One of the craft shops

We arrived in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala around 7:00. With nothing planned for the day, Ann and I decided to have a liesurely breakfast in the dining room. Our tablemates were a retired fireman and his wife from Palm Springs and Montana.

Ann decided to swim this morning so I went onshore. At the end of the dock there was an oasis for tourists and little else. It had a shaded market area with vendors selling crafts and souvenirs. It was clean and neat with reasonable prices. There were bars, a restaurant and live Marimba music. On one side, there was an open-air cafe selling wifi connections. I took a tour of the market and then went back to the ship to pick up Ann and my iPad.

Back at the market, I worked the Internet while Ann shopped. I took an hour and cleaned up my email. She took 10 minutes and didn't buy anything. It was hot.

We had lunch at the buffet on the Lido deck with retired middle school teachers from Newport Beach. After lunch we went to the gym to weigh ourselves. Big mistake. Ann decided to go to the day's movie, Brooklyn. She thought that it was depressing. I read the book a few years ago and remember little about it.

Because we hadn't done much in the last few ports, we decided to sign up for excursions in the next two ports. Life can get boring if you are inactive on a cruise. Chances are slim that you will return to any of these ports so you should get out and see the countryside.

We followed our new routine this evening. The Ocean Bar for vodka and tonics, dinner in the dining room, laps around the Promenade deck and showtime in the Vista Lounge. For dinner I had crab cakes, pina colada soup, a big salad and a rich thousand layers dessert. Ann had asparagus salad, a mixed grill and the same rich dessert. The entertainment was a review of show songs with the ship's permanent song and dance troop.

I need to mention that Mario, our cruise director, introduces all of the acts. He is very outgoing and humorous. His evening apparel is special. Mario gives announcements over the ship's intercom during the day. He also has a daily TV show outlining the day's activities and he leads the daily team trivia contest. He has a lot of energy.

This is how we got there: