Curacao

Late yesterday afternoon, after returning from the beach, we completed our passenger locator forms as required by government legislation. P&O provided wifi access and they did not take too long. It seems that quite a number of passengers are finding them difficult to complete and staff are having to help them.

We arrived in Wilemstad, the main town in Curacao, at about 0800 hrs on 19th. Lovely start to the day although a bit breezy. No examination of vaccination certificates this morning on the quayside and we boarded the bus to take us on our snorkelling trip. The journey took about fifty minutes to the far north west of the island. The beach is used by local fishermen and, usually, turtles can be seen. We had on our swimwear and we’re given life vests but we had our own snorkel and masks. The fish were plentiful and suddenly turtles came into view. A number of them were big, others younger and smaller. We stayed in the water for half an hour before coming out. A great visit. We then travelled further south along the coast to another beach where we had a further opportunity to snorkel. No turtles this time. After about an hour we boarded the bus and returned to the ship. A good morning’s activity. In the afternoon we strolled around Wilemstad. This is a very interesting town. It is divided down the middle by a river. We travelled across the river by ferry (free) to the other side. At times you might think that we were in Amsterdam because of the houses. On the was back, the swing bridge was back in place (it had opened to allow a Royal Caribbean ship in) and we walked across and back through the walled part of the town. We like Curacao although the three Dutch island of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao are classified as semi arid and, therefore, not as green and verdant as islands further north. You learn something every day!

We travel to Aruba later this afternoon, arriving on 20th.

Aruba hot and windy. Took a taxi to the beach but a bit sand blasted. However, had a pleasant swim. Later we walked into the town of Oranjestad, the capital, which is actually very pleasant and very Americanised. However, very clean and full of bars and recently modernised.

Just a quick word about the Myholiday app which is used around the ship to book meals, see your onboard account etc. It is working very well and broken down only twice so far. It is very easy to use and avoids the queues that form at dinner time. The response of the system is generally very quick and, to be honest, we hope that P&O maintain this after Covid. Checking your on board account could not be more simple and the system is immediately updated if we spend anything with the onboard allowance. Very impressed with it.

A day at sea tomorrow and then Dominica.Read more