Feb 5

February 5, 2010
We woke before 8 and when Ed started moving around, I got up. He dressed pretty quickly (for him) and went to the gym. I got ready and went to the internet café to check email, upload blog, and do some (unsuccessful as it turns out) searching for answers to the econ word scramble which is due today.
Port talk: Acapulco
I realize now how much we missed seeing when Ed and I had our honeymoon in Acapulco, the one and only time we’ve been there. We did see the cliff divers and Ed did go parasailing but we didn’t really see much of the local areas so we’re looking at the offerings to see which one we’ll do. The ship is in port for a very long day so we’ll have time on our own no matter what we do.
Trivia
We sat with Chuck from the 2008 cruise and 3 other folks. You can’t judge a book by it’s cover because one lady was relatively timid and I didn’t expect much. As it turns out, she was a very active participant and made some major contributions. We named ourselves the Dolt + 5 doltitos, the dolt being Chuck. We won by two points over the next highest group with 17 and collected our chit to exchange for fabulous gifts later on. (“fabulous gifts” is said tongue in cheek you understand.)
Lunch
We went to lunch and sat with a different group of folks and the timid lady joined us. Nothing earthshaking except we are all wondering about the news blockade we feel. Perhaps we can find a paper in Acapulco. CNN seems to repeat the same shows over and over and while I like Christiane Amanpour, I only need to see her show on a topic once. CNN here does not have all the variety of programs you enjoy where you are. Headline News (HLN) is just headlines and not much of that.
We had nothing earthshaking to do so we read on the balcony until our next door neighbor came out to smoke. Ed watched something on TV. I had made one last attempt to solve the econ quiz and finally gave up since I was wasting too much of the precious minutes on the internet.
Wine tasting
There were the usual 5 wines to try: 2 white, 2 red and 1 dessert. As you may expect, I enjoyed the dessert wine but could have lived without the others. But I love the cheeses they give you to “cleanse” your mouth. And you get a souvenir “shot glass”, er excuse me, dessert wine glass to take with you. This event is free to Elite members so it was easy enough to do and you learn a few tidbits that might come up in trivia some day…who knows?
Captain’s cocktail party
We had chocolate covered strawberries while we dressed for this formal event. When we got gussied up, we had formal portraits taken first. I was admonished to not look like I was choking Ed when I was wrapping my arms around him.
It turns out the Captain is the same one who took over the world cruise in Rome in 2008. He was much looser this evening and friendlier than he has been so far on this cruise. I recall having a fun conversation with him and his wife in La Havre on the last cruise. He will be leaving us in Cairns, Australia.
Ed and I did dance a little and managed not to stomp each other’s feet. The exhibitionists got on the dance floor and that pretty much meant that no one else was going out.
Dinner
We were all present and discussed 8 versus 6 at a table. Glen and Mickey will be leaving us in LA and asking for a different table so we could have only 6 is a real crap shoot. So when the head waiter came to collect information, the 6 of us who will remain asked for a table for 6 on the next leg. We discussed folks who are perpetually late and hold up the whole table and agreed no one should do that. So that may take care of that issue.
Entertainment
Tonite was Linda Gentile, a showy pianist who studied under Liberace. She’s a talented young woman who has a fantastic figure and shows that to it’s best advantage in her slinky dresses as well. At one point, she invited a fellow who had been married 55 yrs up to play a tune with her and the guy kept grabbing her around her waist despite several reminders from her. He finally got the message thankfully. She had Claude Eric come out to sing Phantom of the Opera while she played it and that was superb.
So now we are laying out our stuff for a 7:15 am gathering for tomorrow’s tour which is a long bus ride into the mountains of Guatamala to a gorgeous lake. This is where it was so difficult to decide what tour to take though I believe you won’t be disappointed no matter what you do. We love seeing the diverse countryside and the native peoples so it will never be a loss. This Lake is at 7000 ft. and so we’re taking light jackets.