Distance from Huatulco to San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua – 655 Nautical Miles
Still haven’t found the secret to a good night’s sleep. Seas were pretty smooth but the ship still has a vibration (exogenous [waves and current] or endogenous [who knows]).
Breakfast was standard this morning but because of the early excursions, the Lido Buffet was pretty crowded. Later on, the ship will be a quiet, peaceful, and most importantly, air-conditioned, place.
San Juan del Sur is a tender port and we have been here several times, the most recent being just a few weeks ago (during a town-wide power outage). It was so hot the last time we were here that we abandoned our plan of seeing the town and headed back to our ship. On this day, I am concerned not only about the heat but the fact that it is Sunday and everything might be closed.
We were unsuccessful in getting an excursion today so we will go into town and walk a bit – again, it will be hot so that probably won’t be a long walk.
We tendered into the town about 10:30 AM (no tender tickets of Crystal - you just hop down to the pontoon when you are ready to go) – the ride is pretty short (about 10 minutes) – the Symphony tenders do not have jump seats so I couldn’t get a picture of the ship from the tender. The tender docked at the new tender port – still being worked on. They do have the all important facilities at the port, which is a key to starting any exploration of the town.
San Juan Del Sur - Beach and Views
The beach and boardwalk area were full of locals - the vendors were out and there was music and dancing on a stage constructed on the side of the main street. There were people swimming and strolling along the sand. The restaurants were full of customers. San Juan Del Sur was humming.
We tried to find a spa the last time we were here and we did but, because of the power problem, we decided to return to the ship. We went back to the same spa and not only were they open on a Sunday but the staff actually remembered us. We both had very nice massages (mine was very Zen – almost like acupressure – but relaxing nevertheless). The owner of the place, who spoke perfect English (as did some of the others in the store - it seemed like a family business) told us she was originally from California but drove through Mexico to Nicaragua (quite an experience she said - I can only imagine).
It was hot and we did have to return to the ship.
Once back on board, we had lunch in the Lido Buffet – I tried the garden burger from the Trident Grill but the best thing on the menu today was the creamy Tuna Salad on the Lido Café buffet. This Tuna Salad is not the same one they use for their tuna melts. It is wonderful.
After lunch, we read in the Palm Court and I finally finished “The Messenger”. As with most of the Gabriel Allon novels, there was a very satisfying ending. I loaded the next David Silva novel on the Kindle.
View from Palm Court
We changed for dinner and attended the 5:00 PM Theme program in the Galaxy Lounge. Today’s performer was Susan Edwards Martin, a Broadway actress and singer. She seemed a bit unprepared but she did sound good on a few of her songs. She is working on a new show, “Unlimited”, opening in Los Angeles. We saw her around the ship - she seemed very nice.
Dinner tonight was in the Crystal Dining Room – Baby Spinach Soup (without the poached quail eggs), green salad with beets, risotto, which I exchanged for linguini with pesto and fava beans (good). I had the tapioca parfait with cherries and chocolate.
We passed on the Liars Club and instead listened to Gordon Porth on piano in the Crystal Plaza. He's terrific - perfect music to settle down by at the end of the day.
Back in the room now and the ride is smooth.
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