Carl & Judy's Ultimate Adventure

Just the title of today (ok, technically yesterday ... blogs are written a day after 😁) captures the imagination.   I can’t imagine anything other than ‘Carnival’ (Mardi Gras) surpassing all the decadent visions in my head. 🤣.   So ... get on with it! .... The first set of pics is as we entered the bay and had a panoramic view of Rio.   The city literally covered 180ª of the horizon ... literally from one end of the bay to the other. And perched atop the central vista .... Christ! Day began early.   Arriving pier-side at 7:00, we were scheduled to muster for our excursion at 7:15 and be off the ship by 7:45.   No excursion in Brazil has gotten off on time, but. .... this one did!   Actually, turned out to be very well organized.   So, previous issues more likely Forteleza/Recife issues rather than than ‘Brazil’. Our excursion today is ‘Christ the Redeemer’, one of the platinum excursions included in our world cruiser package.   We were picked up...

We have rounded the “hump” of South America and begun to seriously sail south.   Two days at sea and then New Years’ Eve in Rio de Janeiro.   There was concern early on if we would go stir crazy on sea days.   Actually finding that we are really enjoying the sea days!   It makes it easier to run around at 100% on port days when you know you can recharge ‘tomorrow’.   It’s also giving us the opportunity to read, visit with new friends, work on pics and blogs (LOL!), and generally just roam our new home.   Just hanging on the pool deck sipping piña coladas (or ranch water). One thing I’ve been spending sea days on ... getting better at photography.   Most pics are being done on Aperture priority with manual adjustments of most of the other settings.   If the photo’s messed up, it’s ME, not the camera!   But it’s been incredibly fun seeing what a small change in an f-stop or changing ISO will completely change the composition of a photo. Got up ...

As Brazil’s fourth largest city, Recife offers a mixture of fascinating culture, entertainment, and thriving restaurant scene.   It’s a large modern city with charming historic quarters and numerous picturesque waterways. Ok, that’s what the daily compass is trying to sell .... we’ll see. Our excursion today is a city tour of Recife and its sister city of Olinda, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.   Off we go to meet our guide at the other end of the terminal building.   Seems the only ports Brazil has are working commercial ports (read container ships and tankers!), so must take shuttles to the terminals - no walking allowed. Our first stop, a local “urban beach” so we can appreciate the beauty of their beaches?!? OK (Seriously, the guide said this).   It is a nice beach, certainly much prettier than Forteleza.   But so are 100’s of beaches in the Caribbean.   A little humility?!?! One thing I will say about Brazilian cities .... they are huge!   From the ...

Better late than never?!?! We crossed the equator on Christmas morning.   Well, we actually crossed it 3 times ... to make sure we didn’t miss it, the captain crossed and then made a big circle.   So we crossed N-S, made a wide 180ª turn to cross S-N, then continued the turn to get back on track.   Other than that, no ceremony, no explanation, ... nothing.   Nothing to impress to a ship of Pollywogs what a momentous occasion they just lived through.   Oh, yes ... next day we received our certificates in our room. But wait!   Two days later we were all called to the pool deck as King Neptune held court.   Whaaat?!?!?   Officers on their first crossing, and certain passengers, were 'chosen' to stand in for the rest of us.   OK, it was not USN version, and very PG .... but it IS a cruise line after all .... LOL.

OK, so not the prettiest city.   It is a working port city, but as with most Brazilian cities (with the possible exception Brazília), they really are predominantly shanty towns.   Sorry .... So, the excursion we chose was the trip to Morro Branco Beach.   The excursion did not mention it was an hour and half bus ride! So off we go.   Probably the most disorganized excursion we’ve ever been on.   We finally get to the beach, an hour late.   At that point, we find that everything is extra .... want to sit/lie on the beach?   Must pay for the chair/lounge.   Umbrella is extra.   Want to go on a buggy ride?   Extra.   Oh, you want water?   Extra.   Food ... you guessed it, extra.   Everything felt like a rip-off. We chose to take a walk down the beach to look at the colored cliffs (We had packed our own water off the ship!).   The beach was renown for having different color sand, and most of the topography was made o...

We’re up early.   Wait ... why?!?   At sea, no kids (yes, Victoria - we’re talking about YOU!).   No place to be.   Why get up early?   Because, we are getting ready to cross the equator! Who knew that NOAA actually has a buoy marking the equator!?!?! Judy is excited ... she will no longer be a ‘Pollywog’! 😂   And ... here ... we ... go ... Yeaaaa!   One down, several to go!   Weather dependent, the captain plans to try to cross the Antarctic circle.   We of course will cross the International date line, and we will try to get north of Arctic circle this summer. Breakfast and then off to the Centrum to see the “Big Guy”.   (No!   The OTHER ‘Big Guy’!) ... 😂 All the kids taken care of, we found how Santa recovers from Christmas Eve.   He takes a cruise! We will likely spend the day at the same activity 🤣 ...    

Doesn’t seem like Christmas eve.   Beautiful sunny day, tropical breeze, ... Sailing just off the coast of Brazil, but no land in sight.   Making our way leisurely towards Forteleza at 13 kts in what “appears” to be pretty calm seas. Festivities planned for tonight.   Dinner tonight is formal.   After that, headliner show, Christmas carols in the Centrum and then ‘midnight Mass’ at 11:00. We’re off to dinner .... So ... what’s the headliner show tonight you ask?   Well, if you have an Elton John cover act, what can you follow that up with?   The Beatles, of course! They were actually very good, but not the ‘best’ we’ve seen.   I still think “Rain” does the best cover of the four lads.   Can Elvis be far behind on this cruise?!?! After the show, we move on to the Centrum.   This ship does not have a “Promenade” ... rather, it has a ‘Centrum’.   A central atrium that serves as the focal point of much of the ships activities.   Tonight...

Papillon.   Wait, What?!?!   What am I talking about? I hazard to guess that many of you have never heard of French Guiana, let alone “Devil’s Island.”   It was, however, the setting for the 1973 film ‘Papillon’ starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman as the main protagonists.  Great film; you need to watch it. The penal colony of Cayenne, commonly known as Devil's Island, was a French penal colony that operated for 100 years, from 1852 to 1952, and officially closed in 1953, in the Salvation Islands of French Guiana. It was notorious both for the staff's harsh treatment of detainees and the tropical climate and diseases that contributed to high mortality. The prison system had a death rate of 75 percent at its worst and was finally closed down in 1953. Devil's Island was also notorious for being used for the exile of French political prisoners, with the most famous being Captain Alfred Dreyfus, who had been accused of spying for Germany. The Dreyfus affair was a s...