Go With Me on My 2014 Grand World Voyage

[Esri]

Th'e internet service on the Amsterdam is indeed in a sorry state. I got one post made so far tonight. It keeps going up and down so I don't think I'm going to try for more this evening. All is well except the internet though!

 

Read it on Go With Me!

 

This is a port day and I have a full day excursion planned in Manta, Ecuador. So I was up at 6:00 AM for a shower and a quick room service breakfast. I spent half an hour struggling to get the Internet to work long enough to get my email checked, blog comments read and approved, and yesterday’s blog post published. It kept going up and down, off and on, what a pain. I did manage to get all the above accomplished, but failed to get my nature photos from Puerto Limon posted to my Google+ groups.

 

One positive note, I was struggling with the Internet for about half an hour. I had to keep disconnecting and reconnecting, but I didn’t log out during this period. When I logged off, it only charged me for six minutes which would have been about how long I was actually connected. That is better than having to go down and ask for a refund of minutes lost, which were always pretty easy to get anyway.

 

The tour in Manta was fun and quite interesting. We started with a trip to the Taguero area to visit a Tagua button “factory”. As Xavier, our tour guide, explained on the way over there this was not a huge factory like we have in America. It is a small, family owned operation as are all of these little businesses.

 

Tagua is vegetable or palm ivory. It comes from the nut of a tropical palm, Phytelephas (Plant Elephant) Macrocarpas. The name refers both to the size of the fruit and the seeds inside and to the resemblance between the endosperm of the nuts and elephant ivory.

 

Before the omnipresence of plastics, 20% of the buttons used in the United States were made from Tagua. Xavier told us that today most of the Tagua is used to make jewelry, toys, and carvings rather than buttons. I bought three small animal carvings as souvenirs and they are quite beautiful. Fully as lovely as the scrimshaw I once bought in youthful ignorance. Tagua is a sustainable vegetable product and nothing has to die to produce these lovely products since the “ivory” comes from the seed of the tree.

 

We spent thirty-five minutes at the Tagua factory. Xavier walked us through each “station” and explained what they were doing in each step of the process. I was able to rustle up enough of my long-unused Spanish to tell the little girl who packaged my purchases up that I had purchased “tres animales” and that tres times tres was “nueve”. As my tablemates said at dinner, I not only managed to communicate, but taught her multiplication.

 

From the Tagua factory we went on to a “rancho” where they made Panama, or more properly Montecriste hats. These are the straw hats made famous by the men who worked on the Panama Canal. The Panama Hat Company imported them from Ecuador and hence they became known as “Panama Hats”. The hats are made from the hand-woven leaves of the Toquilla Palm, which is a palm-like plant not a palm tree.

 

Again, Xavier took us through each stage of the process of making the hats. I must confess that I took advantage of the chairs set out in the shade and cool breeze for part of the tour, but I was able to see each station although I didn’t hear all of Xavier’s erudite descriptions. Once again, we had the opportunity to buy souvenirs and I purchased a nice Montecriste hat.

 

After the tour of the hat factory, we drove up to the Pocheco Rainforest. Along the way we drove through a fishing village for a photo opportunity where they build the fishing boats. Tuna is the number one seafood export in Ecuador. They have canning factories in Manta for several world-wide food companies including Bumblebee, Chicken of the Sea, and Star-Kist. Xavier told us that one of the requirements for these companies doing business in Ecuador is that they donate money to build boats for poor fishermen.

 

The drive to the rainforest was about forty minutes long and I think I dozed off on the way. Xavier said that even though it is supposed to be the rainy season they have had no rain on the coast or in the foothills. The vegetation in these areas was quite brown. They must not ever get a lot of rain in the foothills, because there are a lot of cactus growing there.

 

When we arrived at Pocheco we walked along a path through the rainforest for about five minutes to a restaurant. There the chief cook and her translator taught us to cook an Ecuadorian staple: Bolon de las Verde. This is a ball, of varying sizes, made of boiled plantain, onions, coriander, and a local cheese. After mixing together the plantain, onions, and coriander, you make a ball out of it. Then you form a little bowl, sort of like making a clay pot, and fill the hole in the middle with cheese. After that you form the ball again, covering the cheese. The ball is fried for about a minute.

 

I hate to say it, but our entire group agreed we would not be making any bolones for breakfast or dinner at home. They were quite tasteless! The consistency was like an undercooked hushpuppy, but it was the total lack of flavor that got us. Many of us ate enough to be polite and then offered the rest to Xavier or the bus driver. They quite enjoyed them!

 

On the way back to the port we took a couple of little side trips. I’m not sure, but I think Xavier was killing time so he wouldn’t get us back to the port before 3:15. At one point the driver took this 52-passenger bus down a little side road heading down to a beach. The road was hardly big enough for the bus and there were big ditches, not quite cliffs, but almost, on either side. We all clapped when the driver negotiated the bus’s way to the road on the other side of the little overpass.

 

They took us down to see a beach where sea turtles come to lay their eggs. They put what looks like crime scene tape around each nest and cover the nest itself with a little net cage to protect the turtles. Unfortunately, they didn’t stop the bus so we could take pictures.

 

Down the road from the sea turtle beach they showed us an area where some fishermen live. Then the driver started backing up the bus! We were all saying that we hoped he wasn’t going to try to back over that overpass/ditch area. He didn’t, but he went about a quarter of a mile in reverse until he found a side road he could use to turn around.

 

All in all, I enjoyed the tour. Even the making of the bolon was interesting, it just didn’t taste good. I bought my first souvenirs of the trip and had a good time. I learned that the average salary in Ecuador is $340 a month. Yikes! From that, in Manta at least, they pay about $200 a month for housing.

 

After returning from the tour I was so tired I actually took one of those naps everybody keeps talking about. Unfortunately, it didn’t really help. I think I was more tired after the nap than before. The nap, however, led right into dinner.

 

Dinner was unexceptional. We were only five at our table for eight. The menu was so-so. I settled for fried calamari with marinara sauce, Caesar Salad, Spaghetti Bolognese, and a Butterscotch Sundae for dessert. It was all good, but not noteworthy.

 

One of my tablemates ordered risotto and it was cold, not lukewarm, but cold. She finally confessed to Dennis, our waiter, that it was cold when he came to clear the entrees. She’d been telling him it was fine. He was quite apologetic and wanted to get her another, but she told him she was fine.

 

My Butterscotch Sundae was fine, but the “Chef’s Recommendation” for dessert earned thumbs-down from those who ordered it. Mary, who was on the shore excursion with me, said it tasted like the bolon! Since it was supposed to chocolate, toffee, and caramel, that’s not good.

 

After dinner I found a phone signal and tried to call my sister several times, but got no answer. I did talk to my son for a few minutes though. He’s doing fine, he was a little worried about me because of my Dad, but I told him I was okay. I heard from my sister on Facebook this morning that she lost power during the Saints’ game and went to bed because she was sure they were going to lose. They did.

 

Note: The internet service on the ship has been exceptionally bad since we left Manta. It has not worked long enough for me to get anything posted. I'm crossing my fingers I get this up. I have not yet processed my photos from Manta, but will post an update when I get them up. I have blog posts for every day up to today (16 January) written and will get as much posted as I can while the connection stays up. Photos will follow for Manta and Lima.

[Cruzin Terri]

Thanks for posting. I am sure quite a few of us are relieved that you are okay.

Terri

[AlohaPride]

Welcome back!!

[Esri]

Read it on Go With Me!

 

I had a very quiet Sunday at sea today. I basically “took the day off”. I did write-up my blog post on Manta and load my photos on to the computer, but did not post-processing and refused to fight with the Internet to get anything posted. Who knows, maybe everybody else did the same and I would have had zero frustration, but I enjoyed my day.

 

I slept “late” – it was almost 8:30 when I got out of bed. I had breakfast in the dining room. I shared a table and all my tablemates were people I’d shared with before. I had an omelet and a side order of ham. I was unpleasantly surprised to see a sweet glaze on the ham. I asked for a side of bacon to replace it. The bacon was excellent, as always, so no harm, no foul.

 

After breakfast I went back to my cabin for a while. I filled out an immigration form for Peru and finished reading Blue Shoes and Happiness. I did log on to the Internet to try to check my email, but no joy so I logged off immediately. Around 10:30 I headed up to the Ocean Bar for trivia.

 

I got myself a Diet Coke and started reading The Fellowship of the Ring. I’m actually reading the 50th Anniversary Edition, which was published as a single volume, The Lord of the Rings, in six “books”. According to one of the forwards, this is how Tolkien intended the books to be published, not as a trilogy, but as a single long novel. This saga has long been one of my favorite reads. For many, many years I read it at least yearly. I think the last time I read it was in 2010, while my husband was undergoing chemotherapy.

 

I’m doing “Team Trivia” as a team of one, as I’ve reported earlier. This morning one of the ladies in the group sitting nearest to me told me I could ask Gene (the Cruise Director) to ask if anyone needs another team member. I thanked her and told I’d rather play by myself. She said, “Well, could you move then? We can’t talk if you are sitting there?” I just looked at her. I wanted to say that if I were cheating, I’d be getting as many points as they were, but I don’t think I did say that. Most teams don’t talk much, anyway, they use scrap paper and write notes to offer their answers to each other.

 

I did not do nearly as well in trivia today as I did the last sea day. Many of my answers were guesses and they were wrong. I also had a few that I second-guessed myself, but didn’t change my answer when I should have. That is where a team comes in handy. A second opinion can be quite helpful. I’m not playing to win though, so it isn’t that important. I turn in my papers so that I can get the cumulative “HAL Dollars” at the end of each segment, but I won’t get any prizes unless I get really lucky! I play for fun, which is another reason I was insulted by that woman implying that I would cheat.

 

After trivia I went up to the Dining Room for lunch. They were already decorating for the Black & Silver theme for tonight’s formal dinner and ball. I sat with Terri & Bill, our former evening tablemates, and I think we all had basically the same lunch: BBQ Chicken Spring Rolls and Korean Short Ribs. They were very good, especially the short ribs. We had a pleasant lunch. I like Terri and Bill very much.

 

After lunch I walked up to the Queen’s Lounge for the matinée repeat of the mind-reading act from the night before. His name is Graham Powell and he is British. I read in the comfortable seating there for about forty-five minutes before the show. Mr. Powell was quite entertaining. Many of his tricks could be explained by a good ability to read body language, but some appeared to be genuine clairvoyance. It was a very nice change of pace for me since I don’t do the evening shows.

 

Following the show I wandered to the Sports Bar and picked up my daily allotment of Diet Coke. The bartender there already knows me and started pulling them out as soon as I got there. Then it was back to the cabin to continue the adventures of Frodo and friends until it was time to get ready for dinner.

 

The Dining Room was decorated with black and silver tinsel. The chairs were covered with either a black or white seat cover, alternating around the table. The napkins too alternated white and black. The servers were very nicely dressed in either gray or black. If they wore black they had on a gray bow-tie and vice-versa. It was very, very pretty.

 

Everyone at our table was in theme. Several of us said that Silver & Black was probably the most in-theme we’d get. All of the ladies looked very nice and John was quite dashing in his tuxedo. We had Dennis take a group shot with Mary’s phone as we got ready to leave. I’m going to ask her to send me a copy. I’ll post it if I get it.

 

Dinner was exceptionally good, as it usually is on a formal night. I had Escargot, my Caesar Salad, and Roasted Beef Tenderloin. The tenderloin was the best beef I’ve had since I’ve come on-board. Kay and I noticed that our knives were not replaced with steak knives (which are not really very sharp, in any case), but they weren’t needed.

 

I think you could have cut the beef with a fork it was so tender. Everyone who ordered the beef (about half of us) agreed it was the best we’ve had so far. We asked for a “family-style” plate of crab legs to share and they were delicious as well.

 

For dessert I had a chocolate Torte with raspberry jam and raspberry cream filling. It was quite good. The good thing about the desserts is they are a very small serving so I don’t feel completely awful about having one (sometimes two) just about every day.

 

After dinner I went back to the cabin and logged on to the Internet. I read my mail and answered one message, checked Facebook and Cruise Critic, and logged off. I read for about an hour and a half and then went to bed. Like I said, an easy Sunday.

[SilvertoGold]

It is such fun reading your posts! Love it that you outline what you are eating each meal!! Looking forward to some photos if the internet allows.

Thanks for taking us along and enjoy your next port.

[Esri]

Read it on Go With Me!

 

I slept very well last night. I didn’t need any thing for pain in any body part. I woke up twice, but went right back to sleep. I finally got up at about 7:45, but I’d been awake for maybe half an hour before that. I showered and went up to breakfast in the Dining Room.

 

I was seated once again with Joe and Sue, a nice couple from New Jersey and Florida. I had some mango slices and a bagel with lox again. I also had a nice pot of Earl Grey tea and a glass of orange juice. I only ate a slice and a half of the bagel and only one of the huge slices of lox. When one of the officers asked if I wanted something else I laughed and said “No, it was delicious. I stopped eating because I was full!”

 

After breakfast it was back down to the cabin for “work”. I checked the Internet connection, but it was lousy so I didn’t even bother to try to check my email. Then I finished my blog post for yesterday, started this one, and then worked on pictures. Since the stewards had already done up my room I knew I could stay until around 11:00 instead of leaving at 10:00 or 10:30 so they could get in here.

 

I worked on my photos until about 11:00 and then headed up to the Ocean Bar to read while waiting for Trivia at 11:45. Trivia was a bit harder today. I scored in the single digits again, though I would have beaten yesterday’s score if I hadn’t second-guessed myself on the year Marilyn Monroe died.

 

I knew how old she was – as did just about everyone in the room (36). I wrote down 1962 (which was right) and mid-way through the game I changed it to 1966. When Gene read out the answers he said she was 35 and was roundly correctly. He checked for her dates of birth and death – she was born in June 1926 and died in August 1962 – and STILL said she was 35. We kindly asked him to check his math.

 

I thought I did badly all by myself, but waiting at the elevator one woman said her entire team scored 2 points. So, 6 isn’t the worst score for the day at least.

 

After Trivia I went upstairs to the Lido for a sandwich, a bit of pickle, and a few chips. By a few chips, I mean I ate less than half the chips I was given. Following lunch, I came back to my little hobbit hole and fought with the Internet long enough to verify some information about the private tour I’ve arranged for our second day in Lima.

 

While I was in my cabin the Captain made his daily noon-time announcements. He mentioned that everyone, including HAL HQ, are aware that the Internet service is unsatisfactory. Part of the problem, it seems, is on-shore at the HQ and part is with the service provider, and still another part is here on the ship. He said every available resource was being thrown at the problems.

 

I had an appointment at 2:00 in the Ocean Bar with the two couples accompanying me on my private tour in Lima. While I was sitting there reading and enjoying a Diet Coke and Goldfish crackers, the Captain announced that we were stopping to render aid to a tuna boat that was adrift. He came on several times to announce what we were doing to help them.

 

It turned out they had a broken propeller and had sat here for three days. He said they were anchored in relatively shallow water and were happy to wait for rescue. We provided them with food and water and notified both their employer and the Coast Guard. They were expecting a tow tomorrow when we left them.

 

Only one of my couples showed up, but I suspect the other was up on deck watching the excitement with the fishing boat. If I don’t hear from them today I’ll call them and tell them where to meet us day after tomorrow. I talked to the wife yesterday so I don’t think they’ve backed out on me.

 

By 2:30 PM I was back in my cabin ready to work on photos again. I did try the Internet, but couldn’t even get logged on. I sure hope they get it fixed soon or I may just be collecting all these blog posts and photos on my hard drive! I worked on photos until it was time to get cleaned up for dinner.

 

Dinner was once again delicious and a fun time was had by all. While we were waiting for our first course, my tablemate Aloha asked me if I had enjoyed the matinée on Sunday. I said I thought it was quite enjoyable. Then she asked me if I’d been to any of the evening shows. I said I hadn’t. I said I normally just go back to my cabin and work on my blog or read. She said, “Isn’t that boring?” I told her it wasn’t. I like to do those things. Then she asked if I wanted to go to the show with them (she and her cousins, Estelle and Vangie) that evening.

 

To tell the truth, I didn’t really want to – I was hoping the Internet would be working and I could get something posted on the blog. Besides I knew I had to get up at 5:30 AM tomorrow. But I said I would go. I’m glad I did.

 

We went for the 7:30 pre-show – a repeat performance by a comedian whose name I forget. He was funny. He wasn’t obscene or terribly insulting. Just a few anecdotes about people too stupid to live. You know a lot of those people, right? So do I.

 

After the comedian was a troupe of Irish fiddlers called Graffiti Classics. They danced around and did a little slapstick while playing three violins and a double-bass. They played really well and did rousing renditions of both The Orange Blossom Special and The Devil Went Down to Georgia. The double-bass player sang a commendable version of Danny Boy while his cohorts made fun of him behind his back. It was funny – which, of course, is not at all what Danny Boy should be.

 

After the show I basically crawled back to my cabin and went to bed.

[Esri]

Read it on Go With Me!

 

Tuesday morning I awoke to a terrible smell. At first I thought it was in my cabin, but soon realized that even though I have an interior, it was the port of Callao. It didn’t take long for my senses to get used to it and ignore it, but it was a nasty, sewage plant smell. I know it was the port because I smelled it for a few minutes when I returned from my tour in the afternoon, before I boarded the ship.

 

The second thing I noticed on awakening was that the telephone was ringing. It was room service with my breakfast – my alarm did not go off. No shower for me. It was already 6:15 and I had to be in the Queen’s Lounge at 7:00 AM. So I drank my juice, brushed my teeth and combed my hair. Then I gathered up my camera, water bottle, and hat and headed out.

 

Apparently very few men are interested in visiting fruit and vegetable markets and cooking demonstrations. Our tour group was five women and one man. There was a brief delay due to port security, but our minibus arrived by 7:45 and we were allowed to disembark.

 

I skipped the gangway photo this morning – no llamas or native dress for the early risers, apparently. We boarded the bus and our young tour guide introduced himself as “Omar”. He told us his mother loved Omar Sharif. Omar was a very nice young man and, as we’d find throughout the day, very proud of Peru.

 

Omar kept up a running narrative as our driver, Daniel, got us safely through the busy streets of Lima. Lima is a bustling metropolitan area with a population of over nine million people. Callao, the port, is part of the “Greater Lima Metropolitan Area”, but not of the city itself.

 

Our first stop was a huge, air-conditioned, mall in Callao. Inside were hundreds of small stalls where vendors sold all kinds of things. We were there to see the food markets though so that’s where we wandered. We started with poultry and Omar told us Peruvians love their chicken. They eat more chicken than any other meat, at least in Lima.

 

We went from meat to fruit and at each stop Omar expounded on the wonderful variety of produce available in Peru. They have multiple varieties of so many incredible foods. It really was interesting, but I became afraid that he was going to show us every one of the 4,000+ varieties of potatoes. He would say “Oh, we have to see this other kind of passion fruit” (or corn, or potato, or avocado, etc…) and wave us forward.

 

The market was very interesting and I think I got some good photos. However, this tour was advertised as “Light Activity”. Two-plus hours of walking and standing in a market that was about three city blocks with few opportunities to sit was not “light” activity. After ninety minutes I told Omar I had to sit down for two to three minutes.

 

Sure, he said, we’ll find a place to sit in the vegetable section. Then we wandered around the fruits for another fifteen minutes looking for something I don’t recall. We came upon some benches and just shouted “Omar!” and pointed to the bench and to myself. He relented and several of us took the opportunity to sit down for just a few minutes.

 

Then it was off to the vegetables. We spent another thirty to forty-five minutes learning about the thousands of varieties of potatoes and maize in Peru. Quite frankly, I was shopped out at this point and zoned out much of what Omar was saying. Finally, he said it was time to go back to the bus. We headed out the doors, but no bus.

 

Omar said we must have come in the other side. I have a pretty good sense of direction and I was ninety percent sure we’d entered on the side we’d just exited, just a couple of blocks up. Omar said we’d come in the other side, and he was the guide, so off we all went. Guess what? We’d entered on the same side we just left, just a couple of blocks up. By the time we got back to the bus I wasn’t even sure my knees would get me up the three little steps, but they did.

 

Then we were off to Miraflores, one of the forty-three districts of Lima, to learn to cook several Peruvian dishes. Once at the restaurant we were given the opportunity to use the restroom, up two flights of stairs. One of our members was an older lady using a cane and she asked if there were any restrooms downstairs. They found her one.

 

The young chef giving the demonstration was Ricardo. He spoke very good English, having lived in the United States for several years. He too was very proud of Peru. He held up a tomato, a potato, and an avocado and said that these were “Peru’s gifts to the world.” I thanked him on behalf of the world, especially for the avocado.

 

Ricardo showed us how to cook three signature Peruvian dishes. He started with ceviche. He said the limes in Peru were so acidic that the ceviche only needs to sit for a few minutes to cook the fish. His ceviche was quite delicious.

 

Then he showed us how to make a potato dish called “causa”. He told us a story about how the causa was the poor people’s contribution to the “War of the Pacific” with Chile in the late 1800s. The women would make the causa and wrap it in paper and as the soldiers marched by, they’d give them the causa.

 

It was a very simple dish to make and very delicious. The potatoes were simply boiled and put through a ricer (three times!) then mixed with yellow chile paste and tiger’s milk. Tiger’s milk is a mix of fish stock, lime juice, and ???? Then the potatoes are layered with chicken, crab, or seafood salad made with onions and a little mayonnaise and avocado.

 

The third dish was called Lomo Satal and it was beef, stir-fried in a wok with onions, peppers, tomatoes, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and ginger. It was served with rice and French fries. We all said those were the best French fries we’d had in a long time. The Peruvian potatoes are really, really good. The dish itself was also delicious.

 

After the cooking demonstration we had lunch, composed of the dishes we’d seen demonstrated and followed by a dessert of a beignet made from squash served with spiced cane syrup. We also had our choice of a Pisco Sour, the signature cocktail of Peru, a Peruvian juice drink, or water. I chose water.

 

Lunch finished, we headed back to the minibus. Our next stop was San Martin Square. I’m afraid I sat out Omar’s treatise on General San Martin, one of the heroes of Peruvian Independence from Spain, but I have an excuse – I took classes in Latin American history in both high school and college. I already knew about San Martin and Bolivar.

 

After the history lesson we went to a bar. Yes, a bar. It is one of the two oldest bars in Lima. There we had our choice of (another) Pisco Sour, a different drink made with Pisco and Ginger Ale, soda, and water. This time I chose the alternative to the Pisco Sour, but I didn’t drink much of it. I thought it tasted something like turpentine.

 

Several people have asked for weather reports. Lima remains under low-hanging gray clouds most of the time. The temperature today was about 78-degrees Fahrenheit. It was a bit humid. Keep in mind that I live in coastal Georgia and what many people thought was hot was a nice spring day to me.

 

The bar was the last stop on our tour and afterwards we headed back to Callao. I was so glad to get back to my cabin and take my shoes off for a while before dinner. I tried again to get on the Internet, but no luck. I could log on but never got any domain name resolution and logged off immediately. Cost me a minute of time to do that though.

 

Joanne went to Machu Pichu so we had an empty seat at the table. Or we would have had an empty seat if Mary had not invited one of the dance hosts to join us. The Dance Hosts are not supposed to dine with the passengers, but Mary has a way of talking people into things and she ensured him she’d “handle it”. He was a nice guy and quite amusing so he fit right into our little group.

 

Dinner was somewhat unremarkable. I will say the Beef Stroganoff (billed as “Taste of Home” or something like that) was really good. As usual our conversation was lively and we all had fun. We finished a little earlier than we normally do and I headed up to the Explorers’ Lounge in search of a phone signal.

 

I talked to my sister for about fifteen minutes. Then I bought my four Diet Cokes at the Sports Bar – the bartender greeted me by name when I came in, just like Cheers! While I was paying for my sodas I heard the piano player in the Piano Bar singing “Me and Bobby McGee”. So I found a seat and sat through a few more tunes. Her name is Debby Bacon and she’s not bad.

 

After her early set was over I headed back downstairs to my cabin. I managed to get on the Internet for about ten minutes. I checked my email and Facebook then logged in to my blog. I think I was able to copy and paste my blog post from Manta into the entry form, but then the Internet cut out when I tried to upload my Featured Image for the day.

 

The Internet problems are really getting old. They seem to be the number one topic of conversation on the ship. The Captain says they are throwing every resource available at the problem, but I think it boils down to going with the lowest bidder when they changed hosting providers. We’re not talking slow service here, we are talking a total lack of Internet capability. The domain name servers just are either unreachable immediately upon login or they drop out of service randomly if you ever manage to successfully get to any site past the login page.

[AlohaPride]

Aaaaaaaand. . . Esri is back!!! Woo hoo!!

[silvercruiser]

I'll be boarding the Amsterdam the day you get off, for 35 days and I sure hope the internet is working better by then. I was surprised to hear about the problems. A year ago, on the Ryndam, there were problems with it cutting out, but last summer on Voyage of the Vikings, on the Veendam, where I'd expected problems because we were sailing through pretty remote areas, it worked perfectly all the time. And in December, on the Ryndam again, in the Caribbean, it was just fine. I sort of figured that there had been a fleetwide improvement, but guess not. I wonder if other HAL ships are in the same situation as the Amsterdam.

[Esri]

I was hopeful last night that the Internet service on the Amsterdam was "fixed", but it apparently isn't. It's sporadically better, but I don't believe I'll get my posts caught up this afternoon.

[Esri]

Read it on Go With Me!

 

After two very active days I decided to take it easy today. I slept until 8:00 AM and went to breakfast in the Dining Room. I had an omelet with cheddar, ham, peppers, and onions, a side of bacon, and toast. Then I headed back to the cabin to try to get on the Internet.

 

No joy there. I got on and got into Gmail, but that was as far as I got before the connection went back to “Limited”. I logged out and saw that somehow over the last five days of basically just trying to log on I’d lost almost one hundred minutes. I hate, and I do mean hate, confrontation, but I cannot let that stand. I’m going to have to go and ask for a refund of minutes.

 

This Internet situation is truly aggravating. Everybody else is taking their computers off the ship for free Internet access, but I am loath to connect to a public network in a foreign country. I heard one woman say that she wouldn’t use the ship’s connection because it wasn’t secure, but she uses Internet cafes in sea ports! Ignorance is bliss, I guess.

 

I spent about an hour copying my photos over from my camera to my computer and then backing everything up (documents and pictures) to both my external hard drives. Then I walked up to the Ocean Lounge, thinking we had trivia today. No trivia, but I had a Diet Coke and read for a bit. I started another No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency book, The Good Husband of Zebra Drive. I’ve read this one before too, as I realized after about ten pages. It’s a good book. I do have some books on my Kindle that I haven’t read, I just haven’t gotten to them yet!

 

While I was enjoying my book and Diet Coke, the Captain announced that we would be slightly delayed leaving Callao. We still had a technician from the Internet provider onboard working on the satellite connection and some entertainers had just arrived at the airport.

 

At noon the Captain announced that we were almost ready to leave port, but our technician would be coming with us. Still no Internet joy. He did say that it is not just the guest network that is down, it is all computer communication. They want it fixed as badly as we do.

 

I ate lunch in the Dining Room. I had a Shrimp Quesadilla. It was pretty good. Not excellent, but pretty good. I think I’m going to try to make myself eat lunch in the Lido for the next few days. Less temptation if I limit myself to the sandwich station. I may try breakfast there in the morning too and try to stick to fresh fruit and maybe a pastry.

 

I was going to attend a lecture this afternoon on travel photography, but I stayed too long at lunch. Another reason to try the Lido. Even if you share a table with someone, you don’t feel obligated to sit and converse until they are done eating.

 

After lunch, I came back to my cabin and worked on the blog posts and photos until three and then I took a nap! Well, I lay down for an hour – I didn’t really go to sleep. Laying down left me more rested than the other day when I truly conked out. At four I got up and worked on photos some more.

 

We were all together again for dinner, but we all must have been tired. The table was somewhat subdued, for us anyway. Halfway through dinner my left arm started itching and I knew I was getting the hives. I was alternating rubbing and scratching and Kay and Mary what was wrong. I told him I got the hives on my left arm every about three or four times a month ever since my husband passed away. I’ve never been able to figure out any commonality between the incidents.

 

Last night’s was bad. By the time I got back to my room my entire forearm was covered in welts three inches long and an inch wide. It was red as a beet and hot, not warm, to the touch. I slathered it in Benadryl Gel and Gold Bond Anti-Itch Lotion. I got relief from the itching immediately, but the hives were still there when I went to bed. They are gone this morning.

 

The dinner menu was unremarkable and I don’t think anyone had anything they particularly liked. I had Chile Rellenos, but the Poblanos they used were very, very hot. They were Poblanos though, they have a distinct flavor.

 

I could only eat half the thing though. Mary and Kay both laughed because I’ve said I like spicy and tears were running down my face. Oh, well. I guess the chef couldn’t know he had a mutant Poblano on his hands.

 

After dinner I tried to get on the Internet to no avail. Then, believe it or not, I left my cabin! I went up to the Piano Bar to play “Name that Country Tune”. I ran into a nice Australian couple I met at breakfast or lunch the other day and we formed a team. I actually won my first Dam Dollars. We tied for first place. We had two of the ten songs we had no idea on, but we got all the songs and bonus questions for the other eight. If there is one thing I do know, it’s country music. I think I was the only one in the room who knew the correct title for “God Bless the USA”. I may go down and play Name That Tune again in the future, but I doubt I’ll get them all right.

 

I came back to the cabin at ten and somewhat successfully connected to the Internet. I managed to get my blog post for Day 7 – Manta posted, my email checked, and to chat, very briefly, with my sister on Facebook. Then I went to bed.

[erewhon]

Thanks for your world cruise updates, very interesting.

[Love the beach]

Enjoying your blog! I'm sure you know the hives are an allergic reaction....more than likely to something you are eating ( I have this problem as well). Try keeping a food diary to pinpoint what it is. Some people react fairly quickly after eating something while others take a day or two so it can be difficult to pinpoint.

[Esri]

I've updated the Manta post to add my photographs.

 

See them here.

 

Yes, I know hives are an allergic reaction. They happen so randomly that keeping a food diary has never helped me pinpoint the cause. They come. They itch. They go. *shrug* Thanks, though.

 

Internet update: Right now it appears they may have fixed the Internet problem, but we are moving in and out of satellite range so it is really hard to tell.... We'll know better when we reach the range of Satellite #18.

[Esri]

Read it on Go With Me!

 

Well, I had been hopeful that the Internet was “fixed”, but, alas, this morning it is back to “sucks”. Sigh. I had so hoped to get all by backed-up blog entries posted before Trivia this morning.

 

I slept in until 7:45 this morning. I thought about skipping breakfast again, but went down and had a fruit plate and a Denver omelet. Either they’ve figured me out or I got lucky, because there was no cantaloupe or honeydew melon on my fruit plate – just things I like! The omelet was the best I’ve had so far.

 

Back to the cabin to put away laundry and store the daily bulletins and “Good Night” cards I’ve been collecting. I took a Diet Coke from the minibar because I’m out. They are the same price as at the bars, but go against my room bill instead of my beverage card.

 

Chores done, I got on the Internet. I got my mail checked and approved a comment on Go With Me! I read the rest of the comments, but I’m not sure my reply went through before I was back to the “Resolving host” message at the bottom of the screen. I have to say that speed-wise it was very good this morning and last night, but you waste at least a minute every time it cuts out trying to get back on. I’ve resolved that once it kicks me out twice, I log out and disconnect.

 

I broke that resolution this afternoon. I fought through it for an hour trying to get my blog posts caught up. I got at least one posted – the other one I’m not sure about. Talk about frustrating!

 

Thankfully, my morning wasn’t as frustrating as the last hour. I worked on photos until about 11:00 AM then headed up to the Ocean Bar for Trivia. I was once again asked to pinch hit for the team that sits next to me. Unfortunately, we didn’t do as well as we did yesterday. There were some doozies in there. We were two points short of a tie for third place. Still, I would have had the same score if I’d played alone – so I was not too unhappy. Mentally, I play against myself and no one else.

 

I was going to go up to the Lido for the Mongolian Barbecue at lunch, but found myself in the Dining Room instead. My lazy legs carried me in the wrong direction, I guess. I had a nice NY Strip though – even though it was a “minute” steak and cut thin, the chef still on th a nice medium rare. I also had some Spinach & Artichoke Dip which was very nice and a too big slice of Chocolate Mousse Cake. I ate by myself for a change, thinking it might get me done faster. It didn’t. If I’d skipped out on the dessert, I could have been out of there twenty minutes faster…

 

I spent the afternoon finishing the post-processing on the photos I took in Manta, Ecuador. I was quite pleased with the results, but not so pleased when I try to start uploading them to the blog. The Internet connection on the Amsterdam is once again kaput.

 

Dinner was quiet tonight – or I was quiet anyway. I was sleepy. There was nothing much I wanted to eat on the menu. My sister had posted on Facebook that she was making beef stew and that’s what I wanted for dinner! I ended up with my usual shrimp cocktail and Caesar Salad followed by vegetable lasagna. The lasagna was so-so. I did have a scoop of lovely pistachio ice cream for dessert though.

 

I thought about going to the movies tonight to see Amelia (Hillary Swank as Amelia Earhart). Instead I finally turned on the TV in my cabin and I’m watching You’ve Got Mail – one of the romantic comedies my sister gave me for Christmas. She said I should watch them on the cruise, so she doesn’t have to…. I love romantic comedies. She loves disaster movies. A match made in heaven.

 

The movie was great. I love Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. Bit of trivia, You’ve Got Mail was the third romantic comedy they made together, but it was the first time they’d kissed. I read an interview where they both said they were such good friends that it was very awkward.

 

Somehow, though, at the end of the movie I found myself sobbing out load. It just suddenly hit me that my husband bought me this movie for Christmas the year it came out – along with Sleepless in Seattle and Joe vs. the Volcano. I just immediately missed him so much I could hardly breathe. Maybe I just really needed a good cry.

 

After my movie I got on the Internet and tried to fight with it to get my photos from Manta uploaded. I got a few done, but had to give up after five disconnects. Sheesh, I wish they would get this damn thing fixed.

 

Weather Report: I did not actually go outside today, but was told it was cool. The bulletin said the expected high was 71-degrees Fahrenheit.

[Esri]

Read it on Go With Me!

 

Note: I’ve changed my day numbering because I noticed I was off by one with the daily bulletin. It could get confusing.

 

How did Sunday get here already? Time moves strangely on the ship. On the one hand it feels like I’ve been here forever. My tablemates and I are like old friends who’ve known each other for years. Everywhere I go there are people, passengers and crew members, who know my name. Then you have these moments when it seems like the cruise just started yesterday.

 

I slept very well, for me, last night. I only woke up twice instead of every two hours like clockwork. When I woke up at quarter to five and went into the bathroom I heard the kids across the hall already out in the hall. When I got back in bed though I did their door open and somebody something to them. I guess they went back inside, because I didn’t hear them anymore until I got up.

 

I was just telling Kay last night that they are out there every morning by 7:30. They don’t bother me, because I’m usually up at that time, but I bet they bother somebody. They aren’t terribly noisy, but the littlest one laughs loudly and long.

 

I’m skipping breakfast this morning and planning to have a sandwich in the Lido for lunch. You just can’t keep eating like this for 113 days. Something has to give.

 

I once again tried to upload my Manta photos to the blog this morning. The Internet was uncooperative. I hope their satellite works better for their play-off games being broadcast in the Wajang Theater this afternoon and evening. I’m not going, but I’m sure it will be filled.

 

I managed to get most, if not all, my Manta photos uploaded on my second go-round this morning. The Internet did finally get the best of me, but I think that I may have gotten them all uploaded. If not, I’m ready to try again.

 

I was going to attend the photography lecture this morning – it was about photo editing. However, when I got outside my cabin they had the hallways blocked off to get mid-ship for a fire drill. The simulated fire was on Deck 1, but they had the hallways blocked off on Decks 1 – 3. By the time I got forward to the Queen’s Lounge, there were no seats available where I would have been able to see the screen. So I went to the Ocean Bar early.

 

I finished The Fellowship of the Ring (although the book is in one volume, the named sections still exist). I read for an hour in a photography book – D-65’s Professional Workflow: Work Flow, Not Work Slow in Lightroom 4 and then started another No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency book. I’m alternating fiction between The Lord of the Rings and other books to make it last longer.

 

I did well in Trivia today. Not well enough to win any dollars, but I was only 2 points off that possibility playing by myself. Fourteen out of eighteen is certainly acceptable to me. If I could have remembered the name of Maria’s brother from West Side Story (Bernardo), I would have been happier – I knew I had the wrong answer but didn’t want to leave the spot blank. I did know that The Lion King was the highest grossing Broadway musical of all time and that it sold out for five years on opening day. There were huge groans at that answer so not many got it.

 

I went up to the Lido Deli for lunch. I had a Prosciutto Panini with Pesto Mayo and a few potato chips. I grabbed a couple of peanut butter cookies on my way upstairs. This afternoon’s program is blog posts and photo post-processing.

 

The wireless connection wasn’t working when I got back to my cabin, but there was a letter from the Captain saying that we are moving in and out of satellite range (for the TV). I guess the same probably applies for the Internet. I tried again around 2:30 and the wireless was working flawlessly. I finished uploading my pictures from Manta in about fifteen minutes with no dropped connections.

 

After uploading my photos, I read a bit in my new book. Then it was time for dinner. Dinner went fairly quickly tonight. Everybody had someplace to be – well, I just wanted to get back to my cabin. I had a Spinach and Feta tart, Crab & Cheddar Chowder, and fish & chips. The tart was tasteless – none of us could find a trace of feta. The chowder was very good although there wasn’t much crab in it. The fish & chips were excellent. I finished off with a scoop of Chocolate Chip ice cream.

 

After dinner, I responded to a couple of comments on the blog and remembered I’d promised to post a status report saying I’d posted the Manta photos. The wireless connection was again flawless and pretty speedy. I even updated Photoshop.

 

Weather Report: Clear blue skies and calm seas. There was a nice breeze on the Promenade at 9:30 AM. The temperature at noon was 73.5-degrees Fahrenheit. The weather is projected to be the same for the next two days, at least. Very nice.

[Esri]

Read it on Go With Me!

 

One more sea day before Easter Island. My knee still hurts. It’s not wobbly or anything, just stiffens up when I sit. It usually feels okay by the time I’ve walked about 50 feet. I put a lidocaine patch on it at night and frequent applications of Ben-Gay and Icy Hot during the day.

 

I woke up at my seemingly regular time of 7:45 this morning. I thought about going back to bed, but brushed my teeth and showered instead. No breakfast this morning. I got my laundry ready and tried to get on the Internet. No joy. Hopefully, we are just out of satellite range.

 

I’m going to back up my computer to both external hard drives and then work on photos until 10:00-10:30. Then I’ll make my way to the Ocean Bar and read for a bit before Trivia. I finished The Miracle at Speedy Motors last night so it is The Two Towers today.

 

I was able to get on the Internet to check email and post yesterday’s blog entry this morning. We are losing it intermittently, but the service has much improved. It is faster than it was before it started losing the connection all the time. So maybe that was a blessing in disguise.

 

After I got my backups done and ran some maintenance on my computer this morning, I headed up to the Shore Excursions office. I changed my mind about a private tour I was going to take in Mauritius and wanted to book a HAL excursion. That took all of about 60 seconds.

 

I headed on up to the Ocean Bar and read parts of the guidebook to Easter Island we got as a pillow gift a couple of days ago. It is well-written and easy on the eyes. I read the history parts and surveyed the parts about what to see on Easter Island. Since I’m taking a HAL shore excursion, I’ll see what I see.

 

After I finished the Easter Island book, I read a chapter in the photography book I started yesterday. Then I read a chapter in The Two Towers. Then it was time for Trivia. Not a good day at Trivia. I got six points. There were only three or four teams that got twelve or more points. There were some hard questions today.

 

After Trivia I picked up some Diet Coke from the bar to put in my fridge. Then I grabbed some cookies from the Lido to eat this afternoon. They are having a pool party on the Lido Deck this afternoon, but I decided to skip it. Not my thing. I ate lunch in the Dining Room. I had some fried Calamari and a nice linguine with Prosciutto and Alfredo sauce. No dessert – I have cookies!

 

I checked Facebook, Gmail, and comments on the blog before we apparently went out of satellite range again. Now I’m going to spend a couple of hours working on my photos from Lima in Lightroom.

 

I did spend about two hours working on photos. Then I read another few chapters from The Two Towers. Of the “trilogy” that makes up The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers is by far my favorite part. I love Rohan and the Ents.

 

Tonight was a formal night with a Las Vegas theme. The Dining Stewards were dressed as casino dealers. Dedan (formerly known as “Dennis”) said the hat was very uncomfortable. We had little boxes shaped as gold bars on the table by each plate – they contain about four of the little chocolates they give us each night. I already have a huge pile of them by my bed – I’ve only eaten about three.

 

We had two of our number missing from the table tonight. John and Vangie both decided to skip formal night. The table was very quiet without our number one and two instigators. Everyone but Estelle had the filet mignon and it was excellent.

 

I had a shrimp cocktail and Caesar Salad as usual. Mary, Estelle, and Aloha skipped dessert and went upstairs to the Crow’s Nest for a singles get-together. Joanne, Kay, and I stayed and had Cherries Pavlova for dessert. It was very, very good.

 

No pillow gift tonight, but we did get a special, blue-wrapped chocolate with a chocolate truffle filling. The towel animal of the night appears to be a scorpion…

 

My agenda for this evening is more photo work, a chapter or two in The Two Towers, and an early bedtime. I have my clock set for 5:30 AM. The meeting time for my shore excursion on Easter Island is 7:30. Departure time is supposed to be 7:45, but the Captain said at noon that he would be sending a test tender over at about that time so it will be later than that.

 

Landings at Easter Island are problematic because of a high chance of huge swells. The only way to judge if it is safe to tender is to send a tender over with experienced sailors. One of the topics of conversation at dinner tonight was how anxious many people are about the chance they might not get to go ashore tomorrow. I want to go ashore, but if the Captain says it is unsafe I’ll take his word for it.

 

Weather Report: It was a little warmer today – 77-degrees Fahrenheit at noon. Weather for tomorrow is expected to be about the same. Since I’ll be going ashore early I expect low seventies.

[WolfpackFan]

I am really loving your blog. I look forward to each days post eagerly.

[AlohaPride]

I am really loving your blog. I look forward to each days post eagerly.

 

Me too!

 

Sent from my SGH-T779 using Tapatalk

[erewhon]

Thanks for your updates.

[Esri]

Read it on Go With Me!

 

Once again, my alarm clock failed me. I set it for 5:30 and it never went off. Luckily, I was actually lying awake waiting for it to ring and thought “That alarm should have gone off half an hour ago.” I was right on the money. It was 6:00 AM.

 

I got up and dressed just in time for my room service breakfast delivery. The attendant was most apologetic that they had no mango this morning. He told me he hoped they would have it tomorrow so he could deliver it to me. I don’t see how anyone could ever complain about the service on the Amsterdam.

 

In a few minutes I have to put my shoes on and go to the Queen’s Lounge to wait and see if they are going to let us tender over to Easter Island. I have to admit I’m a little leery of the tendering myself. I do want to see Easter Island though.

 

Last night at dinner Joanne, who cannot go over because of her broken wrist, asked what I was going to see on the island. I said “Big stone statues.” She gave me a strange look, but isn’t what we all want to see?

 

The big stone statues are called “moai” and were built as tributes to the ancestors of the Rapanui, the Polynesian people who came to Easter Island long before it was discovered by the Europeans. Of course, everybody knows that, right?

 

They did let us tender over to Easter Island. We were a little late getting started as they split the tenders between people on HAL Shore Excursions and other people going ashore. There was no priority tendering for 4 and 5 Star Mariners. I bet some of them were mad.

 

Quite a few people waiting in the Queen’s Lounge had their own ideas about the efficient way to handle the ticketing for both the excursions and the tenders. Personally, I don’t think waiting half an hour was a huge problem. It did give me time to chicken out, but Aloha came over and sat by me and told me they were saving me a place in line (I was waiting patiently for the last tender for our group, but I think we got on the next to last).

 

I told Aloha I was thinking of slinking off to my room because I was afraid of the tenders. She laughed and said it wasn’t going to happen because they wouldn’t let me. I’m glad. I had a very good time and it was a once in a lifetime experience.

 

The tenders were scary. They were bouncing up and down and when I got to the bottom of the gangway to get off the ship I said “Oh, my God!” and almost turned around. The young officer laughed and said “Don’t worry! Wait a second and it will go down.” It did and he said “Now! One big step!” Whew!

 

I survived the tendering experience and the seasoned world cruisers tell me that Easter Island is one of the worst. I’m such a chicken since I hurt my knee. I didn’t even hurt it doing anything like that – I was sitting in a chair!

 

The worst part of the day came when I got on the van and pulled my camera out of my bag. I turned it on and nothing happened. Then I realized I had just turned it off. I had a sinking feeling in my gut and turned it on again. Still nothing. The battery was dead.

 

Almost panicking now I searched my bag. I did not have a spare battery. That is a mortal sin among photographers. I was on Easter Island without a working camera. I could have cried. I looked over at Kay and told her what I’d done. She handed me Joanne’s camera. (Joanne couldn’t come because of her broken wrist.)

 

Unfortunately when we got to the first Moai site I realized I wasn’t going to take pictures for Joanne either. It was a long trek over uneven ground to the Moai. I viewed them from afar while sitting on a shaded bench in a nice breeze. I had a nice conversation with a woman from Virginia.

 

I did buy a souvenir. A replica of a Moai (or is it Moa when singular?) made from a pretty green stone. Of course the pretty green stone didn’t come from Easter Island. Vangie and I had a long discussion about whether the souvenirs were made in China or Mexico.

 

That was actually the last time I got off the van until the end of the tour. I viewed the Moai from afar. I had no camera anyway. I’m glad I did view from afar, because my knee is killing me and I hardly walked at all. The last two stops Vangie stayed on the bus with me – she said she had two words for Estelle and Aloha: “I’m done.”

 

I may be a lousy tourist, but I still saw the mystical statues of Easter Island and was impressed. I saw the horses that pretty much run wild across the island even though they all belong to somebody. There were a bunch of cows on the roads too. Karen, our Rapanui tour guide, told us the cows go home at night, but the horses are rounded up two or three times a year.

 

At our last stop I saw a dog that looked like my Mab. It made me homesick for my babies. I asked Aloha to take a picture of it for me. All my tablemates have offered to share their pictures with me so there will be pictures of Easter Island eventually.

 

After I came back from the tour I went back to my cabin. I thought about calling room service for some lunch, but decided against it. I logged on to the Internet and posted something on Facebook about seeing the dog that looked like Mab. Then I sent a message to my sister asking her to post some pictures of my “babies”.

 

I went to bed and slept for about an hour. When I woke up I went back on the Internet and Roberta had posted pictures of all my babies. Not new ones, but now I have pictures on this travel computer of my sweeties.

 

I was still tired and my knee hurt. I put my left leg up on the couch and read in The Two Towers until it was time for dinner. Then I went up to the Dining Room.

 

We were just five for dinner tonight. The cousins all ate lunch when they came in from the shore excursion and weren’t hungry according to Joanne and John who both saw them around the ship somewhere. We had a really nice menu and some hard choices tonight.

 

I decided on my shrimp cocktail to start. Then I asked for a half portion of the Lobster Salad they were offering as a main course for my salad. I ordered prime rib with a baked potato as my main course. It was all very good. The piece of prime rib they gave me was huge though – about two and a half inches thick! I only ate about a third of it. The Lobster Salad was excellent – it was a green salad with cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and avocados served with bleu cheese chunks and Thousand Island dressing. Very yummy.

 

Tonight we turn the clocks back an hour to the equivalent of Central Time. I’ve already turned my alarm clock, but won’t turn the computer until tomorrow morning.

 

Weather Report: It was a bright sunny day on Easter Island. Mary did report a rain shower while she was on her afternoon tour. It was about 78-degrees Fahrenheit when we returned from the island at a little after 2:00 PM. Tomorrow is expected to be the same with a chance of rain showers.

[Esri]

Read it on Go With Me!

 

We set the clocks back an hour last night and I did get an extra hour of sleep – two, in fact, since I went to bed early. I went to bed around nine and woke up at 7:45 AM on the dot.

 

I went to breakfast in the Dining Room. I had some tea, orange juice, bacon, and one piece of white toast. I took my cane this morning, because my knee really hurts when I first stand up. Hopefully, it will be back where it was yesterday morning – just a little stiff – by the time we get to Papeete, Tahiti.

 

The wireless is back to “flaky” at best. I was so hopeful that they had fixed it as I had no issues yesterday until after dinner. I did get in long enough to check my email and swap a couple of Facebook messages with my sister.

 

She is without heat, again! Obviously, the Canady guys didn’t fix it the other day. They are coming back between 2:00 – 4:00 today. She has a doctor appointment this morning, so maybe it will warm up some before she gets home.

 

I didn’t feel like working on photos this morning so I headed to the Ocean Bar early to read. I finished The Two Towers and started on Tea Time for the Traditionally Built (the next in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series).

 

One of the gals on the Trivia team that sits next to me bought them all, and me, champagne this morning to celebrate the birth of her new granddaughter, Sarah Elizabeth. Then one of their number failed to show up so I scooted over and played with their team. We tied for first with fourteen points. I think I would have had fourteen on my own today and they would have been alone in first place if they’d believed me about St. George being the patron saint of the Boy Scouts.

 

After Trivia I went back to the cabin and then straight to lunch in the Dining Room. I had skewered shrimp with a nice Remoulade sauce and a Barbecue Chicken Salad. I finished off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Then back to the cabin to rest my knee, which is very, very sore today.

 

I got on the Internet, but couldn’t get yesterday’s blog entry published before it conked out. As I said it is back to “flaky” at best. I’m keeping a log of minutes used. So far in the three days I’ve been keeping the log I’ve lost ten minutes to bad connections. That’s just counting the time it takes to disconnect and reconnect so I can log out and stop the timer. Doesn’t count the time it takes me to realize the connection has disappeared….

 

This afternoon I worked on pictures from Lima for about an hour. Then I finished the book I started this morning and took a nap. After my nap it was time to get ready for dinner.

 

Dinner was great. The company, as usual, was lively. We were all there. I had Serrano Ham with an Olive and Tomato Relish as my appetizer, then my usual Caesar Salad, and Veal Cordon Bleu. The veal was awesome – much better than the first time they offered it. Three or four of us had it and we all cleaned our plates. For dessert I had something called a Bee Sting – a brioche pastry with vanilla cream filling and a crispy almond topping. It was very good and a refreshing change from the super-rich chocolate desserts. They had a good one tonight, but I enjoyed the change.

 

I used my cane today for the first time since embarkation (and then I was really just carrying it). My knee is really stiff and very sore. It doesn’t feel like it did when I tore the meniscus, but it hurts a lot and I felt a little unstable for the first time. So I’m using the cane – better safe than sorry.

 

On top of my knee, I seem to be having a flare-up of the plantar fasciitis in my right heel. It comes and goes and has for years. Today it was pretty bad. So I’m kind of limping on both legs! The heel already feels better this evening though after keeping off it most of the afternoon. I’m prepared for it to hurt for a few weeks though if it is a flare-up.

 

Mary loaned me her camera to copy her pictures from Easter Island. I’m doing that as I type this. I’m going to try to get a couple of blog posts up this evening. Aloha told me at dinner that the “TechSpert” in the Digital Workshop told her they had taken the wireless off-line this afternoon. So, we’ll see.

 

The Internet connection is still uncooperative. I checked Gmail and Facebook, but when I tried to post on WordPress it conked out again. It looked like it was working, but didn’t. Sigh. Maybe tomorrow.

 

I’m going to spend the rest of the evening reading with my legs raised. Hopefully, they’ll both be a little less painful tomorrow.

 

Weather Report: More of the same. It was 77-degrees Fahrenheit at lunch time with partly cloudy skies and a chance of running into tropical showers. No idea if we ever ran into any!

[Esri]

Read it on Go With Me!

 

We turned the clocks back again last night and this time I only got an extra hour’s sleep because I went to bed early. I woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep at 5:50 AM. I finally dragged myself out of bed for a shower at 6:25.

 

Unfortunately, I could not cajole the shower into giving anything except scalding hot water. I rinsed off with a wash cloth, but I had to wash my hair. That water was so hot while I was rinsing out the shampoo! I don’t know if it was so hot because I was the only one up taking a shower at that time or there is something wrong with it. I’ll try again later, before my dinner in the Pinnacle with my tablemates.

 

My knee seems less painful today, but a lot more stiff. The pain in my heel is also better, but both could be because I haven’t walked farther than the length of the cabin since 6:30 last night. We’ll see how I feel after Trivia. I’d like to attend the digital photography lecture in the Queen’s Lounge at 2:00.

 

There is no wireless at all this morning. I guess they are still trying to fix it. I have half an hour before breakfast. I guess I’ll read because I don’t feel like getting up to turn out the lights to work on photos!

 

I went to breakfast in the dining room. I had a fruit plate, a Denver Omelet (with only 1 egg), one piece of toast, and a sausage patty. After breakfast I came back to the cabin and tried to get on the Internet again. The connection lasted long enough to send a Facebook message to my sister, then it was gone again. Sigh.

 

This morning I worked on post-processing my photos from Lima for about an hour. Then I went on up to the Ocean Bar to read from The Two Towers until time for Trivia. The team next to me were down three players today so I played with them again. They recruited another couple to join us. We didn’t win any Dam Dollars today, so I would have done better playing alone for the cumulative points. It’s fun to play with other people though – and much more sociable. So I’ll continue to play with them anytime I’m asked.

 

I was going to go to the Lido and just have a sandwich for lunch, but they had a Jalapeno Jack Burger on the menu in the Dining Room. It was okay, but I couldn’t any trace of Jalapeno. Now I can’t eat anything until dinner so I’ll be hungry at 6:30 for the Pinnacle Grill.

 

I tried to get on the Internet after lunch, but no go. Nobody that I’ve talked to has been able to get on so they must have it down again. This is really getting old fast.

 

I spent the afternoon resting my knee and heel. I worked on photos, read in The Return of the King, and watched about two hours of The Return of the King on television. I do not know why they chose to show the last of the trilogy without showing the first two movies first. One thing I did notice, with the book so fresh on my mind Peter Jackson’s liberties with characters and plots were much more noticeable. The Lord of the Rings will remain three of my favorite movies though.

 

Dinner tonight was in the Pinnacle Grill with all of my tablemates. The seating at a long table was less conducive to conversation with everybody than at our round table in the Dining Room. We kind of divided ourselves into tables of four with an occasional shout-out to someone further down the table. The food at the Pinnacle is great, but I didn’t personally find it was so much better than the Dining Room that it made me want to eat there often.

 

I had a filet mignon which was obviously excellent quality beef, but other than also excellent Béarnaise Sauce, it wasn’t seasoned at all. The filets I’ve had in the Dining Room tasted better and at least one of them was just as tender. They did have Brussels Sprouts, which I love and haven’t seen in the Dining Room.

 

Their Caesar Salad had larger and better tasting anchovies, but the lettuce was basically served in whole leafs, requiring cutting which the shell serve it in makes difficult, and the Dining Room’s dressing and croutons are just as good. The Crème Brulee in the Pinnacle is excellent, but I’d prefer a larger serving of vanilla to the three flavors (vanilla, chocolate, and coffee) they serve. It was nice night out and a change of pace, but is not the great steakhouse experience HAL wants it to be.

 

After dinner I hobbled back to my cabin and watched the rest of The Return of the King. We turned the clocks back another hour last night so even though I went to bed at 11:00 I turned the clock back and got to bed on time.

 

Weather Report: At noon it was partly cloudy at 77-degrees Fahrenheit. We’ve had scattered showers all day so far and that continues to be the forecast. It is raining hard on Pitcairn Island today, but the Captain says that it is expected to be partly cloudy there tomorrow. A few of the islanders will come aboard at about 8:15 AM and stay on-board while we make a scenic cruise around the island.

[RuthC]

Every time you mention pain in your knee, mine screams out with sympathy pains.

Have you considered having some acupuncture treatments on the ship?

I hate to think of you on this fabulous voyage, but having to hold back from seeing the sights/sites you want to see because of your knee.

 

Thank you for the on-going reports. I am reading every word.

[erewhon]

Thanks you for the updates of your cruise.

 

Are you able to get treatment for your knee?