Christmas markets in Europe and Caribbean cruise (RTW)

[tgh]

Based on the Willemstad effect , I suspect that Cartagena will also impress...

 

[RooFlyer]

Well, can you believe it. Here I am having a lovely steak dinner on the pool deck as a refugee from formal or jacket wearing dinner everywhere else on the ship’s bars or restaurants.





And in walks this bloke wearing a jacket and tie!! It’s probably 30°. It’s the thin edge of the edge! The maître d should send him back to his cabin to get changed into proper attire for dining outside, by the pool in the tropics.

 

[Flyfrequently]

A walk around the town.

Fantastic colours @RooFlyer !

 

[kileskus]

Great photos and informative TR.

The inner port is very large and takes a lot of shipping. I wonder why the Brits didn't try harder to snag it.

The plaque you showed at Fort Piscaderabay I think a little humorously undermines the intermittent British occupation of Curaçao in the context of war raging in Europe and the Kingdom of Holland being under French rule. In the Congress of Vienna the united Netherlands was created as a buffer state. The Dutch were very proactive in advocating for which southern territories would be included in the new state. Along with this, the British returned many Dutch colonies that they had occupied, including Curaçao, with the notable exceptions of the Cape of Good Hope and Ceylon, and in the Caribbean Tobago and Guiana.

Given the spirit of the Congress to maintain the ancien régime and prevent further war by rebalancing the European powers, the return of most of the Dutch West Indies to the Dutch could have been a) an effort at said rebalancing, and to legitimise the power of the state they had created as a buffer, b) to extend/abolish the historic line of amity south of the Tropic of Cancer, or c) due to the involvement of the aforementioned proactive Dutch diplomats.

However, given Britain's relative position of power, I guess they assumed the right to keep some of the former Dutch colonies. As to why Tobago instead of Curaçao specifically I couldn't say, but on balance the British arguably came out ahead of the Dutch.

 

[RooFlyer]

Another overnight transit and we arrive at Oranjestad. capital of Aruba, another of the Netherlands Antilles.

The port area decidedly less salubrious than Willemstad. Built open to the sea, save for a fringing reef, which was my initial view.



Given the narrowness of the channel, I was surprised that this guy motored though, quite fast, with a tug escort, but not controlling the ship.



I wonder if Aruba is part of the island nation activists group on climate change?



The port side, breakfast view. Forward of us are concrete berths, accommodating 2 other cruise ships.

 

[RooFlyer]

My excursion this morning was on the Atlantis VI submarine. Not sure how much of a real submarine experience it will be ...

On a bus first, fortunately not this one



And then onto a small vessel to transport us south along the coast to where the submarine is.



Will have to check this out when we get back



Queen Beatrix International Airport





Got a view of the Hooiberg volcano that dominates the island.

 

[RooFlyer]

There it is - coo, a real submarine.





Boarding seating in rows facing the portholes.



We descended gradually; was unsure how deep we would go. The reef and fish again were a bit pedestrian, but hey, we are submarining!





Looking forward, towards the pilot.



Several wrecks





Maximum depth - 50 metres, pretty impressive.



We tootled around for about an hour (half the time of their direct-sale trips) then surfaced. Everyone quite pleased and impressed.

As the boat took us back to shore, the sub was already going under again





Then return to shore and bus pick-up - except no bus. Wait a bit, but its hot on the concrete wharf; no sign of bus and boat people have left.. About 1/3 of us - about 10 - decide to head off on foot. Ended up being 1,200m and 20 mins and a stretch was welcome. The bus zoomed past us after about 10 mins and looking back, was picking up the waiters. When it came back past us, the driver ignored a couple of the pax waving it down (driver must have known there were pax on foot). Very cough effort.

 

[Port Power]

“Like” the submarine, but agree the bus driver was a miserable sod not to pick up the walkers who wanted a lift.

 

[RooFlyer]

After lunch, a walk to see the town. The great pink think I saw from the boat turned out to be a pretty vulgar hotel/shopping centre.



Walking on a bit, a square and then the main street where some effort has been made, although it was pretty dead





But beyond that, it got pretty tacky - lots of litter (booze bottles), stench of urine, holes in the pavements. Typical scenes





The Catholic cathedral - locked. Probably the neighbourhood.



Anglican church



There was one smart house - maybe they are just 20 years behind Willemstad?



There was the historical museum. apparently built on the remnants of an old fort. Closed.



Parliament



That afternoon, I changed suites due to on-going noise issue in my original one. Two nights to go - but better than nothing. New bottle of Champage and an orchid which didn't make an appearance in the original suite

 

[SYD]

The Catholic cathedral - locked. Probably the neighbourhood.

View attachment 422221

Closed for Christmas?

 

[RooFlyer]

A word on the dining on board. As mentioned before, I'm not a great 'diner' either at home or abroad. For those who know the SilverSea set up on these classes of ships, SALT was my favourite for dinner, as they have a 'local inspired' menu every evening, as well as one they keep for the entire voyage.

I commented on the Antarctica cruise that I was surprised at how bad some of the wait staff were, and it was suggested that competition for staff meant some inexperience and many staff didn't like the colder cruising, so opted out. But it was the same this cruise. Now, I'm not throwing bread rolls around because a pour was delayed - I just expect, on SS, service like you'd get at a regular restaurant back home. Before I figured out what area he served and could avoid, there was one guy in SALT who just shouldn't have been there. Wore a mask around his chin - always - and had the annoying habit of when he brought anything to the table, as he put it down his head was turned, talking to one of the others. A couple of spills and impossible to ask something before he headed off. Apologies if this sounds DYKWIA (and I will admit to some of that ) but again, if these guys want to tout a luxury cruising experience, they need to tick the boxes.

One of the maître d's was very, very good. I went to La Terrazza I think for lunch the first day and he was there. Next day, also for lunch and as I approached, he welcomed me back by name! Amazing skill. We had a chat and thought we may have both been on the same Antarctic cruise last December, but found we were on different ships. He was the one I eventually mentioned to about my table allocation issue, and it as never a problem after that, with any of the restaurants.

I went to Atlantide once, and didn't worry about going again.

The other favourite was La Terrazza for lunch and some dinners, especially sitting outside, where the waiters were very good and had a Riesling poured soon after I sat down. Best meal I had on the entire trip was there, overlooking dusk falling over Willemstad.

And I loved Arts Cafe; took me about 3 days to find it. Hot chocolate, never coffee, which was dreadful, always, even direct from an expresso machine. I think they were using reconstituted powdered milk.

Breakfast buffet was good in La Terrazza - I had the same almost every day; bircher muesli, with a serving of raspberries and blueberries on top, tomato juice and a croissant. They seemed to be short of bowls though; often a small queue waiting for more to come out.

Funny one evening. Lobster tail was on the menu, in some sort of sauce. I had it before and the source overpowered the lobster. Guy next to us obviously knew the drill and ordered the lobster, plain "NOTHING on it - just a lobster tail". Wish I had done that.

My butler was OK, but not as good as the one I had going to Antarctica, who was excellent. Pleasant enough bloke but I think he had firm ideas on what he should do (like unpacking for me!) and not do, and I never did get him into the habit of a bowl of cashews and fresh lemon slices everyday for an in-suite G&T in the late afternoon. He would arrive with three bowls of mixed nuts to last me 3 days ....

Room attendant was very good - very good humoured and excellent job.

I liked the classic veranda suite; I was on port EDIT - starboard (d'oh!) side which was the best one (my TA chose it, knowingly). Bathroom was excellent (looked pretty new), good selection of US, European and international power points; aircon worked very well and silently. Bedding was very soft and good weight. There was the noise I mentioned before which became a problem for my sleep. This was 505, so close to the bow area and there was some noise when forward thrusters etc in operation, leaving port usually late evening. But OK, with earplugs.

 

[jase05]

Fantastic TR and really enjoying the in depth commentary and information.
We are travelling to the Caribbean in July for the first time and although the cricket tour is my primary goal I’m loving seeing some of the region. Still undecided about a cruise but once the draw is released we can work out which islands we will stay at and work out some plans for island hopping

 

[RooFlyer]

Thanks @jase05 . As I’ll discuss more in my summing up, the cruise part of this TI should be looked through the filter of me not being a classic cruise enthusiast. Such may have been obvious. .

But the cruise was a good way to see a variety of Caribbean Island countries with little effort which was the reason for my booking it.

 

[jase05]

Thanks @jase05 . As I’ll discuss more in my summing up, the cruise part of this TI should be looked through the filter of me not being a classic cruise enthusiast. Such may have been obvious. .

But the cruise was a good way to see a variety of Caribbean Island countries with little effort which was the reason for my booking it.

Pretty much our thoughts. We aren’t “cruisers” and hate schedules but thought a cruise might be a good introduction to the region but internal flights look quite cheap and I reckon we might just visit 3-4 islands and spend a few days on each. Will also give us an excuse to go back and visit other islands later.
Obviously can’t decide much until CA release the schedule which they are dragging their feet on. Hearing mid January now

 

[RooFlyer]

Pretty much our thoughts. We aren’t “cruisers” and hate schedules but thought a cruise might be a good introduction to the region but internal flights look quite cheap and I reckon we might just visit 3-4 islands and spend a few days on each. Will also give us an excuse to go back and visit other islands later

I get the impression it may not be a dealbreaker for you but price the accommodation up-front to see what you might be up for. When I looked at Barbados about 10 months out for 3 nights it was O-M-G . Drove me to my first ever AirB&B. Almost everything I saw were high end (gated resorts on the beach) mainly aimed at Americans, priced in US$.

 

[RooFlyer]

After a sea day, we arrived at Cartagena, Colombia about 7:30am, where I was to disembark. I'd guess maybe 50 of us left the ship here, the others continuing to Fort Lauderdale. As usual, main bag was collected the night prior to hopefully meet up with me tomorrow and I had to vacate suite by 8am, with disembarkation for my group at 9:45am.

View on arrival



After I commented in the Antarctic cruise TR that the final breakfast at La Terrazza was very ordinary (because many of the crew had already frantically begun to turn ship around), I ordered room service breakfast, which didn't arrive. At 8am I decamped to La Terrazza and had a regular, nice brekkie.

I had a bit of a panic, when my Flexiroam mobile data eSIM Global Data plan only produced very slow 3G coverage at the ship's location. I would need data to get an Uber after I cleared customs and exited the port. While realising it would probably improve out there, I had to be certain so I subscribed to a 1GB eSIM plan with Kolet, who produced good speed.

A bit late off the ship when shuttle bus didn't arrive, then breezed through customs and immigration, not needing the e pre-clearance doc which I couldn't fill out from the Colombian immigration web site:

Thread 'Colombia pre arrival info'

Yesterday at 1:14 PM

Colombia has a 'CheckMIG' on-line form to fill out for intending arrivals and departures. It says its there to 'speed up' the process and needs to be filled out 72-1 hours before arrival. Sources like Sherpa say it needs to be filled out.

Check-mig - Migración Colombia

apps.migracioncolombia.gov.co

CheckMig allows travelers, nationals and foreigners who intend to enter or leave Colombia, to preload all the information related to their trip.
Benefits
It speeds up the immigration control process by making the interview faster.
Makes easier the interaction between the immigration...

• RooFlyer
• Replies: 0
• Forum: Passports, Visas, Immigration & Customs

• 

Drove past the Castillo San Filipe de Barajas - will return there



When I was looking for hotels in the Old Town of Cartagena, prices were again sky-high; think AU$750/night+ for anywhere that looked good. @Cossie to the rescue! He put me onto a small hotel after he had met the owner a few years prior, somewhere else in the world (such are the reaches of AFF )

I e-mailed them, dropping the owner's name, asking if their 3 night minimum might be reduced to 2 for me. Yes - no problem. Still AU$400 might though.

Located smack bang in the centre of the Old town, opposite a park, it was perfect.



The orange building

View attachment 422554

I met William at reception, who remembered me from my e-mail and he asked how Cossie was. Even though it was only 10:30am the room was ready. It was on the 2nd floor - the top, save for roof bar and pool. Rather basic, but all functional.







My floor access



Its built around an open courtyard, with a fountain and greenery.





Rooftop bar and pool, and views to surrounds

 

[RooFlyer]

Even though it was approaching the hottest part of the day, I went out for a recce.

The old town consists of a grid of narrow (1 car wide) streets in an area about 400x600m, surrounded by the old sea wall and fortifications. A lot of it is quaint, some dirty and smelly, all busy, most a bit dangerous to walk around, with holes in the narrow, uneven pavements (often necessitating walking on the road) and cars and motorcycles on the roads of course. No perceived personal safety issue during the day BUT in the plazas especially, the restaurant touts, hat sellers, other stuff sellers, taxi driver touts etc are really, really bad. Proper Egyptian strength annoying. You politely wave them off with No, gracias but they keep at you, following you, badgering, sometimes only stopping on the 4th no, each time said with increased emphasis.

In spite of care, I manged to trip and fall onto my front; amazed I only got a couple of small scratches and nothing of me, phone, camera etc was broken. Passers by were very helpful, making sure I was OK.

A range of pics of the streets of the old town



























May of the streets are pedestrianised at night, but the town would do well to pedestrianise some permanently, as done in many European towns.