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Published: December 15th 2013
It was a 20-minute, 35 Euro taxi trip from Barcelona Airport to the port. The port is a distance from the city center and no shuttle bus was being run on embarkation day. A very windy, sunny 60 degree day lent itself to us having a welcome aboard cocktail at the Waves Bar on pool deck while waiting for our stateroom to be ready where we met our bartender Julio, from Honduras. We had a great time chatting with him and dubbed him Senor Bonito.
At 1:00 PM, an announcement was made that the concierge level staterooms were ready. We were upgraded at the last minute from a standard balcony on Deck 8 at the very aft end of the ship to Deck 10 mid-ship. The size and layout of the stateroom is the same as standard balconies, but comes with Bulgari toiletries, bath salts and concierge service including the concierge lounge. We also had a complimentary laptop for use in the stateroom, but are still responsible for paying the 99 cents per minute internet usage. Our stateroom attendant was Jonathan from the Phillipines and his assistant was Maria from Poland. Our concierge was Michelle, who we know from a
previous sailing, and she made all of our dining reservations and double checked our club level status. The concierge lounge has round the clock snacks available, books, magazines and computer terminals. We also had use of the private sun lounge with two whirlpools at the Fitness Center.
Our Captain on this sailing is Leo Strazicic from Croatia, our Hotel Director (General Manager) is Dominique Nicolle from France and our Cruise Director is Leslie Jon from Hollywood, California. We sailed with all of these gentleman on our 30-day Indian Ocean voyage 2-years ago from Dubai to Capetown, so it was nice to see them again.
We began our evening at Horizons Lounge with live music for a before dinner drink where we met Leslie Jon and had a nice time catching up on what he has been doing over the last 2-years. We enjoyed a relaxing dinner at the Terrace Café that now features several cuts of beef, fresh shrimp and Maine lobster tails grilled to order. Late evening trivia at Martinis Bar was hosted by Corey, the Assistant Cruise Director from St. Louis. The welcome aboard show with Fred and Bobbie Becker, a comedy and magic act, rounded
out our evening before heading to bed. We got a kick out of the entertainer’s names, since our old bosses at NYC EMS were brothers with the same names.
The new tranquility beds with 1000 thread count linens were magnificent! We both slept about 12-hours in getting over our jet lag. We woke up in Cartagena, Spain, about 290 nautical miles from Barcelona. Cartagena is a historic port on the Iberian Peninsula that currently serves as the home to Spain’s Navy. The area was originally settled by the Carthaginians who were descendants of the Phoenicians and Canaanites from the area of modern day Lebanon and Israel. The Greeks and Romans eventually settled here as well before being conquered by the Muslims and eventually the Spaniards.
The ship docks right in the center of downtown, and the majority of the sites are within easy walking distance. There is a tourist office in the port area who gives out maps and suggestions for sightseeing on your own. The town also offers a panoramic double decker bus tour (not hop on hop off) that takes about 1-hour to drive around the city and departs three to four times throughout the day.
We walked along the waterfront to the main Plaza Ayuntamiento, which is a pedestrian zone with the ornate city hall building, shops, cafes and also the main entrance to the ancient Roman Theater. The museum starts with an archeological display of the items found during excavation and parts of the construction. You then walk through an underground corridor that was located under the St. Maria la Vieja Church, that served as a home to one of the rich families at the time. This corridor leads to the Roman Theater itself that dates back to the 1
st century BC. The theater has been remarkably restored and allows you to experience the theater from the perspective of the audience and actors.
We exited the theater onto a village side street, where there was a lovely sidewalk café called La Catedral where we enjoyed some local Estrella beer. The restaurant was built on top of the remains of the West Basilica and an old rain water cistern. Clear plexiglass floor panels allow you to look down into the excavation sites. The restaurant has several small rooms located in the various different archeological sites you can hire for small dinner parties.
From there, we walked along the original Punic Wall along the waterfront to get to the lift to take us up to Concepcion Castle. The castle has a lovely terrace with fantastic views over the city. It is situated on the top of one of the five hills surrounding the city. The castle also contained a museum of the area’s history during the medieval period from Muslim rule until the Christian conquest by Prince Alfonso of Castilla. The castle dates back to the thirteenth century and was built by Alfonso X the Wise.
We walked back down to the waterfront and enjoyed a couple of ice cold local beers on the esplanade. There were a couple of bar/restaurants with outdoor seating and a Burger King with free Wi-Fi. During the Summer season, there are also several outdoor snack kiosks.
We had a lovely evening at sea with dinner at Toscana Restaurant that features Italian and Mediterranean cuisine. Extra tender calamari was followed by scrumptious osso buco.
The next morning we woke up in Gibraltar. This is our third visit to the rock of Britain that sits just off the coast of Spain. The runway of the Gibraltar
airport is all that separates the two countries, and the “rock” is still a contested piece of territory by the Spanish government.
We walked about 1 mile on level ground from the ship to Casemates Square, which serves as the town center. Once there, we caught the local bus for 1.25 GBP per person and had an interesting hill climb ride to the Cable Car Station. Roundtrip tickets on the cable car were 13 GBP per person and included a Wi-Fi login and password for 2 free hours, so you could download the free Gibraltar app we could use on the viewing platform at the 1,300 foot high peak. We had fabulous views and had a chance to enjoy the café view while utilizing our free internet time.
We stopped at the mid-station on the way back down to visit the Barbary Apes at the Ape’s Den station. They are always hilarious to watch, but are wild and unpredictable, so care needs to be taken when in their vicinity.
We took the bus back to Casemates Square and enjoyed some fish and chips with a British Ale, before heading back to the ship. We enjoyed a picturesque
sail away while enjoying the free drinks for just over 2-hours at the Captain’s cocktail party in Horizons Lounge. Our good friend Geoffrey was our bar waiter, who took great care of us during the party. We met several lovely passengers during the party before heading to the Terrace Café for dinner.
The show featured an excellent Spanish guitarist named Greg Reiter. He performed a nice selection of classic flamenco and modern fusion tunes. After the show, we had fun in Martini’s Bar with JP at the piano in a round of “Name That Tune”.
The next day we enjoyed our first day at sea. We enjoyed sleeping in on those comfy tranquility beds. We managed to get up in time for one of the Cooking Demonstrations with the Executive Chef Alban Gjoka from Italy. He was quite entertaining and gave a great recipe for making the perfect paella.
In the early afternoon, I got a workout in the line dancing class and then headed off for my first hands-on cooking class in the on board Culinary Center with Chef Noelle Barille. My first class was learning to make favorites from the Red Ginger Restaurant. I was
paired up with another passenger named Pat and got dressed up in our chef’s hats and aprons. We were taught proper chopping skills and learned to make the Pomelo Spring Rolls, Duck Confit and Watermelon Salad and the Lobster Pad Thai. We were also given a sample of their famous banana leaf wrapped sea bass, and told how to make it. Unfortunately, the class wasn’t long enough to do hands-on for that particular dish.
All of the 3-courses we made were delicious! The best part was we got to eat our culinary creations, which left me pretty full for the rest of the evening.
From there, we headed down to the Marina Theater to join a team for trivia. We ended up with a mix of folks from California, Canada and New York on our team and managed to place 3
rd in our first game which earned us one O Point per person. We can save up our O points until the end of the cruise and turn them in for Oceania branded merchandise.
We enjoyed another lovely dinner at Terrace Café followed by evening team trivia with our barflies team at Martini’s Bar with bartender Vickrum.
The show featured a return of Bobbie and Fred Becker with their comedy magic show.
The following morning we woke up in Arrecife on the Canary Island of Lanzarote. It is known as the island of 100 volcanoes and is located 70 miles off the coast of Africa. Our last visit here we went volcano hiking. While we thoroughly enjoyed that arduous trek, we decided to take it easy this time around. It was a lazy Sunday, which meant all of the shops in town were closed. So we took the free shuttle bus to Calle Juan de Quesada which is a short walk to Charco de San Gines. It is a lovely lagoon situated along the coast with a beautiful promenade with quaint fisherman’s houses in traditional blue and white colors. Several small cafes lined the lagoon and they served local seafood, local beer and local wine. We enjoyed soaking up the sunshine and people watching for a bit whilst checking our email. The locals were very nice and most spoke a bit of English making it easy to communicate.
We enjoyed the 2 for 1 Happy Hour back on board at Horizons Bar and then ate
dinner in Red Ginger Restaurant. I enjoyed a lovely seafood salad followed by the Wasabi encrusted Rack of Lamb which was exquisite!
The evening’s entertainment featured a variety show with all of the regular acts onboard the ship for the cruise including the Romantica String Quartet, JP the piano player/singer, the Royal Rock Band and Leslie Jon.
The following morning we woke up in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands. The port ran a free shuttle from the ship to the port entrance which is located a short 10-minute walk along the waterfront to the city center. Directly in front of the cruise ship terminal, it is also possible to pick up the Hop-on, Hop-off bus tour that runs every 20 to 30 minutes depending on traffic. Across the street, are several cafes offering free Wi-Fi with the purchase of a beverage.
We strolled along the waterfront to Plaza de Espana with a lovely reflecting pond and the Monument to the Fallen Ones erected in honor of those who died during the Spanish Civil War from 1936-1939. The local tourist office is located here in addition to the main stop for the Hop-on,
Hop-off bus tour. Several streets radiate from the plaza lined with shops and restaurants.
We decided to take the Hop-on, Hop-off bus tour for 18 Euros per person. The canned commentary in English was very informative and the upper open deck on the bus provided a great spot to see the sights and take photos. There are 12 different stops. We chose 3-stops to get off at and explore. The first stop was Parque Garcia Sanabria. A lovely park in a residential neighborhood with beautiful flower displays and fountains. We continued on past the Soccer Stadium and disembarked at El Cortes Ingles, the Macy’s of Spain. We rode the escalators to the top floor for the bird’s eye view of the harbor. We tried to get a drink at the counter service part of the restaurant, but gave up after being ignored by the waiter for almost 15-minutes.
From there we walked down the hill towards the waterfront to visit the strange looking Auditorio de Tenerife performing arts center designed by noted Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. It was built in 2003 and is regarded as the city’s symbol. It looks like a sail or bird, depending on your
angle of view and it is ,located next to an old fort called Castillo de San Juan, built out of the lava rocks, which give it an interesting contrast next to the stark white hall. Adjacent to that is the bright blue water of Parque Maritimo Cesar Manrique and the Palmetum Botanical Garden.
We hopped back on the bus and continued to the Mercado de Nuestra Senora de Africa. While this is a very happening market earlier in the day, by the time we arrived at 3:00 PM, it was already closed. But we enjoyed walking around the area a bit and viewing the interesting statues of slaves and fishermen in front of the market.
From there, we took the bus back to the cruise terminal and enjoyed a local beer at a sidewalk café before re-boarding the ship for sail away.
Entertainment that evening was a comedy juggler called Dan Bennett, but we missed his performance and turned in early after our busy day.
We were happy to have two sea days in a row to rest up from our busy touring schedule so far. Leslie Jon and his staff had plenty of activities planned
throughout the day. The weather was a bit blustery for swimming, but pleasant for sitting at the pool bar and enjoying a drink with new found friends. Over the two sea days there was the Big O Officer’s Challenge where guests compete against the ship’s staff in Ping Pong, golf putting, ring toss, etc. and earn Big O points if they beat the officer. I also enjoyed a nice wine tasting in Toscana with the sommelier team and another cooking class where I learned to make simple but flavorful dishes for a dinner party. Suzy from Laguna Beach was my cooking partner this time and we made tiger shrimp wrapped in prosciutto, scallop and shrimp wontons, a shrimp and crab meat salad and shortbread cookie parfaits. Everything tasted delicious and really was pretty simple. I look forward to making these dishes at home. I also attended a couple of different exercise classes including cardio combat and cardio circuit with Maurizio, the fitness instructor I knew from a previous cruise on Nautica two years ago.
Entertainment included a second show Spanish guitarist Greg Reiter and a production show called Con Molto. Terrace Café featured a special Spanish Tapas dinner one
night with delicious paella and Iberico Ham.
On Thanksgiving morning, we woke up in Porto Grande in Cape Verde. Cape Varde is an island archipelago only slightly larger than Rhode Island located 385 miles West of Senegal. We were on the island of Sao Vicente. It is an emerging democratic nation with a large mix of Portuguese and African ancestry.
The ship docks approximately ½ mile from town and they run a small van shuttle for those with walking difficulties. We took a slow stroll into town past some interesting ships parked in the harbor, including a very rusted out Cape Verde Naval ship still in service. Several of us questioned its seaworthiness!
The town consists of a handicrafts market, a small tourist kiosk, a colorful fresh vegetable market and a very photogenic fish market. Not exactly up to the cleanliness standards of the USDA, it was fun to watch people go about their daily bargaining in purchasing the fish; even our ship’s chefs, bought several different species of fresh fish to cook for a special fish buffet in the Terrace café one evening. A replica of the Belem Tower from Lisbon is next to the fish
market and 1 Euro allows you to climb the 3-stories for a bird’s eye view of the town. We also stumbled onto the local’s flea market where we met a lovely couple who owned the bar kiosk and we enjoyed a few bottles of their local Cape Verde beer. The tourist office directed us to an area with free W-Fi in an open park square, however, it was extremely slow. But we found a little local bar on the square called Koyaba where we were able to purchase Wi-Fi for about 2 Euros per hour that worked very well.
Once back on board, we enjoyed a fun Thanksgiving Happy Hour with our new found shipmates and then enjoyed a lovely turkey dinner with all the trimmings in Terrace Café. Entertainment was provided by the Romantica String Quartet who played a lovely classical music concert.
We spent the next 3-days at sea crossing the Atlantic to Brazil. There were plenty of fun activities to keep us busy including Oceania’s Country Fair. This is always one of my favorite shipboard events. Each department on the ship sets up a carnival type game where passengers compete to earn raffle tickets. The
housekeeping department ran a pillowcase stuffing race, the engineering department had an electrical board you needed to pass with a steady hand, the casino ran a high-low card game, the dining room had an egg on a spoon contest, the butlers had a ball bounce game, the entertainment staff did a bean bag toss, the sommelier team ran a can you guess this smell game, the marine team ran a knot tying challenge, the destinations department had a guess the landmark photo quiz, the bar staff had a ring toss and my favorite was the reception/concierge team who let passengers toss water balloons at them with an attempt to break a balloon on a nail laden board they held above their heads. Lots of fun was had by all. I ended up with about 30 raffle tickets earned during the 1-hour time period, but unfortunately didn’t win any of the nice giveaways such as bottles of wine, Bulgari gift sets and some totes and T-shirts. The next big event was the Crossing of the Line ceremony hosted by King Neptune himself, where Pollywogs officially become shellbacks, meaning they crossed the Equator on a ship. The ceremony involved cold, green liquid
being poured on the heads of the pollywogs. They got off pretty easy at this ceremony. I’ve seen others, where gooey, gluey, stinky gravy was poured on the pollywogs instead.
There were a couple more cooking demonstrations and I had the chance to participate in the high end wine tasting at La Reserve with the Cellar Master, Danielle. For a $100.00 fee, I was able to sample five different wines with bottle prices ranging from $300.00 to $450.00 per bottle. We finished off with a glass of Dom Perignon. The wine tasting was accompanied with lovely appetizers such as foie gras.
There also was a lovely repeat guest cocktail party in Horizons Lounge along with the senior officers. The nightly entertainment included a Celtic fiddle player named Sarah Carter, who was very talented, a solo show with Jessica Gurule, one of the Marina singers and passenger karaoke, which was a lot of fun. The special chocolate buffet at tea time on one of the afternoons was also a huge hit. We also found time to relax in our stateroom, watch a few movies and get a couple of tub soaks in. An awesome sunset one of the nights
rounded out our relaxing 3 days at sea.
We finally reached Recife, Brazil. Recife is the capital of the Pernambuco state and is built around three rivers and connected by 49 bridges that gives it the nickname Brazilian Venice. The name Recife means reef in Portuguese because of the coral reefs by the city’s shores.
The cruise terminal looked fairly new and we were greeted by locals in traditional Carnaval costumes. There was a small souvenir boutique, a money change booth, a tour company and a local tourist booth with free maps and information on the local sights. The ship also ran a free shuttle to the Casa de Cultura in the downtown section of Recife.
We got together with two other couples, and hired a van with driver and an English speaking guide named Silvia. It cost $25.00 per person for a 6-hour tour. We drove through part of new Recife where several medical centers are located enroute to Olinda. Olinda is a UNESCO World Heritage site of a recently renovated Spanish colonial town with its houses painted bright pastel colors. The town is built on a hill and the very top offers beautiful views. We
visited the main cathedral and sampled locally made cachaca and sweet cakes in the artisan shops nearby. We also had time to try the local beer called Skol which was pretty tasty. Our guide told us how Olinda was one of the most popular places in Brazil for Carnaval and Samba, outside of Rio.
Our next stop on the tour was Boa Viagem, the famous beach community just outside of Recife. Beautiful long stretches of beach with signs posted along its length, warning people of shark attacks in the area. Our guide said, attacks were most common at low tide usually in the early morning and at dusk.
We continued to the famous Gold Chapel to see the amazing altar and other pieces in solid gold. Very interesting paintings and hand carved choir stalls made the chapel complete.
We then drove across some of the many city bridges and visited the neo-classical buildings and parks that make up the main part of the city. We then stopped at Casa de Cultura, which used to be a slave prison, not converted into a handicrafts market.
Our last stop was at the historical center originally settled by the
Dutch, before they were driven out by the Portuguese. The main street Bom de Jesus, had some nice little cafes and shops and the first synagogue of Recife. We then went to Marco Zero Plaza that marks the first spot where Recife was founded by the Portuguese in 1537.
We really enjoyed the tour with our guide Silvia Freire (freire.silvia823@gmail.com) and our driver Tony (
laiturismo@hotmail.com), but were glad to get back to our comfortable home on board Marina. The evening’s entertainment featured a solo performance by Ryan Hunt, one of the Marina singers.
The next morning we had time to relax on board with a swim in the pool and another cooking demonstration. At 1:00 PM, we sat on our balcony and enjoyed the sights as we sailed along the coast of Brazil and into the port of Salvador da Bahia. We arrived at 2:00 PM and set off into the steel shack welcome center. We could see the brand new cruise terminal being built, which might be finished in time for next year.
Salvador is a city steeped in African slave history, where the riches of the city were earned in its sugarcane production. The new
music style called axe was born here, which blends complex African drumming rhythms with reggae melodies to create a unique Salvadoran sound. The city is the 3
rd largest in Brazil with most people living in the coastal regions. A 100m cliff runs along the bayshore, dividing the city into Cidade Alta, up on the cliff, and Cidade Baixa, down by the bay.
The welcome center had a couple of taxi booths, an internet center, a money exchange and a couple of small boutiques. We decided to walk the 6-blocks to the Mercado Modelo, featuring over 300 stalls of Brazilian handicrafts. We strolled around for a while and then headed over to Lacerda Elevator, to ride it up to the Pelourinho Colonial city on the cliff. We lined up in the very hot hallway with the locals and paid out 15 cents to ride to the top. The elevator travels up 236-feet in about 20 seconds. The view from the top, was well worth the sweaty 10-minute wait.
We walked around the cobblestone streets and watched a street performance of Capoeira dance by a local dance troupe. This dance sport was created by slaves as a means of practicing
self-defense and honoring their culture in secret.
The town was setting up for the Festival celebration of St. Barbara due to begin later that evening and continue for the next several days. We grabbed a Skol beer at a sidewalk café on the square and then headed over to the H Stern jewelry store to check out their baubles made from local Brazilian gem stones. I tried on a $5000.00 pair of earrings, and politely gave them back. We then hopped on their complimentary shuttle back to the ship.
That evening, we were treated to a fantastic folkloric show performance. The vocals and singing were top notch and the show was very professional.
The next day, we joined up with two other couples and hired a van with driver and guide for about $35.00 per person. Our guide spoke pretty good English and he explained the importance of African slaves in the city’s history. We drove along the waterfront, and stopped at the Barra Point Fort and lighthouse. Lovely stretches of beach along the way, were filled with locals enjoying the surf.
The traffic was pretty awful, and our driver tried to take a short cut
up a steep hill, so we had a bit of excitement when the van couldn’t navigate the grade and we bagan slipping backwards, burning rubber in the process. He actually struch a pedestrian and broke a tail light and dented the fender when he rolled back into a concrete wall. Luckily, the pedestrian was OK, and walked off without trading any paperwork. We had to get out of the van, so he could navigate back down the hill. From this point on, we had no more A/C, which made for an uncomfortable ride, the rest of the day.
The guide and driver recalculated our route, and we headed off to the new soccer stadium that was built for the FIFA World cup in 2014 and visited the lake that is home to the African gods statues. The guide also pointed out some of the colorful favela ghettos spilling down the hillsides.
We eventually ended up in the colonial upper city and made our way to the Slave Church at the Pelhourinho where the main festival for Santa Barbara was taking place. Everyone was dressed in red and the streets were teeming with people and small local bands playing
axe and samba. Our guide seemed to know everybody, as he was introducing us to several people, shaking hands as we went along. We really had a great time getting caught up in the festival fever. Our last stop was at a sidewalk café on the main square where we enjoyed some local beer before heading back to the ship.
The entertainment that evening was a production show with the Marina Singers and Dancers called Steppin’ Out that featured Leslie Jon singing his version of Fiddler on the Roof. The night was capped off with Name That Tune in the Martini Bar with JP at the piano.
The next day was a relaxing day at sea spent by the pool followed by gala tea time in Horizons Lounge. We enjoyed a savory steak dinner at the Polo Grill and the evening’s entertainment was another production show called Bon Voyage.
We woke up in Buzios, Brazil the following morning. Buzios is a picturesque fishing village with more than 26 different cove beaches. We tendered into the port about 10-minutes away, and hired a water taxi for $5.00 per person each way to Joao Fernandes Beach, lined with some
stalls and restaurants. We found a nice little restaurant that overlooked the beach and enjoyed some ice cold local beer. Took a stroll along the beach and a dip in the crystal clear water, but water was quite cold. The sand had flecks of gold in it, that made it glisten in the sun. On the water taxi trip back to the port, we passed Tartaruga and Azeda beaches; equally beautiful, but with fewer services.
We strolled along the main street on the waterfront to the statue of Bridget Bardot, who brought fame to Buzios in the 60s. There were quite a few oceanfront restaurants. We chose Buddha Bar and enjoyed local beer, delicious fresh fried shrimp and free Wi-Fi. We then walked to the main square past several nice boutiques and restaurants before heading back to the ship.
The evening’s entertainment on board was a special Christmas Show put on by the crew. The finale was all of the crew and officers on stage conducting a Christmas carol Sing-a-long with the guests. As we exited the theater, we found the Christmas decorations up throughout the ship.
The next morning, we woke up at 6:30 AM and
sat on our balcony to watch our sail into the protected harbor of Rio de Janeiro. We could see Sugarloaf Mountain, Copacabana and Impanema Beaches, but unfortunately, Corcovado and Christ the Redeemer statue were covered in clouds. The ship docked over in the Gloria Commercial center of the city near the domestic airport.
We had breakfast on the outdoor deck of the Terrace Café which was very noisy due to the jack hammering of an old road way across from where the ship was docked. As we finished breakfast, Christ the Redeemer began to show himself. The ship was running a free shuttle bus to the Rio Sul Shopping Center in the Centro part of town, but we decided to go to the H Stern welcome center and took their free shuttle to the factory store, where we saw how they made the jewelry. We then strolled down to the lagoon, to get photo of Corcovado Mountain and Christ the Redeemer, but low and behold, the clouds moved back in. We ended up enjoying a local beer called Antarctica at a real local’s joint with plastic tables and chairs set up on the sidewalk outside the self-service store. We
especially got a kick out of the plastic lighter bolted to the table for patrons to use to light up their smokes.
The H Stern shuttle ride on the way back was quite scenic as we passed by busy Impanema and Copacabana beaches. Back at the cruise terminal, we stopped at a restaurant to sample the Bohemia Stout on tap. We weren’t overly impressed with the taste, so opted not to have another.
We had a quiet night on board the ship enjoying some drinks with our new found friends. It was nice to know we would be returning to the ship in Valparaiso, three weeks later.
The next morning, we disembarked the ship at leisure after breakfast at 8:30 AM. It was easy and organized. We hired a nice taxi for $30.00 USD to take us to our hotel the Windsor Plaza located at the north end of Copacabana, just two blocks from the beach. Luckily, our room was ready, so we dropped off our luggage and walked up to the beach. There was a fitness fun walk happening along the main road along the beach front and we were able to join in a ZUMBA
class being presented at the finish line. The beach was mobbed with walkers all taking turns posing with the extra-large FIFA soccer ball on the beach.
We enjoyed a stroll along Copacabana Beach and stopped for refreshments at a few different kiosk refreshment stands along the way. Lots of volleyball matches and families strolling the tile walkway with their dogs, made for great people watching.
Christ the Redeemer remained in the clouds, but the sky cleared and Sugarloaf was in the sunshine, so we took a taxi for $8.00 USD to the cable car station. The sun was beating down and we waited in line for 90-minutes to buy our tickets. The cable cars were traveling up half empty, because of the inefficiency of the ticket sales booth. They only had 4 windows open and each transaction seemed to take 5 to 10 minutes per person. It was as if these people were working in reverse. I have no idea how they will manage to handle the crowds expected for FIFA and the Olympics.
The ride up to the mid-station brought long stretches of beach and coves into view. We chose to walk along the panoramic platform
with spectacular views over the central part of Rio including the lagoon of Inpanema. We stopped at the snack kiosk to enjoy an ice cold beer and were entertained by the little marmosets jumping in the trees and looking for leftover scraps on the tables. We then took the 2
nd cable car to the peak and were rewarded with a spectacular view over Copacabana Beach.
On the way back down, we strolled through the wildlife boardwalk surrounded by beautiful trees, reminding us that Rio is located in a rain forest. We grabbed a taxi back to the hotel for a rest anmd shower before heading to the airport.
The hotel provided us with complimentary shuttle transportation to the international airport located 35-minutes drive from Copacabana. We were met with a mob scene at the airport. Luckily we arrived almost 4-hours prior to our flight time, because we stood in line 90-minutes to check-in for our flight and then another hour to get through security. The airport clearly does not have the infrastructure in place to handle large clouds.
All in all, this was a trip of a lifetime. The Oceania Marina experience definitely set the
Elegant dinner party cooking class creations at the Oceania Marina Culinary Center
Shrimp wrapped in carmelized pancetta, lobster with crab and shrimp seafood salad, scallop and shrimp wontons and simple shortbread with berries parfaitbar high, for being the best way to visit the ports we did. I’m really looking forward to returning to the ship for our cruise to Tahiti.
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