DAY 80---PROGRESO, MEXICO

NOW TO VIEW MY JANUARY AND FEBRUARY POSTS YOU WILL HAVE TO CLICK ON THAT MONTH SO THOSE POSTS WILL BE DISPLAYED.

TO VIEW PREVIOUS POSTINGS USE THE "BLOG ARCHIVE" UNDER OUR PHOTO ON THE RIGHT.  THEN CLICK ON THE DAY OR DAYS YOU MISSED.  ALSO CLICKING ON THE PHOTOS WILL ENLARGE THEM.  I RECOMMEND THAT. 

Our position today is docked in Progresso, Mexico.  This is our second call at the port as we were here on February 16th.  The pier here is 4 miles long to reach the shore and we are out at the end of it.  It is quite pleasant this morning out on the balcony as we have sunny skies and temperature of 72 degrees.

In case you missed it I am putting the port background again on this post.

PROGRESS BACKGROUND INFO:

Progresso is a Gulf of Mexico port city on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico with a population of 54,000.  It is the port for many cruise ship as it is the gateway to several Mayan archaeological sites such as:  Chichen Itza, Uxmal, and Dzibilchaltum.  My tour to the later was canceled by the local tour operator.  Pregresso is located 30 miles north of the Yucatan capital of Merida and is the center for both the fishing and container (from ships) industries.  By the way, Cancun is also located on the Yucatan Peninsula also in the state of Quintana Roo, and we will be there the next day.  Passengers will disembark on a 4 mile long pier that juts out into the Gulf of Mexico.  We have never been here before so should be interesting.  The ocean front is lined with beaches and thatched roof restaurants.  During the hot summer months of July and August the beaches are filled with mostly local Merida residents trying to escape to the cooler seaside environment.

LAST NIGHT:

        As the sun sat we were enjoying cocktails in the Horizon Lounge with Marcia, Barbara, and Wily.

Those three were having dinner in Prime 7 at 7:30 so we headed down to Compass Rose then also.

                     I had onion soup for my appetizer and Rebecca enjoyed a Caesar salad.

             We both are big fans of the pan fried veal liver and onions with crispy bacon.

I didn't even have to order this dessert as Mario, our waiter, knows I like it.  Apple buckle with ice cream.

I was the first one to enter the theater a half hour before the show was to begin.  William, a bartender, and a bar waiter were standing at the back of the theater.  I told them I would like a glass of iced water.  They pointed down to where we usually sit and the water was already there waiting for me.  Service extraordinaire!!  

Karl's show was fantastic.  Great singer and the songs he chose for this show were all favorites of ours.  We were joined on the front row for the show by Marcia, Barbara, and Wily.  Marcia loved it when Karl said he was from the same home town in England as her.

TODAY:

        You read yesterday that I walked into a heavy glass door in the gym.  I felt weird the rest of the day and that is a symptom of a mild concussion.  I was in bed most of the afternoon and took some Motrin.  I was still feeling different last night but seem to be ok this morning.  My eyes are still puffy.  I will not work out on the treadmill today however.  Certainly not going ashore today.

It was interesting this morning sitting out on the balcony.  They lowered and exercised one of the two  small rescue boat.

                                          Grain tanks across from us at the commercial pier.

                                                    A container ship heading our way.

             The staff captain and another officer observing the recovery of the rescue boat.

                                                          Container ship arriving

                                      Grain ship arriving.  They were loading it this afternoon.

Every week they exercise the crew in an emergency drill.  This life boat is just next to our balcony and they lowered the life boats on our side of the ship this morning.  There are 3 of these life boats on each side and they hold 150 passengers each.  So total capacity of the 6 is 900.  Passenger capacity of the ship is 700.  See further down the additional life rafts hold.

The crew members formed up on the deck just below us.  They account for every one of them by marking them off the list.

He was just next to our balcony so I chatted with him briefly.  His job would be to release this end of the life boat once in the water.

They lowered the boat down into the water and ran the engines briefly.  Then they raised it and stowed it.

                                                            This was the end of the drill.

There are 12 of these inflatable rafts on each side of the ship.  Each raft can hold 24 crew.  So that total capacity is 576.  We have 445 crew members.

                                                   There duty free shop on our pier.

The mainland is 4 miles away from the docks, both commercial and cruise ship, as the water is not deep enough closer to the shore.

  Here are Wily, Marcia, and Barbara whom I was talking about earlier in this post.  They are having lunch in La Veranda.  We had finished ours.

                                             Always 3 different pizzas to chose from daily.

        It was rather cool when sitting out on our balcony this morning so I had to put a sweat shirt on.  I'm going back out there this afternoon to as I enjoy the fresh air.

        The show this evening is at 6:15, "Broadway in Concert".  You know we love the production cast shows but we DO NOT like early shows.  I doubt we will be going.  We're planning dinner in Compass Rose as roasted turkey with all the trimmings is on the menu.  I will have the white meat tonight.  You may recall I had an issue with the "pressed" dark meat last time.

        We will be sailing at 5pm for our next port, Cozumel, Mexico, where we will be docking by 10am tomorrow.