Day #13…Thursday, February 12, 2015

Sea Day #5 Heading to Brazil

The fort entering Salvador Harbor

Today is our last of five sea days before we arrive in Salvador, Brazil.  There are a number of activities that may be of our interest today, so we awakened early and headed to breakfast before 8 A.M. 

We sat by the pool for a couple of hours and then the sun and heat become too intense for us to remain there any longer.  We headed to the theater for a special interest presentation titled “Life and Property Salvage at Sea” with guest lecturer, Captain Vincent Williams.  We then enjoyed a seafood lunch in the Caribe Café.  We just found that on sea days, a special menu is prepared in that area such as Mexican, Italian or seafood buffets.  Unfortunately, Princess had not announced the luncheon specials and so many passengers, like us, did not realize that we could enjoy some of our favorite varieties in that location.

We watched the Ruby Princess Downs Horse Race in the Piazza and then headed to the art gallery for a special mystery sale before we reach Brazil.  We were able to get a very good deal on a picture for the house that Bonnie liked at the art auction several days ago.  The artwork will be delivered to our home after we get back to the states.

In the evening, we enjoyed listening to a talented Latin entertainer, Ruben Ruiz.  He played guitar and sang some beautiful songs, typical of the music of Brazil.  The Princess orchestra accompanied him and the trumpet player, Carlos, was amazing.  He is definitely one of the most talented trumpet musicians we have ever heard perform.  He is very young and is from the Phillipines (we think).  We will be trying to get more information about him later.

We then played euchre with Bill and Stella and met a fellow passenger from Calgary, Canada who is arranging a euchre tournament on board the ship.  We are interested in meeting other passengers who enjoy the game and will be looking forward to playing with more cruisers on sea days in the future. 

Tomorrow we will be docking at Salvador, Brazil at 7 A.M.  This will be a new country for us to visit and we are looking forward to docking in the port.  We actually will be visiting three (3) ports in Brazil (four (4) days with an overnight in Rio) which should make it worth the amount of money we each had to pay for our Brazilian visas.  At $160.00 each and also the added Visa Central fees, we need to get our money’s worth!