A Brief Foray into Oranjestad

Having finally docked on Aruba we set off with a couple of thousand other passengers to sample the delights of Ornajestad's shopping area.  There was the usual array of touristy shops and also a lot of high end outlets and the drivers on the main street were falling over themselves to let people cross the road in their wanderings.

A truly pesky thing that kept batting me round the ear while I was trying to compose myself for the 'I Love Aruba' photo

In fact, I think that some people even felt forced to cross over when they had no wish to, it was just that they had hovered for a moment within a couple of yards of the kerb and that was enough to trigger a honk from a car driver and an insistent gesturing that the people concerned should cross over.

We had felt that the trams weren’t running but were then surprised to see one in the distance which was moving at a full 1mph.  These trams are clearly not part of the public transport system.  If you want to get from A to B, it’s quicker to walk.  At one point a fellow cruise passenger sitting next to me did just that.  She was due back for her slot at dinner on board and decided to cut her losses and walk.  Although the tram was heading in the same direction we never saw her again!

While we enjoyed browsing round he shops, as far as I can recall, Mrs A’s credit card stayed firmly in her purse and no greenbacks passed from her hand to any shopkeeper’s, but it was a pleasant time. And we caught the last tram back to the cruise terminal.  The tram sheds are located there and, as we passed them we could see that the Fat Controller was waiting impatiently at the tram shed door like a father waiting for his naughty daughter who was returning home late. After all, it was now fast approaching 6pm and our tram was about to be turned into a pumpkin.  It was certainly the right colour for that metamorphosis!

They look almost plastic!

Now, I have a number of nuggets of information to pass to you and, with time starting to run out I’m going to have to cram them in somehow.  The first one to wow you with is just how much Mrs A goes on and on about what a brilliant choice of cabin I sorted for us.  It’s located midships and is right by the elevators as they call them round these parts.  I have reminded her that these sorts of tasks take up valuable retirement time but I do them for the cause nevertheless.

Mrs A has just turned the TV on, even though she knows that the offer is poor. As well as the usual rubbish, the only channel worth watching seems to be the Ben Shephard ‘Tipping Point’ Channel or the Jonathan Wass Channel – frightful!

Finally for this post I have to tell you that we have had yet another massive disappointment while on board.   The other day we found a leaflet on our bed to say that passengers could now check their bags in on board for their airline and that they would then leave the ship and the next time they would see their bags would be on the carousel at their home airport.  At a cost of $25 we weighed up the benefit as against the cost.

As always, the facilities look their best when nobody's using them!

We decided it was an option worth exploring so off I trotted to the Guest Relations Desk to find out more.  Having asked a number of questions and received satisfactory answers, it finally emerged that this offer was only available on US domestic flights.  I said we would be doing a domestic flight from Fort Lauderdale to Newark, New Jersey, but it turned out that it was the next leg across the Atlantic that disqualified us.  I stamped my feet about discrimination against ‘aliens’ but it cut no ice with the desk clerk and I walked away almost inconsolable.

These cruise parties can take it out of you!