January 9 – At Sea

January 9, 2017 – At Sea sailing toward Manta, Ecuador
Woke to rainy skies outside. Had breakfast in the dining room with Linda. We both went light with a bowl of muesli and bananas.
On most sea days at 9am, the Cruise Director and Culinary Arts Hostess have “Good Morning Prinsendam ” . They go over the schedule and interview someone from the crew. Today Verity, our Cruise Director, interviewed Hannah, our Culinary Arts Hostess. It is interesting to learn how they got their job and their background
I have started packing for my 4 days off the ship but they have scheduled a Q&A at 1pm so I may be changing what I have packed. We are allowed one checked piece (max 50 lbs.) and one carry on (max 17 lbs). My 2 pieces together probably won’t exceed 20 lbs.
The 4 lectures today are “Lima, Arica, & Coquimbo” by the shore excursion staff, “Lima, Arica, & Coquimbo” by Brett, our location guide, “Ecuador – the leftover country”, and “Stargazing aboard the Prinsendam”. I am definitely attending the stargazing lecture but not sure about the rest.
We had a meeting to get more info about our trip tomorrow to the Galapagos. It sounds like it will be great but very tiring.
The astronomers lecture was very good. He said we should be able to see 5 planets, satellites, green flash, meteors and twilight arch in addition to the normal southern hemisphere constellations. He told us that the moon viewed from the southern hemisphere looks upside down.
I went to a Cellar Master Dinner tonight. It was 6 courses with matching wines. More about this I a few days when back on the ship. I need to sleep now because I have to be up by 3:30 for breakfast and the trip to the Galapagos.

The picture is the Ocean Bar on the Prinsendam.