The First Few Days On Board

This will be a brief post.  This is our third day on board Marina and it's been interesting but largely uneventful.  Leaving the B&B in La Punta, we took an Uber to the port.  The port of Callao is chaotic.  No one can drive into the port, so we were dropped at an area by the port and then had to take a shuttle bus to the ship.  Seemed simple enough but when the bus got to the entrance of the port we wound up waiting on the bus for about 45 minutes while the security people did whatever they were doing.  When we were finally allowed to approach the gate, a couple of people came on asking to see our passports and boarding passes.  After they slowly checked a few people, another man came on and told them they didn't have to do that!  So, finally, we were driven to the ship.  Fortunately, the check in process was easy and our suite was ready.  We successfully settled in for our 32 day stay.  It was nice to see so many of the officers, staff, and maitre d's that we know from previous cruises, though it seems that much of the wait staff is new.

With an overnight stay in Callao (Lima) we thought that we would venture out to Miraflores on Monday.  We've been there a couple of times before and were looking forward to a little time by the waterfront and a nice lunch.  But . . . the port was providing a shuttle only to La Perla where we could get a taxi or Uber to Miraflores, a 35 minute ride.  With limited time and all of the talk of unrest in Peru, we thought that maybe we just take the shuttle to La Perla and walk around there and get some lunch.  But . . . the local tourist person on board told us that there isn't much to do there and it might not be too safe away from the shuttle bus stop.  So . . . we decided to just spend the day on the ship.  It was a relaxing day with some walking and soaking!

Life on board is just so tough!

Today we are at sea, cruising up to Guayaquil where we will have 2 days since our stop in Salaverry, Peru was cancelled due to the unrest.  So, it's been another relaxing day including lunch with the Cruise Director and Assistant Cruise Director (Peter and Jason) the Captain's welcome party later.  We'll see what Guayaquil brings tomorrow.

One interesting thing on board is that they have had problems getting provisions to the ship.  It's not really a big deal but it does mean that there are no bananas and, therefore, no morning smoothies which is usually part of my go to breakfast.  Oh well, somehow we'll get by!

Not such a brief post after all!

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry