No pink dolphin sightings for me yet, and I even got on the top of the tender coming and going to spot them. Today's port I just LOVED! A little village (I'm going to murder the spelling, I know) Boca de Valeria? Anyway, I had listened to all the info on the ports channel, so I knew what to expect. As reported, two little girls (probably 5 & 7) grabbed each of my hands and started just walking me up the path along the shore that was dotted with sights along the way....the church, some children "dressed" in costumes, small vendors, children with their "pets" (a couple of sloths and some green amphibian things) and at the end, the little girl on my right introduced me to her mother and baby sister! Then I think it was her house I went into (they are all on stilts). Some people onboard, more often the full SA people, have tired of going ashore for places like this...they've been aboard since January. But as a newbie to this part of the world, this is just my cup of tea. We weren't told to strip ourselves of jewelry and watches, and to hold our cash close, no dire warnings to watch out for unsavory ones. Here, it was like the "everything's a dollar" store. A dollar for a picture of the costumed child, dollar for a house tour, dollar for a string of beads, a dollar to each one who held your hand and walked you around. The really expensive "excursion" from the shore was a $5 canoe ride for an hour! This village only has about 75 residents. I think they came from all the neighboring "counties" today to greet us! We saw a big rain cloud that we were sure would hit us, so came back to the ship after about an hour ashore. Any professional or serious amateur photgrapher could have a hey day in this port.
Well back to the ship, I can't remember if I reported this before, but it seems that just before Rio, Steph Armengol (sp?) came aboard for a "listening" visit. It seems from people I have talked to who have been aboard the whole cruise, all suggestions have been addressed. So it is nice to know that there is more than "lip service" given to such comments. For the first time ever in my 25+ cruises on this line, I got a courtesy telephone call in my cabin from the General Manager, and each night I see officers out and about on this ship. Only one I haven't seen is the captain (but then I do sleep my time away most mornings if we are at sea!
Laundry service incredibly fast, unlike the Voyager! Room service prompt every time I've ordered. Special requests for in-cabin bar set up came on same night I requested, while on other cruises has not been delivered until the next day.
The only continuing complaint I have is nothing anyone can control, can't get my AOL email most days in the cabin!
