Well my first post. So nice to be on the Mariner again. I always say my favorite ship is the one I have just been on. Had such a wonderful time on the Voyager and then boarding and seeing Martin (Hotel Director) Rogerio (F&B) Arjan? (Dining Room Manager) it just felt so like home. The first night on board we had a surprise birthday party for Joanna. It was a lot of fun. Marcie, Tom, Joanna and Tony all look great. Then we had dinner together and it was so nice to see them all again. Marcie had ordered lamb (of course) and soufflés. We had a lot of laughs. Of course we were the last to leave. We then sat in the Mariner lounge and visited for a little longer. Problem was that someone had ordered creamed spinach and I said “sure give me some”. I am very allergic to onions and did not even look at this, too much talking and too much wine. Well about 1.00 am it hit me and I had severe vomiting until about 10.00 am the next morning. I had to cancel the Brown and Keene cocktail party that evening and it is now the next day and I am still not well and still very nauseated. Probably the worst onion reaction I have ever had. They must have been barely cooked. So this morning I am barely human and tossing up whether to try and do the tender ride in the Amazon. I just hate to miss anything. Ken and I realized that was the first dinner we have missed from all trips we have taken. It is so rare for either of us to get ill with anything, although this onion thing can get me from time to time it is usually not this bad. Still can’t face any food and had a bran muffin and tea this morning and that was a struggle. Tonight is formal night it remains to be seen if I make that. Last night Ken stayed in with me but I will insist he goes to dinner tonight if I cannot. So for me I say the cruise starts tomorrow!!!!


Joanna's Surprise Birthway Party

Ngaire, I am so very sorry you are sick! I hope you feel better very soon!

That photo is fantastic, I love Joanna's headpiece and just knowing that that is the Amazon in the background is so cool!

Ngaire,

So sorry you are not feeling well. I hope all is better soon! No fun to be sick!!!

I absolutely LOVE the birthday photo!!!!

Thanks!!!!!!

Betty

Ngaire, I hope you feel better real soon. thanks for your post and the wonderful birthday picture.

Nancy

Yeouch - one slip and bam! those allergies are devils in disguise. Hope you recover quickly; but take your time if your body is telling you otherwise. For your next adventure, Kanda Pyaaz is the Hindi phrase for onion.

What a great picture. Sorry, Paul, but no one can pull off that headdress like Joanna can.

Miss all of you! Cheers, Anne

Ngaire, so nice to hear from you, but not the news of your allergy. I hope you are feeling better soon. What a great picture that was of Joanna in her birthday headdress!

Oh my. So sorry you had such a bad reaction - glad you seem on the mend.

How awful for you Ngaire! Hope you are starting to feel better.

Loved the picture!

Sorry to hear about your illness Ngaire. Hope you get to feeling better soon and can enjoy the rest of the cruise.

Anthony

Ngaire, hope you feel better soon. Marcie & Tom have been waiting a long time for you & Ken for party time to officially begin. Oh, and how could I forget the Mondaes. Easy, they are always a party.
All of you - have a blast!

Feel better soon Ngaire - how awful and what a miserable start to the trip!!
Loved the picture of Joanna and her "bonnet", its a great picture of all of you.
Take care and hopefully the rest of the trip will be uneventful -- at least for allergies!

Ngaire, so sorry to hear about your allergy. I have food allergies too so can relate to feeling so ill after eating something. if you can keep anything down, I'd suggest trying benedryl which is a first line of defense against allergic reactions. I'm sure they have it in the infirmary.

Great pic! and I love the headpiece.

It's awful to be sick away from home - although for most of us a RSSC ship is home away from home. Sorry to hear you've lost a day!

What a fun way to start a cruise, though!

Ngaire I am so sorry about the onion thing! That must just be so miserable. I hope you get back on your feet pronto and enjoy the rest of your trip.

So sorry to hear how sick you became after eating those onions, Ngaire! I hope you are doing very much better!

Terrific photo. The birthday girl looks fabulous, all decked out in that headdress! Is Tony holding his casino-winning TEN BIG MEGAPICKLES?

Ngaire...we only hope you're up and back in the CR relishing that gorgeous lamb!!!!

Oh Ngaire that's too bad! I hope by now you're all better and ready for some good lamb!

We both send our best wishes for a speedy recovery. Tell Joanna we think she is absolutely lovely and we want to see her wear a new chappeau with each photo!

Get better soon, Ngaire!!

Masaki

Ngaire, I hope you are feeling much better as I write this. What a shame and a drag. May your first real meal taste wonderful!

LOVE the picture!
Get better soon Ngaire!!! :hug:

Hope you're feeling back to normal by now, Ngaire. Love the picture.

Oh, Ngaire, what a miserable thing to have happen to you! I hope you have recovered in record time.

Joanna, love the hat.

A few photos of the Cunha-Poranga dancers that came aboard the Mariner at Boca de Valeria, Brazil and the merging of the Amazon and Tapajos Rivers. Of course Ken posted these I will post below

Selling their crafts to passengers on the tender. The tiny town is in the background.






Riverboats are everywhere

The merging of the Amazon & Tapajos Rivers

What fantastic photos, Ngaire! Is Joanna getting one of those "skimpy" numbers to go with her headdress?

Hope you are feeling a whole lot better! Take care and thanks for posting the pics for us to enjoy!

Thanks for the photos - wonderful! If you are posting pics you must be feeling better - hope so.

What beautiful young people!

Wow!!! Beautiful photos!

Hi everyone. Well I am returning to the land of the living. Tomorrow night is Kareoke so we will get Ken in form and find some back up Kennettes for him.

The costumes on these dancers were really quite remarkable. Beautifully done. The little village we were stopped at was so incredibly small. Quite amazing to think people live here. The offered a tender ride and the locals pulled up next to the tender to sell their trinkets. It was pretty hot. We did see the pink dolphins that are only found in the Amazon, too fast to take a picture unfortunately.

Today we were in a larger town, Santarem. A shuttle bus took us into the main downtown area. The one thing I thought was interesting is that men were standing outside the stores with microphones trying to get people inside. These were for the locals not for the tourists. Basic stores selling basic items and street and streets of these shops. They had one department store that was the only building in town with an elevator. Luxury items were very expensive. A 25" TV about $600 US a small refrigerator - probably 12 cubic feet, $900. How do they afford these things?? It was VERY hot so we did not stay long.

Today I joined in the No Limit Texas Hold Em game. I have never played with "real" people before only on line. It was fun - I was "on the bubble" which means that last one out before making money. Tom came in second. Yesterday Marcie won again. Plan on playing tomorrow I really enjoy it. One of the people has a program that helps run the game and I am going to buy that and chips and we can play on board during MUSH. I understand that Mark (Karen's Mark) likes to play so tell him to get ready. Tom said he would help run it being the expert that he is, it does take a lot of figuring out at certain times.

We had our B&K party tonight and the ship called and asked if two photographers from Holland could take pictures at the party for a Dutch Magazine called Hide and Chic. We said yes and they took lots of pictures so it will be fun to see if we can get a copy and see the article. The Officers came and we had wonderful hot snacks, it was very nice.

Having a great time. The ship is wonderful, the staff outstanding. Looking forward now to two restful days at sea. Terry Breen is on and she is such a good speaker she talks tomorrow so we wont miss that.

Played Trivia today for the first time, got 13 and the winning team got 14. TOMORROW!!!!

Wonderful hearing that you are doing so much better, Ngaire. Please keep the seamail coming! A real pleasure to read your reports each day!

I'm happy that you are feeling better. The pictures are really beautiful.

WOWIE! What beautiful dancers and costumes!! I doubt you'd see better in Las Vegas!

So happy to see that you're back up and amongst the living.

Any piranha on the menu's nightly local fish special? I know, very, very small filets, best to stick with Dover Sole.

Ngaire glad you are feeling better.

One of the things I loved about my Amazon cruise up to and including Devil's Island, was doing port that very few cruise ships hit and the way locals come out to meet and sell things to them.

In one port there were all these boys in "Boy Scout" uniforms helping the Mariners pax around the dock area. I found out later the Captain of the Mariner had made a "donation" to the local Boy Scouts unit for this service.

What beautiful costumes! I imagine the dancing was wonderful. Sounds like Texas Hold-Em is becoming the game of choice. What a fun way to pass time cruising down the Amazon. Glad you are feeling better, Ngaire. Keep sharing your great cruise tales.

Suzanne there is a staff member that asked about you yesterday. He recognized us at lunch and came running over "Where is Miss Suzanne?" We tried to track him down last night to take a picture of him and post here for you. Could not find him. He must have been released early. Today though we will get a shot and post it for you. There is a good chance he will be on for MUSH. He is on an 7 - 8 month contract. It will be his last cruise or he will have just left he is not sure. I hope he is on board.

It is very quiet here at night but tonight we are determined to liven it up. Wait until MUSH comes aboard the poor ship may not know how to handle it. Stars was broken in with MINT though so we know how well that room can work. Looking at the ship this is really going to work well on Deck 7, we have shopping and the casino right on our floor and then down the sprial staircase to STARS. Should work perfectly.

Be back with a picture of your fan Suzanne, stay tuned.

Ngaire, those beautiful dancers look like Les Gauguins! I loved those pictures!

Wait til Mark hears that there is Hold 'em planned for MUSH, he will be ecstatic.

Gee, maybe we need to spenmd our spare time on Party Poker.net to prepare for MUSH! Will Terry Breen be on MUSH? - her commentary is always top notch and she was wonderful in the fjords, explaining about the animals and glaciers.

This cruise sounds quite wonderful. Glad you are feeling better, Ngaire.

Ngaire - so what are the two trivia answers you missed? We must make a sentence out of them!

So glad you are feeling better! I can't wait to see Suzanne's fan. Cheers, Anne

Glad you are feeling better Ngaire.

I think you are right, that Stars will be just perfect for MUSH - when we were on the Trans Canal, anytime there was late night partying, it was always Stars and Kathy and Frank, and my Frank and I spent our fair share of nights in there.

Great photos! I'll tell Frank about the Texas Hold'em game, he might be interested.

Oh Joanne - yes, that was SO much fun. We'd have dinner, go our own way to the show or casino or Mariner Lounges and we'd end up back in Stars - at least a dozen or more of us. Mostly those in the Cordon Bleu, but about 10 or 11 we all made Stars the place to be. That was our best cruise yet.