We wake to the sounds of us pulling into Curacao. It is a beautiful sail in. Arrival is 7 am and we hear the clearance to
go ashore but we are not in a big rush.
No set plans so we take our time getting up and ready.
First stop is the Horizon Court for a breakfast. It is not too crazy we have beat the
rush. One downfall of eating when it is
quieter is often some of the food like the bagel I picked up has been sitting
for a while and is basically a hockey puck.
I could of easily have gone back and asked them to toast a new one and
they would of but I found the Christmas Stolen in the Pastry shop. I read Pescadillo’s blog and I know she loves
the Stolen so I grab one to try it out.
OMG it is like raisin bread but even better. Thanks Jeannie for the recommendation.
I also have a small almond pancake and some chorizo sausage
- both were very very good. I order a fresh squeezed orange juice that is
squeezed right away and is $2.75 a glass but so good. It is included in the All Inclusive Drink
Package so don’t forget to try it out. I
have only half of it and return it to the fridge to save for a screwdriver with
the vodka from the mini bar.
But we walk along the water (some great photo ops) up to the
fort and thru the fort Amsterdam area (some nice shops/restaurants). Right up to the floating bridge across to the
downtown Willemstad.
Once in town we walk along the water called
Gouvernementsplein to the end and walk by the floating market. It is a bit different this time, the boats
are still floating alongside but they have set up stalls on the sidewalk now
all in a row with all kinds of fruits/vegetables. Still nice but definitely not as interesting.
You will walk past a bridge and you will come across this
large round building, walk in. It is
like a flea market but this is where the locals buy many of their products for
everyday use. Remember that the local
currency is the Netherlands Antillean Guilder also called the Florin. You are able to pay in US currency but be
prepared you will usually get Florin back, especially coins.
While walking around we run into Lynne and her husband
Dave. I had been chatting with Lynne on
my Facebook Fan page for a long time and it is so nice to meet her and put a
face to a name. They comment that this
is the first time they have seen us.
Well guess what we ran into them two more times today, funny how that
works.
I really want to see if the old market building is still
there and if they still have restaurants in there. I finally remember that if you walk past the
market building you will see this really non-descript building with a blue roof
- king of looks like a warehouse. There
are food vendors to one side and picnic tables for sitting. The smells are amazing as we walk past. This
is where you are going to find authentic foods of Curacao. Prices are reasonable and large (easy to
share).
We wander around a bit more for around two hours. When we get back to the floating bridge it
has just opened. Note when it is open
you can just walk down and catch the complimentary ferry across to the other
side. We spot Dylan and Ben, with Gina
who are out for a quick bite before heading back to work. We decided to wait
for the bridge and as we wait as we see Ken and Darlene from the roll call and
we chat with them.
Once the bridge opens (took about 20 minutes as a large
freighter goes by). We travel en masse
across. I wanted to take a picture of
the traffic jam but were afraid to stop and cause an accident by banging into
someone.
We are back on board at 12:30, all aboard is 1:30. The dining rooms are closed for lunch as it
is a port day so we decide that Alfredos would be a great option. Obviously others are thinking the same thing
as there is a line to get a table. But it moves fast and we are sat at a table
for two.
The place is hoping!
It is nice to see two head waiters down here and they have brought in
extra waiters and buffet stewards to help out.
Today we decide to start with a salad for Bernie and I get the marinated
roasted vegetables (which were amazing).
We share a Calzone which was so darn good!
After lunch we head to the Purser’s desk as Bernie received
an on board credit gift from someone but we don’t know who. Normally you get a card with the gift item on
it but we hadn’t received one. Vicky who
works there was so helpful and informed us that Ted and Nancy sent Bernie a
credit for his birthday. How sweet of
them. Thank you both, we enjoyed some
wine tonight with it.
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Vicky taking care of us at the Purser's desk |
Bernie recognizes some of the Beatle Maniacs - the Paul and
John and we tell them what a great show they did last night. I ask about their schedule and if they will
be back before Feb 8 when we get off and they say yes! Excellent - as I know our friends Simon and
Angelique will love the show. We see the
Paul character later in Vines before dinner and talk some more - and we had to
buy him a drink cause we truly appreciate the show they did and how difficult
it must be to be away from home for so long.
The sail away is a party up on deck called Jamaican Me Crazy
with the band Atomic Party and DJ Shea.
The cruise staff are there, including Lisa the Cruise Director -- she is
truly everywhere and a great face for Princess.
So helpful, so approachable and sincerely cares that you enjoy your
trip. We are dancing when she comes up
to say hi, and we pose for a picture cause I we look so much alike.
Here is the picture, what do you think? Do we look alike? Don’t you just love the costume they have to
wear. Must be hot.
Even the bar staff are dressed up in Caribbean Pirate
outfits. They are also having a drink
feature of buy one get one free for some special drinks, rum punch, and two
others.
The party was a lot of fun and certainly more fun than just
the usual sail away.
They are also doing a Stammtisch table this afternoon at
3:15. I like that it is at this
hour. When we have done it in the past
it has been in the evening and often interfered with dinner. Having it at 3:15 is perfect, you can do this
in the afternoon then you can do your evening activities. Plus Vines isn’t too crazy at this hour and
they can deal with the demo and have enough crew to deal with the passengers
wanting wine here too.
We head back to the cabin for a bit of relaxation as we
haven’t stopped all day. We watch some
tv and read. We dress for dinner and
head down to the Elite Lounge - which is allowing us to get any drink we wish
from the elite lounge menu for $5. I don’t
want anything here tonight so at 7 we head down to Vines and enjoy the
remainder of our wine we bought yesterday.
Tonight we are back in the dining room for dinner. We are seated at our reserved table which is
lovely and can accommodate four if we wish to ask others to join us. Our waiter and assistant are very attentive
and friendly. I especially like that
waiters around them help each other out.
Our Head Waiter is very helpful too. Sorry I haven’t gotten down their names as of
yet but trust me I will and make sure to report back. Also I really like to recognize them in the
end of cruise survey.
For dinner I start with the roasted beet and green salad
with the Balsamic vinaigrette. I have the
pesto pasta as my appetizer and then we both get the beef tenderloin for dinner
served with Béarnaise sauce. All was
very good and we don’t really have room for dessert but they talk us into
getting some black forest cake - which I liked but there was not a lot of
cherry flavour. After a few bites I was
full! Bernie had the café late ice cream
- so cute was our waiter asked if he wanted the decaf version! Funny.
We have the wine card and we arranged to order a bottle to
be sent to our cabin as well as a bottle of sparkling water too. When we come back after our evening both are
in the cabin. We also ordered another
bottle of Clois du Bois - note it is more than the $29 Silver Package amount
but what they do is charge your account the full amount then the next day they
credit your account the $29 so you just pay the difference.
We stop in to the Princess Theater to see what is happening. The Hollywould You Gameshow is going on.
Although it would be fun to participate it is kind of boring (at least to us)
to just watch others play so we don’t stay long.
Wandering around we stop in the boutiques and ask if Marcin
the Shop Manager could be called as we wanted to see him again and he is stuck
in the office doing paperwork. When he
comes up it is big hellos and hugs. It
has been a few years since we have seen him but it is like no time has passed.
Alice is in the Casino chatting with the Louisa the Casino Host
(she was here last year too) and we catch up a bit with her. Louisa is a sweetie and so helpful for those
wanting to play, but we are not gamblers and the $100 or so I use to play every
cruise is not happening this voyage with the low Canadian dollar.
In fact we have decided to reconsider a tour we have planned
for our last sailing in Grenada. It isn’t
that we don’t want to do it, it is just at $60 each plus tip it works out to
almost $200 Canadian. Sure we could
afford it but we have been to Grenada a lot and we love the island and we would
be seeing a different area but we have to be smart. We are on for 30 days and our Med trip was
the big trip where we didn’t spare any expense and did what we wanted. But for this trip to the Caribbean which we
have been to a lot it is more about relaxing.
And where we spend our money is going to be on things we really want to
do. Sad, but smart.
The Princess Theater is showing What The World Needs Now
show -- there are two shows tonight 8:15 and 10:30 and they are singing all
Burt Bacharach songs. We get there at 10 and sit up front with
Alice in between us. A cute young couple
in their 30s sits beside us and we chat.
When the show starts this couple are confused and ask “isn’t this the
game show called the Blank Gameshow” nope that is in Princess Live not Princess
Theater. They don’t recognize these songs and are not interested so they leave
right away. Yeah I officially feel old. But they were cute.
After the show we chat with the Lisa the Cruise Director
about how much we loved the show. It is
a different show, more singing and the dancers highlight the singers and act as backup singers. It is simple but beautiful and we really
enjoyed it. We especially love that they
have live musicians playing. This is
something that doesn’t happen on many other cruise lines, sadly. So if you get a chance to catch this show on
board or another ship make sure not to miss it.
The singers on board are Willis White, Regina LeVert, Jose Rosario and
Rebecca Elliott.
Other things happening tonight are: Into the Flow water fountains that run every
15 minutes during allotted time, LGBT get together, Majority Rules Gameshow,
Live Music and Dancing with Atomic Party Band in the Piazza, Movies Under the
Stars: Bridge of Spies, Karaoke, Perry
Grant plays in Crooners, 70’s & 80’s Name That Tune, Evening Grooves with
Tyrone Babb, Live Music and Dancing with Orphea Quartet, 70’s Party Line
Dancing Class, Bing, 70’s Night, Hits from today and yesterday with DJ Shea,
The Blank Gameshow, Atomic Party Band in Vista late at night and of course the
Production Show What The World Needs Now.
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