Monday, February 19

Love these sea days! I actually got to lie out in the sun for a (very) few minutes without getting fried. After dinner Jill and John and Lillian and I went to the show in the lounge with a fine singer named Nick who specializes in Neil Diamond stuff. I never liked "Red Red Wine" when it was popular in the upbeat version years ago, but Nick did it as a ballad, and it was really nice. Then there was an hysterically funny magician/comedian named Andy. Both were really nice guys from the UK with whom John and I had spent part of the afternoon chatting. Too bad their time on board will be up in Salvador. I wouldn’t have minded a few more performances from them.

While the evening entertainment doesn’t run to the big flashy shows on some of nthe larger ships, they have had a fine variety of acts come and go the past 46 days. Singers, comedians, musicians, and from every genre from pop to classical. Not all appeal to me, but something for everyone. Also the "permanent" musical groups are quite good. I don’t happen to like the port lecturer’s style, but they have had a series of excellent Exploration Lecturers covering history, geology, zoology and most of the other topics anyone would want to know about our itinerary.

Tuesday, February 20

There are seven cruise ships docked at Bahia de Salvador today for Carnaval night: MSC Armonia, Costa Fortuna, Explorer, Island Sea, Sky Wonder, Prinsendam, and Grand Mistral. Way too many tourists for my taste. However, Jill and I took a taxi to the Mercado Model or artisans’ market. Interesting, crowded, and extremely hot and sticky so we only stayed about an hour and were back at the ship by lunchtime. We don’t sail until about 11:00 p.m. (our first evening sailing) and the other ships lit up are lovely, as you can see.