Three dozen with Ngaire and Ken - a nice sized group of really nice people. We'll have a blast! Now if we can only figure out how to COMFORTABLY spend the long day and evening in Rio before we fly home. Anyone know how many are continuing on to Buenos Aires? We were, but dropped the leg to BA - too much of a good thing.

We're also part of a Cruise Critic group on this cruise that is going to have a meet-and-greet the morning before Barcelona. 44 in that group, two couples (including Pat and I) overlapping with LCT.

I'll continue to look for solutions to our dilemma in Rio. Having to disembark at or shortly after 9 AM for Regent-booked flights 15 hours later, but no plan for what to do in the interim, seem really not Regent-like. Maybe I'll e-mail Mark Conroy to see what he has to say. Day rooms in decent hotels are apparently non-existent in Rio, except for ‘rent-by-the-hour ‘motels’ which sound like free-lance brothels to me.

I’ll keep looking, as I’ve gotten two other couples interested in the same plan if I can find someone to provide it. Any others interested can post here or e-mail count_florid@hotmail.com. No promises, but I’ll do my best to find something combining security of our luggage with morning sightseeing, a light lunch, an afternoon with options (more sightseeing, a day room, time for the beach or a combination thereof), then dinner at a Brazilian bar-b-que (a ‘churrascaria‘ with rodízio table-side service - google the terms for more info) before being taken to the airport in plenty of time to catch our flights.