Santos, Brazil February 28th to March 2nd

We docked here in Santos for one day which turns out to be four days.  This is the major port to see Sao Paulo.  We opted to cancel the trip there because of the long bus ride.  So we stayed on the ship.

We did swim in the morning.  But the rest of the day we just read and did our crafts.  But while we were on board, they did a testing of the generator.  And guess what, it failed.  So now they need to repair it before we can set sail.

To make a long story short, they could not repair the generator on board so we needed to lease a used one from here in Brazil.  They did find one in Rio and it was put on a truck and driven to Santos.  But that took over two days to find and truck.  So the generator arrived on the 1st of March.  In the meantime, we sat here.  They did run shuttles to the local malls so we were not without options.  Bob and I did go to the mall yesterday and bought some nuts and drugs.  In other countries, some of the medicines we take are over the counter so we tend to stock up when we can.  And because we are still under code red, no snacks in the cocktail lounges.  So now we bring our own.

The used generator arrived around one pm and they needed to hook it up to a crane in order to raise it to deck 12.  Noel, a friend of mine, writes a blog and has posted pictures of the operation.  We missed it as we were dressing for dinner.  Check it out.  thewatkinscruise.blogspot.com.

Now the generator is in place and right now they are testing it to see if it functions properly.  We are all keeping our fingers crossed.  But it is the 2nd of March.  We are suppose to be in Rio tomorrow morning.  Now Rio is not far from where we are docked so if all goes as planned, we will make it.

Last night they had a special dinner for the grand passengers but Bob and I had reservations at Signatures and we decided to go there instead.  Might have been a mistake but we did have a very nice quiet dinner.

Bob did take some pictures of the generator operation but not of it being lifted in place.  Will post them later.  But I wanted to let everyone know that we are fine.  Treating this like a stay at a 4star resort.