San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua - January 14…not so much

the History of Comedy

Clear skies, 30 degrees and very windy

When you learn that there is a plan B…expect it. Last night the ship’s captain told us to expect a windy night and large sea swells of up to 2 metres. “One hand for the ship,” he instructed, “and one hand for yourselves”…we’ve heard this advice before, and knew what it meant…don’t wear your highest shoes to dinner this evening! As it turned out, it wasn’t too bad at all, but I was glad I heeded his advice when choosing my wardrobe. I think this ship must be the best we’ve been on in terms of rocking and rolling. Sure, one of the first nights of the cruise was filled with creaking and squeaking, but had the captain not told us to expect a bumpy ride, I wouldn’t have noticed a thing.

So…about the plan B…we were told not to be surprised if we had to pass on

vacherin

our port of San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua this morning. The problem with the Nicaragua port is that it is a tender port. This means that the ship will anchor a short distance away from land and we will get to the port on little boats. The rough seas and wind are brutal for both the anchor and the tender boats.

This plan B possibility seemed likely to us. A pilot (a sailor especially familiar with the area and who guides the ship into port – typical for each port) was getting on at 7:00 this morning to get us close to port, and we would be updated by 8:00. We decided to plan our morning despite us assuming the port would be blown off. If we were in fact able to go ahead with plan A, we had a tour departing at 8:50 and would have to be prepared for that. So…last night breakfast was ordered, and the alarm was set…when we looked out the window, before we were given the official go ahead for plan B, what we saw told us what we suspected…no Nicaragua. While we are no sailors, one look at the white caps

vacherin deconstructed

and we knew.

Sure enough…no Nicaragua. The swells were up to 3 meters and the wind gusts were about 70 knots (130 km/hr). Despite all of this, we were feeling fine and moving about the ship was fine too.

We were supposed to visit a volcano and a small town – this was after a 2-hour drive there and back. We always hate to miss a port, but Nicaragua wasn’t on our cruise bucket list, so we aren’t too devastated. 

The evening started with the second of 2 comedy shows this segment – “The History of Comedy” followed by dinner with a very interesting dessert called ‘vacherin’ – the most interesting part of it wasn’t the taste, which was good, but the most impressive part was how this dessert was constructed. It was a sorbet and ice cream island surrounded by meringue fort.