Oh, and I’ll post today’s dinner menu (we ate in the World Fresh Marketplace and promptly fell into bed) and Princess Patter for your perusal.
Ok, it’s the next night, and, after a busy day in Aruba, I could easily put this off for another day, but then I’d never catch up.
When we missed our first slot for the Panama Canal transit and changes were made to the remainder of our itinerary, the one port day that didn’t change was Curaçao, although our time in port did change. We arrived at 9am, and were scheduled to meet our excursion group in the pier at 9:50am. That left plenty of time for a Sabatini’s breakfast.
Our tour was Curaçao highlights, the Blue Curaçao liqueur distillery and then Mambo Beach. Frankly, it’s little unusual for us to do a ship’s tour in the Caribbean, but these are unusual times, and I’m not quite comfortable hopping on a local bus and making our way around these islands as we’ve so often done in the past, especially as Curaçao and Aruba both are Level 5 on the CDC’s COVID list.
Also, after everything I went through last year getting back our refundable on board credits from the Ruby and Majestic Princess in Australia, we decided to never EVER again have to go through that. (Which, of course, is exactly what Princess hopes we will do.) So, ship excursions in Caribbean ports it is.
Pilot boat helping to set the lines as we arrived
For the first time since we boarded the ship in LA, I stepped on terra firma.
For the first time in over 20 months, I was in a country other than the US.
We boarded a large bus for our tour, and were required to keep masks on from nose to chin the entire time. We first drove through the Otrabunda area of Willemstad and had a quick look at the Queen Emma pedestrian pontoon bridge, Fort Rif, and the colorful Jewish neighborhood near the ship. We then crossed the high Queen Juliana Bridge over Sint Anna Bay to the Punda area.
The Emerald Princess in Willemstad.
Our first stop was at Landhuis Chobolobo to see the distillery operation of the Senior brand of Blue Curaçao liqueur. This orange flavored liqueur is made from the peels of the laraha, a bitter orange found on Curaçao. I don’t like it at all, but their tamarind and chocolate flavors are quite nice. There were samples available, and - surprise!- a shop where bottles of the liqueurs could be purchased.
On the way to Mambo Beach, we drove by some luxury homes and resorts (OMG the infinity pools were amazing, and an entire home would be designed around one). I have been to Curaçao many times, and had never seen this area, so that was interesting.
But finally we arrived at Mambo Beach, where there was an area roped off with sanitized (we were told) beach loungers just for us. I wasted no time getting in that warm blue water, my first salt water swim in a very long time, and, Sis, all that was missing was you and Cuba. The guys would have floated and solved the world’s problems and we would have gotten caught up on too many years apart.
We had a couple of hours at the beach, which was plenty, as we had no shade, and then headed back to the ship about 2pm.
We went right up to the Sanctuary to see our doppelgänger friends and that was when I became aware of an unfamiliar feeling. I was hungry! I was actually having hunger pangs. What a pleasure that was, but, of course I messed it up when we ordered lunch. At least it was a healthy one.
Lunch served in the Sanctuary
G was then convinced that he needed to walk back across the pedestrian bridge to the Punda area, which was exactly what my knee really didn’t want to do, but I also couldn’t let him go alone, so there I was hobbling along the flagstone path along the water. The waves were fierce from the high winds (luckily the beach had been protected and was perfectly calm), kind of like watching fireworks as they crashed on the rock sea wall.
The Queen Emma floating pedestrian bridge
The asbestos-ridden Scientology cruise ship Freewinds was docked in the harbor by the Queen Julianna Bridge
We walked down to the canal where the floating market was for years…and the floating market is no longer. Its demise even pre-dates COVID, and was politically driven, as the boats that would tie up and form the market stalls selling fresh produce and spices were from Venezuela. Now the site is just the home of more souvenir stalls. Too bad!
Near where the floating market used to be was a most interesting pedestrian drawbridge where the sections that raised up were wider, and therefore heavier, closest to the hinge that lifted them (so kind of triangle-shaped). Very clever!!
We were lucky walking back to the ship when the Queen Emma pontoon bridge opened (it actually started to open while we were on it) to let a freighter into the inner harbor. It swings on its pontoons to one side, rotating on an axis at one end.
The bridge opening
We only had to step over about a one foot gap but some people were stuck on the bridge while it opened.
The bridge becomes almost parallel to the water’s edge
The pivot arc
It was after 5:30pm when we re-boarded the ship, and we were far too salty, sandy and sweaty to do anything but grab a little dinner in the buffet, shower and fall into bed. And that’s exactly what we did. We were asleep long before the Emerald Princess sailed at 9pm and didn’t even wake up when it did (which might tell you just how tired we were). Our days spent doing nothing but alternating between Sabatini’s and the Sanctuary really zapped my stamina.
Day 12 dinner menu
Day 12 Princess Patter
