Afternoon in Willemstad

After a German-themed lunch of Schnitzel on board with a glass of Riesling and Heineken to wash it down we set off for a shopping spree.  There was a little shuttle buggy which took us along the quayside to nearer the town. The driver was a bit enthusiastic and how we didn't fall out of the train we'll never know.

Willemstad has a lot of shops from high end down to the souvenir shops.

The town is divided into three parts and two of them are joined by a very unusual bridge - the Queen Emma Bridge. It pivots open from one end and when it’s about to open a bell sounds and everyone starts running like crazy so they're not stuck.  A system of coloured warnings tells you how long it’ll be open for so if you leave it too late at least you’re warned in advance how long you’ll be stuck on the bridge for.  A free ferry service runs when the bridge is open.

Curaçao is now an autonomous country but the Dutch keep an eye on it and King Willem-Alexander visits every couple of years, staying in a rather nice waterside palace.  The Dutch navy helps to defend the island and the US have a base on the island.  With a chaotic and unstable Venezuela only a few miles away the impression we get is that this ‘help’ is very welcome.

This was now the second day in a row when our guide had mentioned how disruptive the current state of chaos in Venezuela is to their local economies.  Curaçao refines a lot of Venezuelan oil and now that oil production there has become dysfunctional, the refinery is close to closing down. That work accounts for 20% of their economy.

Dushi in Papiamento is a universally-used word for all things good and positive

Do you like the blue ceramic roof tiles?

Tourism also accounts for 20% of the economy and they’d like to raise that to 30%.  They have the hotel and villa rental capacity, they just need more flights.  All the islands have good flight connections to the US and Europe and the European flights are inevitably from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam

The island's link with the Netherlands shines through!

Overall we found Willemstad to be a very tidy and safe place to visit with no-one trying to get us to buy things we don't want or need!  Indeed Curaçao has proven to be a gem of a port of call on this cruise.  It’s a beautiful place and well worth a second visit another day.

Royal Palace

Dutch warship goes out on patrol

With the end of our cruise in sight I think it’s time to record our gratitude to all those people who have made our cruise possible.

Yes, of course that includes all the ship’s crew and the land-based staff behind the scenes, but it also includes that sizeable group that there’s sometimes a danger of looking down our noses at –

Just as the lady once said: "Brexit means Brexit" or as the Prince once said: "In love? Whatever that is", so in Curacao they say: "Blue Curacao means it's mainly blue in Curacao"!

- all those passengers who spend most of their days in the casino

- all those people without free drinks packages who seem to spend most of the day and night propping up the many bars around the ship

A welcome cup of iced water on the quayside after another gruelling day as a tourist!

- all those who go the expensive wine tasting events

I'm smiling here through gritted teeth.  I had to complain to the bar staff that my bar stool seemed to be the only one at the bar which wasn't illuminated!

Was this one of those accidental photos?

- all those people who decide that the various ‘works of art’ on board are worth spending many a dollar on

- all those who buy goods from the rather overpriced shops all over the ship

- all those who frequent the ‘specialty restaurants’

- all those who go on the most expensive ship excursions

- all those who travel in cabins that are more expensive then ours

Because all of them, in their different ways help to subsidise our cruise and we are, as always, very grateful to them.

Last but not least, we're also grateful  to our personal travel advisor, Julie Parkhouse who holds our hands through the bookings process and who helps to add that little bit extra to our travelling experience.