Our FIrst Taste Of Life Aboard

Sunday 25 March

Not sure of the reason why, but I was wide awake by 06.00 this morning and spent over an hour sitting on the balcony, watching fishermen prepare their boats and nets for the day’s catch, as well as reading. The sun was up early and the sea sparkled blue in the rays. It was all very relaxing and hard to believe we would be leaving just a couple of hours later. The whole of the time we have been here I have eaten croissants and brie for breakfast, but again, for no particular reason, I ordered an omelette with cheese and tomato, which came crispy on the outside and only just cooked in the centre, followed by bread and acerola jam! I can count on one hand the number of times I have eaten jam at home in the last five – or even ten – years.

Daniel arrived early to collect us, and as soon as our luggage was stowed and we had said our “farewells” to the staff, we were on our way back to Rio, along the same route we had traveled eleven days ago. Colin and I reminisced about our time in Buzios, as we left the peninsula behind. Daniel stopped at a garage again, to fill up with gas – luckily they had some this time – a lead was attached to a pipe in the engine and made an explosive ‘whoosh’ as the gas entered the empty bottle situated somewhere at the rear of the vehicle. It only took a few minutes to fill – about 40 cubic metres – and cost just under 10 GBP! Daniel told us this would be sufficient to take him to Rio – about another 150 kms. On our way again, we decided not to stop at the shopping mall, but continue our journey on past fields and farms, tenements and shanty towns, back to the towering high rises around the bays at Rio. Sugar Loaf was clearly visible as we crossed the 14 kms span of the bridge into the city, but the statue of Christ the Redeemer was submerged in cloud. From the bridge we could see our ship moored across on the other side of the bay. It looked much smaller than when we had seen it in Punta Arenas as it was docked between two huge cargo-carrying vessels, but it was still very white. Although the sun was shining again by the time we reached the city, we had passed under some dark grey clouds on the way.

We drew up alongside a sign saying “baggage drop off”, and a group of men, each armed with a porter’s trolley, were waiting for passengers to arrive. Daniel unloaded our bags, and a ‘checker’ ensured they were all name-tagged, before being whisked away to be placed in our cabin – or should I say “stateroom” – we later found out that all the rooms are “staterooms”, it’s just some have gold key cards, others silver and lower decks have white. We were directed down a pathway to the next building, where staff awaited to check us on board, stamp our passports and extract our Brazilian visas, and security check our hand luggage. We had arrived in Rio in just two hours, so were a little earlier than the anticipated 13.00 boarding time, but others had already arrived before us, so we walked along the quay to the waiting boat. Close up the ship seemed huge, although it is only about half the size of some of the other cruise liners making this crossing. We climbed the stepped gangway to be greeted by more staff, collecting our passports and guiding us towards the Terrace Café where lunch was being served.

Quite a few passengers were already engaged in eating and drinking and all the window tables were taken. We chose a table for two next to another couple, who turned out to be English from Ashby de la Zouche – he – another Colin - a retired director of the old British Midland air company and she – Maureen – a championship golfer and marathon runner. Service here was going to be like at the Copacabana Palace – one waiter placing our napkins while another took our drinks orders –cocktails to celebrate our arrival. Everyone else was, of course, delighted to be starting this cruise, but for us it was a little sad as well as happy – when we finally disembarked at Barcelona in two weeks time, we would be nearly at the end of our epic adventure and returning to reality.

Colin and Maureen were a friendly chatty couple and we exchanged some experiences - they went to India last year and enthused about their travels which definitely put that continent back on our ‘to visit’ list – we had picked up on the recent disturbances and upheavals on news bulletins and consequently relegated this country down the line. We ate smoked salmon and roast beef (with a variety of interesting salads for me), before being informed via the PA system that our cabins were ready for occupation. Before finding our accommodation, we were advised to make our way to Deck 10 – just one floor up – and make our reservations for the two specialist restaurants there – the Polo Grill and Toscana, an Italian style eaterie. Two reservations for each were allowed at this time, and spaces were getting filled fast. Apparently, later in the cruise, there is not such a rush to eat in these restaurants and it may be possible to book other dates too. Other options for dining include the Terrace Café - where we had lunch - which becomes “Tapas” at night - and the Grand Dining Room, a large formal dining area, already laid out for dinner, with very pretty china and sparkling glassware and cutlery. Snacks are available at the Pool Bar – Deck 9 -and Horizons – Deck 10 – where you have a panoramic view of the ocean.

We walked down the two floors to Deck 7 to seek out our cabin – a large oblong room, with small pre-formed bathroom area, looking out to sea over a small balcony with chairs and table. It was all very light and calmly decorated in blues and creams and the bed seemed very comfortable. Together with robes, slippers, toiletries, a DVD service, extra cashmere blankets, and a tote bag, a bottle of Perrier Jouet was sitting invitingly in a large silver ice bucket. We would be happy here for the next two weeks, I am sure. Every day we would receive a newsletter updating us on all the activities – it’s a bit like an up-market holiday camp afloat. For the first time since the Trans Siberian train journey, we unpacked our cases and actually stowed our clothes in the wardrobes and drawers provided – I hope we will be able to fit everything back in and fasten our cases when we disembark. We then took the opportunity for the next hour, to explore all the different areas of the ship. We had a in depth tour of the spa area – Colin seems quite keen to have another massage – maybe this time with seaweed and other algae – and I made an appointment to have my hair cut again – with a very “nice” young man named Mark. We also booked on to a computer course for Wednesday for Adobe to learn how to make the most of our photographs.

At 17.00 we were all summonsed to the mustering stations wearing our life jackets for the mandatory drill. Our gathering point was in the Grand Dining Room where we had to find Area 6. After a demonstration on how to correctly fit a life jacket, we were all marched to our respective lifeboats – these weren’t the small rowing style boats I had expected, but huge motorized containers that held about fifty people each. I am not sure I could remember which boat was ours if it was necessary, but I am sure in the ensuing panic of an emergency any boat would do!!!

From here we made our way up to Deck 10 to the “jogging” track above the sunken pool and sunbed area - thirteen times round equals one mile! - to watch the ship creep away from Rio’s dockside and head out to the Atlantic Ocean. There were no tickertape celebrations on board, or brass band playing on the quay to celebrate our departure, just a small harbour escort boat to wave us off. Dusk was just falling as we rounded Sugar Loaf mountain – the statue was still shrouded in cloud – and we could see the cable cars still plying up and down the lines. We met up with Colin and Maureen again, by chance, and had a few drinks as we sailed out of the estuary into the ocean. We then made our way to the Grand Restaurant for dinner. My Colin had to change as he was still in cut offs and Tshirt – not allowed in the Dining Room - so we had another bottle of wine while waiting for his return. Dinner was a very formal gathering, with waiters hovering to answer your every whim. The menu was wide ranging, but Colin and I still ended up choosing steak – the lady on the next table advised us to avoid the veal and it was a bit tasteless. I can see that it will be possible to eat and drink all day on this cruise and one of the waiters told Colin not to worry as they had stair lifts and winches if he had any problems getting off the boat!!

After dinner we made our way to the show area, where the entertainers were being introduced before the music ensemble played a range of melodies. We moved away to the Casino area, and I enjoyed watching other people playing Black Jack and poker. They all seemed to lose their chips, but enjoyed doing so – the table limit for each bet is US $100 and several seemed to be using the dark blue chip that represented this amount – but I think this is probably peanuts compared with Las Vegas. The slot machines were very popular, especially with the Asian passengers, and the bells were continually pinging, but not accompanied by the sudden rush of coins. By now it was around 23.00 and we were beginning to feel quite tired, so returned to our room and retired to bed – the end of our first day cruising. .