May 11, 2025
ACAJUTLA, EL SALVADOR
This was a quiet little port, perfect for the day after the big wedding event. I was still tired and worn out from all the festivities, so I only when into the port town to take look around and go to grocery store and pick up essentials, deodorant and stain stick! While on port shuttle, I got to catch up with friends Tom & Donna, pictured below .
When we got back to ship, we saw the above performance by local group. They were really entertaining, could see their passion and joy while playing. Don't think they got many visitors in this little port.
Ternate, Indonesia, which is both the name of the city and island, and is part of the Maluku Islands in eastern Indonesia. It is a port that sees maybe 3 Cruise ships a year. However, they really made an effort to show us the best of what they can offer. It's mainly a Muslim country, and we knew we had to dress discretely, but we knew little else. We didn't have our typical port talk prior, due to a technical issue with the AV equipment. Ben a fellow resident, organized an island tour, with about 8 stops, for 90 of us residents.
Cebu greeted our Ship with a big warm welcome, despite having just been rocked by a major Earthquake, days before our arrival. The Minister of Tourism arrived with a motorcade and she proceeded to chat with the residents and thank us, for all our support.
Today we were Cave explorers! We went to the one of UNESCO newly classified 7 NEW WONDERS OF NATURE - The Puerto Princesa Underground River.