We have just over a week to go before we head down to Ft. Lauderdale to board the Caribbean Princess for this cruise. We are looking forward to the warmer weather, but it has been quite nice at home also. There was one cold spell where we had lows in the low 20’s at night, but a week later, we had highs in the 70’s. The weather forecast for the time before the cruise shows mostly highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the 40’s, still not Caribbean weather, but quite nice when compared to a normal winter.
I had one glitch in the travel preparations so far, one of the buckles on my diving mask broke sometime since the last time I used it, and I was having a hard time finding a replacement. I called the company that manufactured the mask, Edge, but could not get through to a person, so I had to order another mask as a replacement. I was finally able to get through to someone at Edge, which is located in Macon, Georgia, and they are sending me two new buckles and a new strap for free. Once I get the replacement parts, and make sure I can install them without issue, I may return the other mask, or just keep it as a spare. In either case, we are set to go with snorkel gear.
We have not made any definite plans for any of the stops other than Curacao, where we are doing a tour of the island through an independent company called Irie Tours. We will be doing the All West Beach Hopping Tour, which lasts 8 hours, and visits many of the sites on the West End of the Island. Additional Information about the tour can be found by following this link to their website for the All West Island Hopping Tour.
Riding The Bus To Arashi Beach – Previous Trip to Aruba
Some of the other ideas we have for the other islands include snorkeling at Klein Bonaire, which is a nature preserve island near the port that is accessible by a water taxi, and taking a city bus to Arashi Beach in Aruba for some snorkeling, and then stopping off at the hotel area in Aruba for some shopping afterward. However, none of this has been discussed in detail with the group, so we may do something completely different.
The California Lighthouse – Previous Trip To Aruba
Stephanie and I rode the bus to Arashi Beach the last time we were in Aruba, but the winds were not favorable for snorkeling there. We walked to the not so nearby California Lighthouse on the northwest tip of Aruba, and then walked on the “shortcut” through the scrub bushes back to the main road. Some folks at the restaurant near the lighthouse told us about the shortcut back to the main road, and also about snorkeling at Boca Catalina, a short walk from Arashi Beach. We walked a short distance to called Boca Catalina and did fine the snorkeling there to be pretty good, especially for the windy weather.
Starfish at Boca Catalina Beach – Previous Trip to Aruba
So at least we know how to get there, and maybe the winds will be more favorable for snorkeling this time. I put in a couple of the pictures from the last trip to Aruba.
We have started to make our packing list for this trip, and are looking forward to going on a cruise where we don’t need clothes for both warm and cold weather, which was the case on our last two trips, both Transatlantic cruises in the spring and fall, where it can still be cool in Europe.
We did find out that our cruise ship leaves out of Terminal 2 at Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale, which is the larger and main Princess Terminal. However, since the Regal Princess will be in port the same day we return, the Caribbean Princess is disembarking at Terminal 21, on the other end of the port. Since we are driving, this causes a little bit of a hassle because of the distance between the parking garages for the two terminals. We considered off site parking through Park-N-Go, but are concerned about the time to get back to the car once we disembark the cruise at 7:00 AM. There are six other large cruise ships in port the day we return, including the Regal Princess and one of the largest RCL Ships, the Allure of the Seas, which is like two normal cruise ships as far as passenger capacity. We have over a ten hour drive home that day, so we want to get away as quick as possible.
Based on some internet research, there is apparently a shuttle bus specifically to take cruise passengers between the parking garages at the port, so our tentative plan is to move the car over to the terminal 21 parking garage on the day we leave. We will drop Stephanie and Beth off with all of the luggage at Terminal 2, and Ryan and I will drive the car over to the Terminal 21 parking garage, park, and then try and find the shuttle back to Terminal 2. If we get there early enough, we should not have a problem getting a space in the smaller terminal 21 garage, and have enough time to find the garage shuttle back, which we have never done. We should have more time the morning we leave than we will have in the confusion of walk off disembarkation on the day we return. Worst case, we have to find a taxi back, which may be difficult since they will want larger fares to the airport than just across the port. We may be able to hop on a rental car bus as they make their way around the port picking up passengers getting off that day and heading to the airport. There are four cruise ships in port the day we leave.
We also looked at the port schedules for Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao and found out that we should be the only ship in port the days we are in Curacao , but will be in port with the RCL Adventure of the Seas on our stop in Aruba and an off brand cruise line, Thompson Discovery using an old RCL ship, the Sovereign of the Seas, will be in port with us in Bonaire. Bonaire may be a little crowded with us in port with 3,200 passengers and the Thompson Discovery with 2000 passengers.