DragonOfTheSeas

I know, they’re just beautiful. But as you know, I did not take them. I would not have done half as good a job. But the scenery was just so beautiful and amazing. Actually, the pictures are not nearly as vibrant as the coral and the sponges and fish were when we viewed them. Because it was cloudy part of the time the pictures are not as bright.

Before we left on the trip, I looked for sunscreen that did not have the additives in it. I can’t remember what they were right now. Woodwinds also had sunscreen for us in case we needed it. it was a really incredible experience. It’s very different from snorkeling when you paddle out from shore. I’ve done that many times, but I’ve only done the drift snorkel twice now.

We went to the Park cafe ☕️ got breakfast today for a change. Afterwards we found 2 lounges and stayed. It was really hot 🥵. Then they began to open the roof. fully open

This is a screenshot of the entrées. I’m not wild about the Mexican things they had. I had spaghetti. And I husband had grilled chicken. No problem.

We have done this 3 times now. In our case it is because DH has a mobility issue. He walks with a walking stick. However, to get to the ship--up the steep ramps he needs a wheelchair. I am not sure what type of assistance you would need. Have them put on the sea pass that he needs assistance. Make sure you sign up for an embarkation time as soon as they open. That way you can get an early time. We have found the earlier the less trouble it is. You will need to tell the security person at the port. We are usually given the wheelchair at this point. There is usually a special line for assistance. But some of this is port dependent. Lately check in has been by iPad and takes only a couple of minutes. You can get wheelchair assistance and luggage assistance. You just need to ask for it ahead, as you have done. We have found them so helpful. However, depending on the cruise you may be asked it sit in a certain area and wait a while for your turn. [that is why I say to get an early arrival time] The ship's crew volunteers to do this for tips.

Here are a few more. They are doing research on coral and trying to help grow more. There were 8-12 of these underwater. . . . and just to prove I was there, here are a couple of pictures of me. This was during the second of our snorkel drifts. I was pretty tired by then. I had even told the group leader i thought I would sit it out. But, they encouraged me to continue and said they would watch out for me and guide me along if I need it. I had a waist flotation device and I used a pool noodle to keep the top of me afloat. You can see I am on the top of the water. I felt perfectly safe. Woodwind takes care of you. They have body suits and tops if you want to use them. I used a top. They have face masks with prescription glass so you can see without glasses. They provide all the snorkel gear, of course. They also have drinks [hard and soft] and great food. And they cost less than the ships excursion. Win, win,win!

I Hello! Before I begin any other posts I want to upload a few pics from the snorkel trip. I had some trouble downloading the zip file yesterday. If I could have moved it in pieces or even picked the pictures I wanted that would be fine. However, it was 359 pictures zipped to 2.8 GB of data. I finally got it done last night. I am actually impressed. I was not sure the onboard network would handle that. Here is my proof of life picture for Bonaire. Sorry I am late. We saw several turtles. They nest in this area between May and November. So, it is still early in the season. I loved all the brightly colorful fish. They were not concerned with us. I swam through 2 schools of fish. It was wild to have them all around me. I school was of small golden fish. The other school was black ones. I wish the photographer had gotten a picture of that. But, she was not near me at the time.

The ocean was a beautiful color of turquoise today. The taxi driver told us what a slow day it was. He said look at the beach. There’s no one out there. We were the only ship in port and I think people either went to other places or they stayed on the ship. The beach was almost deserted by 1 o’clock.

The water was beautiful today the sun was beautiful, but not the sand. You know that breeze I’ve been talking about well today it was very strong and the sand was whipping across the beach. After a few hours we had enough and we just decided to go back to the ship. I wanted to mention that there was no seaweed at all on the shore. There’s been a lot of discussion in the news about seaweed on Caribbean islands. But obviously, whatever is out there has not gotten to any of the ABC islands.

Look what showed up in our cabin yesterday. DH and I reach 350 points on this cruise so we are getting our fourth crystal block. They’re changing the designs of the crystal block to put a colorful picture of the ship inside the glass blocks And they may look better. I’m not sure. But I’ve always liked the classic look of these blocks. The loyalty ambassador told me that if you choose to not take the block while you’re on the ship, then you don’t get one. We planned to take it anyway, but there are some who fly that don’t want to carry that heavy box with them in their checked or carry-on bags. But now they have no option if they want the block.

Welcome to Eagle beach. This is the low rise beach as opposed to Palm Beach which is the high-rise beach. Those names refer to the type of hotels that you will find on them. So if you’re looking for lots of restaurants, an action you need to go to Palm Beach. But DH and I are looking for a quiet beach and so Eagle is the best for us. noticed a low rise hotels, and the relatively empty beach. And the taxi dropped us off right next to a beach bar so food drinks and restrooms are available. What more could a person want right?

Sorry I didn’t post anything yesterday afternoon. When I got back from my snorkel trip, it was time for a big nap. Ha ha ha and anyone who knows me knows I never take naps. There were a few times yesterday morning that I thought I was too old for what I was doing. 🙄😝😂 I know I’ve mentioned several times how breezy and windy it’s been, and that caused the ocean to have a lot of swells. And while it was a drift snorkel where the current carried us along, the ocean swells made the going harder. I’m glad I did it and Woodwind Bonaire is so helpful. The photographer has posted the pictures I got my emails but so far I haven’t been able to access that site. I suspect everyone is on the Internet right now. I’ll try again later.

I already posted this on cruise critic about 20 minutes ago. But I can’t find it on there so if it shows up later, it’s a double post I apologize. We are here in beautiful Aruba. We are the only ship in Port today. So luckily, we are at the first berth by the terminal. The city is just beyond that multi colored walkway. The main street is just beyond the diamonds international Building. When we were here in November, there were four ships and we were all the way down at the end. It was a super hot and humid day. By the time I’d walk down the dock itself and then the walkway that lead into town I’m probably done a mile And was almost too tired to walk around. (. Far end of dock below) today we’re going to chill for a little while in the morning to let our food digest and the clouds burn off. then we’re going to go to Eagle beach and have a quiet beach day.

I’m back. We had a photographer on the boat for snorkeling. I knew that ahead of time, so I did not take any camera with me. Her pictures should be uploaded to the website by tomorrow. I’ll post some then. With Carlos beautiful I swim through schools of fish and we got to see turtles. What could be better?

Today I’m going to do an open ocean snorkel with Woodwind Bonaire. They will take us to Klein Bonaire, which is a national park here. That’s where all the great coral reefs are. Bonaire is one of the best snorkel and diver locations in the world. it’s hard to describe just how beautiful the water is here.

Bon Bini to beautiful Kranladijk, Bonaire. (I think I spelled that correctly) This is a very small island the smallest of the five Dutch West India. When I looked up information which, of course is always a couple of years old they gave the total population of 39,000 people in the city has 3000 people. To give you a new comparison yesterday and Willemstad They had 160,000 people. this is a very small port area, and a blissfully short dock. I was standing in the center of the porch, looking in both directions which of the pictures below you can see how small it is The taxi stand is just behind the building above.

I don’t think that getting sodas has been an issue. The bars are busy but manageable. Nothing like it was on the liberty of the seas. I think those are the every time hours for the Park Café. I am I went there on a sea day and they had the same sign up. I will check to see after these two port days if anything changes.

I’m going to do a couple of general comments about food at the end of the cruise. I’ve taken a few pictures. But I want to try more of the new menu items. But one thing that has drawn a number of comments from passengers has been the Park café. The café has always been a good place to get food. I often have dropped in there after coming back off of an excursion for a bowl of soup or a little bit of salad when I didn’t want a big lunch. And DH enjoyed getting a slice of pizza for lunch. However, it is not open for lunch. Also, the windjammer does not serve pizza at lunch. They’re not all that many venues on the ship. It’s a shame they chose to keep this one closed during lunch.

Our last stop, was the distillery where they make Curaçao. It’s hard to believe that they make the liquor out of the seeds from the oranges. The distillery was begun and owned by the Senior family. Several people were buying liquor to bring home with them. But I bought their other product. I’ve included the sign that shows all the many things that it says it does. It’s a mentholated lotion, very cooling. We had someone in our group who had a sunburn and they sprayed it on her and she said it felt really good. only I would go to a distillery and come home with body lotion.🤣

DD always asks her college age kids to send home a “proof of life “ pic each day if they go on a trip with friends. Heather here is our proof of life. The Vision is in the background.

Yes, me entering the MDR. This would be table 100 just beyond Purcell container. Looking on left of aisle is table 102. The pics are as you enter the left door. Hope this helps.

The city of Willemstad is a UNESCO world heritage site. There is a strict architectural code. People can do what they want to the insides of their homes or businesses, but the outside Has to be maintained in the traditional way and colors. The colors are predominantly yellow with orange roofs, but they’re also mini bright colors sprinkled in. this house is called the wedding cake. Because if it’s design. Today it’s the archives building and I’m by the government.

The vision is an older ship. So it needs a lot of care like any older thing. The crew does a good job of cleaning and maintaining the ship. Today they are washing the glass on the outside of the balconies, and in the places where it needs it, they varnish the balcony railings. The workmen is suspended for very complicated scaffolding that hangs off of a pole on the structure of the ship. The workmen stopped to talk to me.

Our cruise ship is docked in Otrobanda at the mega pier. It’s very close to the heart of the city. for those that are unplugged on their vacation and don’t purchase the Internet Curaçao Office 30 free minutes to cruise passengers. But the speed is sloooow. I’m using my Verizon international travel pass. It’s a pretty good deal. It’s $10 a day and that’s less than half of what the cruise ship charges per day.

The city is made up of several neighborhoods. If you look at the map above, you’ll see that the city is bisected by the Saint Anna Harbor. On the left side is Otrabanda (new section) and on the right hand side is Punda (old city). There’s a swinging pontoon bridge which connects the two sides of the city. If a ship needs to come into the harbor, the bridge swings open and pedestrians need to take a ferry to cross the harbor. (the picture below is from our last trip here in November, but it’s a better shot than the one I took today) The ferry is free and is only used when the pontoon bridge opens. Cars have to use the queen Juliana Bridge.