Live from Navigator of the Seas B2b to the Western Caribbean and ABCs!

[iahawkfan21]

Sorry, back to it now. I believe I’m up to the 9 night sailing. Still adding photos, and the. I plan on doing a summary at the end.

 

Sorry, one last photo from first leg. This was the MDR menu on Thanksgiving. The turkey actually was pretty decent.

A few of the folks from our roll Call met up at the Pub on embarkation day.

Me and Wilson, a fellow Periscoper.

Sail away from our balcony

 

 

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[iahawkfan21]

Arriving to Labadee on day 3

We were one of the first off the ship and headed straight to Nellies Beach which was empty.

 

 

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[iahawkfan21]

More Labadee

 

 

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[iahawkfan21]

This was under the zip line near the beach beds

 

 

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[iahawkfan21]

Wilson and I decided to coordinate that evening.

[iahawkfan21]

Curaçao

My late breakfast at a shop along the beach near Lions Dive. I’ve had some good arepas in my life, but nothing like I had in Curacao.

Can’t find many of my photos of Mambo Beach, but I’ll see if my wife has some and post later.

 

 

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[iahawkfan21]

Lunch was at La Boheme in downtown Willemstad. If you ever get to Curaçao, you need to eat here.

Local beer

Curry chicken salad arepa

 

 

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[iahawkfan21]

A couple bad photos of the floating bridge, the taxi rates from the port, and night sail away.

 

 

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[mudscraper]

Thanks for the review.

[eaglesfaninfl]

Thanks for all the hard work, we sail the same itinerary in January so we read it with interest!

[nanners]

iahawkfan21,

 

I see from the Florida Departures board you stayed at the Miami La Quinta East before your cruise. My sister and I, along with our husbands, will be doing this same cruise next December. She called the hotel today and got a great rate and was told the hotel is undergoing a refurbishment. What are your thoughts on the hotel and the area? Did you leave your car there?

 

Thanks, Nanners

[gweitten]

iahawkfan21,

 

I see from the Florida Departures board you stayed at the Miami La Quinta East before your cruise. My sister and I, along with our husbands, will be doing this same cruise next December. She called the hotel today and got a great rate and was told the hotel is undergoing a refurbishment. What are your thoughts on the hotel and the area? Did you leave your car there?

 

Thanks, Nanners

 

My wife and I depart on 12/22. Had hoped to use our LQ points and stay at LQ East but found that both the LQ East and North suffered major hurricane damage, hence the refurbishment. The rooms that weren't damaged are being used by people who made their reservations early and/or by construction workers. Now booked at Comfort Inn & Suites and paying $132 + tax. Decent rate but not as good as free. :(

[iahawkfan21]

iahawkfan21,

 

I see from the Florida Departures board you stayed at the Miami La Quinta East before your cruise. My sister and I, along with our husbands, will be doing this same cruise next December. She called the hotel today and got a great rate and was told the hotel is undergoing a refurbishment. What are your thoughts on the hotel and the area? Did you leave your car there?

 

Thanks, Nanners

 

 

 

Since we ended up doing the b2b, we cancelled the hotel stay, did a pair of one way car rentals, and drove down the day of embarkation. It ended up being cheaper than either a hotel stay or parking at the port.

 

 

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[moopetguy]

Catching up with some more information after my 2-day work week (hey, gotta ease back into it, right?? [emoji6])...

 

Breakfast and room service menus:

 

I don’t remember if I already posted the kids’ menu from the MDR but here it is:

 

 

 

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[moopetguy]

And here are the Kids Planners from the 5-night cruise.

 

Day 1:

 

Day 2:

 

Day 3:

 

 

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[moopetguy]

Day 4:

 

Day 5:

 

 

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[moopetguy]

Now, the Kids Planners for the 9-night cruise. Apologies for not having Day 1, it was not delivered to my stateroom. However, it should have been very similar to the Day 1 Planner from the 5-night cruise I just posted (many similar activities with some minor differences possible, but the schedule of open house, registration, and evening session hours should have been exactly the same).

 

Day 2:

 

Day 3:

 

Day 4:

 

 

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[moopetguy]

Day 5:

 

Day 6:

 

Day 7:

 

 

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[moopetguy]

Day 8:

 

Day 9:

 

 

 

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[moopetguy]

Here is a panoramic photo, with the parking garage in the foreground. You may also be able to pick out the RCCL building behind it and slightly to the left, and the American Airlines Arena near the far right.

 

 

O, Christmas tree...

 

Here’s a look at Serenade in Costa Maya:

 

She followed us to Cozumel the next day as well ;)

 

Both times we have been in Cozumel, we booked the Beach Break at Playa Mia through RCI, as it was cheaper than booking directly with the park.

 

 

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[moopetguy]

Ben and Jerry’s:

 

Peek-a-boo bridge:

 

Chops Grille’s Kids Menu (sorry if it’s a repost):

 

These are NOT Singapore noodles!!

 

The Skylight Chapel:

 

The familiar Crown and Anchor at night:

 

I’ll post more pictures on Saturday, particularly from my family’s port stops in the ABC islands. Happy to answer any questions about anything I’ve already posted (or will be posting) as well.

 

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Edited December 9, 2017 by moopetguy

[nanners]

Since we ended up doing the b2b, we cancelled the hotel stay, did a pair of one way car rentals, and drove down the day of embarkation. It ended up being cheaper than either a hotel stay or parking at the port.

 

 

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Darn! Thanks, anyway.

 

 

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[moopetguy]

In Curaçao, we went to the public bus station near the port and took the 10:00 4B Otrobanda bus to the Hato Caves, near the airport.

 

 

The caves are high above sea level and you have to climb up a few dozen steps to get to them. Here’s a view from the top where you can see the airport:

 

You’re not allowed to take pictures in most of the chambers of the cave, as they are protected by copyright. They also want to protect those chambers against extraneous sources of light, such as from flash photography. Here are a few photos where you are allowed to take them.

 

 

We took the 2C Punda bus to get back to downtown Willemstad for different scenery. However, it was a long ride, almost an hour. It was only 20-25 minutes to take 4B up to the Caves. The 2C bus arrived shortly before the 4B bus was scheduled to arrive at the stop right at the road entrance to the Caves to return to Otrobanda.

 

Link to the bus system web site:

http://autobusbedrijf.org/?lang=en

 

 

 

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[moopetguy]

The Curaçao sign at Wilhelmina Park:

 

We visited the Maritime Museum. It’s pretty neat if you’re into history but if you aren’t...you may find it boring. There are exhibits describing the indigenous people of Curaçao and Columbus’ expeditions to the Caribbean and Americas.

 

It has various models, artifacts, and replicas in the collection such as ships, maps, tools, provisions, etc. It also progresses through history to more modern seafaring, culminating in an exhibit on the top level of the museum highlighting the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard and military forces.

 

The Queen Juliana bridge as seen from Deck 12:

 

Now, some pictures from Bonaire:

 

Wind surfing at Jibe City/Lac Bay. It was early, around 09:00, so it wasn’t busy yet.

 

It was amazing to just stand along the coastline and watch the waves of the ocean crashing in.

 

 

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[moopetguy]

I found the Cargill salt production operations to be fascinating. Inlets were constructed, allowing ocean waters to enter huge ponds where the sun and wind help produce salt.

 

DD is checking out the flamingos through her binoculars:

 

These slave huts are...small. They’re interesting from a historical perspective but it’s also quite depressing to think about the fact that many people treated some other people this way.

 

Kite surfing:

 

 

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