Wednesday January 22nd, 2020 – Our first full day at sea. We had planned on a quick breakfast, Anita had gone to the gym early, then lectures. However, we met up with John & Lolita for breakfast and had a fascinating conversation for 3 hours. By that point it was lunch time and back to the cabin for relaxation before a nice pan-Asian dinner at the alternative dining option – Bamboo.
For the second day in a row Anne had me do one dance (somewhat of a disaster on my behalf), but all good fun. The evening show was two pianists playing simultaneously and brilliantly. The Piano Brothers (one English with extensive West End and Broadway experiences and the other Asian with many compositions to his name. As they said – they are “brothers” from different mothers and different fathers)!!
Thursday January 23, 2020 –
A one hour forward time change overnight led us to our second day at sea and much relaxation was in order. After Anne going to the gym and a leisurely breakfast, we attended two interesting lectures. The first was a port talk about Manaus, Brazil and the second about the Portuguese Empire.
Manaus is the Capital of the state of Amazonas, a large city (1.7MM population) at the confluence of the Amazon and the Black rivers in the heart of the Amazon jungle some 1,200 Kilometers inland along the Amazon River in the midst of the jungle, accessible by air or ship.
The “Portuguese Seaborne Empire” lecture, by Anthony Wynne Pereira an Oxford Don and Harvard PhD scholar described the formation of the Portuguese empire of which Brazil was the crowning glory. While the Spanish Empire in the Americas broke up into some 28 countries, the Portuguese possession of Brazil has remained intact. Portuguese is the 5th most populous spoken language on earth with some 250 MM native speakers and another 260MM that speak it as a second language.
After a nice wander around the ship’s open deck a few times, lunch and a peaceful afternoon led to the first formal night and the “Black and White Ball”.
Before dinner we attended the Captain’s cocktail party. We spoke to the Captain and asked if he could tell us the name of the new Cunard ship. He didn’t know but the guess seems to be Queen Anne. He also told us that there’s were 1081 passengers from 35 countries and 950 staff from 45 countries. The top six passenger countries were UK 950, USA 350, then Canada, Germany, Australia and in 6th place – Switzerland with 23 guests. He also chatted about the ports from Puerto Rico to Rio de Janiero, temperatures expected and that Manaus, our first Brazilian port of call was 1,200 kilometers up the Amazon River from the Atlantic Ocean.
Roger & Anne Travels 