Aruba/Cartagena

Aruba is approximately 74 square miles in size and has a population of roughly 34,000.  The main spoken language is Dutch but in the tourist areas, English is no problem.  The U.S. dollar is widely accepted.  Aruba is the largest exporter of aloe and has the largest oil refinery in the Caribbean.  Indeed, as we sailed away, we saw about 12 tankers waiting off shore to offload crude or load refined petroleum.  The beaches look wonderful and the waters are a beautiful blue color.  We, however, spent our time at Starbucks fighting with the iPad.  Now I understand Steve Jobs’ marketing brilliance: if you want it to work well, everything you own must be an Apple product and aligned to Apple systems.  We have now changed the name iPad to PC (piece of crap).  Maybe by the end of 107 days I might have changed my mind, but not now. 

The food on the ship is spectacular, as are the staff.  Everyone is super friendly and committed to the Princess tag line: ‘Escape Completely.’  Last night was formal night and cocktails flowed at the Captain’s Party with choices including Gin Gimlets (I like those!) and lots of very colorful beverages such as Singapore Slings.  The captain could easily be a stand-up comedian.  He is from Liverpool and is NOT a fan of Man U.  However, he told us that he does have a very special plank available for any Man U fans he encounters.

Nearly two-thirds of the 618 passengers are on the world cruise and for some it is their third world cruise aboard this ship.  There are 123 Canadians on this leg of the cruise.

The night skies are fantastic and we are beginning to see constellations that we have not been able to observe since our trip to Australia in 1986. It is getting somewhat more difficult to recognize some of the constellations as our latitude gets further south (current latitude is 10 degrees North), but two nights ago it was worth getting up at 4am to see the Southern Cross on the horizon.  Canopus has joined Sirius and Capella among the brightest stars in the sky.  The temperature is glorious for star gazing.

Currently, as we write this, the temperature is 26 degrees and the sea temperature is 29.  We are only in Cartagena from 7 AM till noon today so we are opting to stay aboard the ship since we have seen a fair bit of the city on a previous visit; so maybe emeralds on another day.  To date, we have travelled 1487.7 miles (2380.3 km).

Next highlight will be the Panama Canal.  Cia signing off...

CRUISE TIP:  In Aruba when you leave the secured areas, lots of mini-van taxis that hold about 6 people will offer you tours of the island for about $20.  As you walk further into town, the price drops to $15.  In Cartagena, take a tour as it appears things are less settled and safe than they were when we were last here in 2008.  It is not recommended to leave the port area and walk into town.