Day 802-806 South American Cruise Day 7-10

 Cruise Day  7 -Day 802

Nov 23, 2025

Crossing the Equator

The equator crossing ceremony, or "Crossing the Line," is a long-standing maritime tradition where a ship’s crew initiates those crossing the equator for the first time. "Pollywogs" (novices) face trials to appease King Neptune, transforming into "Shellbacks" (veterans). It acts as a fun, often chaotic bonding ritual, featuring costumes, symbolic baptisms, and certificates

Captain of the Ship

It's a tradition to kiss the fish as you cross the equator. 

Cruise Day 8 -Day 803

Nov 24, 2025

Manta, Ecuador

Manta is a port city on Ecuador's central coast. It's known for its tuna-fishing industry. The popular Murciélago Beach is on the city's northwestern tip. Bars and restaurants are clustered along the Malecón Escénico promenade and nearby streets. The low-key Tarqui Beach has a waterside fish market. Nearby, the Central Bank Museum contains pre-Columbian relics from indigenous tribes.

Cruise Day 9- Day 804

Nov 25 2025

Days At Sea

When traveling with friends you get to have fun. Today was the Welch pick for group t-shirts. 

Cruise Day 10- Day 805

Nov 26, 2025

Salaverry (Trujillo), Peru

Trujillo is a city in northwestern Peru. It's known for the nation's traditional dance, marinera. The colonial center is home to the grand Trujillo Cathedral, with its bright yellow facade, and the blue Casa Urquiaga. Nearby, the neoclassical Iturregui Palace has Italian marble statues and a courtyard. West of the city, the huge adobe complex of Chan Chan is an abandoned city once home to the ancient Chimu kingdom.

Ruins of the Sun and Moon Temple 

(Huacas de Moche) are a massive adobe archaeological complex built by the ancient Moche civilization between the 1st and 9th centuries AD. Located just 15-20 minutes south of central Trujillo, Peru, this site highlights the political and spiritual center of the Moche empire

Trujillo Town Center
The statue in the center of the Plaza de Armas in Trujillo, Peru, is the Monumento a la Libertad (Freedom Monument). Created by the German sculptor Edmund Moeller, the monument was inaugurated in 1929. It represents the process of Peru's independence. It features three sections: the first shows a man crushed (symbolizing oppression), the second with arms back (the emancipatory struggle), and the top features a man with raised arms and clenched fists (liberation).

Dominating the main square, the cathedral is a vibrant yellow-painted 17th-century landmark.

The "blue house" on the Plaza de Armas of Trujillo (Peru) is widely known as Casa Urquiaga (also called Casa Calonge). It is a stunning, 18th-century colonial mansion distinguished by its Royal Blue facade, white window grilles, and historical significance

Located on the northern coast of Peru, Huanchaco is an internationally recognized surfing reserve and a historic fishing town famous for its caballitos de totora (traditional reed watercraft)

Chan Chan is the largest pre-Columbian city in South America and the largest adobe (earthen) city in the world. Located on the desert coast of northern Peru near modern-day Trujillo, it served as the capital of the powerful Chimú Kingdom from approximately 850 CE until its fall to the Inca Empire in 1470