South America 2023 - day 10

Rain stops play - not really, we just have to keep under the sky bar’s balcony so we can still have breakfast outside at the Patio Grill despite the tumultuous downpour 2 meters away from us.

Our usual mad chef Julius isn’t here today so we eat from the normal menu, and after juice and fruit we go for an Emmental egg tagine, which is actually enough for us to share but we get one each - anyway there is still room for an almond croissant.

The schedule incorrectly says today is a sea day, but in fact we’re not saline yet, it’s 20+ hours before we emerge from the mouth of the Amazon (sorry for that awful pun!) Today’s port is cancelled for “operational reasons” which obviously covers a multitude of issues we don’t need to know about, so after breakfast we observe the rain has calmed down and we don waterproof shoes to get treading the teak on deck nine. It’s a great time to do it as no-one else is out, and we clock up a mile before the rain gets too much.

Then we go downstairs to deck five and carry on for a while, only to be thwarted again by the fire in the laundry room - not really, it’s just a drill! Towards the end of the drill all staff do a lifeboat muster so we opt to get out of their way - and the rain is easing again so we pop back to nine to finish off five miles.

As we walk the jungle is all around - the Amazon is wide so it’s not always close but occasionally we get near to the vegetation. As we pass tributaries we see how the muddy Amazon meets the mostly peaty feeders. It’s a regular phenomenon caused by speed, temperature and the different pH - Amazon is between 5 and 6 but the peat rivers are likely to be between 2 and 3 (both mph and acidity.) This makes any discharge flow separately for a while. We have plenty of hitch-hikers, beetles, crickets, moths, bees.

There is supposed to be a poolside cooking demonstration, it is moved to the Colonnade, the casual restaurant we never visit, but it’s also reduced to an excuse to pimp more food - obviously I have to test the quality and enjoy a delightful tuna tartare on the sly.

It’s time for lunch and we request a custom pizza from the grill - half pepperoni and half mushroom. Just perfect and eaten in the dry ow the rain has cleared up.

We spend the afternoon lounging around, watching staff set up for the band who will play for 15:00 cocktails, then enjoying their music. It rains gently throughout but not enough to matter.

Our schedule is tight today so we only get an hour in the jacuzzi. We manage a new cocktail - passion fruit and kiwi margarita - before changing to go to a guest pianist performance, he plays film scores - it’s a great show.

Then we rush back to shower and dress for dinner, enjoy lobster raviolo, pear and cheese salad, clam chowder, lamb and then almond soufflé - all yummy.

Then it’s back for the main event. After Cruise Director Jan, it’s the first show from our friends Matthew and Jahz. Matthew was Aladdin a while ago (he jokes he’s now old enough to be Aladdin’s dad!) but he sings from a variety of shows, some duetting with Jahz. Also from Sheffield, we double the Yorkshireman score in the theatre temporarily!!