Panama Canal: Day 5 – Aruba

LAND HO!!! We wake up to see land within sight as we pull into the Port of Aruba.  We are docking at this relatively small island at 19.6 miles long and  just 6 miles wide. Its located just 20 miles off the coast of Venezuela and will be the southern most point in the Caribbean on our journey.

Chris and I enjoyed a quick breakfast at Goofy’s Galley and reminisced about our last trip to Aruba. We have always said if we were to spend a week on a Caribbean Island, Aruba would be one of our first choices. With the beautiful white sand, blue water, Caribbean pastel buildings and general lack of street vendors waiting like vultures for tourists to disembark, its one of the most relaxed islands with a vibrant night life.

Here is the view off the ship….

Enjoy!… because thats all we saw of Aruba!

Chris and I had spend hours looking over the shore excursion offerings and the ones we saw that were appealing were the ones we had done before. We were lucky enough to visit the island to see the natural bridge in all its glory before its unfortunate demise a few years ago,  so a tour going up there to view what’s left wasn’t high on our list. The 90 degree heat and blasting humidity made us look sat each other and say… hmm…  empty ship!  Lets enjoy it!

We spent sometime roaming the ship and enjoying the art on board including the Special Disney Panama Canal poster going up for the silent auction.

and the reminder to get those postcards filled out and stamped to ensure they are postmarked from the Panama Canal! We bought a few to send to family and others that asked for the souvenir for their scrapbooks so we cant miss the drop deadline.

I decided this might be the perfect day to enjoy the infamous Rainforest room, so after a workout in the gym, I changed into swim wear and had almost 2 hours of the steam and warm chairs all to myself. Not having anyone to talk to gave me time to ponder the spa menu and of course they had all kinds of appointment times available.  Aruba day turned into “Beci’s personal spa day”.  Wow… I love my vacation.

Later that afternoon I returned to the cabin and got ready for the evenings festivities. Its ‘Taste of the Caribbean’ night and your best Tropical attire is required.

We were scheduled for Animators tonight and the servers are all decked out in their Caribbean flair.  Tonight is also Limbo tribute night and we all had to take part.  There was no saying no when the guy you rely on to bring you food tells you you must limbo for food. Here are some pics of the gang and some of the limbo happenings.  Deb made the round a couple of times, and I joined her on the second pass. There is one pic of me, but Chris wasn’t exactly at the right angle, so the only identifying mark is my hair… but I figured you would want proof,  so here goes:

After dinner, we headed up on deck for the buffet – yes… more food.. We decided to pass on dessert in the dining room and take part in the fun on deck 9!

It was a very warm night and the ice sculptures swayed a bit as chunks fell off now and then.  Chris sat for a while waiting to see if he could catch the potential catastrophe on video, but alas…  the carvings out lasted the dessert trays.

Tonight we turn our clocks back an hour so we get an extra hour of sleep, or partying, or blogging.  Whatever floats your boat!