Headed to the Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, November 30, 2023

Today we are sea, but tomorrow morning we will come into port at Rio de Janeiro and stay for the day. I am actually not sure that we will even see the Copacabana, but we might. I will keep you posted. Probably because of the Barry Manilow song, I have always thought the Copacabana was a nightclub in Rio with a showgirl named Lola. Nope, the actual Copacabana is a beach in Rio. I think Barry Manilow was referring to a nightclub in New York City named the Copacabana. I guess I should have paid more attention to the lyrics, because “the hottest place north of Havana” can’t be Rio. Rio is about 4,000 miles south of Havana. In my defense, I usually fall into a deep stupor when I hear any Barry Manilow song.

I forgot to mention in my last blog that Recife is listed as one of the top ten shark-infested beaches in the world. Between 1992 and 2021, there were 62 shark attacks with 25 fatalities in Jaboatao dos Guararapes, which is a part of the Recife metro area. Most of the attacks are bull sharks and tiger sharks. Swimming or surfing is not permitted at the beaches because of this. The beach we drove by, Boa Viagem Beach, has danger signs posted everywhere, but apparently some people don’t heed the warning. In March 2023, two teens were involved in separate shark attacks a day apart in which one lost a leg and the other lost an arm. Both of them were wading in fairly shallow water.

Every day at mealtimes we see an ancient couple on the ship who seem to be well into their nineties. He uses a walker and she seems like she desperately needs one. She walks with painfully small, lurching steps, and I can barely stand to watch because I am totally petrified that she will fall. The other night after dinner, he took off on his walker and was out of sight before she even got up from the table. She didn’t seem to know which way to get out of the dining room, so she headed towards the kitchen, which was the closest door to her. I told Doug that if I get into that shape, there is no way I would get on a cruise ship. I will be staying at home. He said, “Well, you will be in a home, but it might not be your own home.” Very funny.

In other shipboard news, there is a man on the seventh floor who seems to have had at least two psychotic episodes so far. Well, I am probably just being dramatic, but this morning we were sitting in the atrium and all of the sudden we heard a man screaming bloody murder. He seemed to yelling, “Help me, help me, (insert swear words)” over and over in a panicked voice. The people next to us jumped up and ran out to help, but they came back immediately and said that they already had security out there. Apparently, he had had another episode the day before. They were there so fast it made me wonder if they had posted security close to his room. I looked up the contract with Viking on line, and you can be kicked off the ship if your “behavior is disruptive, upsetting, or dangerous to yourself or anyone else.” And when they kick you off, Viking doesn’t pay for you or your party to get home. I’m thinking this guy might want to go on line and start looking for a flight out of the next port.