Day 07 - 11/26 - Devil's Island - Not

Bad News & Good News

It was nice to not have an alarm go off to wake up by. Today was a short sea day before we were planned to reach Devil's Island, French Guiana at noon. We were having a leisurely breakfast when the Captain came on over the PA system and it took the breakfast attendees several moment to quiet down after they realized this was a serious announcement. It was so serious that the Captain repeated it. Due to a rocket launch at the nearby French Space Center scheduled for just after 6pm, the ship was banned from anchoring at Devil's Island which is just off the coast from the Guiana Space Center. So today would be a full sea day as we turned towards Brazil. The Captain further announced that we 'might' be able to see the launch from the aft of the ship, but there were no promises as the skies were overcast. Ian came on the PA system and announced that a revised When & Where would be shortly distributed. What a disappointment to miss Devil's Island, but what an opportunity to possibly see a rocket launch.

After breakfast we headed off to the Main Stage to attend the cultural presentation on Carnival by Rodrigo. It's important to be early to get a good seat, and we were able to get front row seats. It was a long and interesting presentation on the history of Carnival and my takeaway was how it is practiced differently throughout the country.

We learned that the Main Dining Room dinner would feature a "Prisoner" dinner. But reservations were required. While I took a nap before lunch, my wife secured reservations.  

At lunch the Captain announced that he received clearance for us to visit Devil's Island on our return trip from the Amazon on December 9. That was good news.

After lunch Ian presented a cool presentation on the real Pirates of the Caribbean. Then it was time for another nap, but first we had a visit from a front desk representative to confirm the room temperature (it's been 22º celcius or 72º F) since we boarded and we can't get it colder which makes sleeping a challenge. We've reported it daily to our cabin steward and once to the front desk. Other areas of the ship (Wajang and the Main Stage), are very chilly so I know it can be made colder.  

The prisoner dinner was really cool. The waiters and wine stewards were dressed in prison uniforms. The entire meal was served on tin trays which made the meal last just over an hour. Our table mates were both motorcyclists and that provided interesting conversation. During the dinner, the rocket launch occurred. Some guests were able to see it, but we didn't. However, one of the followers of my blog sent me the link to the launch which is pretty cool to watch.

http://www.cnes-csg.fr/web/CNES-CSG-fr/10805-le-centre-spatial-guyanais.php

Our evening entertainment was a Cellist, Mariusz, who was pretty good. We then watched the quintet on the Lincoln Center Stage perform Brahms Masterworks which was very good, and the venue was full once again.

Tomorrow is a sea day before reaching the Amazon River bar. Stay tuned for more.



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