mac_tlc

And finally, the Celebrity Today for Day 8:

We went to Luminae for dinner last night. I forgot to grab a picture of the actual menu but these screen shots are from the app and it was accurate. I had the Apple and Hearty Green salad and French onion soup: For our entree, I had the Lamb loin and my wife had the Rigatoni Arribiata: After dinner we went to the Headliner Show, Uptown: A very talented and energetic trio they were! Audience seemed engaged and was singing along . I will say, the shows and entertainment have been very very good. It is one of the things we look forward to. After the show we wandered over to the Club for the nightly 8:30 game show. There is one every night at 8:30. mac_tlc

We have a couple of visitors with us today: The Britannia from P&O, And arriving at noon is the Explora 1 from MSC Explora Journeys, their new upscale line. Lots of chatter about MSC YC vs Retreat vs Explora vs others. Not going to get into that now, but later I will chat about our views, investigations, and thoughts on such matters. mac_tlc

Good morning Curaçao!! Plan for today is to get off and wander around. The ship was just cleared at 7:13am and all aboard is 6:30. Port day so no chair hogs: Not even our friends:

It’s similar to a thin crepe but a little more substance at the ends. mac_tlc

Not this time due to a reservation snafu, but we have in the past five or six times. It is one of our favorites. Great crab cake, wonderful presentation. It is getting a bit pricy, though at $85 +20% if booked onboard. Be on the lookout for a sale. mac_tlc

They will let you share, but then you both have to agree on what to get 😜😜. mac_tlc

Days 2 and 9. Both Tuesdays. mac_tlc

Did a little more shopping on the at back to the ship. I would say maybe half the stores were open. The ritzy ones were closed. Also made a donation to the Aruban casino gods at the casino next to the Renaissance hotel. Very nice pool area there. Here are a few pictures:

Did I mention that the Dutch Pancake House is fabulous? My wife had the “Shanghai” : Bacon (more Canadian than American), egg, cheese, bell peppers , Spanish peppers. I had a bacon, onion, cheese, tomato, mushroom: These babies are 12” across, I know because I measured the plate— and it completely fills the plate. With two sides of toast and two coffees, a total of $55 with tip. They have a hundred different options. Worth the trip. mac_tlc

Yes there are, and if your lucky you will walk right past our favorite “reserved” towel right at the top of the stairs!!! Been there every day I have walked by. mac_tlc

No problem doing that. mac_tlc

I have seen the occasional savings of tables in the Oceanview, more for people playing cards or dominoes as opposed to eating. mac_tlc

So if you are wondering where the island goes on a Sunday morning, it’s here: About a 45 minute wait, island time. Here is the menu, it is extensive. Prices in USD. But how far from the ship is it? It’s this far:

Feel free to chime in, more information is good! mac_tlc

The Celebrity Today for day 7:

After our foray on land, we headed back to the ship. As is always the case here, it was hot. We had dinner at Luminae around 7, which is quite late for us. I had a house salad , French onion soup and the eggplant Parmesan. It was very good. Unfortunately the phone stayed on the table and I forgot to take pictures. I really do have to concentrate more …… After dinner we did something a little different—- we went up to the Solarium for a swim! We finally found a time when it wasn’t crowded 😂😂. Tomorrow we head out for breakfast at the Dutch Pancake House! mac_tlc

Not in the casino but right next to it. Craft Social Bar.

Welcome to Aruba!! We got off the ship a few minutes after 4, as did almost everyone else it seemed. Headed out to find the Dutch Pancake House: That will be breakfast tomorrow morning! Sitting here : Having a couple Landsharks before heading back. There were a couple of stores on the main road we want to visit and rumor has it they may close at 6. mac_tlc

I did think about that….

No I don’t have any info about it. The words beneath are in Spanish so even if it was crystal clear I wouldn’t know what it says😂. It was located at the monestary at La Popa. Got lucky with the lighting. Almost all of these pictures are happenstance, especially the doors. I don’t seek them out but they pop up! I do try to not get any people in them but sometimes it’s unavoidable. Here is one more from the old city. Always wanted to go to Havana to see the old cars.

This post is mainly for @Jim_Iain, who has taught me to appreciate doors !!! I call it “The Doors of Cartagena” :

Thank you for your kind words! This is our plan for Aruba. Today we will hit the shops, tomorrow morning we plan on going to the Dutch Pancake House for breakfast, hoping it bears some resemblance to Pancakes Amsterdam in Amsterdam. We will walk around today and find it. mac_tlc

I guess it’s only illegal if you get caught. One other lounger in the Solarium the other day had an “Out of Office” sign on it when unoccupied. I didn’t grab a picture but I’m sure it will be back. Crew were walking around and cleaning in both areas and walked past them just as I did. IMHO, it’s systematic of people today. I paid, I get to do as I please. Unless enforced it will only get worse. Scoff at Carnival, but they just rolled out a plan to address it, where the chair police will put a note on an occupied chair with the time the note was placed and noting the time, 40 minutes later, when the stuff will be moved. Let’s see how it works. Companies are just so concerned with alienating their customers, even when the customers are wrong. mac_tlc

And today’s “chair hoggery” update: We turned the clocks forward and hour last night. My morning constitutional began at 7:45 ship time and this time I went u to the retreat sun deck first. Very few reserved chairs, plenty of availability including the day beds. Heading down to the pool deck, any prime seat directly around the pool was “occupied”. Less were occupied on deck 15, and the Solarium had a number of available loungers. Granted this was only at 6:45 body time, 7:45 ship time. But, never fear, our favorite was still there 😂😂: We arrive in Aruba at 4pm today and are there until 10pm or so tomorrow. One interesting factoid, mentioned by our cruise director Shawna is that tomorrow is Sunday and a lot of the shops will be closed 😳😳😳. mac_tlc