Equador to Lima

Wednesday, December 20, 2023
Lima, Callao Region, Peru
Dec. 17. At Sea. 78, noticibly cooler. Seas 4’. 
About the ship, when we boarded on Dec. 4th it was already decorated for Christmas. It is all done in a beautiful, almost understated, elegance. It’s all mostly silver, with some occasional gold. The only red, are the large live pointsetta by the elevator doors on every floor. As for the crew/service; apparently over 50% of the crew are on their first contract, so there are some training issues. The service is inconsistent, ranging from too many trying to serve us, to no one in sight for 10 mins! We have, however, established a small number of staff who are more than solicitous to us. So, for us, it’s all good! To us, a new Regent tradition; when a cruise is more than 11 days, and a sea day falls on a Sunday, they put on a “gala” Sunday Brunch in Compass Rose. Well the stars did align today for this treat. The Brunch was at 10:30-1pm, so we started our day with coffee in Coffee Connection. We then went to a 10am lecture about Thor Heyerdahl. Fascinating. We met at 11:30 for the Brunch. It really was quite the gala. I’m wondering if they are now doing this instead of the on-deck b-b-q’s that were similar and maybe more difficult to put on. There were waiters circulating with Bloody Mary’s, Mimosos and Champagne! Food was from Sushi to carved Ham, eggs to order, shrimp, all kinds of casseroles, even lasagna! I did have 3 glasses of champagne ( That’s how I’m feeling today !)  We rested up a bit after the brunch then went to Magic Lessons, that the entertainer currently on board put on. That was fun and interesting. Tonight was the crew farewell show “Krew Kapers”. As always, it was heartwarming, and interestingly, for the first time in 15 years of Regent Cruising, a new choreography and set of skits. We had our usual dinner in CR, which we lingered over til show time. I’m still not up to staying up for the show, but L&O did go.
Dec. 18. Salaverry, Peru. 75, cloudy. Hazy or smoggy or maybe it’s sand!
What a surprise to watch the ship dock this morning. We went from rain forest to a landscape of sand dunes and sand rock mountains . I guess I know nothing about Peru, and I’m finding how much more I didn’t know! This landscape reminds me Aquaba, Jordan, and interestingly,  the place we visited, Chan Chan was, although completely different, but also very reminiscent of Petra Jordan. At the last minute, I changed our tour from something downtown to “Chan Chan, the City of Palaces”. I’m so glad I did, but I wish I had better internet and the time to further  research this amazing place and associated culture. This UNESCO archeological site  was opened in 1986. The Chimor people’s built and occupied the area from the 6th century ( or maybe 1000bc?) to the 15th century  when the Mayans conquered, sort of.  The Mayans only ruled the area for 60 years before the Spaniard invaded. I may have the history all wrong. It is quite confusing. Anyway, the site is a huge archeological dig. There are 10 “palaces” e.g. common temples, located on the several square mile site. Only one of these is partially/mostly excavated.  My pictures don’t do justice to the magnitude or the intricacy of the area. I’m still confused about the size of each “palace” . The guide said it was 11 Hectares, but that’s not translating right to me. I would guess , maybe 2-3 Acres. We drove about 45 minutes from the ship to the site. We spent 1 1/12 hours walking though the site, then at little time at the museum associated with the site. We both were fascinated and ranked this tour up as one of our favorites ever! Maybe what was most mind blowing was that we had never heard of this culture or site before. We did the usual evening routine; cocktail Observation lounge, dinner CR, skipped the show, although I’m just about feeling up to going!
Dec. 19. Lima, Peru, 74, hazy.
We turned in our tour tickets for today, as the tours all started later and didn’t get back til after 6pm. Instead we took the 45 min. shuttle to town. The shuttles were running every hour until 1am! (We are in port overnight). Our plan was to take the shuttle then take a Hop-on-hop-off tour and see the city that way. The boat didn’t dock til 11am due to “harbor traffic”. We did get the noon shuttle, but just missed a Hop-on-Off so would have had to wait 1 1/2 hours, so we bagged that idea and just spent  1 1/2 hours in the beautiful Mira Flores neighborhood. The city seem to be built up on huge cliffs ( 10- 20 stories high) overlooking the Pacific. This neighborhood is all high end apartments and Hotels. There is a beautiful large park on the cliff edge and under the park, built into the cliff is a 4 story mall having every American mall store imaginable,  from Sketches to TGI Friday. We grabbed a bite at Burger King! After wandering the mall, we took the shuttle back to the ship. We plan to try again tomorrow to shuttle and do the Hop-on-off. Back at the ship, we had received a notice that Brazil is going to require American citizens to have Visas . If we don’t get one we cannot stay on the ship!  I don’t know what they would do to us…fly us home from Argentina maybe. Anyway, I started the almost impossible task of applying for our visas. It’s all catch-22, maybe on purpose. They need a .jpeg of our passports, but, oops, we don’t have our passports because Peru required they be collected and held by the ship. They even want a pdf of our bank statement showing we have at least $2,000 in the bank. Do I want to give Brazil my bank account number? I don’t think so, but there is no choice! After 45 mins., I think I got mine done, now to work on George’s. Anyway, usual evening activities. There is no show tonight as it’s the last night of the first leg. 600 people are getting off and 600 new people coming on tomorrow. We had an after dinner Drink in the Splendor Lounge.
Dec. 20. Lima, 76, cloudy.
Ok, the people staying on and having to do this visa thing are besides themselves. The IT guy is helping people, but even with his help it’s taking hours of frustration. I managed to finish ours this morning. Hopefully I got it right. No one can quite believe that I did it myself! All the people leaving today were off the ship by 9am. We took the 10am shuttle to town and did get on the 11am Hop-on-hop-off. It was fine, but there is only one bus and round trip is 1 1/2 hour, so if one wanted to get off at any of the 6 stops, one would have to then wait 1 1/2 hour for the next bus! We rode around for over an hour then got off at the last stop and walked along the cliff for maybe 3/4 mile back to the mall, where our shuttle goes from.  As South American time seems to be a little irrelevant,   our 1:15 shuttle arrived at 1:35 and left at 2:00. We got back to the ship at 2:30 and shopped the 4 stalls of locals with genuine local wares on the dock. Much cheaper and nicer stuff than in the American style Mall. We have always found that the shopping on the docks or cruise ports is way better than in town. We had a late lunch by the pool, a very quick nap til time for cocktails and dinner. We had dinner in Prime 7 at our fabulous table all the way in the back. We left port about 7:30, so got to watch the lights recede over the best dinner yet in Prime 7.
Other Entries

Comments

Debbie
2023-12-21

Glad you are feeling almost normal. You are a rockstar with the Brazilian visa! The ship pictures are gorgeous. I would have enjoyed the Chimor trip. Merry Christmas to you and George.

Marcie
2023-12-21

We were surprised that the ship was already decorated. Looks great! Hope you are feeling better Dori - no fun being under the weather while trying to keep up with the schedule of happenings. Can’t believe the Visa trick. Clearly Regents responsibility!! Pics are great - we are enjoying all this. ❤️❤️

karenwirtzy
2023-12-22

Very interesting! Hope all works out with the Visas. It’s hard to believe there are places you weren’t aware of! Stay healthy now and have fun. Merry Christmas!

2025-02-08

Comment code: Ask author if the code is blank