Caribbean Snorkeling Cruise 2021

Overnight our cruise started its w second half.     Before the time our alarms went off at 6:30am, the ship was securely moored at the second position at the mega pier in Willemstad, Curaçao right behind Tui's MeinShiff 2. After breakfast, we made our way off the ship to join     our group out at the beginning of the long pier.     The checkin process went much more smoothly than earlier     at Amber Cove.     Soon we were on our bus for a short tour of the historic area before heading out of town.     If turned out the route was the same as we experienced on our first visit to Curaçao.     At Christoffel National Park we took a short hike over the lava rocks before driving down to the small fishing village where years of depositing fish entrails have nurtured sea turtles to return to eat the plentiful free food.     During the ride waiver forms were passed around on multiple clipboards.     This was way more efficient than the Amber Cove approach.  

With a projected arrival time of 1pm, the first order of the day after breakfast was to assume a proper viewing position in the Crow's Nest to watch the sail in.     What's a proper position you ask?     It's at a small table with a beverage of choice and some peanuts.     The small tables are just behind the row of chairs at the window.     I was very content there updating yesterday's blog when two ladies came by looking for a seat.     So I offered them two of the chairs at my table.     They accepted and that led to interesting conversation for the next hour and a half about their heritage (born in Mexico but now living in Texas.     My wife joined the group and we enjoyed a most pleasant sail in.   Sailing into San Juan during the day is a very pretty sight.     First the historic fort El Moro comes into view and then increasing amounts of detail become apparent.     The little pilot boat made its appearance and deposited the local pilot.

One of the three reasons we booked this cruise was that one of the ports of call would be Bonaire which is the last of the three ABC islands for us to visit.     And now that we have visited it, we are glad to have visited it.     It's quaint and the waters are so clear.     But I am getting ahead of myself.   While the ship arrived at 7am, we never felt it.     After our customary breakfast with nice views of the harbor area, we left the ship and had a mandatory check by the local authorities of our vaccinations card.     This was the first one the entire cruise.     We found our local guide that I had booked through Viator.     The tour I booked was a "South Island Tour and Snorkel".     We were the only two people with Brenda our guide.     She's Canadian who splits her year between Bonaire and Newfoundland.     She has a crew cab pickup or for larger groups a bus and will only take groups where all the participants know each other.  

This would be our 4th visit to Aruba and 2nd in a month.     We met our friends Catherine & Ronnie shortly after 9am at the pier entrance.     The Rotterdam was berthed in the center pier position (closest to the port exit for passengers) with the Aidaperla in front of us with a mothballed NCL ship behind us which was replaced during the day by the Eurodam.   We went to our friends' house for some tea and conversation before leaving for a drive to Arikok National Park where we visited the Quadirikiri and Fontein Caves.     These caves were created when the lava was pushed up and the gases created voids.     The Quadirikiri cave was the prettiest with natural light holes illuminating the rugged interior cave features. The entry fee for the 4 of us was $27.   Surrounding this Natural Park is a military zone where they conduct live fire operations so one is restricted to travel on the developed roads and visitor areas.     There is also a row of 10 la

Today was a pretty laid back day for us.     After breakfast we attended the Mariner (loyalty) awards ceremony where the recipients receive medallions for having cruised a threshold number of days.     Today's ceremony recognized those reaching the 300 and 500 cruise day levels.     Afterwards I visited the future cruise consultant's desk and booked another cruise for early 2022. Following lunch I did a long Facetime call with a friend whose mother-in-law is the widow of our deceased former pastor.      The rest of the day until 3pm I spent hanging out until we attended a future cruise presentation in the Main Stage.   After the Main Stage presentation I had a serendipitous encounter (one of two this day and one of many in the past few months).     I was strolling outside on deck 10 aft when I passed by a fellow with his camera on a tripod and pointed to the sky.     I stopped and enquired what he was doing and he indicated he was doing time lapses of th

After having lost an hour's sleep due to our clocks being set ahead, we slept in pretty late and didn't arise until after 9:30am.   Following our customary Lido breakfast, at 11am we attended a reception for 4 & 5 star Mariners where we chatted with a couple from California (well at least the wife as the husband didn't say a word!).   I spent some time composing my blog seated next to a window in the now empty BBKing lounge.     For a break, I checked out the future cruise consultant sign up sheet, and tge earliest I could get an appointment was next Monday!Afterwards I went up to the Crow's Nest to watch the sail in.     The pilot sailed out in his little vessel and soon we were in the narrow channel where the captain had the ship do a 180° counterclockwise pirouette so he could back the ship into the left side of the narrow finger pier.     On the opposite side of the pier, a dredge was doing its lonely job of scooping up clamshell buckets