Blogs from Curaçao, Central America Caribbean - page 4

Last night after leaving Bonaire, at approximately 10:00 p.m. the ship received a call from the Dutch Caribbean authorities stating that a yacht named the “blue Whale” had a sick crew member on board that need to be evacuated. The captain altered course and headed to the yacht as did a rescue helicopter from the Dutch Caribbean to try and evacuate the ill sailor. Unfortunately the chopper could not make a rescue due to wind and sea conditions, and prior to this some cabins at the stern of the ship had to be evacuated in case the chopper could lift the sailor off the yacht and land him on board. This is done as a precaution in case the chopper crashes etc. A high speed inflatable boat was launched from the ship and in difficult conditions ... read more

Hello guys, This blog will be in Spanish and is a reaction to a male Colombian visitor who wrote a negative blog about Curaçao here: http://blogdebanderas.com/2013/04/04/9-razones-que-hacen-de-curacao-una-isla-no-tan-paradisiaca/ I tried to write a reaction on his blog twice but, obviously, he rejected them. When searching for information about Curaçao in Spanish on Google, this blog appears too and many have read it. Many of those who read his blog, wrote that they cancelled their plans to visit Curaçao because of reading the opinion of ONE single person! Therefore I felt like I had to write one and mine would appear on Google too! +++++++++++++++++++ Como el autor de Blog de Banderas no quiere aceptar mis comentarios en su blog, decidí de escribir un blog en reacció... read more

Our group meets at 10:30 and we're heading to the stage area, meeting with the Technical Manager, Eric, and two of the performers. The explain the process for getting a gig on board. I was surprised that HAL has it's own agency, Stiletto, and they do the hiring of the core performers. I was also surprised that these folks also have contracts and can be aboard for months. From the dressing room to the garbage disposal area is quite a transition. W meet the Chief Environmental Officer. Everything is either recycled and disposed of on shore or, in the case of food waste, it is ground until it is a liquid and shot into the sea through a tube, like a torpedo. Everything they do is under the auspicious of the EPA and they are monitored ... read more

AT SEA ON THE ZUIDERDAM BETWEEN CURACAO AND CARTEGNA, COLUMBIA--Saturday, November 23, 2013 Happy Birthday Alex! We spent the day at sea heading northwest toward Cartagena, Columbia. We did what we usually do when we don’t leave the ship. We read, slept, worked on the blog, and read and slept some more. And oh, we eat too much. I thought I would use this day’s space to talk about this ship, The Holland American Lines’ Zuiderdam, and to do some comparison with the Royal Caribbean’s Legend of the Seas. This was the ship we took on our last cruise from Singapore to Rome. The general ambiance of this ship is classier with a somehow more posh feel. I don’t think I can tell you what makes it that way, as both ships ... read more

Docked in Willemstad Curacao 7.00a.m. Had a leisurely breakfast then embarked on a long walk around town. We were docked about 15min walk from the main town centre but it was a very pleasant walk in 29 degrees and a lovely breeze blowing. Another of the Dutch Antilles, the architecture here is distinctively Dutch infused with lots of colour and spirit of the Carribean- we had only sailed 70 miles over from Aruba. Willemstad is UNESCO World Heritage Site. Curacao is the largest of the ABC Islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao). A lively, lovely place with another ship in port as well, locals going about their business and playing music on the streets, just what you imagine the Carribean being all about. Curacao has a lot of duty free stores - having a lot of the ... read more