Saturday, February 20, 2016 – Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala - Mostly Sunny – 96F

Distance from Acajutla to Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala:  65 Nautical Miles

The Journey seemed to have drawn the short straw because the ship is parked in the commercial port.  From the deck, I can see the NCL Jewel docked at the cruise terminal.  It is good to see the Jewel again since we did a voyage on the ship back in the early days of guest lecturing.  The Journey is supplying free shuttle service to the cruise terminal which takes about 15 minutes (you have to go the long way to get there).

The Journey is arriving early and is leaving early in the afternoon.  We have no tours today because the good ones leave very early (the best excursion to Lake Atitlan leaves at 6:15 AM).  Instead, we are planning to stay on ship. 

I had my usual breakfast up on the back deck.  While the view was the greatest, the place was quiet because all of the passengers had departed on their early morning excursions.

After breakfast, I did about 20 laps around the track – I could see the volcanoes and one of them was puffing smoke.  Again, the view from Deck 10 was just cranes and commercial ships.

The Volcano on the Left is Puffing Smoke

See the Smoke

We decided to take the shuttle over to the Cruise Terminal, where the NCL Jewel was docked, to see if they had done anything new with the place.

Again, the ride took about 20 minutes as the bus had to go through the entire commercial port to get out on the road leading to the Cruise Port.  The Cruise Port may have added a few more vendors (a pizza place, for example) but it was essentially the same.  Lots of vendors selling the same wares.  We got our picture taken by the NCL photographer so there will be some confusion when our picture goes up on Cabin 4009 on the Jewel.    

Butterflies Everywhere

Me and the Mayan Statue (replica of course)

It was pretty hot (the hottest day of the cruise) so we didn’t stay long at the Cruise Port.

We had lunch in the Windows Café – The Seared Tuna Wrap is probably the best lunch item but very greasy  (that’s why it is so good).

The rest of the day was on the shady side of Deck 5, where I could get a good look at the goings on at the commercial port.

Things cooled off as we started our sail away. 

Puerto Quetzal Sail Away

There was some excitement as the pilot jumped from the Journey to the Pilot boat.

Adios, Senior Pilote

It was “Spanish Buffet Night” in the Windows Café – I had the pasta made to order (always good).

Tonight is Colleen Williamson’s second show (sharing time with Don Bryan).  We took the whole thing in and noted that Don had some new and very funny material.  Colleen’s show was great and her “Time to Say Goodbye” duet with Eric was fantastic.

After the show, we got someone to take our picture with Colleen.