing of Solos to date! Somewhere north of 40 people attended the cocktail party, so we populated almost the entire back corner of Horizons Lounge.

During dinner, my table included one of the Production Dancers (Andrew) and the Wardrobe Manager (Kathryn), plus myself and three other solo travelers since the group was so large, we were split up into smaller, more manageable tables. Apparently, when they seat us all in the center of the Dining Room, we tend to get a bit rowdy, so I can’t imaging the whole group together this night. Bonus event being that we crossed the equator back into the Northern Hemisphere, so we had a few extra toasts throughout the meal.

Following dinner, there was another Blue Horizon party, where everyone wears shades of blue and heads to the Horizons Lounge for singing and dancing. At least, I took a selfie this time, but not a great one, so it will have to due for now as proof of being on the dance floor and bonus that it’s with most of the Production dancers. (Sorry Kylie! This is literally the only picture I have!)

With that party wrapping up around 10pm, I headed to see David at the piano to start to wind down. I think I got back to my cabin after midnight, so it took a while, but as we gained an hour that night, technically, I was in bed at a reasonable hour…

Day 51

Sea Day schedule kicked in with early laundry run. This time, someone beat me to the first machines! I was shocked because the hallways were deserted, even though it was an hour gained overnight. When I walked into the Launderette, the couple seemed to be figuring out how to use the machines. The husband looked to me and asked, “Do you speak English?” I kid you not, I hesitated. It was 7 in the morning. I don’t speak anything at 7 in the morning, especially pre-coffee and after a late night. Let alone comprehend words forming a question. So I simply said, “I think so.” Maybe my tan is really sending off Spanish vibes or he just was used to confirming before going into question mode, but either way, I helped them get the setting sorted, communicating through probably grunts and pointing at the instructions on the wall, and got mine going before heading back to the cabin to nap and consume coffee between cycles.

I had two missions (beyond laundry): (1) Set up another iMovie class with the Lync center and (2) finish reading a book that had already taken me almost a week to get through. I’m happy to report, that I was successful on both.

Plus, since we had crossed the equator the prior evening, the Entertainment crew held another ceremony for those who needed to be inducted into the Secret Society of the Shellbacks (aka kiss a fish!). Thankfully, it’s a one and done type event and as I had been baptized with the frozen water on the last transition, it was not necessary to do it again. But it sure was fun watching other people do it!

The rest of the evening was like many others - dinner at Jacques, followed by entertainment with a vocal group called Divas3, and ending the night back at the Piano Bar.

Day 52

Today became a day for big reflections in Puntarenas, Costa Rica as I walked the beach this morning on my way to see a Lighthouse. Less than one year ago, I had set foot at this port on my 40th birthday with my ex and headed up the mountain to a coffee plantation. The World Cruise was already in the planner by then, there were still a lot of other unexpected turns of events on my way to embarkation day. Coming back here brought a lot of those changes into my mind’s spotlight as I walked along the hot sand, letting the water wash over my feet and the sun beat down on my shoulders. Most surprising of all is that if I didn’t know how old I was, you could have convinced me those memories were much older than ten (10) months ago.

Another one of my pre-trip prep activities, I used Google Maps to look at the different ports and save some places of interest or restaurants that looked good. Well, even though I’m not a foodie, I must have some intuition as I had crossed paths with a pair who are indeed gastronomic experts, as they created an entire cruise line with that focus. Yep! I had lunch with the Oceania co-founder and his partner again as they were headed to the same place as me. Because I had already walked for a few hours without a water break, I was craving a Margherita, so I ordered a Blue one. It was very, very pretty. The bartender served it very proudly as it was truly a work of art!

Following lunch, we wandered a bit through the city, but ultimately decided it was time for the pool to cool off. The evening went like usual - nap, dinner at Red Ginger, evening entertainment being Anchor Inn with the Production Cast.

Day 53

For possibly the first time on this trip, I slept through the entire night and about 8 hours straight! It was a marvelous morning! Crazy how a good night’s sleep can drastically improve your mood in the early morning hours. (I definitely would have been able to speak English if someone asked me to at 7am this day!) I started working on my February photo book in my “office” at Barista’s and still consumed two cups of coffee because it’s just habit and always tasty. Since Barista’s tends to be my social area as well, I didn’t get much done on the book and will have to try again on another sea day.

There was so much going on today I had to keep notes in the margins of my Daily Currents about where I was supposed to be and when.

First up was another cooking demonstration with the Senior Executive Chef, the Chef de Cuisine from Toscana, and the Pastry Chef. This is the same trio as last demonstration, who we described as the “Three Stooges.” It was more of the same this time around with the practical jokes and humor on stage. They made a variety of dishes including beef tartar, pesto gnocchi, and creme brûlée.

With the cooking demo running a bit long, I had to rush upstairs to give my own demonstration on how to use iMovie to create the Recap videos. Being the second class, I assumed it would have been a bit less attended, but about 15 people showed up and not the same 15 from the first go at it. I truly enjoy doing these sessions because I also learn a bit more about the program or the others suggest new ideas on how to produce the videos.

From there, I went to listen to my first Speaker Series in person. The session was titled to suggest the speaker would teach how to produce Comedy Writing. As he’s one of the long time writers for Simpson’s and since I had taken a Comedy Writing class at Second City in Toronto last year, I was interested to learn another method or if they would be similar. In the end, he basically explained that it’s just natural for him and continued to talk about his career and awards.

Another project I have started is to ensure that I remember to take photos of all the activities taking place onboard during sea days and one that I’ve been neglecting due to my typical coffee hour in Barista’s was actually going to Afternoon Tea in Horizons to listen to the Panache String Quartet. When I had gone before, I sat in the way back with some other passengers, which didn’t allow for me to actually see the performance. Today, I sat in the front row. After gaining permission to take photos and videos, I realized that where I had chosen to sit was not conducive to photo angles, resulting in two heads coming out of one pair of shoulders and an iPad coming out of another hair, so I’ll have to try again at another one of their events.

A few weeks back, a couple that I had met at the pre-embarkation dinner invited me to a cocktail party after the evening performance with some others, including a birthday, resulting in a very late night, so this time, they decided to have one pre-dinner. The party slightly overlapped with a requirement for all passengers to pick up their passports, but I had assumed that I could grab my passport on the way to dinner. When we were about a glass or so of wine in, they started making announcements that we needed to go get our passports right then, so with my wine in hand, plus a full bottle that they gifted me for my own stateroom, I headed to the atrium. Definitely creating (or confirming…) a reputation with that imagery.

The rest of the evening went as normal - Dinner at Terrace Cafe with a larger group, evening entertainment from a pianist who focused on movie soundtracks, and finished in Martini’s to celebrate another passenger’s birthday. Today was so busy, there was no nap.

Day 54

When my alarm went off to get to my excursion, I regretted staying for the birthday celebration, but managed to get myself dressed and to the meeting point on time. The excursion had described Cacao and Gastronomic Delights, so I assumed it would be a food tour and only had a small protein bar and a couple chugs of water on my way out the door; not even any coffee. That did not bode well to start the day.

The guide outlined the events of the day, which included a Welcoming Ceremony, an introduction to cacao farming presentation, a tour through the plantation, a workshop to show how the Mayans processed cacao, and then finally, a snack of the official El Salvador food called Pupusas. Definitely not the food tour I was expecting. However, the Welcoming Ceremony was very interesting. On the way there, the guide explained the history of the Indigenous people of El Salvador and how most of their culture was exterminated during a dictatorship reign. But some Indigenous Peoples still remained, including one of the leaders who would perform the ceremony with us. The Leader created a fire circle that contained candles of various colors, some cacao beans, and cigars, explaining that when we add our own candle to the fire, we need to speak our names to them before placing them in the circle to encourage the ancestors to make our stay in their Country happy and memorable. We also tossed in some cacao beans, upon which we made wishes of health for ourselves and others. The Leader closed the ceremony, while explaining they typically have these ceremonies for 2-4 hours (ours was about 30 minutes).

Next stop, the cacao plantation. There, the owner gave us a very in-depth history lesson on cacao farming and the process. His pride and enthusiasm for the work shown through as he described the generations from his predecessors through his sons and daughters to date. Once we understood quite a bit more than we likely ever wanted to know about cacao production, they lead us through the various areas on the farm, including the nursery and harvesting areas. They even shared the raw cacao beans for us to try, which were off-white and really slimy. Trying to ignore these senses and putting the seed in my mouth, it tasted fruity and absolutely nothing like chocolate. From there, they took us to their workshop area to show how the ancient Mayans would roast the beans, remove the shells, and process them into a paste. At this stop, we tried a drink that was hot chocolate without any sugar, so it was pretty bitter. They explained cacao is considered a superfood with all the vitamins and minerals, so this drink is medicine for them.

Still at the plantation, we moved to another area that had a grill where a team was preparing the Pupusas, which are like a corn tortilla stuffed with refried beans and cheese before being grilled. Then you add a slaw and salsa on top to eat like a taco. They served it with Horchata, which is a drink typically made from ground toasted morro seeds, rice, sesame seeds, peanuts, and spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. Here, they also added cacao powder. Both were delicious!

We headed back to the ship, where I was able to procure my magnet for this stop at the craft tables near the gangway since the plantation did not sell any. However, the farm did sell chocolate bars and a Cacao Snack, that is basically rice puff cakes that sandwich a spread of cacao butter. Not being able to wait very long to try that, I can confidently say it was much better than I was expecting! Very light treat, but sweet and crunchy.

Still having some regrets from staying out late and over celebrating, I decided to take the rest of the day off, hibernating in my cabin with a pizza from the Waves Grill. While I know I’m a few decades behind on most movies, they recently added the sequel to Wicked and the latest in the Now You See Me series, so I’m at least caught up on those now.

Even though I saw Wicked as a play when I lived in Charlotte, none of the storyline seemed familiar other than when it lined up with Wizard of Oz, but that’s my memory for you. I can tell you that the night we saw the play, I got a phone call at intermission that informed me to pack my bags and get on the first flight out to Knoxville for a work meeting the next morning. I’m fairly certain they wanted me on a plane that night, but thankfully, let me finish watching the play and get to the airport extra early. For some of you, I’ve explained that I resigned my position in order to not be tied to my phone. This is an example of what life used to be like and I’m still thankful to have this time, completely unattached to a work phone.

Day 55

To date, we have only had one Oceania Brunch on this trip and the passengers continue to guess on when the next one would be. Well, today was the day! And what a Brunch it was!

At the first Bruch, I assumed we would have one each segment and only had a small tasting of various gourmet treats. This time, realizing that Bruch is not guaranteed, resulted in a three course brunch. Started with a smoked salmon Eggs Benedict and extra crispy bacon, paired with black coffee. Second round was charcuterie plate with a mixture of meats, cheeses, and pickles, paired with Coke Zero, and last was desserts sampler platter, paired with Champagne.

Following a brief food coma (aka nap), I headed to my home away from home in Barista’s to continue to work on my February photo book. I explained to someone that these photo books seem to create natural conflict between my left and right brain - the left wants everything structured and evenly spaced while the right wants artistry and haphazard placements, meaning I haven’t finished it yet. Giving up, I decided to break at the pool for a bit. Once there, I received an invite to a beer tasting, which sounded much better than working on my photo book.

Some of the other solo travelers attended a Beer Tasting excursion a week or so back at Costa Rica’s Craft Brew Co, bringing back some bottles to share with others. Today, they hosted a poolside event so the rest of us could try them. Within minutes, someone christened the deck with a full glass, but we continued on with promises to the Crew to be more careful. Without further incident, we tasted a Red Ale and a Scottish Ale. The Red Ale won a recent Silver medal in a recent competition, but flavor-wise, I preferred the Scottish Ale.

The evening was filled with the Oceania Club Cocktail party, dinner at Toscana, and entertainment from Craig Richard, a multi-instrumentalist.

Day 56

Today’s excursion was titled “Historical, Picturesque, and Cliff Divers.” What that ended up meaning is anything goes for where we went and how we got there, with a guide who didn’t quite explain each step, including as we were arriving at that spot. A bit of confusion became the constant theme of the morning.

So off we went, starting with a 45-minute stop at The Flamingos Hotel which hosted many Hollywood icons, such as John Wayne, Cary Grant, and Red Skelton. Here, they provided soft drinks and beer (at 9am) for us to take with us as we explored the grounds from the various viewpoints. The hotel still hosts guests and I definitely ventured into areas that probably should have been off-limits since I found people’s belongings draped over chairs to dry out and as I turned a corner to see the pool, the maintenance man gave me a bit of a funny look, so I went to go find the rest of the group again.

Next stop, the cliff divers! They were the reason I booked this excursion in the first place and the divers did not disappoint. Four (or five) tour buses full of passengers pulled up and offloaded to see this special event show that they performed early for us. Our guide explained that the shows were typically in the afternoon because that’s when the tide is in and it’s safer to jump at that time. Knowing this made the dives seem even more daring! Another unexpected aspect was the divers had to rock-climb up the cliff to get to their diving points. Upon arrival, we could see a concrete platform, so I assumed they would just walk along the edge and jump from there. Sure enough, we started to see the divers making their way from the waters edge up and up. With multiple divers, they dove from different heights, including two of them jumping at the same time; the finale was a single diver from that top concrete platform. It’s amazing how they are able to propel themselves outwards away from the rocks, while still remembering to flip and align before impacting the water. Memory sharing - we had gone cliff jumping in Virginia when I was an intern many, many years ago. We had worked ourselves up to about 20-25 foot falls (not even close to the height these dudes were diving from) and I managed to slam my tailbone into the water, which is not a soft landing at that speed, and spent the boat ride back to shore very uncomfortable. In the video of the last diver, it truly sounds like he hits concrete, but he seemed to be okay though.

Again, seemingly no real pattern of stops, so we headed across the city and up another hill, where we were prompted to disembark our large tour bus and split into small groups into passenger vans. Our guide explained that the buses couldn’t make the final leg of this trip up to the Cross. Still not 100% sure where we were going, we arrived! There was indeed a very large Cross and with it, was a very beautiful Church, gardens, and hand sculpture.

This space overlooked the city and an island that should have been called Turtle Island with its head looking out to sea, but they called it something else that I can’t remember.

Once back on the tour buses, we headed back across the city to the historic fort, with the expectation of touring the museum. As we crossed the drawbridge to the wooden doors, it was very evident that the museum was closed. Apparently it’s always closed on Mondays with no option to get someone there to let us in. With that, I headed back to the ship for lunch and pool time.

Tonight was not a typical night in that we dined at Terrace Cafe, but instead of going to the typical sequence of events, I grabbed my cameras to capture the full moon and get ready for the Lunar Eclipse! That really means that I went to be extra early since the eclipse and red moon was planned for around 4am.

Week 9 started with a very early morning... Story to be continued next week.

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