brazilgirl

Hello from Cape Verde. We woke up around 7 am and watched our approach to Cape Verde. I felt like a sailor seeing Terra Firme after a long voyage. It was exciting to see land again. The island was bathed in a golden sunrise on the approach and was beautiful. I had contacted a tour operator in Cape Verde months ago and penciled out an itinerary that I wanted to see and asked if any fellow passengers on our roll call would like to join us. Luckily, we ended up with a fantastic group of 11 and had a special day together. We started out on our minibus with our guide William headed toward Mount Verde, with a stop to check out a view of the city of Mindelo. The road up the mount was barren and dramatic. The landscape is very arid with low shrubbery and occasional acacia trees and goats. At the top, we were greeted by clouds and a little hut providing drinks of tea, coffee and “grogui”, a sugar cane rum. We then visited the village of Salamansa. The village has limited running water, so the local residents lined up at the water truck with their plastic bottles to fill in order to be able to cook, wash and bathe. Not an easy situation to live with. We visited the local beach and then headed to the “Baia das Gatas” , that Catfish Bay, where we wandered on the beach for a relaxing time. We headed for lunch at a local restaurant. Our next adventure was the highlight : a swim with the giant sea turtles. This was truly memorable. Firstly, we had the challenge of boarding the colorful boat. A group of strong young local men were in charge of getting us on board and over the surf breaking on the shore at the exact right moment, which was a sight to behold. Once on the boat, we were taken to an area that had a group of magnificent sea turtles that were used to being fed by the young men with fresh fish. We were able to swim with the turtles - and the turtles were quite curious and would get in quite close proximity ( looking for more fish?) To get back in the boat, we had to be hoisted by the team. They were quite agile and experienced in getting us on board. Then we had the adventure of trying to get back off the boat on shore at the right moment without getting swept by the waves. It was exciting and we ended up back on the boat exhilarated by our trip. We finally headed back to the ship with one final photo stop of the city and then arrived to the ship to get ready for the famous White Party, which was delicious and delightful. Photos follow of the day.

Ah, today’s photos are few.

Another glorious sea day today, with moderate temps and sunshine. I confess… I was a bit wary of the whole transatlantic idea ( even though it was my idea, lol). I was imaging tempests and clouds. It has been really lovely and I am not even that anxious to see land tomorrow, which is a surprise! We have gotten into a nice routine and have been enjoying the shows every day at 8:15 pm after our dinner with pool, reading, trivia, sitting on balcony , repeat etc. We quite enjoyed the duo Viva La Diva, very energetic and nice voices. Today there was a very charming mini Broadway show in the Den. Nicholas, the assistant cruise director almost brought me to tears with his rendition of a song from Les Mis and some of the entertainers from the ship did a great version of Swell Season’s Falling Slowly. Really nice. Tonight’s Wanderlust show was cute and contagiously happy with its costumes and dancing. Last nights show by a guitarist named Nelson was not up to the Azamara standards IMHO ( trying to give my authentic opinion). It was really garish ( I love the guitar and am a huge Latin music lover) . Tonight we ate at Prime C and loved it. Excellent service and my Ribeye was outstanding ( and quite big!)) Loved the goat cheese tartlet as a starter as well. Really glad we chose to come back to Portugal via ship not via plane!

The sea days yesterday and today were very relaxing, yesterday with a cloud cover but still quite warm and today lovely sunshine. We are going through the Sargasso Sea, so many patches of the brownish/yellow seaweed “The Sargasso Sea is unique in that it harbors species of sargassum that are 'holopelagic' — this means that the algae not only freely floats around the ocean, but it reproduces vegetatively on the high seas. Other seaweeds reproduce and begin life on the floor of the ocean.” Very interesting. Yesterday, as mentioned by our fellow cruisers, we crossed the equator and had a ceremony for the “ploywogs”, the sailors who had never crossed and needed to be initiated. The crew did a fun job making this event fun and memorable, with Captain Antonio joining in. The crew always had an intense tug of war, which was nice to cheer for. We dined at the Patio. It is almost always fairly empty and the night was balmy and pleasant. We had Chilean Sea Bass with rice which was quite delicious. Lots of options for the grill, including lamb, chicken, steaks etc. During our sea days, we have been dining in the Discoveries. The menu varies daily and the service is pleasant and attentive. We visited the Expo today and it was quite interesting to talk to people from all departments. We continued our Progressive Trivia and today were in an exciting first place. Hope we win a World Cruise 🤣. Sunning on the deck and some reading completed the day so far. We talked about how nice it is to go back home to Portugal by ship instead of plane. Maybe a new ritual in our lives? Photos from the ceremony, the expo, the Patio and lunch menus IMG_5240.MOV IMG_5240.MOV

Day at sea Again, blessed with balmy weather and blue skies. We are speeding along , the ocean is a warm 30 degrees celsius. Today enjoying getting into the rhythm of having nothing to do, which is such a lovely luxury. Husband enjoys waking up early and going to the gym, which I think is admirable but my lazy nature prevents me from doing lol. One nice past-time is watching the seabirds dive for fish. There are many Masked Boobies and Frigates following along the ship and they are fun to watch as they dive bomb and catch flying fish, their favorite snack. My husband saw a pod of about 15 dolphins off our balcony yesterday, I missed them so having been keeping eyes peeled. We watched an outstanding lecture on the *** presence in South America post WW2 as well as Portugal’s economic ties with the Third Reich. It was a treat to learn while aboard our cruise. Our team had a better day on Progressive Trivia today, it is highly entertaining and a nice way to meet people. Sun, napping, reading, coffee and chats with fellow passengers filled our day. It was topped off by a scrumptious dinner at Aqualina. This our first visit and we enjoyed sharing a table with some fellow passengers we met onboard from Scotland. I had a ravioli filled with crab and lobster that was tasty. The ambience and service was top notch. obs: Our balcony furniture is very comfortable and I quite like it, it just is peeling and “worn” which is no problem, just an observation. One top notch thing about the breakfast is the crispy bacon and scrambled eggs which are perfectly done. Tomorrow we will cross the equator, it will be fun to participate in the ceremony ( we did it before on our Galapagos cruise).

Sea Day: What gorgeous blue skies and sea we have had today. We ended up leaving Salvador at around 6:20 am this morning instead of 6 pm last night, the longest delay we have had in our cruising history. There was some kind of fueling mix up, which was mysterious. But, we are on the way ( seems the Captain is putting his foot to the pedal). There was a delicious brunch with live music this morning. I loved the waffles with blueberries and whipped cream. Yum. Progressive trivia is very fun and I am really enjoying it. We also used the onboard laundry, which was convenient. The show in the Cabaret Lounge was two women with powerhouse voices, which we enjoyed. This is our first cruise on Azamara. We have sailed Celebrity, HAL, Crystal before ( as well as a few other cruise-lines). Here are some general comments and thoughts Things I love so far; Fellow passengers are by far the friendliest I have met on any cruise-line. Approachable and well traveled and eager to interact would be my description. It makes the atmosphere rather like a big house party, which is great Service is attentive and professional and friendly all over the ship. It is very quick as well which is appreciated. The food in the Discoveries Restaurant is lovely. The fish dishes are outstanding. I really loved the Middle Eastern dinner on the pool deck. Delicious and vibrant. A really great atmosphere. Ship is extremely well maintained overall with soothing decor and nice artwork Things I don’t love as much : Surprisingly, the Windows Café has not been as yummy as I expected. I feel underwhelmed by the food there. However, the service is excellent. I think my biggest issue is the green salad offerings. Could be better. Our ship is sailing at full capacity and it has been hard to find a place to sit at certain hours. That is understandable and it is only at certain peak times. The outdoor furniture on the deck and our balcony could be touched up, lots of wear and tear apparent ( but this does not detract from the cruise at all) Husband thinks the gym could be bigger Overall, things have been extremely enjoyable and we are having a grand time.

Salvador greeted us with warm weather and blue skies. We opted to take the provided shuttle bus to the historic district ( Pelourinho) and to walk around on our own. The bus was punctual and comfortable and the a/c kept it very cool. Salvador is an explosion of color and sounds and the show of Brazil’s deep Afro-Brazilian connection. The historic district is vibrant and very easy to navigate on your own. You can watch Capoeira ( the Brazilian martial art), see the Baiana women in traditional garb, taste acarajé and listen to live music while sipping a Caipirinha or a fresh fruit juice. A visit to the São Francisco Church is also gorgeous. There was an unfortunate incident. A fellow passenger had his cell phone robbed. Caution is indeed called for. Back on ship, we watched a folkloric show and then were treated to a really delicious Middle Eastern dinner on Deck 9 in the pool area. It really was splendid. We are still waiting to leave Salvador. some photos of our day IMG_5027.MOV

Had coffee and pastries at the Mosaic Cafe to start the day, which was quite yummy. The Meet and Mingle was very enjoyable, a pleasure to put names to faces. I personally would probably have missed it if it had been on embarkation day, as I like to get unpacked and explore the ship. Having it today was much more relaxing. Warm and humid day here on the Brazilian coast. I quite enjoyed Progressive Trivia and Pub Trivia again. We had lunch in the Discoveries Restaurant which was pleasant. Tonight the buffet was Asian fare, so we opted to do that rather than the Discoveries . Took some photos of the buffet and such as well as the drinks included in the regular fare as sometimes people ask about this. Tomorrow we will visit Salvador, Bahia and will report back on our day.

I forgot to post these photos of our room as well im case anyone is curious. We have a Veranda Plus stateroom. Also some random ship photos. I am not a frequent photographer of food ( I prefer to just eat it, lol) but will try to get some in. Obs: I was a bit nervous about the much maligned shower being too small. It is okay… not great but less bad than I expected from reports I had read. So I am happy . 🙂

Impressions of today We woke up and had a lovely breakfast on our balcony. It was brought punctually and very nicely presented. The weather was perfect and we really enjoyed sitting and gazing out on the water. Our dinner last night was in the Discoveries Restaurant. We arrived about 7 pm and were seated quickly. Our table was next to a very kind German couple. We enjoyed chatting with them. They were avid Azamara cruisers. Dinner was delicious. I had the Indonesian suggested menu and my husband had a trout dish that was served with shrimp. I really enjoyed the portion sizes and presentation. We tendered to Buzios. It was organized and quick. We walked along the shore and then explored the shops on the Rua de Pedra. We decided to just relax and not do an excursion today as we are familiar with Brazil. We headed back to the ship around 12:30 and then had the bbq lunch that was served on the pool deck. There were ribs, chicken, burgers, hot dogs and all the fixings. Really tasty with good weather. The highlight of the day was the “Pub” trivia at 4 pm in the “Living Room”. My husband was napping so I joined some fellow passengers from Scotland and England and had great fun. I like the was the fellow passengers are quite friendly and easy to talk to. We had dinner in the Discovery Restaurant again, followed by a show in the Cabaret Lounge. All the officers were introduced and Captain Antonio spoke and Emily, the cruise director sang beautifully. The thing I am enjoying most thus far is how the ship is compact and elegant and all the passengers and crew are so kind. And the Discoveries food and service is top notch. PS… I agree the bad boarding experience was no fault of Azamara. We arrived at 3:30 ( our boarding time was at 3:00 pm) and we had “priority” boarding, however we still waited almost an hour before we were checked in and many people who arrived after us were attended before us. This is just an observation… no big deal, just could be improved. photos from Buzios and the ship today

Oh, you will love Portugal! Be sure not to miss the Monseratte Palace in Sintra. I prefer it over the more famous palaces. And the Pastéis de Nata are incredible. Enjoy. If you have time, visit the Quinta de São Bernardo in the Douro Valley. We have stayed there twice and it is a favorite. I will update about my Azamara impressions along the way. Loved the library.

Onboard and yes embarkation was quite chaotic and we missed the window for specialty restaurant reservations. We only got them later and pickings were slim. Sail-away was lovely, albeit a bit cloudy. We sailed passed Sugarloaf, Copacabana beach, Corcovado etc. This is our first Azamara cruise ( we have sailed on HAL, Celebrity, Crystal and others) and so far we are enjoying it quite a bit!

Looking forward to meeting you on the Pursuit Tuesday. So sorry to hear about the travel snafus, hope everything goes smoothly from now on! We live in Portugal and have family in Brazil, so have been visiting family for the last weeks. Sad to say goodbye today to our loved ones but excited to get on the Pursuit and enjoy a wonderful cruise before getting back to beloved Portugal. if anyone wants to follow along live updates on the cruise, I will post on Instagram and here ( more photos on IG) https://instagram.com/brazilgirl?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= Cute Chloe, SIL’s dog, saying goodbye. We are arriving in Rio in 20 min!

Hello We will go on our first ever Azamara cruise on March 7th. It is a Rio to Lisbon repositioning cruise ( 16 days). I bid on a CC Suite. We are booked in a Veranda Plus and Explorer level ( due to previous Celebrity cruises). The minimum bid is $300 pp. I bid $410. Not sure if that is a good bid and what will happen, but curious to see. I will update the result if it goes through.

If you like “unique”, Mama Ruisa in the Santa Teresa district is an incredible old mansion run by a French man with impeccable taste. ( I lived in Brazil for 33 years, so have been to many hotels).