Friday, January 19, and Saturday, January 20, 2024

Sailing off the coast of of Peru

Our captain informed us we have traveled 3,911 nautical miles since leaving Ft. Lauderdale and the depth of water currently is 13,000 ft. At noon daily, we get an update on our progress, location and other data — usually very entertaining too — and always eye-opening. Our Master Captain believes in using the sexton, an old-school back-up to the GPS, sonar and radar that guides the ship’s pilots.

Five days sailing to get to Easter Island, so the ship is buzzing with activity to keep the guests busy. We have guest lectures on all kinds of things, some related to the upcoming excursions, animals, sights, history, and oceanography and there’s a wide variety of games such trivia, bingo, bridge, art and photography classes, putt putt golf, ping pong, of course fitness classes, yoga, pool, hot tubs and sunbathing! The spa offered myriad massages, acupuncture, facials and salon services. Of course, shopping the tempting jewelry, souvenirs and fashions in the onboard boutique. There’s really no reason to be bored!

In the evenings, there is piano music in one lounge area, a hilarious comic Robert Lee, and other guest entertainers, and the ship has a fine six-piece orchestra which is amazingly versatile. Tonight a new musical show, “Groove tonight” will keep toes tapping at two shows and dancers can boogie into the wee hours, if they want with a great DJ.

Master Captain Carl Smith introduced his entire officer crew and toasted a successful and enjoyable second segment of the world voyage at the Captain’s Welcome Party. Hubby and I were invited to a cozy dinner with Staff Captain Daniela Epuras and a small group of our fellow guests, all happened to be American. Our shipmates are a fantastic array of nationalities, Australians, New Zealanders, British, Norwegian and others. The crew is also a great blend ranging from Romania, Czech Republic, Liberia, Germany, The Netherlands, Scotland, Greece and USA. Our cabin attendant is from Jakarta, Indonesia. So, many foreign accents really makes this feels like a global mash-up of all shapes, sizes and ages allowing us to feel young and fit ;-) and committed to our exercise routines.