DAY 4---ARUBA

ARUBA

Background/History

        Aruba is a small (usually windy) island that is only 20 miles long and 6 miles across at its widest point.  It lies just 18 miles off the north coast of Venezuela.  Although a very small island the population here is 116,000.  Again, it has a dry climate and an arid, cactus landscape.  We are docking at Oranjestad, the capital and largest city.

        The economy is dominated by four industries:  tourism, petroleum refining, offshore banking, and aloe exporting.  1,100,000 tourists overnight in Aruba per year ¾ of them are Americans.  The soft, white sand beaches is its main draw.  Luxury hotels line the beaches and there are also upscale shopping malls.  There are also 12 casinos and lots of restaurants and night life.  There is a US Homeland Security and Border Protection at the airport to clear passengers flying back to the States.  334 cruises making port calls here per year with over 815,000 passengers visiting Aruba.  These visitors are in addition to the 1.1 million mentioned above.

        The world’s largest desalination plant produces 37,000 tons of water for consumption per day.  The electricity is produced by a heavy fuel oil plant with only 1/5^th from wind power so far. 

 LAST EVENING

        After cocktails in the Mariner Lounge we headed up to Sette Mari for dinner.  We arrived a few minutes before 6:30 when it opened and there already a line to get in.  One of the first people we saw after entering was Skinny.  We have known him for many years so Mark, maitre'd, seated us at a window table with Skinny as our waiter.

        His assistant was Sherlouis.  He is new to Regent but we know his father, Sherwin.  Sherwin is not working anymore but he was a long time waiter and knew him well.  Nice kid!

                                                            Our sommelier was Sameer.

                                           We always start with some minestrone soup.

        Well, my veal parmesan was not good.  Somehow the ticket said "crispy" so the cheese was hard.  I decided not to send it back and ate some of it.  Rebecca had a small order of penne bolognese and it was good.

        We finished dinner early so went back to the suite for a while.  I went down to the theater just before 9:00 so as to be one of the first ones in.  We wanted a front row seat for the show and got it.

        Following are some photos of the show cast in action.  As I mentioned yesterday, we have seen this show many times on other ships.  We like to see how each cast of singers and dances perform it.

                                           This cast was outstanding and we loved the show.

TODAY

         We woke up at 6:30 this morning but did not crawl out of bed (Regent's beds are the best!!) until 7:00.  I got Rebecca an Americano coffee as usual from Coffee Connection.  I then took my laptop down to Epicurean Enrichment Studio, got a coffee and muffin, and worked on today's post.  I wanted to stand up as too much sitting kills my back.

                        As we approached the pier this tub was standing by to help if needed.

                                                             Setting up the gangway.

                     Cloudy, windy, and 86 degrees here this morning after docking at 10am.

                         View today from our balcony.  Sand bar and beautiful blue waters.

        I did not book a tour here today as we've been here several times previously.  I was going to walk into town but it is a long walk and too hot.

         How about some muscles, shrimp, and anchovies to start with for lunch in La Veranda.

    Decided order a hamburger from the pool grill and some potato salad.  Burgers are very good.

                  There a Royal Caribbean docked behind us.  It arrived sometime after us.

                                           Suitcase damage when it arrived in our suite.

        This is what it looks like after they did a temporary repair.  Looks like we can make it home with it then buy new cases.

        This gives you a look at what they call "The ABC Islands".  Aruba-Bonaire-Curacao  So we won't have to sail very far as we're visiting all three islands.

        We are not sailing until 9pm as it is only 77nm over to Curacao.  We will be dining with Deborah and Susan in Compass Rose this evening.  They both are "Commodore" status with over 2000 nights on Regent.  We are Diamonds with over 1000 nights.  We have been on many cruises with them but the first time we will have dined with them.  Long overdue!

        I have to show you two parts of tonight's menu:  appetizers & pastas then entrees.  Unlike last night's menu which we did not care for, there are many things we like on tonight's.

            Our favs on this are:  panko tiger prawns, corn & poblano chili soup, farfalle pasta.

        For the entrees we like:  Szechuan beef stir fry and the chicken Kiev.  Rebecca will probably have the stir fry and the Kiev for me.

        The show tonight is the return for a second show by the magician, Levent.  We will not be going again as do not care for magicians.