Shadowmeboy's 2022 Encore Christmas and New Year's Southern Caribbean Cruise Adventure

[shadowmeboy]

 

Due to when our excursion left, we headed down to The Local for breakfast.

 

 

The Local Breakfast Menu

 

 

The Local was really calm this morning!

 

 

 

Seasonal Fruit Salad

 

 

Susan got the Fruit Salad, Oatmeal, and bacon on the side.

 

 

I got the breakfast sandwich and the oatmeal.

 

 

No we were not going on the Party Bus

 

 

Or even those

 

 

We headed to the theater to await the allotted time for release by the Shore Excursion personnel.

 

Two pet peeves of mine: 1. Shore Excursion personnel who think they wield so much power and demand that you pay attention to them. I enjoy ports where the meet up is on the dock, so you don't have to listen to the redundant monotone of the same information over and over again coupled by by bad jokes. 2. In person Life Boat drills where a housekeeper or other low level power hungry person is in charge of the muster station and wants your undivided attention for way too long. Dude I am on vacation not a College lecture. This is why I enjoy the video muster drill with the simple check-in at the muster station. Ok, rant over, lets resume our regularly scheduled review!

 

 

Someone is way to excited for this nonsense!

 

 

Freedom!

 

Welcome to Aruba!

 

[justhappy]

It was cool to see how Christmas is celebrated on the ship, it looked like fun🎄

[shadowmeboy]

 

We got on the motor coach for our excursion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aruba's International Airport

 

 

 

 

 

authentic island cuisine here 😉 

[shadowmeboy]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stop #1 - Casibari Rock Formations

 

 

 

Susan took one for the team and climbed to the top of the Rock. Yes that is the line going up.

 

 

 

I stayed down below and took pictures in the garden area

 

 

 

The steps Susan was going up.

 

 

I loved the rocks and cactus!

 

 

 

She is making progress!

 

 

 

At one point, you have to duck under this rock. Susan said she almost had trouble, so she said I would not have wanted to that part.

 

 

My picture of the people on the top!

 

 

[shadowmeboy]

 

 

 

Close up!

 

 

 

Selfie at the top!

 

 

 

We were one of 3 ships in Port that day.

 

 

You would not believe is the Caribbean if it was a stand alone picture. You would probably guess New Mexico or somewhere in the Southwest.

 

 

 

Heading down the other side, on the "good stairs" as Susan described it.

 

 

 

 

More garden photos!

 

 

 

See why I said good stairs in quotes

 

 

I love the reflection in the water!

[shadowmeboy]

 

Susan made it back down!

 

 

See the green hummingbird?

 

 

 

 

 

It was time to head back to the bus.

 

 

Not those buses!

 

 

 

 

Off to the next stop!

 

[TSUmom]

You two seem like such a fun couple....I really enjoy following along.

[shadowmeboy]

 

Stop #2 - Royal Aruba Aloe Museum and Store

 

 

Aloe close up!

 

 

 

 

So our experience started with how aloe is processed.

 

 

 

 

Then we went and looked at the museum/production area. No one was working as the day after Christmas is a holiday in Aruba.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After going through we headed outside to wait for the rest of the people. I dislike these stops that are effectively hard sell locations, but I guess it does keep prices down some.

 

 

Back on the bus

 

 

 

 

 

Okay? German restaurant in a Dutch protectorate? 

 

 

Oh look, more local island cuisine

 

 

 

[shadowmeboy]

 

We headed along the West shore of the island to the Northernmost point of the island.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

California Lighthouse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[shadowmeboy]

 

Stop #3 - California Lighthouse

 

 

 

 

 

 

We picked up our travel wall item from Aruba

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Selfie time!

 

 

 

 

pano time!

 

[shadowmeboy]

 

A note about the lighthouse: It costs like $5 to climb up to the top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[shadowmeboy]

 

Stop #4 - Eagle Beach

 

 

 

 

 

The beach was nice but crowded. We didn't bring swimsuits either.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went and found a bench in the shade. It was fun to people watch!

 

 

 

selfie time!

 

 

 

Poor coconut

 

 

We loaded up the bus to head back to the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back on the boat!

[shadowmeboy]

1 hour ago, justhappy said:

It was cool to see how Christmas is celebrated on the ship, it looked like fun🎄

 

I love seeing the ship all decorated. Its my favorite part of cruising during the holidays!

[shadowmeboy]

53 minutes ago, TSUmom said:

You two seem like such a fun couple....I really enjoy following along.

 

Ah, Thank you!

[justhappy]

1 hour ago, shadowmeboy said:

 

I love seeing the ship all decorated. It’s my favorite part of cruising during the holidays!

I’ve cruised in early December and the ships were decorated already but Christmas Day has to have a great vibe.

 You are right that Aruba looks like Arizona and New Mexico! Does Aruba have a “wet side”? Kind of like your Washington State, I know west of the Cascades is so tropical compared to the east. I’ve been on a trip from Port Angeles to Wenatchee and it’s amazing how different one state can be. 

[shadowmeboy]

43 minutes ago, justhappy said:

I’ve cruised in early December and the ships were decorated already but Christmas Day has to have a great vibe.

 You are right that Aruba looks like Arizona and New Mexico! Does Aruba have a “wet side”? Kind of like your Washington State, I know west of the Cascades is so tropical compared to the east. I’ve been on a trip from Port Angeles to Wenatchee and it’s amazing how different one state can be. 

 

No. It is really flat and only a 7-8 miles wide, at most. So what you see is what you get for the entire island. Its because the island lies outside the hurricane zone and is similar to the top of Venezuela.

[shadowmeboy]

We returned to the boat and went to get some lunch. We got back just after the MDR's closed, so off to The Local we go!

 

 

Menu

 

 

 

 

Cobb Salad

 

 

Pretzel Bites with beer cheese fondue

 

 

We both got our own because one is not enough

 

 

Caesar Salad

 

 

I got the Cheeseburger

 

 

Susan got the Tavern Battered Fish Sandwich

 

 

Carrot Cake

 

 

Brownie Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake

 

 

The view out Deck 8

 

[shadowmeboy]

I went back to the room and started processing video. Emptying SD cards onto my Hard drive. Susan meanwhile went to the Spa.

 

 

 

She was getting a manicure and pedicure

 

 

 

 

 

 

[shadowmeboy]

We were unable to purchase a couple of items we were planning on buying onboard, so we had more money to spend on our account than we were expecting. So we decided to switch our shore excursion in Puerto Plata. So off to stand in line!

 

 

 

 

 

 

After getting the Shore Excursion taken care of, it was time for pictures!

 

 

The official Stairway photo!

 

 

 

Love this one!

 

 

Look we found another duck!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look another picture of the display

 

[shadowmeboy]

Off to dinner we went!

 

 

 

SO as we were going in a kid puked on the floor going into the Manhattan Room. We were trying to help Restaurant Manger Jay to keep people from walking in it, but the kids are walking right through it. Finally they got chairs to block it off, and we went in and sat down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smoked Mozzarella Ravioli

 

 

Chicken Lettuce wraps

 

 

Bruschetta

 

 

Roasted Beet Salad

 

 

Breaded Flounder Filet

 

 

Rigatoni Primavera with Pesto

 

 

Whole-Roasted Sirloin

 

Now it says it come with a loaded baked potato. Is that a "loaded" baked potato? No

 

I was still hungry after eating my sirloin, so I ordered a New York Steak

 

 

 

Dessert menu

 

 

Banana's Foster

 

 

Warm chocolate lava cake

 

 

Tiramisu

 

 

We had an early day the next day, so we headed to bed. we watched some tv before crashing!

 

--

[SeekingKillerWhales!]

On 3/30/2023 at 2:14 PM, shadowmeboy said:

 

 

No Susan, that is not appropriate cruise attire.

 

I would love to see someone wearing that on a cruise! It would be like finding a duck!

[shadowmeboy]

16 hours ago, SeekingKillerWhales! said:

I would love to see someone wearing that on a cruise! It would be like finding a duck!

 

I can see your point.

[shadowmeboy]

Day 5 - Port #2 

December 27th, 2022 

Location: Willemstad, Curacao

 

 

Daily

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good Morning and welcome to Curacao! 

 

 

 

 

 

[shadowmeboy]

 

It was quiet in the Atrium as we headed to the MDR for breakfast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yogurt Parfait

 

 

Half Grapefruit with Orange Segments

 

 

Traditional Buttermilk Pancakes with Bacon and Ham

 

 

Eggs to Order with Bacon, Ham, and Hashbrowns

 

 

Bagel and cheese (I was making my own breakfast sandwich)

 

 

Ta Da!

 

[shadowmeboy]

 

After breakfast, we made our way back towards the room to pick up our supplies we would need for the shore excursion

 

 

 

Then it was time to hit the shore!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We headed off on the excursion!