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| It was an evening “chic” night, and we entered the elevator with other passengers. We all howled when this occurred, and here’s the funny photo! One of the passengers grabbed my camera off my shoulder and shot these “feet photos.” |
“Sightings from the Veranda while Cruising”
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| Another of Tom’s excellent sunset photos taken from the veranda. |
I’m a new person. My gastrointestinal issues have all but resolved, and I’m able to eat in moderation without distress. I’ve returned to my intermittent fasting regime and can even go as far as having a glass of dry red or white wine each evening.
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| An artist’s display in a glass case near Cafe al Bacio on Deck 5. |
We’re having a fabulous time, to say the least, often in the company of other passengers. As usually occurs on cruises, we have found a couple with whom we especially connect Lisa and Barry. They are 5 to 10 years younger than us and lost most of their home and all its content a few months ago in flooding from Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas.
Their recovery and hopeful outlook for the future after this horrible loss is inspirational to both of us. Yesterday, the four of us spent the entire afternoon together in Cafe al Bacio and again during the complimentary two-hour happy hour in the Constellation Lounge on Deck 11 for Captain’s Club members.
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| Trinkets for sale at an open market in Manta, Ecuador. |
And yet, from venue to venue, meal to meal, we meet more and more passengers, some who know us from our site and many who don’t. We’ve passed out hundreds of business cards in these first 10 days of this 30-night back-to-back cruise.
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| Jewelry is a commonly offered tourist item at shopping areas in most countries. |
The time has flown quickly, and we’re now one-third of the way through the cruise. Each day brings a plethora of unique and extraordinary experiences with the fascinating people we meet, the excellent service quality, good food, and pleasing amenities. We don’t have a complaint in the world.
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| Jade trinkets. |
Long ago, we made a conscientious decision not to nit-pick inadequacies on cruises. Over time, we’ve become oblivious to any less-than-ideal scenarios, including old/worn areas of the ship, occasionally slow service, and the reality that the cruise lines are in the business of making money with extra cost many events and items. That’s how it is, and we accept it.
It’s our choice to avoid spending much on extras, only adding to our upcoming bill that will automatically include US $27 per day for tips. We already paid for WiFi fee in advance for a 30% discount). There may be an occasional bar tab when we may have a drink outside the Captain’s Club hours of operation. There may be other incidentals here and there.
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| A barge pulls up alongside the ship for refueling. |
I usually purchase a few Lancome mascaras (duty-free) on most cruises, which I can rarely find in most countries, a luxury purchase I provide myself when available. After all, I want to be able to bat my lashes at my attentive husband, and this brand, more than the drugstore variety, seems to make doing so possible.
Today, with shuttle bus tickets in hand, we plan to exit the ship to check out the town of Pisco, Peru, the gateway to Machu Picchu. Although there’s not a lot to do there and we’ll be back in the future, we wanted to get off the ship today to take some photos to share with our readers.
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| Crowds of passengers returning to the ship after going ashore. |
Once we return later in the day, Tom will watch the Minnesota Vikings football game on his laptop using NFL GamePass while I work out and sort through the day’s photos and respond to emails from our dear readers. Each day brings many beautiful messages, all of which we react to no later than 24 hours after they’re received.
May you have a lovely day, perhaps some football, maybe some sunshine, and maybe some “light” in your life.
Photo from one year ago today, December 3, 2016:
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| View from the veranda at the Pelican Point Sanctuary in St. Helens, Tasmania, where we stayed one night on our road trip to Penguin. For more details, please click here. |