CURACAO
Background/Historical Info
Curacao is the largest of
the ABC islands at 117 sq miles and is located 40 miles off the north coast of
Venezuela. The population of the island is about 155,000 and its capital
is Willemstad, where we are docked.
The economy is based on
tourism, trade, shipping services, oil refining & storage, and
international financial services. 620,000 cruise ship passengers call on
the port per year. Another 1.8 million fly to the island annually.
The coral reefs are great for snorkeling and diving. Willemstad is a very
colorful town as you will be seeing in my photos and has lots of restaurants
and shopping. Again, luxury hotels are near some of the 37 beaches here.
There are also several forts on the island built by the Dutch back in the mid
1600’s that can be visited.
Water is produced here
by reverse osmosis and desalination. Electricity is produced by
generation plants and wind farms. Gas for cooking is supplied to
homes by pressurized containers.
These show our position today on Curacao. The last one shows Bonaire where we will be tomorrow.
LAST EVENING
Pre-dinner cocktails in the Mariner Lounge as usual. This is Denar who makes my Grey Goose martini or Makers Mark Manhattan.
At 6:30 one of the ship's orchestra members provides some music to drink by.
We finally got to meet Renaldo, the Food & Beverage Director. He asked that the photo I took of him and Rebecca not be put on social media or my blog. Not exactly sure what that is about. This is our first cruise with him. He seems to be a very nice gentleman.
We had a lovely dinner with Susan and Deborah. As I said yesterday they are Commodore status with over 2000 nights on Regent's ships. We have cruised with them many times but this is our first dinner with them. Susan is the one next to Rebecca. Deborah said she would be on the ship for 5 more months and she has been on now for 5 months. WOW!
Rebecca and I both had the panko coated shrimp to start with. Sometimes we make a special order of these as our entrees. So good!
I enjoyed this chicken Kiev with some potatoes au gratin.
Rebecca had the beef stir fry and also ordered some siracha to spice it up.
This apple tartan with vanilla ice cream was very decadent.
After dinner we headed straight back to the suite. No magician! We both slept very well as the sea has calmed down.
TODAY
When I turned on the tv this morning at 7:15, this was the view from the bridge camera as we were sailing in.
Yes, we sailed under the bridge
As you will see in today's photos, this is a very colorful city.
This will be where we are docked today. Great views from our balcony. It had been raining earlier this morning so everything was wet, including deck 12, the walking/running deck.
I went up to deck12 to take these photos. There are two other huge cruise ships here today but our docking location is much superior to theirs. Those monster ships are too big to get in where we are.
Seems we have a naval ship on patrol. Not sure what country is belongs to.
The walking pontoon bridge can be retracted so boats and ships can pass through. We will be going through tonight as we sail out.
Better view of the pedestrian bridge that can open up. There is a group of runners crossing over it in this photo.
Very colorful buildings.
I walked off the ship at 9:15 to take some photos and get some fresh air. There was a strong breeze so it did not seem that warm. 80F today.
Gangway is on deck 4.
Stopped here to see if I could buy some z-pacs, but she said I needed a prescription. I tried!
Colorful murals everywhere.
A little early for shoppers.
Not sure who this dude is. Founding father I assumed.
FIFA is big here too.
This sign says, "Smallest nation to ever qualify for the world cup".
Crossing the round-about to check out Rif Fort.
Entrance
Inside were shops and restaurants.
Across the Sint Anna Bay is Fort Amsterdam. Also shops and a hotel now.
Mariner
I did not get a close up when I walked across the Queen Emma Bridge. It is a long pontoon bridge for pedestrians that was built in 1967. Just as I walking off the bridge on the other side, they retracted it for a ship coming out. Photo of that on down.
On the bridge now about midway.
Fort Amsterdam area was pretty much deserted.
Mariner again.
Street with more restaurants and shops.
Not sure what this was about but had thousands of padlocks and locks with names and dates on them.
One more view of our beautiful home away from home!
Since the pontoon bridge had been retracted, I took the free ferry back across the bay. Maybe a 5 minute ride.
This why the bridge had been retracted. A small oil tanker was heading back out to sea.
I was the "celebrity ferry boat captain".
Pontoon bridge going back in place after the ship had exited.
I got off the ferry here.
I was back on board about an hour later and headed to Coffee Connection and asked Xavier for a coke.
These crew members are being asked question about their responsibilities if there were an actual emergency.
At 10:15 there was a emergency crew drill. Reception Desk is where the GM ran the drill.
After returning to the ship and getting cleaned up for the day, I went back down to the culinary room and added all the photos I took when off the ship this morning.
At noon we headed up to La Veranda for lunch. I had my usual anchovies & bleu cheese but added some coleslaw. On the dinner plate is sweet & sour chicken, beef stir fry, stir fry vegetables, and rice.
On my way off the ship this morning I stopped by to chat with Matthieu, the Executive Concierge. I asked for a chair to sit on rather than the thing above. Yes, it fits better under the desk but was killing my back as I spend a lot of time working on my laptop. I asked for the chair instead and it showed up while we were up at lunch.
Right after docking this morning Captain Abhi made a PA saying our scheduled stop at Gustavia on the island of St Barts, June 21st, has been canceled. Apparently, the island has some "technical issues" and all cruise ships are not allowed to stop there for an indefinite time. Instead we shall be docking in Phillipsburg on the island of St Maarten. Docking there same day, same time as it is very close by. Not a big deal for us as have been to all these islands many times.
Rebecca went up to the library this afternoon to read while I finish this blog. Then we will watch Bold & Beautiful together.
This is the Compass Rose menu for tonight. We did not care for anything on it so at dinner last night we made a special order with Vlada, the Restaurant Mgr. So for our appetizer this evening we will be be having black mussels in a white wine sauce. We love them. I asked for a double order! For our entrees we both are having veal shank osso buco and a side of creamy polenta.
Linda Gentille's second and last show is tonight in the theater at 9:30. We want to be on the front row for it.
The ship will not be sailing until 10:00 tonight. Our next port will be at the last of the ABC islands, Bonaire which is only 70 miles from here.
