FT. LAUDERDALE and CURACAO

Our 6th and final leg of the world cruise.  Available cabins became very cheap for Florida people so the ship is pretty full - 629 passengers with 62 Canadians.

FT. LAUDERDALE - we've been there many times and had to change cabins so we didn't plan a shore excursion.  We moved to a  mini suite and, although quite a bit smaller, is certainly adequate and much smoother than the front of the ship.  We now have 2 sea days until Curacao.

CURACAO - an island about 40 miles from  Venezuela. Dutch is the official language but English was widely spoken.  US $ were accepted.

There are big celebrations today for the King's birthday.  We arrived at lunch time and there was a 32 cannon salute.  Not sure what it was for or why the odd number of volleys.  Once again we seem to be docked in the boonies.  It was about a 20 minute walk to downtown Willemstad across a pontoon bridge (built in 1888) which swings open to allow boats to pass.  The city is very colorful with the buildings painted mainly yellow, blue and rust.  Green, pink and red are also seen.

As we were warned the city was jammed with people -almost impossible to walk the downtown area.  Everyone must be given a holiday to celebrate the King's birthday.  Orange was the color to wear.  There were flea markets, all sorts of food and drink booths, musical stages and masses of people.

Pictures - 1 - I think this is similar to a sun dog that we sometimes see in Alberta but the officers called it a rainbow around the sun
2 - brightly colored buildings across the pontoon bridge.