Koningsdam in the Caribbean

[canadianbear]

3 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Just learned a business card in the slot works fine also! It does not need a magnetic strip 😀

I used my Starbucks card, lol! 

[Himself]

16 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

You are one lucky cruiser to have Patrick Murphy and Matilda aboard!  They are the best comedy team I have ever seen. 

 

I agree with Himself:  Patrick has "matured" (what else is new?) since I last saw him.  Matilda appears "ageless".  And, I'll be her "mouth" is as "sharp" as ever!

Patrick was originally from Chicago near Wrigley Field.  The family moved to Bensenville and he went to Fenton High school.  Has lived in Canada for years.  He puts great lines into the mouth of Matilda.  She once referred to the Mount Roberts Tram Way in Juneau as The Mt. Roberts "Scam Way!"

[Himself]

John:  I hope you and Maria have a good day in Bonaire

[Copper10-8]

4 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Anything that blocks the light inside the sensor should work. This is an energy-saving thing I like. As long as it doesn't result in loss of heat or cooling when you're out all day, it makes sense. I can't remember, does it turn off anything more than the lights?

 

Yeah, it turns down the juice to our phone chargers also. Btw, K-dam has sensor lights in all four wardrobe closets as well as (sensored; they stain on about 35-40 seconds) floor-lighting under the bar. Still looking for the emergency floor lighting that lead to the over-wing exits 😉

[Copper10-8]

3 hours ago, Himself said:

John:  I hope you and Maria have a good day in Bonaire

 

We sure did, Father! We're already in Willemstad, Curacao today (Saturday)! Take care and be safe!

[Copper10-8]

The flag of Bonaire has a large blue triangle in the lower right corner and a smaller yellow triangle in the upper left corner. It was adopted on 11 December 1981.

The triangles are separated by a white strip, inside of which is a black compass and a red six-pointed star. The blue and yellow triangles represent the sea and sun respectively while the dividing white strip represents the sky. The colors red, white, and blue also show Bonaire's loyalty to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The black compass represents the population of Bonaire who comes from the four corners of the world.

The red six-pointed star represents the original six villages of Bonaire - Antriol, Nikiboko, Nort Saliña, Playa, Rincon and Tera Korá

 

[Copper10-8]

K-dam was berthed in downtown Kralendijk (coral dike from the Dutch 'Koralendijk'), the capital of Bonaire, population of 3,061, off Kaya (street in Papiamentu) C.E.B. Hellmund at the larger Customs Pier, which is also known as the South Pier. The normally used pier for cruise ships, the Town Pier, aka the North Pier, was used by commercial vessels today. Besides, I believe Koningsdam is a bit too large for the Town Pier.

 

Shopping, dining, bar hopping and even snorkeling and diving are within walking distance of the dock. You will pass through the still fairly new Harborside Mall, a small open-air shopping center, to get from the pier to the street

 

 

 

 

Edited March 23, 2019 by Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

Our game plan today (Friday) was to explore parts of Kralendijk's neighborhoods you usually don't get to see because they're not that close to "downtown". In order to do that, we took a one and half hr long shorex by the name of "Kralendijk by trolley train" The driver, Karel (good old Dutch name), identified himself as the "only train conductor in Bonaire" and the guide was Jason.

 

They drove us through the kayas of the five neighborhoods of Kralendijk; Antriol, Nikiboko, North Saliña, Playa, and Tera Cora, past the 1829-built Parokia San Bernardo / San Bernardo Catholic Church, the Former St. Franciscus (Saint Francis of Assisi) Convent, the 1922-built old hospital, the Julianaplein/square, cactus fences, the 21 shoe tree, etc. and the only stop at the smallish (four rooms) SKAL & Museo Boneiru

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

The SKAL & Museo Boneiru / Bonaire Museum of Natural History, a four-room "work in progress" situated in a nice town house, dating back to 1885, and once owned by an influential plantation family. The museum shows some of the highlights of Bonaire like flora and fauna, old tools, historical pics, the vibrant Bonaire fishing and boating industry, ancient Indian/Arawak artifacts, shells, beach finds, corals and more. Some of the more interesting exhibits were the large wooden relief map of the island and the cactus-handling tools (two sticks, one with a v-shaped crook) for making the ubiquitous cactus fences

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Himself]

I enjoyed your coverage of Bonaire.  I lover Curacao

[Copper10-8]

Instead of taking us back to the pier, we asked to be dropped off in "downtown" Kralendijk were we did some moseying, visited the local "super" market and made the obligatory stop at "Gio's". Learned that a crew favorite, "Wattaburger" is still torn down for redevelopment. According to Jason, a brand new "Wattaburger" is still in the works at a different location of Kralendijk

 

 

 

 

My mum had an old Dutch bike like that one 😍

 

 

 

Wattaburger, a crew favorite on the Kralendijk waterfront, is no longer there, waiting to be rebuild

[Copper10-8]

Fort Oranje (Orange) built in 1639 by the Dutchies. The commander of the island lived here until 1837 when his new home was built next door. The fort never saw action. The cannons are old English cannons that date between 1808 and 1812. A wooden lighthouse, the Kralendijk 'vuurtoren' / 'light tower' was built around 1868, and replaced by a stone structure in 1932. Over the years, the building has been used as a government center and warehouse for government goods, as a prison, police and fire station. The fort building was restored in 1999 and is now the courthouse

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Departure from Kralendijk, Bonare; Tot ziens / Catch ya next time

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

So, one of our regular waiters in Club Orange, Youris, spent two years working on the Dutch island of Terschelling (definitely not the Caribbean, especially the winters). We started taking about a "Rijsttafel," Dutch for "rice table," basically a sampler of Indonesian food. So, tonight Youris and the Mexican and Filipino chefs served us a miniature Rijsttafel, definitely not on the Club Orange menu, consisting of Beef Sumatra, Satay, a fried egg, Krupuk, Sambal (to clear out your sinuses) fried rice and shrimp. It was enak sekali (very delicious)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

The main entertainment tonight was magician Adam Heppenstall however, we chose to close out the night with the B.B. Kings instead. The lead singer and drummer of the Rolling Stones Rock Room (dark tonite) paid tribute to them (the B.B.'s) on the dance floor. Tomorrow (Sat) is Willemstad, Curacao

 

 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Willemstad, Curaçao; Like Bonaire, Curaçao is located in the southern Caribbean Sea, north of the Venezuelan coast, and forms part of the Dutch Caribbean. Somewhat confusing, Curaçao, which includes the main island and the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao ("Little Curaçao"), is now a country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of over 150,000 on an area of 171 square miles and its capital is Willemstad, our destination today. Prior to 10 October 2010, when the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved, Curaçao was administered as the Island Territory of Curaçao, one of five island territories of the former Dutch Antilles.

One explanation for the origin of the name Curaçao is that it is derived from the Portuguese word for heart (coração), referring to the island as a center in trade. Spanish traders kept the name as Curazao, which was followed by the Dutch. Another explanation is that Curaçao was the name the Arawak people had used to identify themselves. The name "Curaçao" has become associated with a shade of blue, because of the deep-blue version of the liqueur named Curaçao, also known as Blue Curaçao

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

The national flag of Curaçao represents the country of Curaçao as well as the island area within the Netherlands Antilles from 1984 until its dissolution in 2010. The flag is a blue field with a horizontal yellow stripe slightly below the mid-line and two white, five-pointed stars in the canton. The blue symbolizes the sea and sky (the bottom and top blue sections, respectively) divided by a yellow stroke representing the bright sun which bathes the island. The two stars represent Curaçao and Klein Curaçao, but also 'Love and Happiness'. The five points on each star symbolize the five continents from which Curaçao's people have come and come.

 

[Copper10-8]

Our plan today was to take it extremely easy with no shore excursions planned. So around 11:45 or so, we wandered off the fwd gangway and down the Mega Pier towards the Renaissance Hotel/Rif Fort shopping area. Off to the side adjacent the Stadion Johnny Vrutaal aka the Rif baseball stadium at Baden Powellweg 1 is a Starbucks coffee shop which happens to be a favorite of the HAL crew due to the free WiFi. We spent some time there with Maria finding out from her Mum (house/cat-sitting) that Stiv, our cat, is even more spoiled than he already was before.

 

We then walked through the Rif Fort shopping/restaurant area to arrive on the De Rouvilleweg of the Otrabanda district with a good look, across the Sint Annabaai, of Fort Amsterdam, the Governor's house, the Koningin Emma pontoon bridge, and the pastel-colored houses/shops that Willemstad is so famous for

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[VMax1700]

We are sitting in Dublin airport waiting to board our flight to Miami. We join the K'dam on Wednesday, so look after that Dam ship, sir!

P.S. enjoying your reviews. We did that itinerary last year. Love B and C. Not so keen on A.

[Copper10-8]

5 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

We are sitting in Dublin airport waiting to board our flight to Miami. We join the K'dam on Wednesday, so look after that Dam ship, sir!

P.S. enjoying your reviews. We did that itinerary last year. Love B and C. Not so keen on A.

 

Too bad we'll jut miss each other! Safe flight over! We'll leave the lights on for ya! 😂

[dancindr]

We are also sailing Koningsdam Wednesday! Your trip looks wonderful so far and I’m quite jealous that I’ve been toiling away instead of relaxing at sea. Thank you for sharing the trip; it’s helped keep me excited and pushing through these last few nights at work!

[Copper10-8]

4 hours ago, dancindr said:

We are also sailing Koningsdam Wednesday! Your trip looks wonderful so far and I’m quite jealous that I’ve been toiling away instead of relaxing at sea. Thank you for sharing the trip; it’s helped keep me excited and pushing through these last few nights at work!

 

Enjoy K-dam! She's a beautiful ship with an excellent crew! Only negative (for the crew member, not for us) so far is that one of the male dancers/cast members got injured while performing during the early show last Thursday which automatically cancelled the late show that evening. Here's hoping he is able to recover to full strength! 

[0bnxshs]

Great job with the day to day John!  We did this same itinerary on NS in January.  It never gets old.  Loved seeing the photos of Queen Maxima again; we were on the Christening cruise for K'dam and thoroughly enjoyed.

[Vic The Parrot]

Thanks for taking us along. She looks like a nice ship (even though she's missing a few key HAL elements 🤔). 

 

Enjoy the rest of your trip!

[Copper10-8]

1 minute ago, Vic The Parrot said:

Thanks for taking us along. She looks like a nice ship (even though she's missing a few key HAL elements 🤔). 

 

Enjoy the rest of your trip!

 

Thanks Vic! She tends to grow on us, but you are 100% correct, she is missing some key HAL elements!