Circle South America with Slinkie and Grumpy

[Grumpy1]

January 5, 2008, Georgetown, Grand Cayman, BWI, Day 3

What? You thought Grumpy had disappeared, never to be heard from again? No such luck. He and Slinkie are still here to bore you with the details of their adventures.

Dinner last night was close to being a total disaster! It was just one of those times when there was always one plate missing when the courses were served. Unfortunately, that plate was always the one for first time HAL cruiser, Jane. She was fit to be tied by the end of the evening. Unless there is a drastic improvement by the end of the cruise, there will probably never be a second HAL cruise for her. The dining room manager spent a lot time at her table apologizing, but it seemed that anything that could go wrong , did go wrong.

The Captain’s reception went well and comedian Freddy Roman was the featured entertainment. He is funny! He tries to gear his routine to situations that are familiar to his audience so there were quite a few jokes dealing with geriatric health issues. Naturally there is too much good material related to ***** and the other two drugs in that category for him to pass it up. The line that brought down the house, though, wasn’t delivered by him. In discussing the disclaimers and side effect warnings that are a part of all of the prescription drug ads, he lamented that he didn’t want four hours… he just wants a good twenty minutes! From the audience came this sweet feminine voice. “So do we!” Priceless!

The seas were a little rough through the night, but, as promised by Captain Gundersen, the weather upon arrival at Grand Cayman was just about perfect. So perfect in fact, that Slinkie and Grumpy, normally early risers, were still sleeping soundly when the CD announced that the ship was cleared. Opening one sleepy eye to check the time, Grumpy quickly realized that it was 8:01 and they had a tour scheduled for 8:30… meet in the lounge at 8:20. Scramble time! They entered the Queens Lounge right on schedule at 8:20, grabbed a sweet roll, juice and coffee, got there excursion stickers and hardly had time to sit down before their number was called. Memo. Use the ^%#$@wakeup call or set the alarm! Slinkie and Grumpy missed Grand Cayman on the 2005 world voyage because of weather so this was a new port for them. In 2005, Grand Cayman supplied tenders. The ships were not allowed to use their own. Captain Gundersen had commented at the time that there would not have been a problem if he could have used the Prinsendam tenders. This time there were no government supplied tenders. Prinsendam did it all on their own. The tender operations went very smooth throughout the day.

The tour that Grumpy had selected was the “Highlights of Grand Cayman”. Of course, anytime you see “Highlights” in the tour name you know it means a lot of bus riding and not much touring. This one was OK, though. The guide could be understood, provided interesting information and there were a couple of interesting stops. Grumpy has now been to Hell and has the ball cap to prove it. There is an interesting geological formation of very jagged limestone that does resemble some of the pictures of Hades Brimstone, so that may be where the town got its name. You sometimes see formations of that sort along a seashore, but this one is landlocked and quite unusual. Grumpy was tempted to tell you that the port lecturer, Frank Buckingham, upon learning that Grumpy had missed his lecture was the one that told Grumpy to go to hell, but actually Frank had told everybody to do that during his lecture.

After that stop and some shopping time for postcards and souvenirs, the tour continued on to the turtle farm. That was a place where a stop and a tour would have been appreciated, but it was just a slow drive by. You could see the turtles splashing in the tanks but that was about it. There was a stop at the distillery for samples of rum cakes and flavored rums, with opportunity to purchase those items. Having missed breakfast, Grumpy and Slinkie helped themselves to multiple tastings of the dozen or so varieties of rum cake. Of course it had to be washed down with multiple samplings of the various flavored rums… The boxes of rum cakes went unsold, but two, three liter packages of Mango, Vanilla and Pineapple rum were too tempting to pass up. Hopefully, it was delivered to the ship and will be delivered to the stateroom at the end of the cruise.

After wandering around Grand Cayman a while longer, the bus returned to the dock. Grumpy tried his best to block her view, but Slinkie noticed that there were about a dozen jewelry stores very close to the pier. It wasn’t lunch time yet, so off she went to see what interesting items needed to be liberated. Slinkie had recently acquired a pair of earrings and a ring that were set with five different stones: Garnet, Blue Topaz, Peridot, Citrine and Amethyst. Wouldn’t you know that there was a bracelet with those same stones just waiting for her to find it. She’s still looking for the right pendant, but the set is closer to completion than it was.

Having accomplished that mission, our explorers returned to Prinsendam for a Lido Lunch. There were a few items on the general shopping list that hadn’t been acquired and Slinkie and Grumpy hadn’t gotten in enough walking time, so back to town they went and walked up the road until they found the grocery store. A twelve pack of coke, a couple of bags of thin pretzels and a few other items and it was time to head back to the ship and say goodbye to Grand Cayman.

Stopping briefly to check his email, Grumpy learned that his mother-in-law from his first marriage had passed away the day before. She was 93 in December. She had lived with her youngest daughter for several years, helping to raise her 7 children. Grumpy and Slinkie spent some time with her last summer and enjoyed the time together. Rest in peace, Pauline. You will be missed.

Dinner was a completely different story tonight. Everything came out right, service was quick… no problems at all. The first time HAL cruisers were not there to find out though. Apparently they opted to dine elsewhere. Slinkie and Grumpy opted to skip the after dinner entertainment. By all reports, Mel Mellers, magician/comedian, was quite entertaining.

January 6, 2008, At Sea, Day 4

Well, since Slinkie and Grumpy had no reason to be up early, naturally they were awake at the crack of dawn. They enjoyed a nice leisurely breakfast on the aft Lido Deck. Freddy Roman and the CD were hosting a chat in the Explorers Lounge that was well attended and entertaining. The first Cruise Specialist cocktail party was held in the Crow’s Nest from 11:15 A.M. to 12:15. Slinkie and Grumpy enjoyed the opportunity to meet some of the others that are a part of that group and to meet Nancy, the onboard coordinator/counselor/mother hen for the 50 or so that are a part of this group.

The major activity of the afternoon was the wine tasting in the La Fontaine Dining Room. The wine steward at dinner the night before had offered Slinkie and Grumpy the opportunity to participate for a nominal fee of $15 apiece. The tasting was hosted by the cellar master, Ferdinand. There was a menu of “culinary delights” provided for palette cleansing and to enhance the wine/food enjoyment by the proper pairings. The tasting started with a California Sparkling Wine, N. V. Chase Limogere Brut, progressed to Piesporter Michelsberg, Riesling Spatlese, Germany, then moved on to the Danzante Pinot Grigio, Italy. The final selection in the white wine category was a 2005 Australian Chardonnay, Rosemount Estates. The reds were Markwest Pinot Noir and 2003 Spellbound Cabernet Sauvignon.

Ferdinand mentioned that he has a very liberal policy when it comes to rejecting wines that either he recommended and you don’t care for or that just don’t meet your expectations. Someone asked him what happens to the rejected bottles. He sort of side stepped the issue by joking that those go to his cabin for personal evaluation. Grumpy provided the correct answer though… they become part of the “house wine” stock.

All in all, it was an enjoyable event.

Dinner found all parties at the table for eight present and accounted for. However, Jane had to go into detail about how terrible her Lido dinner was the night before. She hates buffet lines! Hello… what were you expecting in the Lido? At least she had no complaints about the dining room service. Her major complaint was that there wasn’t enough ham in the Mac n’ Cheese with ham and the lettuce salad wasn’t iceberg lettuce. Janet reminded her that she could request a salad of iceberg lettuce. Perhaps Jane thinks the stewards should possess mind reading abilities.

Slinkie and Grumpy opted to skip the show again. The “Sensational Duo, Pryme Tyme”, was the featured performance. Grumpy hasn’t heard any comments as to whether they were ready for prime time or not.

January 7,2008 Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, Day 5

The previously mentioned agency that is sponsoring the group that Slinkie and Grumpy are part of offers some shore excursions that are a little different from those offered by HAL. They also provide three complimentary shore excursions during the voyage. The first of the complimentary was “Jungle Jitney” in Puerto Limon. A very nice coach took the 45 participants for a ½ hour ride to the ranch. Along the way, the tour guides, Pedro and Minor, explained all about the local economy and the ecology. Although they spoke with great enthusiasm about their great country, their low taxes, free health care and education, and how they are trying to shake off the bad reputation from the past over the exploitation of workers, it was very apparent to Grumpy that many of the people still live in very primitive conditions.

The ranch where the tour took place was also the starting point for many of the HAL tours, including zipline through the rainforest canopy and horseback riding. The Cruise Specialists group split into two groups and climbed aboard the open air tractor drawn wagons for a couple of hours exploring the flora and fauna of the rain forest. The big attraction were the bright red and the lime green/black frogs that seemed to be everywhere. Both species are supposed to be extremely poisonous, the red one containing enough venom to kill 100 men. There were no volunteers to check the toxicity. The tractor driver did manage to catch one of each and hold them on leaves so everyone could get a close up picture. There were two toed sloths, spectacled owls, bullet ants, leaf cutter ants and termites observed along the way along with many species of trees and plants. Everyone was hoping to see monkeys and jaguars, but the jaguars are probably only found in garages of the wealthy neighborhoods and the only monkeys seen were wearing full body harnesses and swinging through the jungle on the zip line that ran parallel to the Jitney trail in some areas.

At the end of the jitney tour, there was (surprise, surprise!) a gift shop awaiting. They did offer free samples of pineapple, bananas, papaya and Costa Rican coffee. After shopping time was over , the group boarded the bus and drove to a banana plantation to observe the production and packing of bananas. Costa Rica is not the world leader in acres of bananas planted, but claims to be number one in the volume produced and exported due to their efficient production methods. At the end of that part of the tour the bus returned to the ship and Slinkie and Grumpy headed for the Lido for lunch.

There were still several hours left before sailaway, so they decided to wander into town. The main shopping area, including the Central Market is a very short walk from the ship. Slinkie and Grumpy quickly found their way into the central area and wandered through the shops. The only items purchased were a couple of plastic containers about 8” x 11” x 2-1/2” with snap on lids. One is to keep the pretzels fresh. The other is to organize items so they can be stored on the shelf under the sink and brought to the counter top as needed. The lack of a medicine cabinet is not so much of a problem anymore.

After sailaway, the CD announced that they had ascertained that there was one satellite that the ship is licensed to receive that would be carrying the College Football National Championship Game and that they would attempt to pick it up and show it in the cabins. The A/V techs on Prinsendam were much more successful in their endeavors than Grumpy’s Ohio State Buckeyes were…. He and Slinkie watched until time to go to dinner. They debated about stopping in the dining room to announce their absence and then grab a quick bite in the Lido, but decided to enjoy their regular dining room time instead. The score was 10-10 when they went to dinner. Dinner went pretty quickly, and Grumpy and Slinkie were back in the cabin early in the third quarter. Something had happened, though. While Grumpy took his eyes off the Buckeyes for a time, The Buckeyes took their eyes off the LSU tigers and let them get a couple of touchdowns ahead. The way it ended up, the parts that Slinkie and Grumpy watched were a draw. LSU won the parts they didn’t see, though. Better luck next year, Buckeyes.

January 8, 2008, Panama Canal, Day 6.

Volendam got to the locks ahead of Prinsendam today and stayed one lock ahead through the three step Gatun Locks. Volendam then pulled to the side and dropped anchor while the Prinsendam continued on her way. A couple of ships back Grumpy could see a Carnival whale tail smokestack, but it was also only doing a half transit. The transit was a repeat of the 2005 world voyage transit. Grumpy observed the constant maintenance and upgrade work that was going on in 2005 and still going on… same play, different day. One thing that never changes is the two guys in a rowboat that have to come out with the first four handlines to pull the cables from the electric mules to the ship. Sheesh, you’d think by now someone would have figured out an arm that would swing out with the lines dangling. Must be a tradition thing. After the first two steps of the Gatun Locks they snubbed off Prinsendam to the lock on the Starboard side and turned loose the electric mules. Another set of mules hooked up for the transit through the third lock. Grumpy didn’t remember that happening before, but figured out that because of maintenance work, the center track was out of service in that area so that was the only way they could keep two sets of mules operating.

A brochure about the canal was delivered to each cabin last night and it includes maps showing the new locks that were approved by the voters in Panama in October 2006. Instead of the current one step Pedro Miguel lock followed by Mireflores Lake and then the two step Miraflores Locks, the new lock will be a three step lock with a canal from Gatun Lake to the Pacific Ocean level, bypassing Mireflores Lake. The third lane at the Atlantic end will parallel the existing 3 step locks. Dimensions of the new locks weren’t listed. It just stated that they would handle post-panamax vessels capable of carrying 12,000 containers. That’s a lot of Chinese toys.

Prinsendam will anchor this evening at Fuerte Amador and will stay overnight. Slinkie and Grumpy are scheduled to do the aerial tram and ecological encounter tomorrow. Sounds like zip line for the timid…

Grumpy will try not to stay away so long before posting again but makes no promises…

[Kiwi Kruzer]

[RuthC]

I see Frank Buckingham is back on the Prinsendam---he was on leave when I sailed last July. You two are lucky! He has so much info to share, and does it in the most delightful way. :)

Grumpy, may I ask a teeny favor, please. Your posts are always so good to read, but this one was not so easy. Please add some spacing between paragraphs. It would be so much easier on my old eyes.

Thanks. ;)

[SDHALFAN]

 

Grumpy, may I ask a teeny favor, please. Your posts are always so good to read, but this one was not so easy. Please add some spacing between paragraphs. It would be so much easier on my old eyes.

Thanks. ;)

 

Thank you Ruth: I was having the same problem with my old eyes.

 

Valerie:D

[josephone]

Hi Slinkie and Grumpy

 

We can hardly wait to hear about your visit to Antarctica. Keep yourselves healthy and dancing!!!!

 

Josephone

[HeatherInFlorida]

............

Grumpy, may I ask a teeny favor, please. Your posts are always so good to read, but this one was not so easy. Please add some spacing between paragraphs. It would be so much easier on my old eyes.

Thanks. ;)

 

Ruth, I shouldn't speak for Grumpy (heaven knows he can do that himself:) ), but I think he does do paragraphs. Often when you write off of CC and then post it here, the paragraphs are lost. I think he'd have to take the time to put them back in. Just a thought.

 

An idea .... if they come through like this you can copy and paste it into Word and then make it larger for reading. Might help????

[RuthC]

Ruth, I shouldn't speak for Grumpy (heaven knows he can do that himself:) ), but I think he does do paragraphs. Often when you write off of CC and then post it here, the paragraphs are lost. I think he'd have to take the time to put them back in. Just a thought.

Hi, Heather. Yes, I remember that Grumpy composes off line; he had this problem with the transfer once before. His solution then was to double space the paragraphing when he composed. It worked beautifully.

I just thought he might do it that way again.

[Williebill]

Grumpy & Slinky,

 

Thanks for jogging our memories of the canal transit that we shared with the two of you 2005.

 

Bill & Shelia

[Ziggy7]

Hi Grumpy & Slinkie!!!! Welcome home to your ship!!!! Enjoying reading your posts!!! Hugs to each other for me! Thanks Lynn for emailing me, I would have missed this !!! Hugs!!!!

 

Hi Everyone else! Nice to see you all! Hugs!!!!

[Copper10-8]

Hi Grumpy & Slinkie!!!! Welcome home to your ship!!!! Enjoying reading your posts!!! Hugs to each other for me! Thanks Lynn for emailing me, I would have missed this !!! Hugs!!!!

 

Hi Everyone else! Nice to see you all! Hugs!!!!

 

 

Hi Zig, good to see you!

[PH8]

SUPER!!! Another Slinkie and Grumpy adventure......cant wait to read each day and see what little treasures Slinkie comes home with..:D :D

[RevNeal]

I'm following along. This is great.

The Canal. I have enjoyed it twice, and can never get enough of it. :) When you get home I would love to see any pictures you might have taken of the Volendam going through the locks ahead of you! :)

[Williebill]

Frank Buckingham was aboard the Prinsendam with us in 2005, wasn't he?

[CruisinTexans]

Slinkie & Grumpy,

 

Sounds like things are going well. I'm anxious to read about it because we haven't done South America.

 

Just about the time I was sending Christmas cards to cruise buddies (you all included) and longing for cruise the 2009 world cruise brochure arrived. Handler looked it over and before we knew it we were booked.

 

I envy you having Frank Buckingham on the cruise. We saw him this year when the Amsterdam and the Prinsendam met up in Dubrovnik. He was sorely missed on the 2007 world cruise. Nobody can do it like Frank can. We also went on board the Prinsendam in Dubrovnik and got really homesick. The Amsterdam has nicer bathrooms but the Prinsendam is so intimate and cosy. I swear on the Amsterdam we were still meeting people a week before we got to New York that had been on for the whole cruise.

 

Have a great time. We'll be following along.

[Copper10-8]

Frank Buckingham was on Rotterdam with us in SEP 07 in the Black Sea and Med. That man and his green blazer gets around! ;)

[PalmBeachMom]

Who is Frank Buckingham?

Have been advised that satellite transmission has been spotty on the Pdam which is perhaps why we haven't had another installment!

[Copper10-8]

He is one of HAL's Port Lecturers. He's British, been around the block, and the man knows his stuff about world and military history. You'll usually find him on HAL's fourteen-day or longer cruises, going all over the world and presenting his lectures several times during that particular cruise, usually in the show lounge.

Btw, nice pic of Jaap Wisse ;)

[ger_77]

Frank Buckingham was aboard the Prinsendam with us in 2005, wasn't he?

 

We had the pleasure of Frank Buckingham's expertise on the Prinsendam in June/05 and again in October/06. He and Colonel ****** have spoiled us for any other onboard lecturers and port advisors. We hope one or both will be on our next trip to the Mediterranean!

 

Question: Why would Colonel ******'s name be edited out from this post?

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

Gerry

[Copper10-8]

We had the pleasure of Frank Buckingham's expertise on the Prinsendam in June/05 and again in October/06. He and Colonel ****** have spoiled us for any other onboard lecturers and port advisors. We hope one or both will be on our next trip to the Mediterranean!

 

Question: Why would Colonel ******'s name be edited out from this post?

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

Gerry

 

Because he owns several red and white painted fried chicken fast food restaurants in the USA, maybe, perhaps, sacreblue ? You know, the famous "Colonel";)

[ger_77]

John, it isn't the same Colonel ... this one rhymes with "Hargas" if that helps you any. He doesn't sell fried chicken, at least not to my knowledge. It's just weird that it would be blocked.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

Gerry

[Copper10-8]

John, it isn't the same Colonel ... this one rhymes with "Hargas" if that helps you any. He doesn't sell fried chicken, at least not to my knowledge. It's just weird that it would be blocked.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

Gerry

 

Col. ******??

[Copper10-8]

Col. ******??

For some reason, it doesn't like V A R G A S

[ger_77]

 

For some reason, it doesn't like V A R G A S

 

I know!!!!! What's up with that?

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

Gerry

[RuthC]

I know!!!!! What's up with that?

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

Gerry

Comes too close to a deliberate misspelling of a little blue pill, perhaps? ;)

[Copper10-8]

Comes too close to a deliberate misspelling of a little blue pill, perhaps? ;)

 

Lemmie try: L i t t l e B l u e P i l l

No, that's not it, Ruth C