Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Emerald Princess, December 2008, Day 3

Aruba

View of Aruba from our cabin
It was rainy all night but the sea was fairly smooth. Above is the view we had of Aruba from our cabin. There was a channel for tourist excursion boats and a clump of bushes.

The sky was gray most of the day and the weather was hot, muggy and rainy off and on. We decided on room service continental breakfast -- juice, pastries, yogurt, Frosted Flakes -- in the room. We brought our own coffee maker and New Orleans-blend coffee with chicory. We tried eating on the balcony but every time we went out it started raining again.

Spent an enjoyable and a quiet morning reading in the room and checking email in the Internet Cafe. There was such a long walk from the ship to the interesting sights and shops of downtown Oranjestad we decided to stay on the ship and chill. If the weather had been better I sure we would have explored a little but with the rain and high humidity we stayed put.

The other side of the Emerald Princess had views of the port and downtown Oranjestad. The Royal Plaza Mall is all pink, blue and white with old Dutch decoration, it houses many shops, restaurants and cafes.
Downtown Oranjestad, Aruba
Royal Plaza Mall, Aruba
Downtown volcano, Aruba
It appears from the photo above there's a small volcano in downtown Oranjestad.

By the way, the Emerald Princess was the only ship in port here today.

We got invited to the Commodore's cocktail party/reception but it's tomorrow night and we are signed up for the Chef's Table dinner. We now have a reservation also for Sabatini's Italian Restaurant for Saturday evening.

Dinner was in Michalangelo's, red snapper for Ken; steak for Jack.

Distance Sailed
Fort Lauderdale to Aruba
1137 nautical miles = 1308 statute miles = 2103 kilometers

NOTE: 1 nautical mile = 1.15 land miles = 1.85 kilometers

2 comments:

beth said...

I had no idea that Oranjestad looked like your pictures! I learn something new every day.

Claire F Rich said...

I'm enjoying your cruise. It's so cold here, 34f right now. Thinking about a hot muggy day on a ship with waiters and room service is wonderful. Thanks for sharing your trip. Next time consider an extra piece of luggage. I can curl up pretty small.