UWC Day 018 – Cruising Down the Brazilian Coast

Chill day catching up on some panoramic photos from yesterday, and some storage management for my laptop, while enjoying some live music onboard.

Equator Ceremony

A couple days late but there was an equator ceremony this afternoon (my first thing when I woke up). Unlike other programming on other days, it seemed like the entire ship was out there. I stayed for about 5 minutes but there were way too many people for me, and not my speed so I left to find alternate options for the day.

Here’s the royal family forcing one of the staff to kiss a fish (wasn’t really paying attention to why).

There were so many people I’m sure it’s captured and posted elsewhere (on one of the many other people capturing and creating content) if you care about the ceremony.

Side note: it only took 18 days, but someone already posted on the world cruiser facebook group a case and desist request on utilizing their likeness (and privacy) in photos.

You may have noticed that I mostly post nature and wildlife photos. This is an intentional choice as i generally shy away from taking photos of people for a couple of reasons.

1. People see themselves differently and I never want to offend them, while also staying true to my own art and style.
2. Working on the data industry, it’s very murky (depending on who you ask) where privacy starts and ends, and I’d rather keep my thoughts, opinions and ethics about that side of work out of my hobby that’s supposed to bring me joy and peace.
3. #humansaretheworst so i’ll stick with nature and wildlife.

In the photos above, I made the conscious choice to include them (and remove others) since the passengers in it are most blurry or unidentifiable. If anyone objects, just shoot me a message and I’ll remove.

I’m mostly going to stay to nature and wildlife for the remainder of the cruise unless someone specifically asks for (or I ask) and grants permission. Just thought I’d leave a note on the matter, in case anyone is wondering.

Chilling in the Centrum

I left most of the other passengers at the pool with Neptune and headed to the centrum for Starbucks and some snacks. Ended up squatting there for a couple hours doing some photo editing and got some really great live music.

First, the stowaway piano player who pops up and pushes his piano all over the ship showed up…really good stuff and enjoyed listening to him for awhile.

Then the most excellent classical guitarist followed by the string trio (I’ll get their info and some clips at some other time).

They kept me calm while I continued my battle with the Indonesia Visa system, resizing files and formats and trying all sorts of combinations until I could get it to work.

Seriously though….how hard is it to take my money…I’m *trying* to give it to you…

Finally though….success…and I’m done with visas for the trip (I think).

Moving to Back of Ship

In the afternoon I headed to the back of the ship to squat there and it was glorious. Either I’m just adapting to the temperature and humidity or it was just cooler today, cause it was a most enjoyable time with the wind and sun over the Brazilian coast.

Looked up and noticed that you could see the skyline in the distance, lovely view as we cruised down the coast all day. Seriously though, just looking at the pictures again, and I can feel the breeze and the nice calm drift down the way in the light golden sun.

Panoramic Everywhere

From yesterday in Fortaleza, got these merged together today. It really was a beautiful day yesterday, really picturesque, just kind of weird logistically, and needed to change some expectations.

Food

Great food for dinner. Seafood puff pastry (delicious calamari in it and the crust was heavenly), osso buco (oh so tender), and tres leche for desert in honor of Nate…but it wasn’t too heavy so I enjoyed it.

Was joking with my new cruise friends at the table next to me, because apparently you can ask for less or no salt. I love me some salt (very American in that way I suppose), but it’s very opposite from mom and Nate in that I like flavor. Mom and Nate will be very pleased to know that the chef is very accommodating and will make your dinner with no flavor if you want 😋.

Vibe Check

5 parts joy. A very enjoyable day.

Running Update

Like I said above, I think I’m acclimating to the climate. Tonight’s run felt cooler and more pleasant. Ramping up mentally for Dopey on a ship.

Friends? Friends…

Apparently there was a couple articles and a spot on MSNBC or something about the tiktok craze onboard the cruise, and featuring some people. As an introvert, I have little interest in any of that, but I’ve met a lot of the “sharers and bloggers” as we have a little group and generally skew younger onboard.

It’s also been interesting, because as a heavy introvert, I also don’t really gravitate toward the crowds or big spaces (thus, the gala was not my speed, nor are any of the really big tours — like the world wonder ones).

I’ve been slowly meeting people in smaller, quiet spaces on board or on random tours, which has been really nice. It doesn’t drain all my people energy, and I can definitely meet people one or two at a time.

The reason I mention this, is that today, I had about 10 different encounters with people (some new, but mostly some familiar faces), and it was good to catch up in small doses all around the ship. We really will be one big happy (or unhappy) family by the end of the cruise.

Feedback

Leave a comment or question if you have any thoughts! Anything you want to know about as we go around the world? Any things you want to share as feedback, or any images that particularly spoke to you. I’ll try to read all of them as time permits!