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After yesterday’s “adventure” a day at sea was a welcomed event.  No alarm was set and I slept until after 8 AM. There was an early morning bocce ball tournament on the top deck at 9:15AM that I wanted to participate in and I was glad I did as I managed to beat my opponent and gain a coveted 3 point Regent reward card to add to my collection. This was followed by a ladder golf competition against the ship’s senior staff (including the captain) where I beat my opponent and as a team the guest beat the ship’s team so we all walked away with 2 more points! I was amazed at how many guests are suddenly showing up for these games.

A bit of trivia: We know there are people from all over the world on board and I was curious how many came from where so I inquired. Here is what I learned. There are 300+ people from the US, 150 from the UK, 40 from Canada, 30 from Australia, 20 from Germany and smaller numbers from other countries.

I had a coupon for 50% off a massage and decided to have one to see if it would loosen up my hamstring muscle which began to ache slightly yesterday. It has been over 30 years since I last had a massage so it was a new learning experience for me. I must admit the warm oil and the gentle kneading of my body by the Philippine masseuse felt good, but I later found it did not eliminate the hamstring issue. I may have to try these more often, but not at the normal rates charged on a cruise ship.

It is definite warmer (85 degrees with 61% humidity) now that we are moving further south down the African coastline. Mid-morning the captain came onto give us more bad news; we will not be stopping at our next port of call, Ivory Coast. No reason was given, but we suspect there were issues related to health restrictions. Instead we will simply have another day at sea. Hopefully, there will not be more of these or it will mess up my goal of reaching 100 countries this trip.

The magician,  John Lanahan, offered a seminar on how some magic tricks are performed and it was a sellout crowd who attended. He performed several tricks where he showed us how it was done but also did a few that he did not disclose to us. It was a fun one hour.

Trivia found us taking 3rd place as we missed two answers, one relayed to the formal name of several Jewish holidays (no one on our team was Jewish) and the other was related to a nonsense poem called Jabberwocky.

On each Regent cruise there is a special cocktail party hosted for members of the Seven Seas Society, membership given to people with multiple nights spent on Regent ships. There are various categories of members based on the total number of nights sailing with Regent. The orchestra plays, there are fancy appetizers and drinks served and the Captain will present pins to new members reaching higher categories. It is very similar to what airlines do with their frequent flyer programs. Well, tonight there was a special Diamond award given to a gentlemen who has spent over 1,000 nights on Regent ships! If you figure it costs $800-1,000/night to sail with Regent no wonder they go out of their way to make people feel special! It is a goal we will never reach; we are simply gold members (>100 nights).

We again asked to share table in the the main dining room and we ended up with a gentleman from Melbourne, Australia who was alone. He was an accountant and still running a firm at the age of 81. I asked how he manage to get away so long and he said his daughter runs the company in his absence. We had a pleasant evening discussing various cruise lines, trips taken, life in Australia, etc. Yes, people do eat kangaroos. I really like the concept of indicating to the hostess whether you are willing to share a table.

Chris Hamilton, the pianist, was again the performer tonight and he ended the show with a fairly unique event. He said he has memorized the Oscar winning song from movies dating back to 1934. He invited the audience to call out a year (he collected 12) and he then played (in a continuous fashion) the song and the name of the movie it came from while blindfolded. I was impressed.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we were promised there would be plenty of turkey and all the trimmings served at dinner.

 

Our port of call today is Banjul, Gambia. Its official name is the “Republic of The Gambia”. It is the smallest country in Africa and is surrounded on the North, South and East by Senegal. On the west is the Atlantic Ocean. The Gambia River, which runs from the East to the West, splits the country in half. It’s current population is 1.87 Million (2013). The Portuguese were first here in 1455 but never created a presence. In 1765 Gambia became part of the British Empire and, as a result, the official language of the country is English. It gained its independence in 1965. Banjul is the capital of the country with a population of about 400,000, but it is only the 4th largest city in the country. 94 % of the population are followers of Islam.

The tour I picked was a long one in duration (8.5 hours) because it involved, first, a 2 hour boat ride up the Gambia River to the small port village of Albreda, which is then a short walk to Juffureh, the ancestral village and home of Kunta Kinteh, the subject of the now famous 1976 television documentary based on Alex Haley’s book:  “The Saga of an American Family”. We were warned that the boat taking us to the village would be pretty spartan (very basic are the words used, with no air conditioning, seating on plastic chairs, etc). That did not deter either of us as we wanted to seek out this piece of history we were aware of. We watched the ship video describing the trip which showed what I would call a fairly large yacht-type boat as our mode of transportation. No problem; we will manage.

When we arrived at the dock to board our boat for the ride up the river we did not see the pictured yacht; what we saw is shown in the picture below! What came to mind was “The African Queen”! Being the adventurous travelers we are, we took the change in stride and gingerly boarded the craft. Because there were many of us there were actually two boats of a similar design that would be making the trip. The good news is that the boats were open rather than the closed cabin expected with the original boat, so excessive heat would probably not be a problem. Also there was quite a breeze blowing when we left at 8AM thus making the ride comfortable. Both boats left the dock and proceeded upriver. That is when we ran into problem #1-there were waves on the river and suddenly water was being sprayed into the boats and onto us! Luckily they had side-screens made of colorful cotton cloth that could be pulled shut so we lost some of the breeze but avoided most of the water spray as we progressed up river. There was coffee (instant) and tea plus cookies available to help pass the time. The literature said you might want to bring a book to read but we figured it would be more fun to watch the scenery as we went. Unfortunately, the river is very wide  and there was nothing but mangroves on the shore so watching the world go by became boring pretty fast.

It did take all of two hours to reach our destination, the tiny village of Albreda where problem #2 showed up. There was a deteriorating concrete pier at the village but no evidence of cleats to tie up to. Also the wind was still blowing and the boat rocked in the wavy action of the river. The additional problem was that the tide was low and our boat sides were quite a bit below the edge of the pier, giving rise to the problem of how do we safely exit the boat to get onto land. After several attempts to somehow lash the boat to the pier the locals went to get their smaller skiffs with the idea of transferring us first to the skiff, then beaching the skiff to allow us to proceed to shore. It worked and luckily no one was injured as the transfers were made in bobbing waters. Many local men appeared to offer hand holds to us as we exited the boats. I had to laugh when it was my turn the young man said, “here, grandpa, hold my hand”! I could not question his choice of words as I am obviously a grandpa.

When ashore local guides took us around the area to see the slave museum which contained pictures and stories (sad era of history) about man’s inhumanity to his fellow man and to visit several other local sites related to the slave trade era. We stopped at the local preschool and were greeted by dozens of smiling, happy children who wanted to shake our hands and sing us a song. They were delightful!

We then were walked across the local “highway”(a dirt road) to the village of a Jufferuh, where we first met the village chief, in this instance it happened to be a women, who welcomed us to her village.

Once welcomed to the village we walked to the ancestral home of Kunta Kinteh to hear briefly his story of capture and life after being a slave, and then to meet and take photographs with an 8th generation descendant of his, an elderly women and her son. It was her father who first met Alex Haley in the 1970s. The family still Iives in the compound of very modest homes in the area. Yvonne questioned why Alex Haley and the TV producers who made so much money on the series did not do more for the village!

As we walked back to our boat for the return trip we encountered problem #3:  The wind was still blowing a bit, the water was still choppy and unfortunately the tide had dropped so the deck of our boats were even lower from the concrete pier than when we arrived. At first the thought was we would sit on the edge of the pier and jump the short distance to the boat’s deck where waiting hands of boat attendants would gather us onto the boat. Now, the people on this trip are of an advanced age and not as agile as they used to be which turned out to pose a tremendous problem as they either said they could not easily sit or jump so a Plan B  needed to be implemented. The new plan involved getting back into the local skiffs, ferried out to the larger ships and climbing back over the sides of the boat to get inside. And so it started. Unfortunately, in some cases people ended up on the wrong boat and needed to climb a second time to return to their proper boat. All this was done with the boats (big and small) bobbing in the water.  Again we were extremely lucky and the transfer was somehow accomplished without anyone being injured. The trip back found smoother waters but the wind was now gone and it was hotter as it was late in the day. They did serve us a surprisingly good buffet lunch of chicken, fish, pasta salad, rice and couscous salads on the trip back.

As we approached the dock in the harbor from which we left we ran into problem #4: the tide had fallen and the pier was WAY above the deck of our boats. How do we get off? There was no ladder on the pier and we certainly could not somehow propel ourselves upward by 3-4 feet to reach the pier. Solution: we basically climbed to the roof of our boat, climbed over the railing with two crew members supporting us from the back so we did not fall, while 2-3 local men, standing on the pier, grabbed our hands and literally picked us up and deposited us on the pier! It was a chaotic sight but successful! We all managed to safely exit the ship and return to safe ground!  Needless to say it was quite an experience and I can safely say everyone was very glad to get back to the safety of our ship.

Tonight we were treated to another show given by comedian/magician John Lanahan and he was as funny tonight as he was the first time we saw him-a very enjoyable entertainer.

Tomorrow is another day at sea. We enjoy the breakup of touring days with days at sea. It gives us a chance to relax and recover!

 

 

The captain addresses the ship at noon each day to update us on our position, the weather and sea conditions.  The temperature was 75 degrees, the sea depth was a huge 14,000 feet, the wind speed was 35 mph and the sea state was 7-9 foot waves. The sea conditions posed no problem with our ship, although there was a small degree of motion.

As has become our habit on days at sea we slept late, had a light breakfast at the coffee connection where we enjoy the fresh Americano they make for us. Yvonne chooses to read and I peruse the daily agenda looking for opportunities to earn more Regent Reward points.

One of today’s game was a variation of “corn hole” which I am quite familiar with. The difference with the ship’s version is that they place the two boards next to each other with two points awarded for hitting the hole on the first board and three points if you hit the hole on the second board. One point is awarded if you land on either board surface. The other unique aspect to the game is that the ship’s staff, including the Captain play against the passengers-one against one. If the passenger beats the staff member  (each person throws 4 bean bags) they get an award ticket worth one point. At the end of the competition (everyone who shows up gets to play) if the passengers as a whole beat the staff they get an additional one point reward. It is a popular event and it is not uncommon to have 20 or so passengers show up. There is a lot of ribbing that goes on between staff and  passengers during the event.

 

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On sea days the ship often will put on a special buffet at the Pool Grill. Today the buffet was advertised as being “French” so we went. Lots of cheeses and other French dishes were served.

Trivia has become a very popular event and we are finding we have to get there 30 minutes early to secure sufficient number of chairs to our team. We continue to have the same team: a couple from The UK (he is an actuary and a whiz at math), a couple from Australia and we are the token US couple to help with American type questions. We continue to do reasonably well, usually coming in at second place-with two points each! There is also a MENSA 5 question quiz published every day and we are attempting to figure out the often difficult questions.

The show tonight featured Shimi Goodman for his second show. He sometimes seems a bit over the top but I am sure the women love it.

Tomorrow we will be back on schedule and will be visiting Gambia on the coast of Africa.

 

 

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We were not supposed to visit this city but because of the cancellation of the visit to Senegal it became today’s destination. It is the capital of Cape Verde and is located on the southern tip of Santiago Island which is located in the southern part of the Cape Verde chain. The population is about 160,000. The island was discovered in 1460, but Praia dates to about 1615, still quite old by any US standards. A bit of trivia: Praia was the first stop of Charles Darwin and the HMS Beagle in 1832.

It was a Sunday so things were pretty quiet in Praia as we walked through the downtown area. It was not a quaint as Mindelo, but since it is the political capital of Cape Verde I was not surprised. There really was not much to see here.

We returned to the bus and proceeded to drive away from the city. The landscape became pretty barren and there seemed to be only one road leading to the northern end of the island. Our immediate goal was to visit the ruins of the Royal Fort Real de Sao Filipi which was built by the Portuguese from 1587-1593. It is located 120 meters above sea level and had a commanding view of the sea. Its purpose was to protect the town of Cidade Velha from roaming pirates like Sir Francis Drake.

After visiting the fort we we drove down to the village of Cidade Velha which was the first settlement in Cape Verde and its original capital. It dates back to 1462. Furthermore it is considered to be the first European colonial settlement in the tropics.

Cidade Velha’s port was a stopping place for two great navigators: Vasco da Gama in 1497, on his way to India, and  Christopher Columbus in 1498, while on his third voyage to the Americas. In 1522, it was the stopping place for the later explorer Ferdinand Magellan, sailing for Spain, on his way to circumnavigate the world.

We walked along what some say is the oldest (dating back to the 1400s) street in the tropics created by the Europeans, Rue de Banana, to see the old stone homes, the cobble stone streets and the 15th century church. It was certainly nicer than the walk through downtown Praia.There are reminders of the slave trade that occurred here, including the 1495 built church where slaves were supposedly baptized before being sold as slaves in the town square. The area sure has a lot of history to share. After the walking tour of the area and church we had some free time to spend at a local outdoor restaurant/bar that offered food, drink, and recorded local music. One of the passengers even danced with the waitress.

It was then back to the ship for the rest of the afternoon.

We had dinner reservations at the specialty restaurant, Prime 7, which specializes in steak dishes. We had said we would love to share a table and tonight, we were seated with a lovely couple from NYC, Marvin and Julie. Needless to say the conversation revolved a lot around what life in NYC was like.

The entertainment this evening was a show by the Production Staff singers called Broadway in Concert. I am always impressed by the singers as most seem to be from the UK with strong English accents. However, when they sing you would swear they were from the USA. I asked one of them how they did that and was told they all listen to a lot of US singers and simply pick up the accents from them.

Tomorrow we will have a day at sea, on our way to Gambia.

 

 

 

 

 

The Cape Verde island chain.The countdown begins!  Cape Verde is country #97 on my Countries Visited List.

Cape Verde is a group of 10 islands located 600-850 km off the most western point of Africa. It was uninhabited until the Portuguese landed there in the 15th century and claimed it. Because of its location it played prominently in the slave trade and later the commercial trade routes to the West. The total current population is 561,000 and 85% of the people are Christian. It achieved independence in 1975 and is considered a stable democracy. The official language is still Portuguese but Creole is commonly spoken amongst the inhabitants.

Mindelo is the port city on the island of Sao Vicente, with a population of about 70,000. It is noted for its culture, music and nightlife.  It was first settled in 1793 by the Portuguese. It is known for its elaborate carnival celebrations and our local guide claimed theirs was second to the one in Brazil in size and grandeur. I find that hard to believe as there are many other big carnival celebrations in the world. Surprisingly Mindelo, even with its small size, is considered the cultural capital of Cape Verde.

We had signed up for a 4 hour cultural tour of the city. It was basically a walking tour of the harbor area and nearby markets (fish, vegetable ), several surprisingly interesting art galleries and finally some free time in the local crafts market. The tour ended in a local bar/restaurant where we were entertained by local musicians and dancers who performed a series of local dances while we were served some snacks and drinks. I was surprised at the music, thinking it would be very African in nature. Not so, as it reminded us both of Latin America with a heavy emphasis on merengue-type melodies. I liked it! After the long tour we had taken in the Canary Islands the four hour tour proved to be just right! We were back on the ship in time for a shower and cocktails before dinner.

We had dinner with Jose and Maria, a couple from Madrid, Spain that I had met on an earlier tour.  Later on in the evening we attended the show which was a joint show, featuring pianist, Chris Hamilton, and singer, Shimi Goodman. Several years ago they collaborated and created the show we saw this evening.

Tomorrow we were supposed to be in Senegal which got cancelled and will, instead, be visiting another city in the Cape Verde chain, Praia, the capital city of Cape Verde, located on the island of Santiago.

 

 

 

 

The day brought some bad news from the Captain. We will not be going to Senegal because the harbor is too busy with commercial traffic. Bummer! There goes one of my new countries and it is highly unlikely (no, make that never likely) to be in the area to drop in for a visit. The captain said they are actively seeking an alternative port and will tell us more when the plans are completed.

It was another typical day at sea – sleep late, eat, read, play on board ship games, eat some more, perhaps take a nap, play trivia, dress for cocktails and dinner, watch the entertainment show and go to bed! Not a bad way to spend the day.

In the afternoon I attended a sad, sobering lecture about the history of slave trade that dominated several centuries in this part of the world. It was a sad commentary about man and his sometimes inhuman actions.

On a brighter side an interesting event occurred today. At yesterday’s trivia contest, held at 10 AM, many of the participants, including us, complained that trivia has ALWAYS been at 4:30 PM on Regent cruises, not at 10 AM in the morning when it often competed with the on-board lectures. John, the cruise director, who happened to be hosting the trivia event, said he would look into the situation and I, for one, was skeptical that they would change their schedules simply to accommodate us, but I was pleasantly surprised when today’s daily “Passages” newsletter showed up in our room last night with trivia positioned at 4:30 PM. Impressive! We did good once again,  coming in at 2nd place.

Later in the day the captain announced we would now be visiting another island in the Cape Verde chain before spending a day at sea (flipping the earlier itinerary where we were to spend a day at sea before visiting Senegal) and then returning to the original itinerary. Available tours at the new port of call, Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, would be posted to our rooms this evening. I was amazed that they were able to do this on such short notice but I am sure this is not the first time things like this have happened. And sure enough we found a printed list of tours we could take when we visit Praia.

The show this evening was an absolute hilarious comedian/magician named John Lenahan from the UK. The humor was fabulous and really overshadowed the pretty mundane magic tricks. I thoroughly enjoyed the show and hope he does another on this cruise.

Tomorrow we will be visiting Mindelo on the Cape Verde island of Santa Cruz de La Palma as originally planned.

 

Today was the first of back-to-back sea days. This cruise is actually well paced with only one or two ports visited before having another sea day or two. I had planned to try to catch up a bit on my blogs and Yvonne has discovered a great read that is commanding her attention (Under the Wide and Starry Sky by Nancy Horan). I also plan to try to add to my collection of Regent Reward cards by participating in some of the wacky contests that go on regularly through the day.

We did go to the morning trivia contest and ended up joining (to our good fortune) two other couples who were looking for some Americans to join them as they were from Australia and the UK. It worked to everyone’s benefit as we collected a second place prize, missing only one more answer than the winners.

Today the ship offered a special seafood extravaganza at the pool grill for lunch and we felt we should see what it entailed. There was a variety of grilled fish, grilled skewer combos of fish, lobster, squid, and scallops, plus sushi, paella, bouillabaisse, trays of chilled shrimp, pastry wrapped salmon, clams, oysters, etc, etc. We could not resist; we will grab a hamburger another day!

During the afternoon while Yvonne read I participated in several “competitions” like crazy golf shots and a carpet version of Bocci Ball (called Carpet Bowls). Managed to make a couple of points to add to the collection.

Another couple we met suggested we meet later that afternoon and try the “Name that Tune” trivia contest which we did. Apparently none of us remembered enough about some old tunes to allow us to make a decent showing.

At 6 PM there was a unique Regent event called the “Block Party” where you are invited to step outside your cabin with a wine glass to meet your neighbors as ship officers and staff pass through offering wine and canapés. It is a fine event that often lasts 45 minutes or so before people start wandering off for dinner. As it turned out one of the couples (neighbors) we met joined us for dinner and conversation after the event. He is a retired physician from Australia and we learned (much to Yvonne’s dismay) a lot about things we should see/do when we are in Australia!

The evening show featured a new performer, Chris Hamilton, a pianist from the UK who entertained us with a variety of musical tunes. An interesting thing he did was ask people for names of tunes they would like to hear which he jotted down and proceeded to play a continuous montage of about a dozen requested tunes without pausing, an impressive demonstration.

tomorrow will be another relaxing(?) day at sea.

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We are visiting two of the islands in the Canary Island chain, which is governed by Spain. This is the first one – Santa Cruz de la Palma. Santa Cruz is the capital of the island of La Palma with a population of about 16,000. The city dates back to 1492 and is the only major seaport on the island. La Palma is one of the 8 major islands that make up the Canary Island cluster where a total of 2.1 million people live. The islands lie about 100 km west of Morocco and are owned by Spain. La Palma lies on the western edge of the island cluster. La Palma is the 5th largest island in the chain and has a population of 85,840 of which 15,716 live in the port city of Santa Cruz de La Palma where we docked.

We selected a shorter four hour tour called “Volcanoes and Wine” as our tour today. By the way, Regent offers a variety of free (included in the fare) tours at each port plus sometimes a couple of special ones you would have to pay extra for. Often there are too many tours to choose from; it is hard to decide which one to pick! On the way to the volcano we stopped at several viewpoints to see the coastline below and the dozens of cloth covered structures that protect the banana plants growing inside them. It turns out growing and exporting bananas is a major business in the Canary Islands. At the stops we also got to see the results of lava flows from the 17th eruption of San Antonio.

Our stop at the Bodega Teneguia winery was a bit of a disappointment. The literature brags about the special grape that is grown on the island, the Malvasia grape, which supposedly produces a “fruit saturated aromatic wine”. Unfortunately we were not given a taste of that wine at the winery; instead we were served an inexpensive white and red wine from their list of offerings.

The tour got better then as we soon reached the crater of the San Antonio volcano, a classic example to behold. Its last major eruption was in 1677 but there was a minor one in 1971. The crater is well formed and trails have been made along its edge for visitors to explore. The crater is about 1 km in diameter and 100m deep. A grove of pine tress has emerged at the bottom of the crater. The major 2021 volcano eruption on this island occurred to the south of San Antonio, but has been quiet since then. After a bit of hiking and picture taking we worked our way back to the ship.

Dinner this evening was scheduled to be at one of the “fancy” restaurants, Chartreuse, which features a French inspired menu. When we made reservations we indicated that we would like to share a table so we could meet some fellow travelers. As we waited to check in the couple in front of us (who had also indicated a willingness to share) asked if the table companions would be German. When told it was unlikely, they chose to then eat alone. As it turned out when we checked in we were told they would have been our table companions. Since there were no others currently scheduled at our dining time (they limit the number/hour) we ended up at a cozy table for two! Oh well, we tried to be friendly! Dinner was excellent but I still fault them for not having French onion soup on their menu; it just does not seem right to not offer it in a French restaurant!

The evening show featured the second (and last) show by Lindsay Hamilton, who presented another spectacular, entertaining show.

Tomorrow we will be visiting another island in the chain-Tenerife.

Our first of quite a few “days at sea” on this voyage. Actually they are a welcome addition to the schedule as they offer an opportunity to simply relax and enjoy the amenities on the ship. Of course, the cruise lines go out of their way to fill the daily schedule with things to do that conflict with the notion of simply relaxing! And I admit I am vulnerable to their often tempting offerings. There are lectures on various topics. There are games that offer the lure of winning points that can be used to claim coveted (?) Regent gifts at the end of the cruise. There are mind games like Mensa questions and the proverbial trivia contests. There are casino tournaments and dance lessons. Supposedly there is an exercise gym! There is a daily “tea time” at 4 PM.  There is the spa and, of course, a sun deck and pool to gather some quality suntan time. Time will tell what happens to distract me from simply relaxing on a sea day during this trip!

The day we boarded the ship we immediately went to their well stocked library to grab a couple of books to read on the trip. Sad to say I have yet to be open my choices. Perhaps today will be the day to start.

There are multiple eating establishments for breakfast. There is the obvious “buffet” but Regent has elevated its stature by providing table cloths and sit down coffee service. There is an “order your own” eggs, waffles/ pancakes section with the freshly cooked items delivered to your table. There is the main dining room if you want a more quiet, serene atmosphere with menu service. There is the coffee cafe with a limited selection of commonly liked items and there is room service if you wish. We usually rotate venues, depending on the mood of the day. Today involved a trip to the buffet area.

We discovered a major scheduling faux pax on the part of the cruise line as they scheduled trivia at the same time as the lecture on Africa! We selected trivia today because we could watch the lecture on TV afterwards. Turned out to be a mistake as our team only got 8/15 questions correct, while the winning team got 13! Sample questions: What is the biggest member of the deer family? Which mammal has no vocal cords? What bone is a baby not born with? What is Shakespeare’s longest play?  Answers:  moose, giraffe, knee cap, and Hamlet! We missed them all!

Yvonne decided to try bingo and I went along to bring her luck, ha!  Should have stayed away as there was none for us this day. I skipped the Texas hold-em and blackjack tournaments, figuring to save my money for one on one activity with the blackjack dealer later in the cruise. By the way, table stakes have now gone up to $10 minimum- inflation has also hit the casino! Or they simply figure if you can afford to be on this ship you can afford a bit more on the gaming tables.

Later that afternoon Yvonne read and I ended up walking a mile (I think) on the top deck of the ship. The reason I said I think is that because of the ship’s size it takes 7 laps to make a mile and I often lose count of what lap I am on as I walk!

Tonight was the official Captain’s welcome so we dressed up a bit and joined the others in the main theater where the captain introduced his staff as we were served cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. It’s amazing at how diverse the top staff is; they are from all over the world. The various ship entertainers then did quick numbers to showcase their talents and let us know what to expect while on the ship. In addition to these people the ship brings other entertainers on board at various intervals to provide additional entertainment. Lindsay Hamilton was an example of that. She will do two shows and then disembark the ship while others will embark along the way.

We introduced ourselves to the couple sitting next to us; they happened to be from Houston, TX. As the event ended we asked if they had dinner plans; they did not and agreed to continue our conversation over dinner at the restaurant that is set up each evening in the buffet area that specializes in Italian food. He was an executive with oil companies and they lived extensively overseas, including Singapore and Oman so the conversation included a lot of questions by us about their experiences there.

The evening show featured the production cast and focused on the age of Hollywood musicals. These ten young people come from the UK, Australia and New Zealand along with a few Americans. They are super talented and the costumes were elegant. It was a very good show.

Tomorrow we will be the first of our two stops in the Canary Islands, when we dock at Santa Cruz de la Palma.