Onward and Upward – Cartegena, Columbia – [01/07/2013]

tumblr_lho6lxuZEi1qa70eyo1_400Gradually, as the dust of the first few days settles and things start to swing into the day to day routine, the ship starts to relax. The bulk of the fast and furious work that always needs to be done within the first 72 hours of boarding is finished, and I can feel most of the knots in my shoulders loosening somewhat. Not totally, never totally, but they’re getting there. I’ve had time to look over the entertainment schedule for the next four months of my life, and have spotted at least one familiar name that makes me smile a great deal and one that makes my inner child absolutely squeal if it turns out to be what I think it is, but there’ll be more on that closer to the time.

The captain’s welcome receptions have come and gone, which means the first formal night of the season is done and dusted, and thankfully it went off without a hitch despite the fact that the weather was tossing us around like a ship in a bottle. The seas have since smoothed out and we’re steadily steaming our way towards our next destination.

Most of the guests this year are return cruisers, which is nice on us in some ways as it means for the most part they already know how things work. We don’t have to ‘train’ anyone so to speak. Though there are still the usual concerns about internet and accounts and such, we’re used to those and, despite the fact that they can be frustrating, have learned to take them in stride. We got a massive shipment of new books which I took great glee in unpacking as I was the one who requested them for the most part and there are some titles I’m truly thrilled to see back on my shelves. Including my long lost copy of The Lord of the Rings, which was stolen two years ago. Plus 15 boxes of new paperbacks for the exchange, which as of right this moment I don’t know precisely where I’m going to keep, but we’ll find somewhere.

The jewel in the tiara so to speak, is that the book of Where The Waves is now on display in every library in the fleet, something I never thought I’d honestly see, and one of the copies here has already been checked out.

Since people are inevitably curious, the itinerary for the first block of cruise is as follows:

Jan 9 – Panama Canal
Jan 10th – At Sea (Equator)
Jan 11th – Manta (Quito), Ecuador
Jan 12/13th – At Sea
Jan 14/15 – Callao (Lima), Peru
Jan 16th – General San Martín (Pisco), Peru
Jan 17/18th/19/20 – At Sea
Jan 21st – Easter Island
Jan 22/23 – At Sea
Jan 24 – Scenic cruising Pitcairn Island
Jan 25/26th – At Sea
Jan 27th – Papeete, Tahiti
Jan 28th – Bahia d’ Opunoha, Moorea
Jan 29th – Vaitape, Bora Bora
Jan 30th –At Sea
 

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0 Responses to Onward and Upward – Cartegena, Columbia – [01/07/2013]

  1. donmccaskill says:

    Sounds like a great trip this time. I expect to see some awesome pics 🙂

    Glad to hear that ‘Where the Waves’ is getting such good reception.

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