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View of Pier Area from Lido Deck Happy Cinco de Mayo! Today is another unique experience for us because for the first time we are NOT taking an excursion. There are several reasons: (1) mostly because there are only 5 and none of them got us too excited, so we delayed booking and they all sold out; (2) we will be back here in 3 days on the next cruise so we can do one then; (3) yesterday was strenuous so we figured a day to rest would be a good idea. Anyway this is another “first experience” for us.
We slept in this morning getting a good night’s sleep. Then we took advantage of many people being off the ship so we could do another load of laundry and restock the closet with all our clothes being clean again. Then we went up to the Horizon Court for a late breakfast and to just take the day at a relaxed pace (not even hurrying to get to knitting).
After breakfast, Janet looked up the address of the Spanish bank which partnered with our bank at home so as not to charge extra fees for withdrawing funds. David got a map at
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The "museum" as seen from our ship the information desk on shore and headed off to find the bank and get us some Euros. It was sprinkling on & off this morning, but it did not cause any problems. When he got to the location where the bank was supposed to be, there was a different bank, so he gave up and got Euros with an extra fee. Since he does not speak Spanish he did not want to stick the ATM card into their machine and not understand the instructions, so we went to the teller inside. They showed him how to change the language on the ATM and he was able to get money at last. On the way back to the ship he walked right past a series of banks (including the one he was looking for), so the internet just had the wrong address for the bank. Oh well, we have money to spend now besides the fee Euros from the ship’s expensive ATM.
Janet was watching a movie (name Joy) so we waited until it was over and then went up to the Horizon Court for a small late lunch. Since this is the famous Mexican holiday, David had
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David sitting by a statue chili, tacos, and refried beans, while Janet made herself a plate full of Nachos Supreme. We got some desserts from the “sweets counter” and went back to the cabin to eat them.
By then it had stopped drizzling although it stayed overcast all day. It was also a little chilly outside. These were reasons not to go to the pool or to work on sun tans. Instead Janet watched another movie in the cabin (named Carol) and David walked back to the Cartagena to take some pictures and to browse in the shops. Our berth is located right off the edge of downtown, so it was easy to walk each direction coming and going whenever he wanted. Another ship for Holland America is also in town, but their passengers have a long walk to get to where we are, so we are happy with our location.
The town nearby is very focused on tourists (souvenir stores, restaurants, banks, etc). Right at the end of the pier was a pure white Andalusian horse demonstrating some of its tricks. Across the road was a very impressive looking building which appeared to be a museum, but whatever
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Marble sidewalks in the shopping district near the ship it was (the sign was in Spanish) it was closed and nobody was going inside. The main avenues in this shopping neighborhood were closed to traffic and the “pavement” was smooth pink and gray marble. That was impressive but was a bit slippery in the morning drizzle. There were also some bronze figures posed around the area and David got a couple of pictures. David even saw a car squeeze (just barely) into a car elevator in a building. Thee are also a lot of flower gardens throughout this area.
After he got back, David got himself an afternoon pint of Newcastle and a Salted Caramel Coffee for Janet. She had saved a cupcake from lunch to go with the coffee. While he was down at the International Café he overheard 2 ladies talking and one had airplane troubles and had missed the sailing in Ft Lauderdale. Since the ticket had been booked through Princess, they flew her on to Madeira, put her in a hotel for 7 days, and provided her meals. If she had made her own reservations then the late arrival would have been considered her fault and they would have done nothing for
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A car pulling into an elvator her. That is why we flew down a day early.
The ship left Cartagena about 4:45 and once again the ships horn played the Love Boat theme. It is a pretty cute way to get underway. However with the midnight sailing from Gibraltar they apparently skipped the horn in a display of good manners to the local residents. Beside, we probably would have slept through it anyway.
During dinner we had a discussion about how many old people there seem to be on the ship. We said that we always try to judge whether we are in the “Younger Half” or not, but this time there doesn’t seem to be any doubt about it. There are 6 children but most of the rest seem like they would qualify for the “senior Discount” any place. There is actually one lady (named Phyllis) who celebrated her 99
th birthday a couple of days ago, and she is traveling by herself.
For our meal, Janet had the Prosciutto and Melon as her appetizer, with a bowl of Cold Peach Soup, Veal Scaloppini as her entrée, and Lemon Gelato for dessert. David had Minestrone Soup, a bowl of Special Pasta prepared by the Head Waiter, a Shrimp & Scallop Casserole entree, and Tiramisu for dessert. We each had a glass of Pinot Grigio with dinner and liquors and coffee after dinner (this time David tied something new called Frangelico). They were trying to get people to have a shot of Limonccelo but we have tried it before and we declined.
We went down to the Princess Theater this evening and saw 4 singers (called West End Men) who were terrific. They perform frequently in both London’s West End and on Broadway. They sang a lot of popular songs (some oldies and some newer) but frequently in 4-part harmony. And they sang so you could hear the words as opposed to a lot of modern singing which is more yelling and banging. We agreed this was the best show we’ve seen on this cruise.
Once again Janet’s key card died this evening and she’s diagnosed the problem as holding it too close to her Kendal. So hopefully we can avoid this in the future.
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