January 12, 2020 - Belem, Brazil

I was moderately excited about doing a tour today.  I purchased a HAL tour
yesterday - a five hour overview of Belem and Olinda, a UNESCO site.  I wasn’t
totally excited because if I had my way, the ship would only stop in port to
bring on new supplies and drop off cranky people.  I like sea days best.

Then I heard that we were going to anchor and use tenders to get to the port
instead of docking and walking on shore.  Tendering at the best of times
requires patience.  

Then I heard that the weather would be hot with thunderstorms.

Then I heard (officially, in a note sent to my cabin) that more than the usual
amount of patience would be required.  Because of construction and other
issues it will take at least an hour on a shuttle bus to get out of the port
facility and to expect delays.

Then I decided to save the $89 cost of the tour and stay on board.  

This morning, there have been several announcements about delays and
problems with tendering.  Also, urging passengers to plan extra time to
return to the ship. So glad I’m not standing in line to get on the tenders then
standing in line to get on a bus.  Fours hours of waiting for two hours of
sightseeing just isn’t worth it to me for Belem.

Sorry about the limited photos but if you want to learn more about Belem, try Google.