FORTALEZA, BRAZIL
Brazil’s 4th largest city (2.5 million people) and located just below the equator we found Fortaleza to be an inviting city. Had no trouble finding English speaking, US $ accepting locals. They were even glad to give change in US dollars. The local currency is the Real (US $1 = R$2.30)

From the ship, we caught a free shuttle offered by H Stern (diamond dealers). This took us to downtown where we walked the boardwalk past several beaches including Mucuripe, Meireles and Iracema. Because it was Sunday, there were many locals enjoying the day doing everything from volleyball, and soccer to massages and siestas. Coconuts are definitely the drink of choice. There were countless vendors like the one shown in my pics as well as coconut in all the restaurants. When we stopped to try the local beer and drink (Cachaqa), I even observed them grilling the chicken and beef in coconut juice.

After viewing the English Bridge (which is actually a pier) we headed in to the cultural center, the Centro Mercado and ending at the Metropolitan Cathedral (all shown on my pics). By then, we had walked about 6 km and the sun was very intense, so we negotiated a taxi to return us to the ship.

During our walking tour we saw and smelled some less than desirable areas, but I did learn that they had just had a Carnival celebration the night before we arrived and that some of the trash was likely from that festival.

CROSSING THE EQUATOR
Viewing my photo’s you will see what looks like a mob at the center pool. This was the “Crossing the equator party where Poseidon, Neptune and countless other characters help count down to 0 degrees latitude on the large screen, followed by a long standing maritime tradition of “initiating the pollywogs”. This included such silliness as kissing a fish and throwing the officers in the pool. Much like New Years, it was a fun excuse to kiss and celebrate.

SEA DAYS
First let me share that if paying the extra for an ocean view cabin is not a burden on your finances, I highly recommend it. We have countless hours in an inside cabin and have enjoyed every one of them, but an ocean view cabin is like power windows and locks on your car, once you have enjoyed them it’s hard to go back. We love the extra square footage and view!

A typical sea day for us consists of a restaurant style breakfast. Its fun sitting at large tables meeting other passengers and learning from them. With a large population of international cultures on this ship there have been some fascinating conversations.

We then go for a walk on the athletic track followed by a couple hours of sunning, swimming and enjoying one of the many hot tubs. The sun is very strong, so close to the equator, so we freshen up and shift to inside activities like dance classes, educational seminars, games (family feud, bingo, bean bag toss, gin, etc) a workout at the gym and maybe even indulge in an afternoon nap.

We sometimes get some dancing in before heading off to a five course, five star dinner. Our table seats 10, now some of our closest friends on the ship.

Following dinner it’s more dancing. There is a great selection of music venues available from a Latin band to big band to rock n roll. Every night we also attend the headline show and end the evening with a couple more hours of dancing.