Carnival Vista- 11/7 Tuesday, Aruba- Post Two
Aruba, continued:
Moomba Beach Bar, the excursion meeting spot:
We left and headed back north to find our Jolly Pirates meeting spot. It rained for about 5 minutes but not heavily. We checked in around 1:15pm for a 1:30 meetup time and were instructed to sit in the Moomba bar and wait for further directions. We were rounded up at 1:30 and walked out on the pier to a small boat where we smooshed about 50 people onto a very small boat that would take us out to the pirate boat. It sprinkled briefly while we were sitting on this little boat but I figured we’d get wet snorkeling anyways so it didn’t really matter.
Once again with the sneaky husband taking photos:
The final remains of the rain sprinkles we had (I see you trying, Sun!!):
We found a seat at the back of the pirate ship and were told about how the excursion would flow, including the two snorkel sites (one being about 60 ft deep with a shipwreck and the other about 10-12 ft deep with coral and fish.) The ship staff introduced themselves and also explained the drinks they have at the bar and where to find the bathroom. Something I thought was odd was that they served alcoholic drinks before and during the snorkeling. I’ve been on other “party boats” with snorkeling and they always wait until that part is over before starting the drinks for safety reasons.
Real actual shades of water:
The music was playing, drinks were flowing, the views were remarkable, and fun was being had! The pirate ship made it to the first snorkel spot and we decided that we’d stay on the ship. The combination of 60 ft deep waters, rough waters, and one of the staff making a comment about people “might not want to go out if you’re not a strong swimmer” made us feel more comfortable staying on the boat and enjoying the party. We had fun watching others swim and snorkel and we could sort of see the shipwreck below, as well as some people scuba diving near us. We probably spent 20+ minutes at the first destination before heading to the shallow water spot. This time we got in the water and it took us both a few minutes to adjust to the whole mask/breathing situation. We’re not big water people, and neither of us have snorkeled in many years. Once we got adjusted, we were swimming around and spotting lots of coral and few groups of fun-colored fish. It wasn’t the best snorkeling I’ve done, but it sure was fun.
Boat Selfie!
Others snorkeling at the first site:
After snorkeling, they parked the ship in a little bit deeper water and broke out the rope swing! Now the party was in full effect and it was a blast. My husband went once and it wasn’t super successful, LOL. Photos below will attempt to illustrate his go at it. But really, I’m too scared to try anything like that so kudos to him for trying. The drinks were tasty but not super strong, which was a bummer. We sailed back slowly and had a good amount of time to enjoy the views around us. The water was the coolest shades of blue and looked like a photoshopped picture, and the weather ended up being perfect. It was during the slow sailing that I really fell in love with Aruba, even asking my husband if we can move there. He said no, but I think I’ll get him to come around to it eventually 😉 Seriously, I’m not sure how to fully describe the peace I felt there. All of the wedding stress and work stress completely melted away and I just felt calm, happy, and whole in true paradise. If you ever get to Aruba, I wish the same reactions for you. Aruba really is tied for top place in my adventures to 15 Caribbean ports. Why can't I be there now?! *cries softly*
Husband using the rope swing. Solid start:
Whoops slipping off too early!
At least the water is a breathtaking shade of blue!
I was very sad to have to get off the boat and back onto land, but was so happy to have the memories that Jolly Pirates gave us. I would definitely recommend checking out this company if you’re interested in snorkel/sailing excursions. The staff were great too and it never felt like a crazy party boat even though drinks were being served. I booked directly through their website with no problems. They also offer a morning snorkel tour that has three stops, and a sunset sail, in case you want to explore those options. After stepping off the pier, we asked a beach-goer to take a picture of us with our traveling Hawkeye flag. As previously noted, we love advertising ourselves as Hawkeyes (GO HAWKS!) and we started this tradition about a year ago of traveling with a flag. Can’t wait to bring it all around the Caribbean! (7 stops and counting!)
Worked up the nerves to ask a person to take a photo (of somewhat poor composition quality):
We walked around the beach a little bit before heading to the main road to find a bus stop. I quickly realized that I had pretty good directions to get to the beach, but no directions on how to get back, and navigation isn't my strong suit. We found a bus stop and waited about 5 minutes until a bus came along. We asked the driver if it was going back to the bus depot and he said yes, so we hopped on and were on our way. Upon returning to the port area, we did some shopping and walking around. There was so much to see and explore that you could easily spend a day shopping and eating and walking in Oranjestad. The downtown area was great and I wish we had more time to walk around (our personal preference to head back before the sun set).
Downtown Oranjestad:
Cove Balcony Selfie:
The sun was fading so we headed back to the ship and watched some Netflix in our room to cool down since it was SO warm that day. We went to the MDR for dinner and were seated in a different section than the night before, which didn’t really bother me as a) we didn’t ask for the same section, and b) it was fun to have a different view of the Horizons restaurant. My husband had the Michigan pasty and alligator fritters, saying they were really good, as was his Beef Wellington. As an aside, I love that Carnival has an uncommon food option every night to reach the adventurous eaters out there. I also secretly love that my husband gets so excited to try things like ox tongue and bone marrow as I am certainly not daring enough to even consider it. I had the Seafood Newburg which was mostly great, except for the mussels that threw me off and were a weird flavor. See above, I’m not an adventurous diner. I also had the Bing cherry soup that I really enjoyed, and we split a melting cake as we were so stuffed.
I apparently was so stuffed that I forgot to take notes for the rest of the evening. Ugh whoops, my apologies. Using the Fun Time and the few photos I have for that night, I can make a few guesses at what we did after dinner. I'm pretty sure we went to the Pub Quiz in the Red Frog Brewery since we were basically regulars there for trivia every night. If you enjoy general trivia, I would highly suggest you check out the 7pm trivia in the Pub at least once. Not a whole ton of people attend, which is odd, but the reward is absolutely fantastic- free 101 oz beer tube or a free fishbowl!! Umm YES! We were all about winning that grand prize but tonight would not be that night, so we donated some money to the bar in exchange for beverages. We saw Steve Burr's comedy show at 8:30pm and very much enjoyed that (I wish the shows were longer than 30 minutes though).
Next was the very classic but always hilarious Love and Marriage show where we had our first real observation of Steve Schwartz and his cruise directing skills. He was incredibly funny and very much able to work with people who had boring answers or needed a little extra support to play the game. Seriously, his reactions and quips were more funny than most of the answers given by the participants. We love going to the Lover and Marriage show and always make sure our schedule works around it. I asked my husband (many, many times) if we could volunteer for newlyweds but he's a party pooper and said no, so we played the game from our seats.
We checked out the night time sail away party, which honestly might be our first one ever in five cruises. It was a blast and I enjoyed the nighttime air while watching the light of Aruba get further and further away. I had an unforgettable day in Aruba and took a few moments to reflect on all the good things in life. I'll just have to hold onto Aruba and the peace in my heart when work gets hard and just remember that every day at work helps get me closer to my next cruise! After sailing far enough away that Aruba was hard to see, we went back to the room to pack up for Bonaire and get our beauty rest.
Sail Away Party at 10:30pm
Awesome seating area overlooking the main pool deck:
Aruba at night:
Pretty cool natural shot!
UP NEXT: Wednesday, November 8th, Bonaire
LINK: Bonaire!
Moomba Beach Bar, the excursion meeting spot:
We left and headed back north to find our Jolly Pirates meeting spot. It rained for about 5 minutes but not heavily. We checked in around 1:15pm for a 1:30 meetup time and were instructed to sit in the Moomba bar and wait for further directions. We were rounded up at 1:30 and walked out on the pier to a small boat where we smooshed about 50 people onto a very small boat that would take us out to the pirate boat. It sprinkled briefly while we were sitting on this little boat but I figured we’d get wet snorkeling anyways so it didn’t really matter.
Once again with the sneaky husband taking photos:
The final remains of the rain sprinkles we had (I see you trying, Sun!!):
We found a seat at the back of the pirate ship and were told about how the excursion would flow, including the two snorkel sites (one being about 60 ft deep with a shipwreck and the other about 10-12 ft deep with coral and fish.) The ship staff introduced themselves and also explained the drinks they have at the bar and where to find the bathroom. Something I thought was odd was that they served alcoholic drinks before and during the snorkeling. I’ve been on other “party boats” with snorkeling and they always wait until that part is over before starting the drinks for safety reasons.
Real actual shades of water:
The music was playing, drinks were flowing, the views were remarkable, and fun was being had! The pirate ship made it to the first snorkel spot and we decided that we’d stay on the ship. The combination of 60 ft deep waters, rough waters, and one of the staff making a comment about people “might not want to go out if you’re not a strong swimmer” made us feel more comfortable staying on the boat and enjoying the party. We had fun watching others swim and snorkel and we could sort of see the shipwreck below, as well as some people scuba diving near us. We probably spent 20+ minutes at the first destination before heading to the shallow water spot. This time we got in the water and it took us both a few minutes to adjust to the whole mask/breathing situation. We’re not big water people, and neither of us have snorkeled in many years. Once we got adjusted, we were swimming around and spotting lots of coral and few groups of fun-colored fish. It wasn’t the best snorkeling I’ve done, but it sure was fun.
Boat Selfie!
Others snorkeling at the first site:
After snorkeling, they parked the ship in a little bit deeper water and broke out the rope swing! Now the party was in full effect and it was a blast. My husband went once and it wasn’t super successful, LOL. Photos below will attempt to illustrate his go at it. But really, I’m too scared to try anything like that so kudos to him for trying. The drinks were tasty but not super strong, which was a bummer. We sailed back slowly and had a good amount of time to enjoy the views around us. The water was the coolest shades of blue and looked like a photoshopped picture, and the weather ended up being perfect. It was during the slow sailing that I really fell in love with Aruba, even asking my husband if we can move there. He said no, but I think I’ll get him to come around to it eventually 😉 Seriously, I’m not sure how to fully describe the peace I felt there. All of the wedding stress and work stress completely melted away and I just felt calm, happy, and whole in true paradise. If you ever get to Aruba, I wish the same reactions for you. Aruba really is tied for top place in my adventures to 15 Caribbean ports. Why can't I be there now?! *cries softly*
Husband using the rope swing. Solid start:
Whoops slipping off too early!
At least the water is a breathtaking shade of blue!
I was very sad to have to get off the boat and back onto land, but was so happy to have the memories that Jolly Pirates gave us. I would definitely recommend checking out this company if you’re interested in snorkel/sailing excursions. The staff were great too and it never felt like a crazy party boat even though drinks were being served. I booked directly through their website with no problems. They also offer a morning snorkel tour that has three stops, and a sunset sail, in case you want to explore those options. After stepping off the pier, we asked a beach-goer to take a picture of us with our traveling Hawkeye flag. As previously noted, we love advertising ourselves as Hawkeyes (GO HAWKS!) and we started this tradition about a year ago of traveling with a flag. Can’t wait to bring it all around the Caribbean! (7 stops and counting!)
Worked up the nerves to ask a person to take a photo (of somewhat poor composition quality):
We walked around the beach a little bit before heading to the main road to find a bus stop. I quickly realized that I had pretty good directions to get to the beach, but no directions on how to get back, and navigation isn't my strong suit. We found a bus stop and waited about 5 minutes until a bus came along. We asked the driver if it was going back to the bus depot and he said yes, so we hopped on and were on our way. Upon returning to the port area, we did some shopping and walking around. There was so much to see and explore that you could easily spend a day shopping and eating and walking in Oranjestad. The downtown area was great and I wish we had more time to walk around (our personal preference to head back before the sun set).
Downtown Oranjestad:
Cove Balcony Selfie:
The sun was fading so we headed back to the ship and watched some Netflix in our room to cool down since it was SO warm that day. We went to the MDR for dinner and were seated in a different section than the night before, which didn’t really bother me as a) we didn’t ask for the same section, and b) it was fun to have a different view of the Horizons restaurant. My husband had the Michigan pasty and alligator fritters, saying they were really good, as was his Beef Wellington. As an aside, I love that Carnival has an uncommon food option every night to reach the adventurous eaters out there. I also secretly love that my husband gets so excited to try things like ox tongue and bone marrow as I am certainly not daring enough to even consider it. I had the Seafood Newburg which was mostly great, except for the mussels that threw me off and were a weird flavor. See above, I’m not an adventurous diner. I also had the Bing cherry soup that I really enjoyed, and we split a melting cake as we were so stuffed.
I apparently was so stuffed that I forgot to take notes for the rest of the evening. Ugh whoops, my apologies. Using the Fun Time and the few photos I have for that night, I can make a few guesses at what we did after dinner. I'm pretty sure we went to the Pub Quiz in the Red Frog Brewery since we were basically regulars there for trivia every night. If you enjoy general trivia, I would highly suggest you check out the 7pm trivia in the Pub at least once. Not a whole ton of people attend, which is odd, but the reward is absolutely fantastic- free 101 oz beer tube or a free fishbowl!! Umm YES! We were all about winning that grand prize but tonight would not be that night, so we donated some money to the bar in exchange for beverages. We saw Steve Burr's comedy show at 8:30pm and very much enjoyed that (I wish the shows were longer than 30 minutes though).
Next was the very classic but always hilarious Love and Marriage show where we had our first real observation of Steve Schwartz and his cruise directing skills. He was incredibly funny and very much able to work with people who had boring answers or needed a little extra support to play the game. Seriously, his reactions and quips were more funny than most of the answers given by the participants. We love going to the Lover and Marriage show and always make sure our schedule works around it. I asked my husband (many, many times) if we could volunteer for newlyweds but he's a party pooper and said no, so we played the game from our seats.
We checked out the night time sail away party, which honestly might be our first one ever in five cruises. It was a blast and I enjoyed the nighttime air while watching the light of Aruba get further and further away. I had an unforgettable day in Aruba and took a few moments to reflect on all the good things in life. I'll just have to hold onto Aruba and the peace in my heart when work gets hard and just remember that every day at work helps get me closer to my next cruise! After sailing far enough away that Aruba was hard to see, we went back to the room to pack up for Bonaire and get our beauty rest.
Sail Away Party at 10:30pm
Awesome seating area overlooking the main pool deck:
Aruba at night:
Pretty cool natural shot!
UP NEXT: Wednesday, November 8th, Bonaire
LINK: Bonaire!
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