Solar Eclipse : A pictorial review of the Exotic Southern Caribbean

[scubacruiserx2]

I will try and think of more after consulting with the Brains Trust (Rosie). I suppose the ships may vary slightly or are they all identical in that class.

 

Thank you Mic , Rosie , Nancy and Jackie for helping us all ! :) :D

[scubacruiserx2]

After breakfast we returned to our cabin where there was a lot of activity outside that appeared to be land reclamation .

After grabbing the Canon we headed up to the deck for the sunrise and to get the big picture of Curacao before going ashore .

Zooming in we can see some evidence of an oil refinery at work

Looking West

and East toward the city .

[MicCanberra]

So cool,

One of the main areas in the Caribbean I want to go to are in south for the ABC islands. Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.

[MicCanberra]

Our resident Cruise critic editor has just posted this which seems very opportune.

http://www.cruisecritic.com.au/news/news.cfm?ID=7392

 

BTW, the Ovation of the Seas is a Quantum class ship while the other RCI ships I was on were the Voyager (OTS) and Explorer (OTS) are Voyager class ships.

 

I agree with most aspects of the ship mentioned although most of the issues raised were solved by the time we boarded nearly a month later.

 

One issue that really affected our cruise is that most of the ports in Australia, NZ and the south pacific cannot handle such a large ship. That means they tend to use commercial docks which are still in operation and means you cannot just walk of the ship to explore but need to be shuttled out of the dock area. This can be very slow and with between 4200 - 4900 passengers the queues are long and it takes hours. Ships tours may be best here as they get off first and RCI do not seem to recognise priority tendering or debark unless you are Diamond plus or above or a suite guest.

[scubacruiserx2]

So cool,

One of the main areas in the Caribbean I want to go to are in south for the ABC islands. Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.

 

We could see more of the Dutch influence on the A and C islands since we spent more time there than we did in Bonaire . And of course there is a confluence of influence with the French in Saint Martin .

[upwarduk]

We could see more of the Dutch influence on the A---

Our son was paid in Dutch guilders when he worked at the now closed refinery.

Although the school was American, the children benefited from extra Dutch 'Bank Holidays' e.g. Queen's Birthday, which was at the end of April. In 2002 when we were there, it was tagged on to a very late Easter holiday, which meant that our son had plenty of days off to spend with us!

[scubacruiserx2]

We jumped ship as soon as we could to head downtown . Welcome to colorful Curacao !!!

We walked along the pretty and historic waterfront walkway

Entering the Rif ( Reef ) Fort

From Castles.NL

The Rif Fort lies at the entrance of the St. Anna Bay in the western Otrabanda neighborhood in the city of Willemstad, on the Caribbean island of Curaçao in the Dutch Antilles. Its name is sometimes also spelled as Riffort and translates as Reef Fort.

In the early 19th century the fortifications on Curaçao were almost all in a state of neglect. A proposal to restore them also caught the interest of King William I of the Netherlands. And in 1824 he appointed a luitenant-general Krayenhoff to make a restoration plan. Under the direction of Krayenhoff the Rif Fort and the Water Fort, on the opposite shore, were built in 1828/1829. The Rif Fort was built between the entrance of the bay, the coast and the former Rif Water. It was built to protect the entrance of the St. Anna Bay and the outer part of the Otrabanda neighborhood.

When the fort was finished it was bombproof and armed with 56 cannons, barracks, a powder magazine and a watertank. In front of the fort stood a small bombproof dome where the chain was kept that was used to seal off the entrance to the harbour.

When the Rif Fort lost its military purpose, I don't know but in the first part of the 20th century the grounds of the Rif Fort were used by a water company. In 1942 the fort was armed with two 37mm machineguns. Later it housed government institutions and a police station.

At present the Rif Fort is freely accessible. It now used as a very touristic shopping mall.

[scubacruiserx2]

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Our son was paid in Dutch guilders when he worked at the now closed refinery.

Although the school was American, the children benefited from extra Dutch 'Bank Holidays' e.g. Queen's Birthday, which was at the end of April. In 2002 when we were there, it was tagged on to a very late Easter holiday, which meant that our son had plenty of days off to spend with us!

 

American holidays and Dutch holidays ? It sounds like a student's or a worker's paradise ! :cool:

[scubacruiserx2]

After walking through the fort we paused to take a look back

There is a statue of Efrain Jonckheen here , the founder of the DP .

The Democratic Party (DP), also in Papiamentu Partido Democrat , is a Curaçao and was an Antillean political party with a liberal background. It is the oldest existing political party in Curaçao. Currently, the DP has no seats in the States of Curaçao . Wikipedia

Here we got our first look in the blinding sun of the famous skyline and 2 bridges

We paused at the foot of the bridge for a little Dutch Treat

 

This is the Queen Emma Bridge foot bridge

It is a floating bridge , build on pontoons .

[Walt fan]

Your underwater pictures are truly amazing. We snorkel, and have never been able to get such clear pictures. I am enjoying the sea life through your TR.

 

I know the ship we were on, Oasis, had different venues than the Allure at the time. From what I understand they each have different food offerings and entertainment. The biggest drawback were the lines at ports. I know our status on RC will be whatever status Celebrity and Azamara has. One of the carrots I am using on my husband.

 

Enjoying and following along!

[marshabear]

is that a picture of the Oceanview buffet area? WOW!! it is huge!

 

 

 

Marsha

[scubacruiserx2]

Your underwater pictures are truly amazing. We snorkel, and have never been able to get such clear pictures. I am enjoying the sea life through your TR.

 

I know the ship we were on, Oasis, had different venues than the Allure at the time. From what I understand they each have different food offerings and entertainment. The biggest drawback were the lines at ports. I know our status on RC will be whatever status Celebrity and Azamara has. One of the carrots I am using on my husband.

 

Enjoying and following along!

 

Great to hear that you have taken the plunge into the undersea world ! Many great creatures to see , to photograph and to eat . And nobody can see me salivating underwater either !

We haven't been on a Mega ship like Oasis yet , but the Regal Princess had some big lines at Cozumel ! :eek:

 

Carrots don't have much of an effect on me except to improve my night vision , but hearing the words Ultimate Balcony Dinner is like ringing Pavlov's bell !!! :hearteyes:

[scubacruiserx2]

is that a picture of the Oceanview buffet area? WOW!! it is huge!

 

 

 

Marsha

 

 

Yes it is ! And we took much comfort there ! :) :D

 

But we sure missed the Sushi that they used to offer there before they opened Sushi on 5 !

We see that you are booked on the Miami to London TA . We did that cruise 2 years ago and loved it , one of our favorites !! You can read and see photos of the entire journey , including a stay in Russia at this link : http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2213388

And with 266,620 views , it's our most popular thread . Thank you everybody !!! :cool:

[scubacruiserx2]

In the last batch of photos before and as we were crossing the bridge we ignored the photo 101 rule : Keep the greatest light source at your back . And now with the sun at our side or back , the photos improved .

Looking back at the Eclipse

The Queen Juliana Bridge as seen from the Queen Emma Bridge

Lock your love on the Punda Love Heart

 

A pano shot of the floating bridge

The 120'long Insulinde used to take catches of fish from Iceland to the Coastal cities in Europe

It now 'catches ' tourists .

An example of 'urban camouflage' at the ships entrance to the oil refine

Edited March 21, 2017 by scubacruiserx2

[MicCanberra]

Great photos.

[scubacruiserx2]

Great photos.

 

Thank you Mic , you can really see the Ducth influence in the photos . And as we rounded the corner on the waterfront the Spanish influence became immediately apparent .

[Curly locks]

Loving your review and the photos are amazing! Getting very excited as we board the Eclipse for the same trip in just over a week! Thank you for giving such a wonderful idea of what we can expect!

[scubacruiserx2]

Loving your review and the photos are amazing! Getting very excited as we board the Eclipse for the same trip in just over a week! Thank you for giving such a wonderful idea of what we can expect!

 

We're glad that you are enjoying them and we hope that you have a great holiday on the cruise ! :cool:

[heathermk57]

Thank you for bringing back so many lovely memories of our cruise!

[chamima]

Loving your review and the photos are amazing! Getting very excited as we board the Eclipse for the same trip in just over a week! Thank you for giving such a wonderful idea of what we can expect!

 

 

Make sure to watch the Hot Glass Show and say hi to Michael from me (Karen).

We were on the Eclipse for all of February and I loved watching the amazing creativity.

The other two glass artists we sailed with (Megan and Dane) should be home on vacation now but Michael is still there.

SO TALENTED!!!! :D

Edited March 22, 2017 by chamima

[scubacruiserx2]

Thank you for bringing back so many lovely memories of our cruise!

 

Well you're welcome and I'll post more when I get some time .

[scubacruiserx2]

The Floating Market is where many people buy fish or seafood from the fisherman who live on their boats

Because of their proximity to Venezuela most of the fisherman are from there . When I saw this boat I thought of the Enya song Orinoco Flow .

Video :

There is also a large fruit and vegetable market there

and a bird Mariachi band .

Edited March 22, 2017 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

We continued our walk through this colorful part of town

We came upon the oldest synagogue in continuous use in the Western hemisphere but they had not opened yet , and so we continued our exploration

[mom says]

Great photos, as always. Did you get a chance to take the Queen Emma for a ride? We did. They don't clear people already on the bridge before they open it. We were about half way along, stopped to take some photos, and the horn sounded. They opened to allow a pilot boat thru, and we got some great photos as the front of the bridge arced past the buildings on the other side. I was impressed by how quickly it can open and close again.

[Bimmer09]

We continued our walk through this colorful part of town

We came upon the oldest synagogue in continuous use in the Western hemisphere but they had not opened yet , and so we continued our exploration

 

Joe, we got there at 6 pm and it was closed. Next time! (January 2018)

Norris, along for the ride.