NOW TO VIEW MY JANUARY POSTS YOU WILL HAVE TO CLICK ON "JANUARY" SO THOSE POSTS WILL BE DISPLAYED.
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.
MARDI GRAS TODAY (FAT TUESDAY)
Our position today is docked at Willemstad on the island of Curacao. This is our second visit to Curacao as we were here back on Day 27 (February 1st). I will again put the background info on today's post. It is mostly sunny with some clouds this morning but more clouds with possible rain showers in the afternoon. Temperature at noon was 84 degrees.
CURACAO BACKGROUND 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 160,000 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 on the south side of the island. 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.
LAST NIGHT:
Cocktails at the Horizon Lounge bar
Artichoke spinach dip as our canope
Dinner in Compass Rose. Photo taken toward the back of the restaurant. Very eerie as no one back there.
Escargot
They did bring me some onion soup from Prime 7 since I did not get it last night. Love this soup.
Miso glazed seabass. Very yummy.
I had the white chocolate croissant pudding for dessert. Also very good.
Comedian, Paul Adams, show. I liked it but Rebecca didn't. Not many people came to his show.
TODAY:
After our treadmill workout I decided to walk in to Willemstad for some photos for this post. There is a big Carnival cruise ship docked just behind us today so there were more people heading into town also. Town is just off the pier so it was a nice walk. The wind was blowing so not too hot. Most people were not wearing masks. I took mine in case I got into a crowded area or decided to go in a shop. I did don it a few times.
Big ball park just off the pier.
The above photos were taken from deck 12.
Walking off the pier now.
Of course some souvenir shops off the pier.
Mariner with the Carnival ship behind it.
Lots of shops when heading to town.
Rif Fort was built in 1828 to protect the entrance to St Anna Bay. Now it is a waterfront mall with a courtyard, restaurants, and bars.
Fort Rif shopping mall area.
Another fort on the other side at the entrance to St Anna Bay.
Walking along the St Anna Bay lined with shops.
This is the floating pedestrian bridge across the bay to the other side of town. My trolley tour last time here was through the other side.
Willemstad is so colorful and very clean.
Floating pedestrian bridge
This is statue of Simon Bolivar.
Love these palm trees.
I walked down this street looking for a pharmacy.
I did find a pharmacy so put my mask on and went in. I was looking for some Nasonex (nose spray) for Rebecca. She needs it or Nasacort at night. In the States Nasonex is a prescription item and costs $125 for a small bottle with 140 sprays so she uses Nasacort. Today I got a couple bottles for $22 each. We will be back here later on this cruise so will get more then. So my walk today was well worth it.
Other side of St Anna Bay.
It is taking a nap.
This was my purchase today.
Sending out some laundry today. Does not cost to have it done. They do have self use laundry rooms on most every suite decks. Rebecca does use the laundry room to do some of her more delicate stuff.
I have asked Douglas, the Food & Beverage Director, for some fried oysters. He had been checking every port for them and managed to get some in Cartagena. The chef prepared 6 for me at lunch in La Veranda today. What a beautiful presentation!!! However the oysters were so small I could hardly taste them. They will be getting some nice big ones maybe in Tampa and definitely in New Orleans when we are there on the next cruise segment.
Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam arriving this afternoon at 1:30. Wait, it did not stay but left.
We are overnighting here tonight. I have a 4 hour "Scenic Country Drive" excursion tomorrow morning at 8:45.
We will be going to this "American Wine Dinner" at 7pm this evening in Prime 7. It is a 5 course dinner paired with special wines. Rebecca and I do not care for the lamb chop course so they will prepare filets of beef for us. The cost is $169 per person as the wines are not cheap ones. We will be wearing our Mardi Gras beads. I bet we will be only ones who brought some to wear. You will have to click on the menu to enlarge it so you can read it.
These are the beads we brought with us for Mardi Gras. There will be 5 of us at our table tonight so we have enough for everyone at our table.
They will be showing a movie in the theater at 9pm but we will be going up to the "Liars Club" at 9:30. This is always hilarious and fun to watch.
