Friday morning, just after sunrise, I was puzzled to see the ship turn around so that the sun was shining on our balcony (which meant we were going the wrong direction). Shortly after, the Captain made an announcement that we had just passed a fishing boat that we weren't sure if needed help and so we were turning around just to check on it. Rumor has it the people in the fishing boat were sleeping when we passed them the first time but fully awake when we came back and did not appear to need help. So we turned around once again and continued on our way. Turning around twice seemed to attract a flock of Masked Boobies. Here are a few photos of these really neat seabirds. The juveniles have more brown on their head.
We decided to try breakfast in the main dining room this morning. Food was very good but a few cruise staples that I really have enjoyed on other cruises are noticeably missing such as turkey sausages (or turkey bacon) and grilled tomatoes (grilled tomatoes later showed up regularly in the buffet).
After breakfast, we spent some time sitting in the Piazza near the International Cafe sipping lattes and eventually a Cartagena Cool, my new favorite drink (it's always 5 o'clock somewhere). We also attended a watch event in the shops where I won a raffle and $50 to spend in the shops.
We had booked Friday afternoon in the Sanctuary but saw that a Milwaukee Famous Fish Fry was on the menu in the main dining room and being from the Milwaukee area, we couldn't miss that. So we had a quick one course meal in the main dining room and really enjoyed the fish fry. The potato pancake was nothing to write home about but the fish was very good as was the coleslaw.
We had prime seats up near the window for the afternoon in the Sanctuary, which is an adults only retreat area with plush loungers and servers that serve you drinks and food from their special menu and afternoon tea (with scones, sandwiches, cakes, etc.). The weather was a bit cooler than when we were in Mexico with a high only in the low 80s and a nice breeze ran through the Sanctuary.
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| These chairs are the standard deck chairs outside the Sanctuary but you can see the entrance to the Sanctuary in the back. |
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| Our view |
After an afternoon in the Sanctuary, where we had just had afternoon tea, we decided on a more low-key dinner and just found something in the buffet and watched the sun set. About 4:30, the Captain had made an announcement that we were detouring to a port in Guatemala to let off a passenger that needed more medical treatment than the ship could provide. So we were anchored in an industrial port just off the coast of Guatemala as the sun began to set. All the ships in the harbor made a great backdrop for some photos and I think the Captain realized that because he didn't pull away until the second the sun had fully dropped below the horizon. He made a good thing out of a bad situation. I really hope the passenger is able to get the treatment they need and recovers.
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| Numerous small fishing boats gathered around, many of the fishermen taking cell phone photos - they probably don't see cruise ships often. |
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| A Brown Pelican enjoyed the sunset with us |
Saturday morning, my goal was to snag one of the few aft facing chairs on deck 16 so I made my way up to Coffee and Cones to get an Iced Latte around 7am, then walked through the buffet to fill a plate with breakfast food (they had grilled tomatoes!!!!), and made my way to the aft. People were not early risers this day it appears and so although it was already 8:30 a.m. as I typed this, the three chairs next to me still sat empty. I believe the four on the other side of the ship had been claimed by then.
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