December 7 - Willemstad - 84th anniversary of the date which will live in infamy

This is a hodgepodge of things I’ve written in the last couple of days but didn’t get around to posting.

When there's nothing else to add just upload a sunset picture.

Kralendijk, Bonaire -  Happy St. Nicholas Day (December 6)

I had the best of intentions about writing in the last couple of days when we were at sea, but you know what they say about good intentions.  Anyway, we’re tied up here in Kralendijk (no idea how you say that) and our sister, the Seabourn Ovation is right behind us.  It has been great for the staff because many have friends on both ships and they have been able to visit back and forth.  So have we passengers but I have no idea if anyone I know is there so I haven’t.

It is exceedingly hot and humid here!  I know it’s the Caribbean but I had forgotten how hot it can be and as usual my clothes are not meant for this weather.  I don’t wear loose flowing things at home and that’s what works here.  I went ashore with my friend Colleen and we walked on the main street.  Both of us bought a couple of linen things that might be more comfortable in the days that come.

These are Kralendijk

The three sea days between here and Miami passed as sea days always do.  I played some games and listened to a couple of talks.  One speaker was pretty good; the other was as boring as a rock.  He worked for 8 presidents doing something to do with the Office of Management and Budget and I don’t think he was on the cutting edge of national or international affairs.  I had dinner at his table one night and he wasn’t a scintillating host there either.

Last night I had dinner with the two couples who went on the provision tour and we included the Provision Master Harry and the Executive Housekeeper Alvie.  It was a delightful evening. In fact we didn’t leave the restaurant until just past 11 PM.  The Solis Bar next to the restaurant had closed and the pianist there had ended his gig for the night.  

The passenger mix on this ship is very strange and I can’t say it’s my favorite.  As I think I mentioned there are lots of Belgians, Swiss and Germans.  Some of them speak English with varying levels of proficiency; others don’t.  I understand that they want to socialize with their compatriots but they do it very loudly and in packs.  A couple of times now I’ve been asked to move from where I’m sitting so that one of them can sit with the others in their group.  That would be okay if there was another bar stool nearby, but there hasn’t been, so I thought that was a little rude.  They are getting off in Panama in a few days and I’m looking forward to that.

Today we’re in Willemstad, Curaçao.  Once again it’s a place I’ve been to a couple of times.  There are two megaships here but despite that because it’s Sunday most things are closed. A friend and I had planned to go ashore but two of our other friends, two very nice fellows from New Zealand, told us that most everything except souvenir shops are closed and that it’s even hotter than yesterday in Bonaire.  We decided to stay onboard.

And this is Willemstad

A crazy person was rapeling down from a bridge behind where we're docked.  I don't know why one would do that.

Since I don’t have anything exciting to write about I’ll tell you a little about these two of the ABC islands we’ve been to in the last two days. Bonaire and Curaçao along with Aruba comprise the westernmost of the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean. Curaçao is about 40 miles from Venezuela.  (A woman a few days ago told me she was worried that we were so close to Venezuela because Trump might blow us up.  I told her I didn’t think he had any intentions of blowing up a great big white cruise ship and she should calm herself.)  Aruba and Curaçao are self-governing autonomous parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands while Bonaire is a special municipality part of the kingdom.  Despite being part of the EU the official currency is the US dollar.  The official languages are Dutch and English.

The supposed first European to explore the islands was one of Christopher Columbus’ captains in 1499.  By 1527 the Spanish had established control of the islands which they maintained until 1634 when the Netherlands and Spain fought over them and Holland gained control.  Spain briefly took them back but then abandoned them because it decided they were of little value to Spain.  The population of the three islands combined is about 300,000.  The ABC islands gained some importance after oil was discovered in Venezuela in the early part of the 20th century.  Oil refineries were built on them and these played an important role in WWII.  Now tourism is the primary source of income.  

Well, I haven’t got much else to write about at the moment and I really should post this to sort of get caught up.  Sorry if there’s not much exciting going on.  Until next time.