twangster

Maybe now there will be fewer Diamond members shunning Pinnacles who visit this lounge.  
Despite being able to access another lounge at times many Pinnacles will use the Crown Lounge to meet friends who aren't Pinnacle.  It wasn't unheard of for some Diamond member to tell a Pinnacle to get out of "their" lounge.  

These male Magnificent Frigatebirds are mostly likely younger males who have matured enough to have the inflatable red chest.  So impressed with their new capability these young male birds inflate their chest and take flight only to discover how awkward it is to fly with a fully inflated chest. 
 

Older males who have been around the block a few times probably know better.
With that it was time to head back to the ship.

 

As we continued along the trail we came to a beach albeit a rocky one.


Sea Lion family.


Mangrove Finch



A young Booby.

Another male Magnificent Frigatebird showing off his chest.

A Blue Footed Booby near a nest.

North Seymour had many Blue Footed Boobies.  Along our trail were three sets of Boobies who appeared to going through mating rituals.


"Look at my blue feet!"


They were so close we had to walk around them to maintain some distance.  Absolutely no fear of us.



Pictures don't do this justice, you have to experience it right in front of you.

Check out those blue feet!

This guy had a slight turquoise hue to his feet which he continued to lift up and down to make sure she saw them.

Quite the moves.


She must have been impressed because it looks like success!

At the same as this tour an optional complimentary Sea Kayak excursion from our ship was exploring the coast.

More variations of finch.


A Yellow Warbler.




Researchers have discovered that the finch can evolve with one generation.  Pretty remarkable.

A young Booby close to our trail watches us with curiosity.

If it's nesting in the trees it must be a Red Footed Booby chick.

Who brought their pet dog?  Oops, just another Galapagos Sea Lion.

With that it was getting close to sunset and time to return to the ship.


 

Our guide takes us in the shallow tidal pool among the mangroves. 
What pictures can't portray are the sounds of the various birds in the mangroves calling out to each other.

A number of Red Footed Boobies are at various heights in the mangroves.  It was basically like a Booby condo.  




Can you find the Booby in the mangroves?

Our third excursion of the day was a nature walk starting with a wet landing on the beach of Genovesa.  
Sea Lions were resting on the beach when we arrived and they completely ignored us.

A pair of Swallow-tailed Gulls.  The red ring around the eyes is only present during mating season.  



A young Frigatebird waits on the nest for a parent to return with food.

Along the beach more Sea Lions are resting.  This is a male Sea Lion along with... 

... A female Sea Lion nursing a pup.



A Nazca Booby with a chick.

Another group from our ship is greeted by a very playful Sea Lion pup who was zooming around the sheltered tidal pool and posing for pictures.

A Lava Gull was checking us out.

Another Lava Gull.

A juvenile Frigatebird.


A female Great Frigatebird

An adult male Great Frigatebird.


A Lava Heron.

At 4:30pm we had the mandatory safety briefing.  We had been instructed a number of times to watch the safety briefing on our cabin TV's and acknowledge the video on the cabin TV.   After the safety drill we all gathered in the Explorers Lounge on deck four for our first orientation talk.  

After the talk some groups were asked to meet in the marina on deck 3 to secure snorkeling equipment.  I headed up to deck 8 forward to see Kicker Rock up close as we had been sailing slowly in this direction since the start of the safety briefing.
Sunset was taking place and a National Geographic ship had completed their sail past Kicker Rock.





With the naked eye you could easily spot hundreds of birds flying around or nesting on the rocks.





With that it was my turn to visit the marina to get my snorkel gear.

Basic internet is included and the Silver Origin has Starlink internet service.

A look back at the harbor.

Kicker Rock in the distance.

How the island looks from the sea,

At 3:30pm our suites were ready.
I'm staying in a Classic Balcony cabin.   Walking into the cabin the bathroom is on the left and a walk in closet is on the right.





The bathroom.

A sliding mirror panel allows you to see through the balcony door to the sea or it can be closed for privacy.

This cabin connects to the suite forward and the connecting door is in the walk in closet which can be closed off with a set of sliding mirror doors.



The balcony.



A bottle of Prosecco was waiting for me on ice. 

Maybe now there will be fewer Diamond members shunning Pinnacles who visit this lounge.  
Despite being able to access another lounge at times many Pinnacles will use the Crown Lounge to meet friends who aren't Pinnacle.  It wasn't unheard of for some Diamond member to tell a Pinnacle to get out of "their" lounge.  

Maybe now there will be fewer Diamond members shunning Pinnacles who visit this lounge.  
Despite being able to access another lounge at times many Pinnacles will use the Crown Lounge to meet friends who aren't Pinnacle.  It wasn't unheard of for some Diamond member to tell a Pinnacle to get out of "their" lounge.  

In the case of Port Canaveral there have been some changes due to propulsion issues which are within the responsibility of the cruise line.  Weather related changes are beyond the control of the cruise lines. 
The cruise contract has enough verbiage to cover them in both situations but sometimes they do offer something when the change is not at the fault of an act of nature. 
Port fees and taxes are estimated based on historical booking data.  Sometimes they estimate high and sometimes they estimate low.  Sometimes there is excess money available to reimburse and sometimes, despite the change of plans, there is not.  Some ports don't waive all fees when a ship doesn't make the port, it depends.  Some fees are related to manpower on shore to handle the lines and gangways while other fees are related to port pilot charges and dock fees.  They can all have different terms and conditions.  A bargaining until for a group of longshoreman may still impose a fee or partial fee when a ship cancels at the last minute while a port pilot may not.  It's not so simple to say a port has one fee that covers everything.  Each situation is unique so what occurred for another ship on a different day or another cruise line with different contracts can't always be used to set expectations.

Satellite internet at sea is never guaranteed.  This is real opportunity for poor performance or outages due to weather and other issues on all ships and all cruise lines regardless of the satellite provider.
If you need a guaranteed internet connection stay home.  

I keep watching but so far Hochberg of the Seas hasn't been trade marked. 
 
Maybe they are going with Matt of the Seas?  🤔

Once back across the river we left the cable car and started exploring the Malecón 2000.  Our first area would be a botanical garden open to the public.







After leaving the Malecón and exploring some city streets on foot we visited the Cocoa Museum.

I didn't take any pictures inside the museum.  It's a nice museum that goes over the history of cocoa in Ecuador.  It is multiple stories with stairs between floors.  Each floor offered something related to the history of cocoa and the financial impact to the city such as the banking system that evolved from it. A chocolate store nearby smelled really great but I resisted the temptation, for now.
Around Guayaquil you will find a number of murals and wall art such as this one that captured my essence as a photographer.

This discoteque was closed by day but features several prominent people from the history of Guayaquil. 

This one is a tribute to the shipbuilding history of the region going back several centuries.

We continue walking around the city streets of Guayaquil with Corina explaining quite a bit of valuable history and information. 
The Church of San Francisco.


Shortly after a car picked us up and drove us back to the hotel.
I'm really glad I booked this tour and the one on one interaction offered by a private tour.

I booked the optional Chocolate Museum and Cable Car tour.  Given it was a private tour I was able to pick the time.
My tour guide would be Corina and she was waiting for me in the hotel lobby when I went down 10 minutes early.
We start with a short walk to the Cable Car station.

Corina explained that many cars are empty due to the high cost of the gondola service compared to other options like city busses.  At $1.40 round trip it may not sound like much but for a typical blue collar worker the $0.60 that the bus charges is easier on the budget even though the bus takes a lot longer especially in traffic.

I found it quite enjoyable, much more so than I think I would in a bus.

A cemetery we pass is watched over by a statue of Jesus Christ on the hill behind it. 


Corina explained a lot about Guayaquil and I enjoyed the full attention and interaction that a private tour offered.  She talked alot about the city, it's beginnings in the 1500s and things like the first modern hospital we passed along the way. 

Soon enough we approached the Guayaquil river.

We passed the Malecón 2000.  She explained that would be included in the sightseeing tour later offered by Silversea and we would also explore parts of it after the cable car ride.

The tallest building in Guayaquil called The Screw.

Once across the river in Duran we didn't venture far from the cable car base as it isn't the best area for tourists.  There was a bathroom available at the cable car station for those that need one. 

We got back on and made the return trip across the river all the while Corina talked about more than I could ever recount in this post.  It was all very informative.

Hotel Oro Verde two night stay is included. 

Waiting to take off from Panama on the way to Guayaquil, seeing the mountains of Panama makes me wonder why the French were set on making the Panama Canal a sea level waterway. 

 

They literally would have had to move mountains.  
 

Smooth flight to Panama.  
It was cloudy coming in but we crossed over from the Atlantic side to the Pacific and did a big loop around.
Flying in to Panama gave me a whole new perspective compared to cruising here.
On the Caribbean side:

Somewhere over the middle of Panama:

We did a big looping flight path to join the pattern of aircraft arriving.  That brought us around on the Pacific side so I could see the Panama Canal and the Bridge of the Americas.

Ships at anchor waiting their turn.



New locks on left, original locks on the right.  Culebra Cut in the distance.


Panama City on the right is pretty close to the locks on the Pacific side.



The Pacific coastal waters are more shallow and you could see the effect of the tide going out.  

Sigh... I feel like this is another sign I am out growing Royal.  
It's not Royal so much, just some of the clientele leaves me thinking it's time to move on.
Let's start a tread on how to steal those awesome towels!  

Royal's plan is working - make MTD so dysfunctional folks will give up on it. 
I can hear the executives in Miami now... "See!  No one uses MTD so lets get rid of it".  

If this is how cruisers are approaching it these days, we will know why some future change to the drink package rules is implemented.   

Sigh... I feel like this is another sign I am out growing Royal.  
It's not Royal so much, just some of the clientele leaves me thinking it's time to move on.
Let's start a tread on how to steal those awesome towels!  

I keep watching but so far Hochberg of the Seas hasn't been trade marked. 
 
Maybe they are going with Matt of the Seas?  🤔

Royal's plan is working - make MTD so dysfunctional folks will give up on it. 
I can hear the executives in Miami now... "See!  No one uses MTD so lets get rid of it".