Friday, February 4, 2022 

We are in Huatulco again today.  The plan was to wander over to the tourist section by the pier and look for t-shirts and ramen noodles, but that did not happen.  MA decided that she has enough t-shirts already [four and counting] and the waitstaff will not miss the noodles if we don't mention them.  We will be in port again tomorrow, so maybe D will venture forth then. 

We were up in plenty of time to get to the MDR for breakfast, even with the earlier open and close of a port day, but stayed in the room again.  D went to the coffee bar once again for hot water and a latte [and munchies] and we read for a while.  It was too hot on the balcony to sit for long and the glare from the sun shining directly on said balcony would have been to great to read anyway.  When the cabin steward arrived to clean the room, we decamped to the Ocean Bar with both tablets, the laptop and D's unfinished latte as well as the NYT crossword puzzle,  

MA read while D did computer things, primarily catching up on the journal which had neglected to do last night.  He caught up on email and read the Baltimore Sun, too.  When MA's back started to bother her, we gathered everything and trekked back to the cabin. We continued to read until around 1 o'clock when we called Room Service for lunch.  

We had enjoyed eating in the room the other day and the Room Service offerings were more appealing than those in the Lido.  MA got a caprese panini and D had a club sandwich [recommended by Ken last week] and an extra order of chips.  We included a fruit-and-cheese plate again for dessert. And, like the other day, we watched HGTV while we ate. 

Passengers were due back on board by 1:30 and shortly thereafter the captain made his mid-day announcement.  After giving the time and temp, he offered a long explanation of the geography of the Mexico-Guatemala coastal region concentrating on the heat inversions and subsequent winds.  All of this was to prepare us for a rocky afternoon when winds could reach gale force or even hurricane strength [75 mph].  He warned everyone to secure loose items, especially on balconies, and be prepared for a rough 8 hours.  Yes, 8 hours! 

He wasn't kidding.  This 20-year-old bucket of bolts rocked and rolled, shuddered and bucked.  Even after the 8 hours passed, it felt like we were still hitting rumble strips and speed bumps.  The worst seemed to be over around 9:30, so give the captain credit for predicting that correctly. All the while, though, it sounded like the whole place would fall apart. One of the closet doors kept swinging open and then slamming shut.  The hanging clothes slid back-and-forth in their closet and the door on the refrigerator cubby opened a few times, too. 

We pretended it was a hurricane and hid under the covers all day and into the night, emerging only for biological necessities. It was almost 10 p.m. before we felt it was calm enough to turn on the lights so MA could read and D could type. Needless to say, we skipped dinner which was a disappointment for MA, but traversing the hallway and the dining room itself would have been dangerous.  Tonight was the second formal night of this leg and the menu featured escargot, one of MA's favorites; it is doubtful that they will be available tomorrow.  We don't know how many people actually went to dinner [we'll ask at breakfast], but those that did were hardier and more sure-footed than we are. 

Tomorrow -- Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala