Perfect Day at CocoCay

Saturday - Last night after dinner, we saw a Broadway production of Cats. Which was phenomenal. We were in the second row and many times, the performers were just a few feet away. During the chorus numbers, you could hear individual performers. The action was almost non-stop. 

This morning, we pulled into the Royal Caribbean private island CocoCay. Their literature always says “Perfect Day at CocoCay”. I’m not sure if that’s the official name. The orange tower is a water slide, the sphere to the left is a helium balloon. And, there a lot of other extra cost activities. 

We are here for most of the day. It is cooler as we headed north. It’s 75°F at 6:30 am with a forecasted high of 75°F. 

Later - Hmmm, it shouldn’t be too crowded today. Actually, it’s not too bad once you got off of the pier. I was off the ship shortly after 8am after watching the second boat, Wonder of the Seas, dock. Both are Oasis class cruise ships with over 6K guests each.

My son rented a cabana on the beach for the day. The shade and having a place to relax without fighting the crowds was really nice. Below is the view from the cabana. Not very crowded.

Sea Days Heading North

 

Thursday - This mornings activity was sushi making. We made two rolls, a hand roll, and two nigiri. Both of the rolls had the rice on the outside which I had never successfully done before. One was tempura shrimp and the other was spicy tuna. It was a small class with only ten participants. It was fun. Plus, I had lunch and picked up some knowledge. I think I was the only one asking questions. 

We headed out of Willemstad, Curaçao shortly after sunset with slightly rougher seas due to wind. 

Before lunch, Bridget wanted to watch the parade through the promenade shopping area. Lunch was in the main dining room. Delicious Atlantic cod. 

Followed by mini golf on the sports deck. 

Friday - Another 78°F-79°F day. We are headed northwest through the Bahamas with a stop tomorrow at Royal Caribbeans island, called Perfect Day at Coco Cay. A strange name for an island. 

My son rented a casita on deck 16 looking out over the ocean. 

There were a few light sprinkles in the afternoon though the weather looked much worse to the east. 

This morning, we took a tour of one of the many kitchens. The tour was given by one of the head waiters and he explained the process from food storage through preparation and serving. I thought it was pretty interesting. 

I got to see another part of the ship this morning. While getting breakfast, I slipped on the wet tile and bumped my head. They took me to first aid along the central corridor that runs the full length of the boat on deck 2. They refer to it as I-95. I’m fine and they applied some glue to seal the cut. 

Willemstad, Curaçao

Wednesday - This morning, we came into Willemstad, Curaçao. The second of the ABC islands, which are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which we are visiting. 

We have a shore excursion scheduled this morning shortly after docking. The local time AST which is one hour ahead “ship time”. It was suggested that we disable auto time zone update just to avoid confusion. 

It’s interesting to watch the boat coming into the dock. Unfortunately, they seem to dock on the starboard side so I can’t watch from the balcony. 

Later - The tour was on a large bus with a knowledgeable tour guide explaining the different areas we drove through. Very narrow roads with tight corners and traffic. The first stop was at a small botanical garden. I couldn’t hear any of the explanations due to an inadequate sound system. So I just sort of loitered near the back of the group talking to others on the tour.

The views from the bus as we crossed the Queen Juliana Bridge were pretty good. Our ship is the one on the right. 

The second stop was at the distillery where they make and bottle Blue Curaçao liquor. We learned that they also make it in three other colors but they all taste identical. They gave everyone a sample of the blue and a chocolate one. 

The weather here is kind of boring. The temperature doesn’t change even though we are here at the end of the rainy season. We got a little bit of rain while traveling in the bus. 

We arrived back at the boat in time for lunch at the buffet. 

Oranjestad, Aruba

Tuesday - I was up early-ish (6 am) to watch our arrival into Aruba. I didn’t need to get up early as there wasn’t much to see until after 7 am. But it was nice to sit on the balcony in the 79°, which is the forecasted low temperature. 

There are clouds but it still should be a nice day. I stayed out on the balcony until we were almost docked. 

We then headed down to Johnny Rockets for breakfast (no extra charge for breakfast only). We then went to the solarium on the guess that most of the passengers were headed ashore. We decided to wait until after lunch. 

There appears to be some sort of military ship parked next to us but Bridget said that it wasn’t the Aruba flag. 

We did not schedule any excursion for this stop and plan to just wander around the port area. It looks like there are at least three cruise ships docked. That’s a lot of people wandering around. 

This is the boat that we’re on, Oasis of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. It’s large but it doesn’t feel as crowded as the last cruise which was also an oasis class ship. 

That area on the back of the boat is an aqua stage. The show last night was phenomenal and one of the highlights was a tightrope walker. About 60’ above the deck on a boat moving at 18 knots in open water. Others dived from this point into the pool. 

Total distance covered, so far, is 1272 miles or 2046 km.