DAY 26---ORANJESTAD, ARUBA (NO, A DAY AT SEA AS ARUBA DENIED US DOCKING THERE!!)

TO VIEW PREVIOUS POSTINGS USE THE "BLOG ARCHIVE" UNDER OUR PHOTO ON THE RIGHT.  THEN CLICK ON THE DAY OR DAYS YOU MISSED.  ALSO CLICKING ON THE PHOTOS WILL ENLARGE THEM.  I RECOMMEND THAT. 

LAST NIGHT:

                                                              Spring rolls as an appetizer

        We enjoyed watching the very exciting Bengals/Chiefs game in our suite.  What an ending!!!  Glad the Bengals will finally be in the Super Bowl.  We had drinks in the suite before going down to Compass Rose at 7pm for dinner.  We both enjoyed the beef Bourguignon again as the beef was so tender.  I resisted having a dessert.

        We then retired back to our suite to watch the rest of the Rams/49ers game.  Actually, I fell asleep but Rebecca watched it.

TODAY:

        I had decided when I woke up in the middle of the night that I was not going to go on my scheduled tour today.  Well, I noticed it unusual when we got up at 7:15 this morning that no land was yet in sight.  We had our room service scrambled eggs and at 8:00 the Captain announced on the PA that Aruba health officials were not allowing us to dock there today.  SO ANOTHER SEA DAY TODAY!

At 10:30 after getting cleaned up from my daily hour on the treadmill, I went up to the pool bar to get an "Arnold Palmer".  It is half iced tea and half lemonade.  Very refreshing.

        Pretty quiet on the pool deck so far.  Beautiful sunny skies and the temperature is perfect at 78 degrees mid morning.  Very smooth seas also.  It's hard to tell we are even at sea.  Waiters at the pool grill are setting up for an India themed lunch.  Indian food at buffet in La Veranda also but I can make a Caesar salad, have some pasta, or have pizza.  Rebecca likes Indian food but not me.  She has an Atkins meal bar for lunch every day however.

At noon today we are zig zagging around in the Caribbean Sea just killing time before we are SUPPOSED to dock in Curacao tomorrow morning at 8am.  Temperature 80 degrees.  Heading up for lunch now.

        So I mixed my own Caesar salad.  I added tabasco to their dressing and got several anchovies, more parm cheese, and some croutons.  The piece of fish you see was not edible as was basically raw.  The wash it all down with I got a slice of pizza with bleu cheese.  Ok, I hear most of you saying "yuck".  Rebecca did!!

        While at lunch in La Veranda, Annie, the head housekeeper, came by to say hi to us.  She had just finished her 10 days in isolation after coming on board.  On past cruises she always would dine with us one evening in Compass Rose.  Right now, officers and staff cannot dine with passengers.  We all hope that will change soon.

        This evening's plan is to join Marcia and the Bishop's for cocktails in Mariner Lounge then dinner in Compass Rose.  Terry Bishop is the incredible walking encyclopedia lecturer (more like telling historical stories) and he is also has shows where he sings songs which he has made up.  Very funny and entertaining man.  Julie is his wife.  It will be a fun evening.

        After dinner there will be a movie, "La La Land", shown in the theater at 8:30.  We will be going at 9:30 to the Horizon Lounge where they will be having a "Liars Club".  There are four staff members who will be given a unknown word or phrase and each will give their definition of it.  The audience will have to vote on which one is telling the true definition and which are "lying".  This is always a lot of fun and a great time.

        Well, we are hoping to be able to dock in Curacao tomorrow morning at 8am.  I have a 10am tour.

Wish us luck! 

DAY 25---KRALENDIJK, BONAIRE

TO VIEW PREVIOUS POSTINGS USE THE "BLOG ARCHIVE" UNDER OUR PHOTO ON THE RIGHT.  THEN CLICK ON THE DAY OR DAYS YOU MISSED.  ALSO CLICKING ON THE PHOTOS WILL ENLARGE THEM.  I RECOMMEND THAT. 

BONAIRE BACKGROUND INFO:

        Bonaire is a small island (111 sq miles) about 50 miles off the northern coast of Venezuela with a population of just over 20,000.  We will be docking at Kralendijk which is its capital.  I forgot to mention yesterday that the ABC Islands are south of hurricane alley so miss the being hit by hurricanes.  It is sunny and warm here year round and has great reefs circling the island for snorkeling and diving with a total of 86 named dive sites in Bonaire’s Marine Park.  Tourism is Bonaire’s main economy driver.  185,000 cruise passengers visit here year.

        Bonaire means “low country”.  In one area along the coast sea water comes into salt pans (inlets that are closed to the sea by a dead coral dyke).  The water is evaporated leaving behind salt.  Cargill operates solar salt production which produces 400,000 tons of industrial grade salt per year.  Cargill operates its own pier where ships are loaded with the salt.

        A Venezuelan oil company has a fuel storage and transportation terminal on Bonaire.  Its pier can accommodate very large ships.

        Currency here is the US dolar.

LAST NIGHT:

                                                         Great sailing this evening

                                                                         Sun setting

                      Another Bali Mafia guy we just met, Nengah.  He is serving canapes.

                            Another Bali Mafia we met tonight serving drinks in Sette Mari, Dewa.

    Here is the grilled veal chop with marsala mushroom sauce.  Meat still not tender on the ship.

Another incredible show by Linda Gentille.  She did one number recognizing veterans.  Asking the veteran audience members to stand when she played their military service theme.  That was appreciated and very well accepted by all in attendance.

TODAY:

                               Today we are docked in Kralendijk, Bonaire, until 8:30 tonight.  

 

When we opened our curtains at 7:30 this morning we had a nice rainbow to look at.  There are some rain showers in the area and 75 degrees early today.  High temperature forecast to be 85.

Our tour group (11 of us) leaving the ship this morning at 10:50 for our 1 1/2 hour Tuk-Tuk tour of Kralendijk.

Beautiful aqua colored waters near the shore and you could see the bottom of the coral lined coast line.

                                                                         RSSC Mariner

Our Tuk-Tuks.  Electric powered.  6 of us in ours and 5 in the other.  The Bishops, Bittles, Marcia, and I I in ours.

               We had a great Dutch tour guide.  She moved here from Holland 4 years ago.

                      No stop lights in town except at a pizza shop.  Green light means it is open!

                                       This is the catholic church as 80% here are catholics.

This is the hospital.  All the health facilities are on one street.  Health care is free here as is paid for by Holland since income here is so low.

Captain Don Stewart is buried in the green colored grave site.  He is known as the "Father of Bonaire".  He moved here in 1962 and was an environmental activist protecting the coral reefs that surround the island.  He was an accomplished diver and made Bonaire the world's best dive location.  Apparently he liked to drink, eat, and chase women too.  Our guide told the story that he injured a leg diving and it was badly treated.  Eventually, he had to go over to Aruba and the doctor told him he would have to amputate his leg.  So Don told the doctor he wanted to take the leg back to Bonaire with him.  So he did and buried it after a huge party where the green site is.  Still drinking a lot, one time in a bar a friend told him he was drinking too much and it might kill him.  Captain Don's response was "Well it might, but I already have one foot in the grave".  Such a funny story!!  He died in 2014 at age 89.

                                                          Fences are made of cactus.

Hard to make it out but there is a dive shop in the blue buildings.  Diving is the main tourist attraction on Bonaire as the island is surrounded by coral reefs.  

                                                It costs $10 a day to moor you boat here.

                                                           Tree with old sandals tied in it.

                                                                   An iguana sunning.

                                                          Restaurant on the water

                    After returning to the ship I took some photos of the town from deck 12.

Note the beautiful aqua colored water close to the shore.  The depth of the water drops off big time just a couple hundred yards from shore and the water color changes to a dark blue.  Divers can just swim out to the deeper waters.

                       Here you can see the change in water colors.  Blue is deeper waters.

I really enjoyed my tour today in this very lovely and colorful town.  As it is Sunday today, the town was very quiet and most shops were closed.  We will be returning here a couple more times on our "world cruise in the Caribbean".  Next time I want to go see the salt pans I mentioned earlier.

        I will publish this soon as the Chiefs vs Bengals game will be starting in an hour.  We will have cocktails in our suite at 6pm while watching the second half.  After the game we will go down to Compass Rose for dinner.  Then back to the suite to watch the last half of the Rams vs 49ers game.  Not going to the show featuring a repeat performance by singer, Marty Thomas.  Wasn't too impressed with his first show anyway.

        We will be departing here at 8:30 tonight as it is a short sail over to Aruba.  We are to dock there at 8am.  I have a "Scenes of Aruba" 3 1/2 hour tour leaving at 8:15.  We were to get some of the Crystal canceled world cruise folks tomorrow but Aruba will not let their ship dock there. 

 

DAY 24---AT SEA ENROUTE TO THE ISLAND OF BONAIRE

TO VIEW PREVIOUS POSTINGS USE THE "BLOG ARCHIVE" UNDER OUR PHOTO ON THE RIGHT.  THEN CLICK ON THE DAY OR DAYS YOU MISSED.  ALSO CLICKING ON THE PHOTOS WILL ENLARGE THEM.  I RECOMMEND THAT. 

LAST NIGHT:

Opened the tin box of Leonidas candies yesterday afternoon.  It was one of our Titanium status benefits.

Our waitress last night in Compass Rose was Kerti, from Bali.  There were 7 of us at the table.  Sorry now I did not get a photo of everyone.

      Joydeep was our wine sommelier.  We all enjoyed a Cline Cashmere Black from Sonoma CA

                                                                   Roasted prime rib 

                                                          Brownie with vanilla ice cream

                                                        Andy introducing Terry Bishop

Another great show by Terry Bishop.  He announced that he will be on next year's world cruise too.

TODAY:

Our position at noon today is about half way from the Dominican Republic and our next port of call on the island of Bonaire.  Seas are smooth again today with air temperature of 80 degrees.

Since we will be visiting the ABC Islands the next three days here is some information about them.

ABC ISLANDS

Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao are known as the ABC Islands located off the coast of Venezuela.  The islands have a shared political history and Dutch status.  They were ceded to the Netherlands by the Anglo-Dutch Treat of 1814.  Aruba and Curacao are now self-governing countries of the Netherlands while Bonaire is a special municipality of the Netherlands and subject to Dutch laws.  People have Dutch nationality with associated benefits and hold European passports.  Dutch is the official language however a unique Portuguese creole language has developed.  Black people make up the majority population on Bonaire and Curacao while a combined European-indigenous mix make up the Aruba people.  These small islands have a total population of 285,000.  The climate is very dry with year round temperatures between 82 and 99 degrees.

                            Had these Buffalo wings with bleu cheese dip at lunch today.

        We spent the afternoon in our suite.  I did some research on the ABC Islands and Bonaire.  We also watched on tv the taping of Terry Bishop's lecture this morning.  Rebecca played solitare on her Kindle.  I also called our neighbor in Durango, Melissa, who is watching our house.     

       Our plan for this evening will be pre-dinner cocktails up in Observation Lounge then dinner in Sette Mari.  Compass Rose menu for tonight does not excite us so will have some Italian food.  I believe we will be having grilled veal chop with a creamy marsala mushroom sauce and polenta.  Photo may be posted tomorrow if I can remember to take it before cutting into the chop.

        The show tonight is featuring Linda Gentille's second performance.  We really enjoyed her first show as she is a fantastic pianist.

        We are scheduled to dock in Bonaire by 8am tomorrow.  I have a tour so will try to get some photos of the island posted tomorrow.  Also we plan to watch the NFL division championship games on tv.

DAY 23---SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

TO VIEW PREVIOUS POSTINGS USE THE "BLOG ARCHIVE" UNDER OUR PHOTO ON THE RIGHT.  THEN CLICK ON THE DAY OR DAYS YOU MISSED.  ALSO CLICKING ON THE PHOTOS WILL ENLARGE THEM.  I RECOMMEND THAT. 

BACKGROUND INFO:

        Santo Domingo is one of the oldest cities in the Caribbean and the capital of the Dominican Republic, as well as, the largest city on the island.  The city and metro area has a population of over 3 million.  It was founded by the Spanish in 1496.  It is the cultural, financial, political, commercial, and industrial center of the D.R. and also the chief seaport.

        Back in the late 1980's and early 1990's I flew Boeing 727's into the airport here from American Airlines Miami base.  There are two main resort areas east of the city on the southern coast:  La Romana and Punta Cana.

        The island of Puerto Rico is just approximately 50 miles due east of the Dominican Republic.  The God forsaken country of Haiti is on the west border of the D.R..

LAST NIGHT:

        There was a "Pin Party" at 6pm in the theater for all the world cruisers to receive this pin to wear.  Cocktails and canapes were also served.

Enjoyed a nice dinner in Sette Mari.  Marcia and I had the osso bucco (above).  It was served on risotto and was delicious.  Rebecca had a pasta dish that the chef made special for her.

We had seen this show last segment but was front center again for it again.  Again the production cast is so very talented.  Loved the show!!!

TODAY:

        It appears we are in San Juan but Puerto Rico is on the right.  We are in Santo Domingo today where it is sunny and 87degrees.  You guessed it, we are again not going ashore today.  We had the gym to ourselves this morning.  Here are some photos taken from deck 12.

                                                     The city is walled along the harbor.

Might have walked into the old city on my own but it is a LONG walk to get across the busy highway.

                                                                   Old fortification

                                                        A Costa ship (Italian cruise line)

                                                          Old fortification with cannons.

Right below our balcony.  Not sure what kind of waste is being pumped off the ship.  At noon the Staff Captain said it was fuel sludge.

                                             This guy is getting samples in plastic bottles.

        

        Plan for this evening is to have cocktails in the Horizon Lounge with our friends Susanne Peters, Carla Sue & Brad Broecker, and another couple we have not met yet.  Dinner will be in Compass Rose after that.  Also planning on seeing Terry Bishop's show at 9:30.  We are sailing at 6pm.  Tomorrow is a sea day.