So we left Peru by ship - our new way of saving the planet whilst seeing the world! I'll get around to some detail on our destinations shortly, but firstly, let me explain the ship.
Holland America Lines run quite a few ships and the MS Rotterdam is considered their flagship - not the biggest, not the most exclusive, just a good example of everything the line stands for. Apparently that means "floating care home and retirement village".
Actually, that is unfair, but it is certainly the first impression we got.
In fact, when getting the port shuttle bus to the ship in Callao, the driver asked me if I was a member of the crew. At first I thought he meant because I wasn't well dressed so just took it on the chin. A day later, having been asked by other crew members if I was with the crew, I realised that we just stood out - at 40 I was way too young to be on this ship apparently.
So we boarded on a Sunday with a sail away on Monday afternoon. That was good as we had 2 cabins and the 4th member of our party, Shelly, wasn't due to arrive until Monday morning.
Monday morning Molly and I went down to the dock to greet Shelly, but after an hour we gave up - you can only spend so long watching old people get onto buses and Chinese fishing trawlers unloading big, frozen fish onto the docks. So we went back to Molly's cabin to diiscover Shelly's bags there - wow, she had magicked herself onto the ship before our very eyes. By the time we had sailed away, the four of us had become a small item of amusement to many of the other passengers.................within a few days we had helped fuel all sorts of gossip and wonderment!
Holland America Lines run quite a few ships and the MS Rotterdam is considered their flagship - not the biggest, not the most exclusive, just a good example of everything the line stands for. Apparently that means "floating care home and retirement village".
Actually, that is unfair, but it is certainly the first impression we got.
In fact, when getting the port shuttle bus to the ship in Callao, the driver asked me if I was a member of the crew. At first I thought he meant because I wasn't well dressed so just took it on the chin. A day later, having been asked by other crew members if I was with the crew, I realised that we just stood out - at 40 I was way too young to be on this ship apparently.
So we boarded on a Sunday with a sail away on Monday afternoon. That was good as we had 2 cabins and the 4th member of our party, Shelly, wasn't due to arrive until Monday morning.
Monday morning Molly and I went down to the dock to greet Shelly, but after an hour we gave up - you can only spend so long watching old people get onto buses and Chinese fishing trawlers unloading big, frozen fish onto the docks. So we went back to Molly's cabin to diiscover Shelly's bags there - wow, she had magicked herself onto the ship before our very eyes. By the time we had sailed away, the four of us had become a small item of amusement to many of the other passengers.................within a few days we had helped fuel all sorts of gossip and wonderment!
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