November 30, 2017

   Today we are cruising along the coast of Peru to tomorrow’s port of Callao, the gateway to Lima, Peru. Today was sunny with a haze around the horizon, which in San Diego was referred to as the marine layer cloud. The temperature was a cooler 69 F (or 19 C) and windy but not as strong as yesterday. After breakfast, we walked our usual route out on decks 11 and 12. The 720-step circuit includes one set of 16 riser staircases at one end of the ship and one set of 24 riser staircases at the other end. At 9 this morning the ship was close to Trujillo, Peru, 12 hours later the ship had covered half the remaining distance to Lima. We had logged 5631 steps before the 10 a.m. presentation.
   This “Beyond the Podium” presentation by Doug Field was about the Pacific Ocean Ring of Fire and the tectonic plates whose movement cause the earthquakes and volcanoes.  He also explained the effects of the Pacific weather patterns of El Niño and La Niña. The waters of Peru and Chile are cooler than the waters of the same latitudes on the northern side of the equator.
    The Captain’s Club cocktail party for passengers that have previously cruised with Celebrity Cruise Lines and have signed up for the club, where department managers and members of the senior staff mingle with the guests, was in the early afternoon today.  We went to lunch at the poolside which had a fruit buffet, where the sous chefs were carving a variety of fruit at several stations.  There was dragon fruit, mini bananas, pineapple, watermelon, coconut with a straw to drink the juice, star fruit and mango.  Some people saw a group of dolphins jumping and swimming along with the ship.  The ship’s speed was 18 knots or about 32 km per hour.
   It was a leisurely afternoon to read or play bingo or go to an art seminar about the artist Thomas Kinkade or a food & Wine Pairing or a Beer Tasting or learn some Salsa dance steps at  the poolside or compete in a paper airplane contest poolside or enter a blackjack tournament in the casino or go to a designer handbag sale or watch the movie Girls Trip on the big screen on Deck 12 or take in a trivia contest – round 4 or participate in making a container for the egg drop competition or a ring toss challenge by the poolside or play some table tennis.
   The casino was open for the slot machines as well as the tables.  In the shelter of the poolside Deck 10 area, loungers were available to settle in with your book and not be buffeted by the wind the blew around the open Deck 11.
   This evening was another “Evening Chic” dress code for the main dining room.  Some of the passengers wore dressy outfits including tuxedoes for the men, but most men opted for long sleeve dress shirts and maybe a sports coat while more ladies wore nicer dresses than they usually wear.  We were going to dance just before dinner when the band announced that they were going to play a samba. However, “Quando, quando, quando” was played to a slower rhumba beat, like Michael Bublé’s version. Some of the choices for appetizers were Lobster Bisque, mixed green salad, Cajun Spiced Shrimp and mushroom vole-au-vent.  The featured entrée was chateaubriand. For dessert, there was vanilla panna cotta and pineapple upside down cake.
    Evening’s Celebrity Theatre show was another show featuring the singers and dancers called “Star Factory”.  It also featured aerial acrobats.
   We went to the Out and About in Lima presentation at 8 pm but the presenter had lost his voice and two women from the shore excursion office replaced him.  People were dismayed to find out that if they had not booked a tour then from 9 am to 7 pm and again Saturday from 8 am to 5 pm there would be a shuttle from the ship to Real Plaza Salavery, Lima’s newest mall, and then they would need to take a taxi (costing $5-$8 US) to the city center or the Miraflores shopping area.  Should people plan to dine in Lima, they would have to take a taxi back to the port terminal and then wait for the free port shuttle bus for the 10 minutes ride to the ship. Callao, the port for Lima is a working cargo port and people are not allowed to walk to the terminal building.  We plan to take the ship’s excursions and were not planning on extra shopping in the Lima city center.


       Final steps for the day 14,327

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