Part 2 - Sea Day & Curacao - New Year 2023 Caribbean Cruise - P&O Britannia

Day 3 and 4 – Sea Day and Curacao

The new year started with a sea day – and so a relaxing and casual start to the year. This was the only occasion we ate breakfast in the main dining room – and probably the only time I bothered with a full English – always better in the main dining room for me as it is all about the portion control. It was a bit odd to find we had ordered the avocado on toast as a breakfast starter – with a cooked breakfast to follow – to find all of this just delivered on the same plate. Good job I didn’t order porridge as well.

After breakfast - off to the cooking demo - showcasing dishes from Epicurean and Sindhu. With samples obviously

The weather was hot and dry out at sea – therefore some time in the sun – some quizzes and some time in the shade through the day. It was good to relax after the long journey from a few days previously – and what was a late night the day before.
Evening time – was the first of four – yes four formal nights. And probably way too warm to be wearing a velvet dinner jacket. As we have club dining we just went to our regular table with our fantastic waiters Hash and Bennie. Following dinner we took in the evening show from the Headliners Theatre Company – which I hate to say was way below the standard we had previously seen on P&O.

Day 4 – 2nd January 2023 – Curacao

Docking into Willemstad – and after grabbing a simple buffet breakfast we went off to explore with no pre-arranged trip or tour booked. At the end of the cruise pier we did find some stands selling bus tours – all well organisied and no pressure to buy. We opted for a $20 each island bus tour for 2 to 3 hours - that would also give us 2 to 3 hours of beach time is we so wished. Given the rain that was forecast we just did the bus tour. It gave us a flavour of the island, a few stops and some very enthusiastic narration from the guide. Maybe not a tour with as much detail as a ship tour but for what we paid it was good enough to get a flavour. We concluded the tour with a look around Willemstad with it’s floating Queen Emma Bridge, a long pontoon bridge built in 1888. The bridge is hinged and opens regularly to enable the passage of oceangoing vessels. Obviously we also needed to find a bar on the cruise pier for a few beers – by now that rain had arrived.

For the evening we had booked into the Limelight Club – at around £28 a head for an evening meal and entertainment from John Partridge (Christian Clarke in EastEnders). He is now a singer and entertainer. Thoroughly enjoyable show and meal. Glad we caught it when we did as it was his last night.

Next stop is Aruba for some off-roading adventures...