Contributed by: filbert Saturday, June 02 2007 @ 07:27 PM CST
BROKEN LINKS!!!
April 30 (Monday, Day 4, At sea)
We settled quickly into the Mariner routine. Wake up around 9 AM ship’s time, take a quick shower, then to La Veranda restaurant for breakfast. Wander around the ship until the room is made up, then drop stuff off/pick stuff up, and go to lunch. Wander around the ship some more, then go back to the room and dress for dinner.
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Phil’s typical breakfast |
Today we were eating lunch by the pool, where it was windier than usual. We were at a table with an umbrella in it (just like a patio table). Phil was eyeing the umbrella suspiciously, and sure enough, it took to the air. Phil caught the expensive, high-quality umbrella and guided it down to the deck before it could hit anyone else. The pool bar staff then scurried over to secure the umbrella. Such excitement on a cruise ship!
Since we missed out on Cartagena, Colombia due to the medical evacuation, we had to stop at the Colombian island of San Andres, off the coast of Nicaragua in the Caribbean Sea. The reason had something to do with the Jones Act. This 1920 U.S. law, so we were told, requires non-American ships that are leaving one part of the US to stop at an international port before stopping in another US port. (We’re puzzled as to how this applies between the United States and the Panama Canal Zone, since we gave that back to the Panamanians in the 70s.) The bottom line is that since we didn’t make our scheduled stop at Cartagena, Colombia, we had to make a “technical” stop at San Andres. A tender did leave the boat with some people on it, but we guess they just had paperwork. From what we could see, though, San Andres looked absolutely beautiful and had at least five shades of blue and green water surrounding it. Phil looked on the internet and it is world famous for its snorkeling and diving so maybe we’ll have to come back on our own. The water looked magnificent.
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San Andres |
Tonight we had dinner at Signatures. Regent claims this to be the only restaurant outside of France to be sanctioned by Le Cordon Bleu. Bill (his real name), who was a guest on our last Regent cruise, joined us for dinner and the five of us had a fun time while eating French food. (Bill emailed us about 3 weeks prior to the cruise telling us that he had decided to take this cruise, in part, since we were taking it.) Mom and Dad went to the female singer’s show, while Phil, Janet and Bill went to the casino and we watched Bill play 3 card poker for a while. Phil and Janet then sat down at the blackjack table and won $30. The table was a $10 minimum which we didn’t realize until the first hand was being dealt. We only played two hands before beating a hasty retreat with our winnings.
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Signatures |
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Marinade de noix de petoncles a l’huile d’herbes, pommes de terre de deux facons |
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Cassolette d’escargots Signatures |
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Bisque de crustaces avec garniture d’avocat, miettes de crabe et tomate fraiche |
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Sorbet aux pommes et au thym |
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Saute de chambas epices aux asperorn vertes, a la crème de champangons |
When we returned to our suite, we had a note saying that we were being given $50 per person of shipboard credit due to the skipping of Cartagena. We have no idea what we will spend it on since the boutiques have the same merchandise as our last trip. Did we mention that alcohol is free on-board, so even spending the money on booze is out of the question!