November 24, 2017

   This was the first full day of the 15-night cruise and the first of seven days at sea or “Sea Days”. There is a convenient feature in the bathroom – a faint four watt light so you do not need to turn on a light at night. It is easy to find your way around the room when all the lights are out since the hall light seeps under the door and the peep hole.  We awoke in time to walk circuits on Deck 11 and watch the sun rise. At 7 a.m. the temperature was 76 F., more than half the sky was filled with enormous fluffy white clouds which reflected the colours of the sunrise. 

  When we walked into the two level Grand Foyer (main atrium), Deck 3 midship, there were two three meter decorated Christmas trees at the base of the grand staircase.  As the day progressed the railings on Deck 4 which overlooked the atrium had strings of mini-lights, “Fir” wreaths, Lighted “Fir” garlands and lighted white stars.  On the map in the Grand Foyer, the ship’s position was north of Havana, Cuba. As we walked our circuits, at the stern of the ship you could see the wake of the ship as it travelled through the water. We could see four ships in the vicinity. We walked for about 45 minutes, (5,733 steps) before breakfast in the main dining room, which also had been decorated with Christmas wreaths and garlands.

      The daily four-page information sheet was packed full of activities: early fitness classes in the gym; trivia games several times during the day; an art seminar; a bean bag toss; cooking lessons; table tennis; spa appointments; casino blackjack; jewelry presentations; Xbox bowling challenge; lying around the pools to mention a few.

  The first lecture of the day was by the destinations concierge about shore excursions at the six ports of call for this cruise. Several of the places in Georgetown, Grand Cayman, that he mentioned were “Hell” - a black rocky outcrop of salt and lime; the Queen Elizabeth Botanic Gardens and Pedro St. James Castle - a large 1780 house formerly part of a cotton planation that is now a museum. The ports where we dock during this cruise are all working cargo ports and shuttles are provided to go to the town.

   At 10 am, Captain Yannis Berdos’ announcement told us the waves were about a meter high, there would be clouds during the day and a small chance of rain. The next presentation was the first of the “Beyond the Podium” series of lectures. Bill Fall spoke on “Panama, The Land Divided the World United”. The Celebrity Theatre was about 95% full for the presentation – many more people than those who had attended the 7 pm show last evening. Bill gave the history of Panama and the canal in about an hour.  The Americans decided that they would build the canal on Panama isthmus route, after the two failed attempts by the French builders of the Suez Canal in the later part of the 19^th century. But, Panama was a province of Columbia and when negotiations broke down between the United States and Columbia, there happened to be two American warships, one on either coast of Panama and a peaceful uprising occurred, assisted by the American owned Panama Railway Company. The directors invited the newly arrived commanders and top staff of the Columbian army to a feast in fancy dining car.  The officials were fed and entertained for a day, leaving the junior ranks with no leaders, so a bloodless coup happened in 1903. The Panama Canal Zone was created encompassing 10 miles of land on either side of the canal which was controlled by the American government. In 1904 Roosevelt became the American president and was the first president to depart the Unites States while in office.  He visited the Panama Canal workers and the work site and traipsed through mud and water.  He created a special medal for any worker laboring on the project for two years or more. It had another bar added for every additional two years that a person worked in the Panama Canal. It was opened in 1914 having caused the deaths of over 12,000 workers mainly due to disease, mostly malaria and yellow fever, both borne by the mosquitoes in the swampy area where the canal was dug.

   After the lecture, we walked up for coffee to the Oceanview Café on Deck 10 and talked to Cheryl and Mylene whom we met at dinner last night. Then we went out to the outside pool with four hot tubs, passing the indoor pool with two hot tubs.  The clouds had grown smaller and the sun was shining, it felt warm, about 79 F. We watched the cruise director lead about 30 men and women in 30 minutes of energetic line dancing.

  The shopping area, called the Emporium Boutiques, had Black Friday sales today which included preloved Rolex watches.

   We had lunch in the dining room and sat with Betty and Warren whom we met at dinner last night as well as Nancy and Richard.  The food was good and the conversation covered cruising with Nancy and Richard revealing that they have cruised over 95 times on oceans and rivers in the past 40 years and Betty and Warren experienced over 30 ocean cruises.

  After lunch, we attended another “Beyond the Podium” lecture, this time presented by Doug Field about “The Beautiful Blue Caribbean”. He spoke about the coral reef by Grand Cayman Island and the coral reef along the Mexican Yucatan coast. Doug described the symbiosis of coral and algae working together. An algae, called Zooxanthallae, gives coral its different colours. If the coral is stressed it reacts sometimes by ridding itself of the algae.  Because they depend on each other to thrive, the algae creating oxygen for the coral to make its calcium carbonate skeleton, the coral looks bleached white when the algae is gone and usually dies. Coral is the ocean equivalent to the rain forest on land, giving shelter to thousands of fish and sea creatures. Doug explained that tropical storms over water in the Western hemisphere east of the International Dateline (ID) are called hurricanes, those storms west of the ID and north of the equator are called typhoons and those storms east of the ID and south of the equator are called cyclones.  The colour of the Atlantic Ocean is greener than the Pacific Ocean due to shallowness and plankton. The green from the plankton is more apparent in the shallower Atlantic Ocean’s gray green colour while the depths of the Pacific are bluer since water absorbs the other colours of light and the blue light is reflected. An aquamarine colour indicates very shallow water, usually so clear you can see the sandy bottom. The darker the blue the deeper the water.

   Since we both were nodding off during the lecture, we decided to go for an afternoon nap before getting ready for dinner.  We joined Betty and Warren at a table of 8 with Benjamin as our waiter and his assistant, Marco.  We were joined by Americans, Jan and Doug and Canadians Shirley and John.  Jan and Doug are staying in San Antonio and Valparaiso for a week and then taking the same 22-day cruise to Antarctica that we are taking. Betty and Warren are remaining on the Infinity for its 15-day cruise around Cape Horn and on to Buenos Aires while Shirley and John are returning home from the ship at San Antonio.

  The starters chosen today were Cream of Wild Mushroom soup, Belgian Endive & Arugula Salad and Roasted Red Beets & Feta. The entrées were Pork Chops, Prime Rib of Beef and Seared Salmon with potato and squash. The desserts were a Dulce de Leche Crème Brulée version, chocolate cake and Banana Blueberry Crèpe.

   At the Destinations presentation, we were told that all the piers we will be docking at on the cruise are at working ports thus no cruise terminals with Wi-fi available.  We decided to register for unlimited Internet since finding an Internet Wi-Fi spot may be difficult and we do not want to carry the laptop on shore excursions in the hopes that we find Wi-fi. We will be able to post regularly for this cruise.  The ship’s unlimited Internet package for 15 days costs the same as five months at home.  The connection is much better than in the past. Loading photos takes less than 30 seconds each compared to five minutes each even three years ago.

Final steps for the day 14,170

Comments to this blogspot post are welcomed.