Entering The Amazon

It’s about 1:00pm and we are about 3 hours away from crossing from the Atlantic Ocean over the Barra Norte at the Amazon Delta and following various courses towards Macapa, Brazil. The Amazon River is about 150 miles wide at the entry point from the Atlantic. The Captain has timed our arrival at the Barra Norte for high tide so the ship can enter the Amazon, because at other times the river is only 15 feet deep. From there we will proceed to Macapa and drop anchor for our immigration inspection into Brazil which should last approximately 3 hours. Following our departure from there we will continue west along the Amazon River for the next day until we reach Santarem, Brazil.  Tomorrow at 7:00am we cross the Equator.


Today at noon we attended the Most Traveled Luncheon hosted by the Captain. The food was great and we got to meet another couple who will also be traveling on the World Cruise next year. Tonight hardly anyone is going to eat in the dining room. Rather, everyone is staying in to view the Super Bowl on their stateroom TV’s or in the Cabaret Lounge.

Devil's Island

It's about 12:30pm and we just arrived at Devil's Island.  We won't be getting off at the island on this trip.  Plan on going ashore on the way back since we will be arriving earlier in the day and it should be much cooler.  The island is only 6.8 miles off the coast of French Guiana.  We depart here tonight at 6:00pm en route to Santarem, Brazil on the Amazon River some 3 days away.

Last night at the Captain's Circle Party, Captain Ivan Jerman awarded us the 2nd Place Most Traveled Passenger Award.  In this photo are me, Terri (Captain Circle Representative), Cindy and Captain Jerman.

Port of Spain

Today is another beautiful day in the West Indies. This morning we landed in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago. Actually we are on the island of Trinidad which is 37 miles wide by 50 miles long and just off the coast of Venezuela. Also here today is the Grand Princess which is parked directly behind our ship. Port of Spain is at 10 degrees north latitude. So our temperature is a little higher today. The temperature is expected to reach 89 degrees and the humidity is very high.

We went ashore and did a little looking in the shops. Our last trip here was during our trip down to Antarctica. Not much has changed since then.

I’m always looking at the ships and noticed an interesting addition on the aft of the Grand Princess this morning. They have placed a large remotely controlled searchlight, video camera, and fire nozzle. I can only imagine that this is an anti-piracy addition to this ship. I’m sure we will see more ships equipped this way in the future.

Before I forget, here is a photo of our dinner table.  We have late seating and are joined by old friends.  Back row left to right Barry, Sultan, Curt.  Front row, Pat, Lou, and Cindy.

Tonight at 6:00pm we depart for Devil’s Island some 622 miles away. We will have a sea day tomorrow and arrive on Devil’s Island (the old French Penal Colony) on Saturday at 1:30pm.

St. Lucia Again

Beautiful clear sky and a temperature of 83 degrees here in St. Lucia this morning. We don’t have anything planned today ashore. This is our 3 call on St. Lucia in the last 25 days. There are 3 ships here so the town is a little crowded with approximately 6000 people.


Tonight at 6:00pm we depart for Port of Spain, Trinidad with a scheduled arrival there tomorrow at 9:30am.

St. Barts

The sun greeted us as we arrived this morning at Gustavia, the capital of St. Barths (St. Barthelemy), French West Indies. This island is the home to multimillion-dollar yachts many of the world’s rich and wealthy. Christopher Columbus discovered this island in 1493 and named it after his brother Bartholomew. Although France, England and Sweden have claimed St. Barths over the years, it is now the territory of France and the Euro is the official currency. It is located in the Lesser Antilles, 15 miles southeast of St. Maarten. There are only 8,500 people on the island.

We rode one of the ship’s tenders into shore, just like the one hanging from the ship in the photo. We walked around town and looked in many of the fashionable shops.

While shopping I spotted a Dove Bar in the cabinet in this photo.

We sail tonight at 5:00pm for St. Lucia and will arrive there in the morning at 9:30am.

Boobie

Just thought I would post a photo of one of the Boobies that has been flying around the ship all day. These birds usually follow ships at sea for great distances. Today we have a flock of 6 of them cruising with us.

Bright Sunny Day

At noon today we are at Latitude 20 degrees 38 minutes North and Longitude 67 degrees 24 minutes West. The ship is still 305 miles from St. Barthelemy, Guadeloupe. We are traveling at 17 knots and appear to be well ahead of the scheduled arrival. The Captain just reported that we should be tied up in the harbor in the morning by 9:00am. The weather today is clear and sunny with a 20 knot wind and a sea swell of 9 feet. Temperature currently is 78 degrees.

Later this afternoon we will travel over the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean, the Puerto Rico Trench. This area of the Atlantic is 28, 230 feet deep or 5 ¼ miles.