KDslog Blog: 2015 Christmas Cruise, Day 8

Sunday, December 27th.

Decorations for Christmas around the ship

Today was the 7th day of the cruise, one week over already. We were scheduled to visit San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua. Princess describes "Nicaragua is the largest Central American nation and has stunning landscapes, vast cultural treasures, and an intriguing history. Until recent times Nicaragua was unfortunately known for the civil war (Sandinistas and Contras) that raged from the late 70s through much of the 80s. Today, the soldiers and guerrillas have given way to sightseeing in a beautiful country. From strolling the cobblestone streets of colonial Granada on Lake Nicaragua, to exploring one of the many volcanoes, Nicaragua has something for even the most seasoned traveler."

This is a tender port. I was a little nervous about getting off the ship. Princess said "our tenders berth at a very narrow floating pontoon with some steep steps. Due to the size of the pontoon, no assistance is available to our guests and therefore all guests going ashore today need to be able to walk unaided (there is no room for wheelchairs and not wide enough for walking frames) along a narrow, moving pontoon and negotiate approximately 8 very steep steps." Unfortunately, winds prevented us from going ashore so we never did find out if DeeAnn would have been able to go ashore.

We had booked an excursion separate from the cruise line. A number of people we met online arranged for an excursion with Edwin Ruiz of Macau Tours. He had great reviews and some of the other passengers have used him before and really enjoyed their tours. We felt bad for him because he was about to loss thousands of dollars in income for the day.

Kent on deck

Wheelhouse Bar

While we didn't get to see much of the city, we did see a large statue of Christ on the hill, much like Rio de Janiero has. We also observed several resorts along the beach. It looked like a nice city and we hope to return some day.

Statue of Christ atop the hill

San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua (as close as we got)

So it became another "at sea" day. Some passengers were upset, but for the most part we understood the concerns of the Captain that our safety came first. You could really tell the Captain very much regretted cancelling the port and worked hard to find an alternative. But since none were available, the crew quickly put together activities to keep us busy and happy. But we watched a few more videos and played a nice game of nerts. We saw a nice green sea turtle swimming alongside the ship. It must have been pretty big because we were 14 decks up when we saw it.


Menu for dinner

Playing nerts to pass the time

Ship log: At 0600, 'stand by below' was given to the engine control room and shortly afterwards we started to reduce speed as we made our approach to our anchorage position. With the assistance of he local pilot guiding us into position, the starboard anchor was let go at 0640. Captain decided to abort the port of call due to adverse weather condition (winds 35 knots gusting 50 knots). Noon position: 10°47.8N - 086°12.9W. Temperature 31°C (88°F). Wind: North Easterly Force 5. Barometer 1008.5, sunny skies.