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Published: June 20th 2017
Geo: 15.85, -96.32
Well, we slept in AGAIN! Somehow the rocking of the ship justs lulls you into a deep sleep. But we do get up and start scurrying around because we want to attend the next Enrichment Lecture. We go downstairs for cups of fancy coffee and Jeff gets two mini-muffins.
We arrive in the Princess Theater just in time for the "Plagues of the Modern World" lecture. Okay, I think this whole medical series is a little weird for a cruise ship, but it is fascinating! Today we learned about SARS, Aids, swine flu, and other diseases that have impacted the modern world. Of course, right now the Zika virus, a mosquito borne illness, is spreading and the areas we are visiting on this cruise are in the heart of the infection area. In addition to sunscreen, people are carrying around bug wipes. Anyway, the talk was interesting.
After the lecture Jeff and I relax in one of the public areas. He is people watching and I am writing. Our medical lecture was at 9:30 and we want to attend a 'Destination Presentation" on Puntarenas, Costa Rica at 11. Looks like another morning spent in the Princess Theater.
Humberto's talk about Puntarenas
Chris Atkins
I'll upload the video when I have better internet connectivitywas good and we know from having been to Puntarenas on our own that there is pretty much nothing to do there! So pretty much all of the excursions will require a bus ride.
After the destination talk Jeff and I go upstairs to our cabin. I write out two sticky notes about meeting for afternoon tea - one note for Eve and Leroy's door and one for Mary and Trish asking everyone to RSVP.
We have not been at all diligent about our exercising during this cruise; to remedy that we got walk around the promenade deck. On one of our rounds we spot a pod of dolphins! They are near the back of the ship and moving away from us and are soon out of sight. That was neat! It is always fun to unexpectedly spot wildlife.
Jeff and I spent a very enjoyable hour or so relaxing on our balcony. Jeff brought our bluetooth speaker from home and we listen to some tunes. Our next door neighbors are out on their balcony as well and Jeff peers around to ask if the music disturbs them. "No," the guy says, "Turn it up!" A few songs later, I peer aound
the balcony divider and ask him if my singing bothers him. hahaha!
About 1:30 we decide to go to lunch. Jeff had his two mini-muffins but all I've had today is coffee. We got outside and up, up, up to the outside grill where I get a vegie burger and fries and Jeff gets a hamburger and fries. I had forgotten about the vegie burgers. Though the taste is nice, the texture is 'wet bread' very mushy. I won't be having another of those on future cruises. We finish up with some ice cream (bad vegan!), we plop down on a couple of lounge chairs to eat our ice cream and, hey! there's a small pod of dolphins. Are you kidding me? They, too, disappear quickly. On our way back to our cabin we walk through the buffet to grab some cookies (to have in our room to snack on sometime) and iced tea. Just as we reach our cabin door, there is Trish RSVPing for everyone for afternoon tea.
While Jeff naps, I sit out on our balcony writing (gotta get caught up!) and tomando del sol (taking the sun - sun bathing). While sitting there, I heard a weird
slapping sound. "What in the world?" It sounded like someone snapping a towel; very odd, so I get out of my comfy lounge chair and look up and down the row of balconies. Nothing.
I settled back down. There's that sound again! As I glance over the railing I catch a glimpse of wet skin - that was a dolphin! No, dolphinS! I bang on the sliding glass door and shout to Jeff "Dolphins!" He hurries out and we watch a pod of dolphins jump out of the water. Two of them flipping totally head over tail, another jumping and spinning around. And then they were gone. Three times in one day! How cool is that??
Jeff goes inside to lay back down and I stay on the deck to continue my writing until my alarm goes off reminding me that it is tea time. I'm excited to be having tea this afternoon because for me it is something unusual and special. Jeff decides not to go because the violinist from last night, Chris Watkins, is going to be playing in the atrium and he is going to hear him again. Poor planning on my part as I'm sure that I
would enjoy hm as well.
Our tea was so much fun for me! There were cakes and little sandwiches, scones with whipped cream (instead of clotted cream) and jam and tea. The five of us ate with little regard for the fact that it was about 3:45 and the four others have their dinner at 5:15!
After tea we go into the atrium which is MOBBED!!!! I had no idea there were even this many people on the ship. Every chair and settee is taken, people are standing everywhere and sitting on the stairs. It is nearing the end of Chris Watkins' show and HOLY MACKEREL!! he is good and quite the showman! I give up trying to find Jeff in the mob and squeegee myself into a tiny sitting spot on one of the stairs. Wow, this guy is talented and now I really am sorry that I missed his show last night. His performance ended and I spot Jeff standing with Eve, Leroy, Trish and Mary, and made my way over to them. Turns out that Jeff had been standing at the very top level of the atrium, saw us as we wandered around after our tea and came
down to meet us.
No one is hungry, but we all go to read tonight's menu board anyway. Oohhh... everything sounds good (how is that even possible?)
We agree to meet in the card room in 30 minutes and play some games. Mary begs off and returns to her cabin for a nap - she has caught Eve's cold. Those two boxes of cold medicine and bag of Hall's cough drops are making the rounds in our little group! I'll see if I can pick up some more tomorrow in San Juan del Sur when we dock in Nicaragua tomorrow. We play Skip-Bo for an hour and a half or so; either Jeff or Trish win every game so Eve, Leroy and I decide they have to buy dinner. haha!
Even though we're still not hungry, (except for Jeff who did not have afternoon tea), we all go to the Horizon Court Buffet and amazingly all of us find something we want to eat. (Why am I not surprised??) We eat, sit and chat for a couple of hours, and finally all head down to the Caribe deck, deck 10, to our cabins.
Tomorrow we'll be in Nicaragua. I hope you'll join us.
PS
Wow! Wow! I am sitting here still writing; Jeff is out on the balcony watching the ocean go by when he comes in, gets my phone and goes back outside with it. I don't ask.
A few minutes later he comes in to show me what he has discovered. He has figured out a VERY easy way to get photos from his Iphone to my Iphone and from either of our Iphones to my Ipad for the blog. Until this very minute he or I would have had to email a photo to me so I could get it on my Ipad. This was time-consuming and used a lot of my precious (and expensive) on board Internet minutes. Jeff figured out how to use a feature on our devices called "Air Drop." It is soooo easy, takes only seconds and doesn't require using Internet minutes. This is great! My husband is BRILLIANT (and I'm dang proud of him!)
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wjohnsmithii
non-member comment
Love your posts, Jane! Keep it up!