Embarkation Day!!

Well ... embarkation day is off to a very, very "shitty" start! The thought crossed my mind when I was eating the soup yesterday that I had wished it was hotter ... aka ...hot enough to kill any bugs. Then, I chided myself for always being such a worry wart and simply enjoyed the soup. I have no way of knowing for certain, but I awoke in the night with stomach cramps and have a severe and solid case (or should I say 'not so solid' case) of travellers diarrhea. Gahhhhhhhhhh.

In all our travels, this is the first time I have EVER experienced it. I am always so super, ridiculously cautious. I only consume cooked things. I avoid fruit or salad. I don't typically have drinks with ice in them. I followed all my best efforts here in Panama too .... but then ... the soup.

I searched my bag for Pepto Bismal in the night ... only to realize that the vial I had was EMPTY!! I found a few tablets in my make up case that were best before 2016! I downed two. By the time the old boy was awake in the morning, I was struggling. For some reason, we didn't have any immodium. I was desperate for this to pass because we had a day of transit ... getting an Uber to the hotel where the shuttle picks us up ... then getting checked in onto the ship. I really didn;t want to have an accident on route!!! Eeeegads. It was fierce. This certainly not the way I wanted to say "Bon Voyage".

The old boy was a saint and went to the pharmacy to get some immodium and more pepto bismal. They don't sell immodium here. The pharmacist gave him two different products. Lomotil is controlled substance that the internet says you can't get without a prescription. The side effects didn't sound good. The Enterogermina is a pediatric probiotic ... I took two at 8:00am ... and then ... after having little relief decided to risk the Lomotil before we had to call the Uberr at 1:00pm. Wouldn't you know it ... the Uber driver took forever to arrive to pick us up ... and then ... got lost. Yep. I even sat on the old boy's jacket in case I had an unexpected blow out!

Thankfully, the lomatil did the trick. It's 10:00pm now and nothing has moved! I guess that is good news. Hopefully, I'll have a good night and be able to put this nightmare behind me. Keep your fingers crossed, okay? I think we will forgo our excursion tomorrow so I can stay close to the restrooms. Good thing we had a few days in Panama before we embarked!

The ship is gorgeous. We had to use the map of all 8 levels to get acquainted with it. We never made it to the sports deck on level 9 yet. We enjoyed some great music in the Explorers lounge ... the guy sang the Beatles, Garth Brooks and many other infamous artists! If we weren't so tuckered we'd head out for more ... but ... not tonight.

We also enjoyed a really interesting talk in the theatre on the making of the Panama Canal. Part 2 is tomorrow. And, on Monday, we get to experience crossing it ourselves. We are looking forward to it ... and ... our stateroom is going to give us a bird's eye view. We are in the middle of back of the ship ... we are positioned so we can see both sides from our balcony! I'm hoping to see some nice sunsets from here too!

Okay. We are headed to bed now. And, looking forward to a nice leisurely day getting comfy on this ship tomorrow! Hope you all sleep well too. I will have to add the pictures tomorrow. I can't log in on two devices at one time. So ...Læs mere