Jan
4
Aruba
Filed Under Panama Canal 2009
11:45PM EST
At Sea, along the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti
We docked in Oranjestad, Aruba at 1pm yesterday. Aruba is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and is quite beautiful, even from the cabin window of our stateroom. The three of us were signed up for excursions, but this time I went alone so I could experience snorkeling. Our excursion groups were to meet at the dock’s terminal at 1:20, but since practically everyone on the ship was getting off first thing, there was a long, long line to get out winding its way through the ship. I think it took me a good 20 minutes to exit. While the parents went on a submarine excursion to view a shipwreck, my group of almost 50 boarded a deceivingly large catamaran and set sail to the same shipwreck, the Antilla, about 30-45 minutes away. The clouds were plentiful in the sky that afternoon, and it rained on us quite a bit. I was quite cold and sought shelter under the roof. The clouds finally parted when we set anchor.
The Antilla is a German cargo ship that anchored off the Aruba coast at the outset of WWII. At that time, Holland was neutral until Germany invaded it, so then they had to take a side. They tried to capture the German ship, so the captain decided that rather than surrendering, he blew up his own ship and there it lies at the bottom of the sea. Our group was debriefed on how and where to snorkel. The water is about 60 feet deep around the shipwreck, so some parts of it almost touch surface. We were warned against standing on the shipwreck itself. As I put on my flippers and mask, I realized that I had gone snorkeling before, in Acapulco after the band finished its Mexican tour. The snorkeling equipment this time around, though, was much better and didn’t leak. I had a hard time adjusting to breathing only through my mouth and spent more time readjusting my mask and spitting out water. This is all too bad, since I didn’t pay as much attention to the shipwreck. What I did see, though, was really cool and just like shipwrecks I’d seen on TV! After 20 minutes, we reboarded and sailed closer to shore for some shallow 
snorkeling. This time, I had the hang of things and swam around viewing the coral formations and many varities of fish–brain coral, trumpet (is there such a thing?) coral, striped fish, spotted fish, big and little fish, one fish two fish, red fish blue fish (just making sure you’re paying attention). Back on board, the crew served complimentary rum punch and other beverages as we sailed back to the dock.
Upon return, I made a beeline to the shower because I was quite cold. We scurried off to dinner after I was dressed and enjoyed Chef’s Dinner, a menu prepared by the head chef himself. My choices included goat’s cheese souflee, Boston bibb salad with shallot dressing, sorbet pallet cleanser, Alaskan king crab, dessert menage a’trois, and decaf coffee (yes, this is how we have eaten for almost two weeks straight). After finishing, we headed to the night’s entertainment, “Adrian Zmed in Concert.” Adrian Zmed was the original star in the Broadway “Grease” and later was the star of the movie “Grease 2.” He also co-starred with William Shatner in the TV show “T.J. Hooker,” in “The Love Boat” and in the movie “Bachelor Party” opposite Tom Hanks. I never watched reruns of “The Love Boat,” but did you know that it takes place on the Princess line? I didn’t! Tonight, the entertainment crew is hosting a tropical deck party atop the ship, so I’ll pop up there for a bit to check it out and then crawl up to my ceiling fold-out bunk bed for another sleep at sea.
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