As the phone hits the deck once again, the morning routine and dance of the tiny bathroom begins until time to head to Giovanni’s.
No Girare-U [which, those who have followed NOWAT since NOWAT-Italia 2001, know means U-Turn] for
hoodies was needed.
Cute course, if you like ricochet golf, and playing the break was even more fun with the roll of the ship and a wind gust now and then.
Guess which is which.
OK, you savvy cruisers know the answer, for others… read on.
Then, when we started back eastward to Cartagena, all phones jumped forward an hour, to EST.
And just to make it more fun - If you know your
geography - you'll know that Aruba is way east of Miami and is on AST [Atlantic
Standard Time] so as we crossed another time zone, everyone’s phone jumped
ahead another hour!
Sorta like Daylight Saving
time changes gone berserk – on steroids.
So what is all this
Time Zone change stuff leading to?
Well now… as most seasoned
travelers know, cruisers in particular, being aware of time zone differences and
keeping yourself on “Ships Time” [EST - as the announcement on the Ships P.A. continually
admonish you to do] and how it can affect your plans is an important fact to keep
in mind. Particularly if you’re planning
on going ashore for either planned excursions or just to explore on your own.
Shore excursions booked through
the ship are committed to get you back at least a half hour before the
ship embarks.
Excursions, or private tours booked with locals, function on LOCAL time.
The ship leaves on “Ships
Time”. If not careful, you can very easily “Miss the Boat” if you don’t keep
track of “Ships Time”.
By now, Dragon Chic was getting
very confused as her Apple watch, alternately linked and unlinked with her
iPhone and has changed time three times since she left Miami.
She, Donna and everyone
else with their iPhone’s and Android’s alike - set to Auto Sync - had NO idea
what the real time was except… Chucky, who still wears a watch, and who - Common it’s CHUCKY - was aware of this anomaly
and never changed his watch since boarding.
Excursions, or private tours booked with locals, function on LOCAL time.
The point of the lesson:
Wear a watch, Like Chucky, or set your phone to the Manual time setting before getting on the ship to keep it on ships time, never changing either from port to port.
Now on with our tale…
Soooo, while still in Las Vegas, on PST, Ellen had made reservations at the Driftwood, in the middle of downtown Orangested
for 7pm, not realizing that Aruba is on AST, an hour ahead of Ships time,
which is on EST.
So, even though we docked
at 5pm “Ships Time”, it was really 6pm “Aruba Time” and didn’t have “plenty of
time” as we thought, to leisurely stroll to the restaurant since, of course… we couldn’t
debark until cleared by the Aruban authorities, which was almost 630pm “Aruba
time”.
Now we had to get off the
ship [long line] and walk the half mile to the main road to hustle a cab to the
Driftwood.
We would be cutting it close as it was imperative to be on time - the Driftwood is a VERY busy Aruba institution for locals and tourist alike. AND… there were 3 other ships in port!
S&E were first off the
ship and were waiting alllll-the-Waaaay down by the bus / taxi / rickshaw / tuktuk - whatevah
stand, outside the port gate.
L&D were waiting just
past the Gangway for C&I who were just hustling off the ship after another “Girare-U” – for the hoodie.
Wear a watch, Like Chucky, or set your phone to the Manual time setting before getting on the ship to keep it on ships time, never changing either from port to port.
Are you following this? If not, ask your grandkids to explain it… much like they have to, for the
umpteenth time, explain how to reset the blinking clock on your VCR
[Do you still have one of
those?]
We would be cutting it close as it was imperative to be on time - the Driftwood is a VERY busy Aruba institution for locals and tourist alike. AND… there were 3 other ships in port!
A promise of 6 fares
@ $5 each on the way to his call got THEM on the way to the Driftwood via every back street he could find, [the main drag was jammed with taxis, busses rickshaws, tuktuks, loaded with locals and... 3 shiploads of tourists, all heading to dinner or wherevah] depositing at the door of the Driftwood, precisely at 6:59PM AST.
Let’s let HIM
catch his breath before continuing this slowly wilting tale of Time, Taxies,
Wi-Fi and VCR settings.
OK, to continue...
The Driftwood is a
delightful, rustic eatery, obviously decorated nautically with a Fresh Seafood
heavy menu. FRESH as in, “it was
swimming this morning”, and some of the best HOT Garlic Bread, EVER, delivered
even before the drink order was taken.
Rather than go into their
expansive menu and everyone’s order just go to:
Then, when in Aruba, you must head directly to:
Driftwood Building
Klipstraat 12,
Orengestad, Aruba
[Or, just Hi-Jack a Taxi. They'll know exactly how to get you there, back streets and all]
Then sit back and enjoy some of
the Best Cocktails, “FRESH” {Seriously, it was swimming this morning!!} Seafood and after dinner Specialty Coffees in the Southern Caribbean.
Tell ‘em Lesley Blum
Kitttler sent ya, then pass it on.
After a leisurely stroll
back to the ship, it was Casino time for some, jammies time for others as it
had been a long day of fun, frivolity, FRESH FISH, Crab Cakes, time change and whatevah,
[Lemme tell you ‘bout them Crab Cakes!!!].
Tomorrow is a full day in
Aruba and with no particular plans, we'll catch up with the Fabulous Foibles of
TE6 in the next episode of:
“Do you know what time it REALLY is?”
“Do you know what time it REALLY is?”
Ciao 4 Now
Uncle Chuck & The
Luvin’ The Driftwood,
Dragon Lady
No comments:
Post a Comment