Cruise Ship to Curacao
Saturday 20th Jan 2024 AIDAperla, Orangestad to Willemstad
H arrived back at the Orangestad cruise ship terminal on AIDAperla after a two-week circuit of the Caribbean and I went aboard for breakfast. Later, I took H and her boss Kapitän Andreas, to see Grapto and I barbequed some lunch. After lunch we drove the Kapitän back to the ship and after returning the rental car, H and I re-boarded AIDAperla for an overnight sail to Willemstad, Cuacao. Partly, this was so I could collect some parts for the boat that had been hand-carried for us from Germany to Curacao by one of H’s colleagues.
Sunday 21st Jan 2024 Willemstad, Curacao
The original plan was that I fly back to Aruba after an overnight stay on Curacao, but all flights were fully booked so I needed two nights. The first night I stayed in the excellent and quirky Scuba Lodge hotel overlooking a surprisingly rough sea and the nighttime departure of AIDAperla steaming out of Willemstad lit up like a Christmas tree.
Monday 22nd Jan 2024 Willemstad, Curacao
During the day I wandered the tropical Dutch streets of Willemstad with the other tourists sampling various colours of cocktails in street cafes. The infamous blue curacao, and other colours, would seem to be a kind of triple sec and perfect for a festive frozen margherita. In the evening I took a taxi to the unlovely Curacao Airport Hotel.
Tuesday 23rd Jan Varadero Marina, Orangestad, Aruba
In the very early morning, I walked the short distance to the airport from the hotel. Got a small plane for the twenty-minute flight to Aruba and got a taxi back to the marina and went back to my real job of organizing boat repairs. We still have some issues with navigation lights, some of the running rigging needs replacing and H wants a night-vision camera fitted to the mast.