Carnival Sunshine Review, Part 6: Arubafeatured

I usually love those split sea day/port day’s. You know, the ones where you start the day at sea and then dock in port in the afternoon. Those days are the best of all worlds. Lazy mornings on a lounger followed by an afternoon of exploring another country. It’s the best.

But on this day? The sooner we could get into port, the better. I needed some time away from the churning ocean waters on tierra firma.

We woke up a little later than I wanted to – cruise ships can be noisy and if I’m not absolutely exhausted, I can be a pretty light sleeper, so I sleep with earplugs in and rely on Stephanie or Mom to wake me up. Stephanie decided that since it was overcast when her alarm went off, we should all sleep in some more. Thankfully for all of us, it was nice and sunny by the time we headed upstairs for breakfast.

The ship was still rocking through some rough waves as we continued course towards Aruba, but arepas are just as tasty in Gale Force winds as they are in smooth seas (you know…in case you were wondering).

Because the winds were so strong, all public areas above deck nine were shut down. That not only meant no Serenity and no Water Works, but all those extra lounge chairs up on deck 10? Those were off limits, too. Just how windy does it have to be to force the shut down of the upper decks? On the Beaufort scale, we were sitting at an upper level 8 at 43 mph.

It was impossible to find open chairs, even with the high winds. The pool was relatively empty. The chairs had no people in them. And at 9:30 in the morning, it was not just impossible to find three chairs together…it was impossible to find a chair. Undeterred, we put our towels out on some chairs under the shade huts at the Beach Pool and sat out on some of the pool benches.

Our spots near the pool gave us a primo spot for chatting with some fellow guests who were also unable to find loungers. One of them mentioned that they were watching the ship’s info channel the last before and saw winds reaching 65 mph. For reference, that’s a level 11 (Violent Storm) on that 12-level Beaufort scale. Level 12 is a hurricane, at 73 mph. These winds were no joke.

As we were settling in at the pool, Jamie came on to announce our arrival into Aruba would be delayed due to the wind. And then, I got this awful Santorini deja vu. Back in May, we were forced to skip port in Santorini because the winds were too high to tender in. I don’t immediately think port cancellation on non-tender ports but it hit me once Jaime finished her announcement: attempting to dock in high winds is just as risky as attempting to tender.

At this point, I was pretty convinced that we weren’t getting into Aruba. This had shades of Santorini all around it. After all, the motion we were experiencing was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. My boss frequently has to remind me to suspend my disbelief (skeptic by nature over here), so I suspended all disbelief and crossed my fingers. The delay was because the pilot from Aruba couldn’t board until 1:00 (our previous ashore time), so they’d have more information (aka, they’d make a final call) then.

So in the meantime, we settled in by the pool and we encountered our first issue with crowding. Unlike other ships in the Carnival fleet, the Sunshine only really has one pool. There’s a mini pool at Serenity, but there’s really only one main pool. So with the adults AND kids areas shut down, everyone was crowded around one little pool. When they transitioned the Destiny to the Sunshine, they removed public areas to add more cabins, so you have more passengers in less space. Today we felt it, and if we didn’t make it into Aruba, I was going to lose my mind.

As we were talking to some people at the pool, a near brawl broke out in front of us. See, in the wee hours of the morning, this family came down, claimed a bunch of chairs, went back to bed, came back hours later and expected their chairs. They were able to recover one, but the other was occupied by a woman who had found the chair empty and was sitting out with the belongings of her husband and two small children. And as the alpha chair hog tried to intimidate this woman into giving him this chair, another woman kind of stepped in and asked him to back off and he just went off on her. The words that came out of his mouth were vile and ugly and shouldn’t be spoken to another person period, let alone outloud in an area crawling with children. I lost a little faith in humanity there. Honestly. It’s a lounge chair, guys. You’re on a cruise ship. At Christmas. Apparently it’s too much to hope adults act like, you know, adults. Or decent human beings, at the very least.

Anyways, alpha chair hog decides this woman who deigned to call him out for expecting chairs to be open after being left for hours is now his enemy and makes “friends” with the woman he was trying to intimidate. It was a bizarre situation.

Between that and the antics at the pool (including, but not limited to, dozens of unattended children literally jumping in the pool over each other, kicking each other in the head, weak swimmers in what has become a wave pool with no apparent supervision), we gave up on getting any kind of peace and headed inside to shower.

We headed to Cucina del Capitano for lunch to await the decision. At night, Cucina del Capitano serves as a full-service Italian restaurant with an additional fee for dining, but during lunch hours, it’s a made-to-order pasta bar that’s completely complimentary.

You can choose your pasta, sauce and a variety of toppings, or you can opt for lasagna, and you can get a Caesar salad or some delicious bread on the side. My creation of farfalle with Alfredo and a bunch of veggies was super tasty.

While we were nomming on our carbs, Jaime came on to give us the good news that the pilot would be able to dock us safely in Aruba. AND, bonus, because of the delay (and because Bonaire was a hop, skip and a jump away), our back onboard time was extended to 10:30 pm for an 11:00 pm departure. Oh, and they were extending our port time in Bonaire, too. Good news on top of good news on top of pasta?! What a time to be alive.

Now knowing we’d make it ashore, we headed back to the room to get ready to go ashore. The pilot boat was right outside our window and we watched as they navigated the winds and waves to dock us safely at the pier. We took our time leaving our room, though, to avoid the crowds that would surely be congregating at the gangway, and headed ashore around 3:00 pm.

We made no plans for our time in Aruba. We’ve been here twice in the past two years, doing a tour of the island highlights on the first visit and a catamaran snorkel on our second. The island is beautiful and definitely worth exploring if you’ve never visited before (and worth re-exploring, even if you have!). But the goal of this trip was relaxation for us, and nothing sounded more restful to me than heading off the ship at our leisure, walking around, taking pictures, shopping and just…being. Our last cruise was very port intensive in Europe and our next cruise will be the same. And if you’re going to get off the ship anywhere to just walk around, the ABC islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao are the perfect ports to do so in. They’re safe, clean and quiet. And gorgeous, too. Always a plus, right?

I love Aruba. It’s lively and colorful, and you don’t need to wander far to feel the culture of the island. There’s great shopping right outside the pier at the nearby Renaissance Mall, as well as a number of casinos, restaurants and bars.

We forged a familiar path down Mainstreet, noting places that were new and others that seemed to have gone away. I stopped into Little Switzerland to see if I could find a bracelet I was coveting, but it seems the Tiffany & Co. location is no longer.

With that, the only other items on my shopping list were t-shirts and knickknacks, so we put the shopping on hold and headed out to the I <3 Aruba sign. If you walk down Mainstreet, past the Renaissance and up the stairs, you’ll come across the I <3 Aruba sign. Perfect place for a photo op.

We’ve never ventured out further than that on our own, but we had nothing else to do so we just kept walking. It was such a trip to see the island decked out for Christmas. I was a toddler the last time I spent Christmas anywhere outside of Chicago, so seeing Christmas trees, nativity sets and holiday decorations next to palm trees and beaches was such a novelty.

When we’d ventured out far enough, we crossed the street and walked back on the other side, under the rustling palm trees. The wind on land was infinitely more peaceful than the wind at sea!

We found ourselves walking past another mall, so we stopped in to see what we could find. There was a movie theater (I don’t think going to the movies is the best use of a port day, but I literally spent my time in Aruba taking Instagram pictures, so who am I to judge?), a ton of restaurants with some great patio seating and….a Starbucks that was much less crowded than the one inside the Renaissance. We stopped in for a quick dose of caffeine.

Dusk was quickly approaching as we strolled along the docks, watching the waning rays of sun bounce off the water.

It felt too early to head back to the ship and we wanted as much time on solid earth as we could get, so we ducked into the Renaissance Mall to check out what was new there. The Renaissance Mall is a literal shopping mall inside the Renaissance hotel. It’s a short walk from the pier and you’ll find plenty of designer shopping, a Starbucks and free wi-fi inside.

We usually exit out to Mainstreet, but this time, we decided to explore the street running behind the mall. There’s an entire world back there we never knew existed! Shops and cafes and plazas (and an extra dose of holiday spirit, to boot), all less crowded (and better priced) than the shops on Mainstreet.

We made one last stop at the pink shopping center that sits just down the street from the pier to take one last pass for souvenirs. On the second floor, you’ll find half a dozen shops with any kind of souvenir you could be looking for at pretty decent prices. The further off the street the shop, the better the prices.

Across the street, on the way back to the pier, you’ll find a market with everything from t-shirts and logo wear to handmade crafts. The prices aren’t always the greatest, but if you’re running back to the ship after a day out in port and you need to pick up a couple of keychains, you’ll have plenty of options.

I slowed my pace as we strolled back to the ship. The warm air, the cool breeze and the lack of motion in the ground beneath me was just so…nice. Peaceful.

In years past, there had been a market set up inside the terminal, where local vendors would set up their wares and crafts for purchase. There would always be the usual t-shirts, magnets and keychains, but we’d often find handmade jewelry and local liquors, too. They’ve done some work on the terminal. The market is gone, but they’ve set up actual shops in its place. And you can still find your t-shirts and keychains, but you can also find a skincare shop selling Aruban aloe (we stocked up – the stuff is legit) and a jewelry store selling one-of-a-kind pieces. There’s a small grocery store with both local and well-known liquors (duty free liquor shopping isn’t the greatest in the Southern Caribbean, but you’ll still find prices better than those in the US) and even wheels of cheese — Aruba is a Dutch island, after all (but if you want to buy cheese, you’ll need to consume it before you get on the ship!).

We dropped our bags off in the room and then headed out to have dinner while we were still docked. The dining rooms are located towards the aft on the Sunshine, and with the waves and winds we’d been experiencing, every meal at sea in the dining room was a real adventure. Dinner was tasty and, even better, was paced and served efficiently. We’re not ones to linger over a long meal (at least, not on cruises). There’s always a show to catch, a sale to shop or a movie upstairs.

Shrimp Cocktail

Crepes Filled with Spinach and Ricotta Cheese

Beef Carpaccio

Mixed Garden and Field Greens

Vegetarian Lasagna with Spinach, Mushrooms and Ricotta Cheese

Chicken Pot Pie

Grilled New York Strip Steak from Aged American Beef

Banana Split

Warm Chocolate Melting Cake

After dinner, we headed down to the Alchemy Bar for a little after dinner refreshment. We’ve never sailed on a Carnival ship with an Alchemy Bar, but so there were high hopes. I was slightly underwhelmed. The bartenders were great, but my drink was a little too sweet for even my tastes.

Insurgent was playing up on the big screen, and the deck was packed. We settled in with a couple of chairs and some popcorn.

Aruba is a gorgeous island during the day, but at night, it’s a different kind of beautiful. Peaceful and serene, almost. We took a walk along deck 10 to take in the island lights.

Before we headed down to deck 3 to watch sailaway, we stopped in at Pizzeria del Capitano to grab a couple of slices. The late night bites they’d put out every night at the Lido Marketplace weren’t entirely appealing (hot dogs, ham and cheese sandwiches, buffalo chicken panini’s, potato chips, cookies and fruit every night), but morning, noon or night, the pizza was always fresh and always good. And if you caught the line while it was short? Bonus.

We perched ourselves on a bench on the Promenade to await sailaway, but we found ourselves waiting…and waiting. From our vantage point, though, we quickly deduced the delay was caused by a late medevac. A passenger was carried out on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance, his family escorted by a Carnival rep and loaded into a van with their luggage. Not long after, we started drifing away from the pier and into open water.

Sailaway was nice and peaceful, and it was nice having a little time to enjoy the ship without the rolling waves. But, by the time I fell asleep later that night, we were back to rolling side to side.