We didn't have an excursion planned for Curacao. None of us had been to the port before and never been in port at night before. We figured we would get off the boat and see what happens. We backed a smaller bag and wore our suits off the boat just in case.
The whole crew got off the ship together around 1pm and walked through the fort and went over the pontoon bridge. Curacao has 3 bridges. The pontoon bridge floats back and forth to allow cargo ships to pull into the port. It was one of the most unique bridges I've even seen. Walking over the bridge it led us further into town.
It was hot and a big town and nobody really wanted to shop all day so Marie stopped at a tour vendor and negotiated a bus tour for us for $15 per person. AC. Nice bus. No brainer. We hopped on.
The bus drove us past the Floating Market first. Curacao received 23 inches of rain last year and can not produce it's on produce. Because of this all of their produce comes from Venezuela. The boats pull up to the pier and create a floating market right there.
The bus drove us past the Floating Market first. Curacao received 23 inches of rain last year and can not produce it's on produce. Because of this all of their produce comes from Venezuela. The boats pull up to the pier and create a floating market right there.
From there we drove us through the country side to a ledge called the million dollar view. It was basically a store on the edge of the mountain with a great view. I had to pee but the lady instructed me it cost $1.25 to use their restroom so I decided to just hold it. Out of principle.
Then we headed to the Cabana Beach. On the way we passed government housing. According to our driver the government builds the homes and you have the option to live in them with some assistance and also work to buy them eventually. Government assistance is $75 a month regardless of how many children you have. The houses were concrete and about the size of 2 state rooms.
Cabana Beach was nice!!! Oh man do I wish we would have just gone there instead! Big beautiful cove with chairs, huts, waterslides, connected to a resort. But everything you did there cost money and the bus driver only gave us an hour so nobody swam. We stopped grabbed some drinks for everyone and ate some French fries. Ethan did some shopping and we all just relaxed for a moment.
Back on the bus....we headed back to town where half of us decided to be dropped off in town for more shopping. The other half decided to head back to the ship. Our family headed to the ship where we did some local shopping around the boat before heading back onto the boat. I think the kids (teens) liked being on the boat more than anything. It was a floating school house. By then they had become a crew that was deemed to "run the ship" and they had made friends. They couldn't wait to get back on the boat and roam as only teenagers could do.
Everybody made it back to the boat in time to get dressed and go to dinner. The parents had all planned that after dinner we head back out to the fort and have drinks on the Island. Lorelei wanted to go to Camp Ocean for a glow in the dark rave and the kids had some clubbing to do! We all went out to the first patio restaurant we could find and drank a couple yucky beers before heading out. I wish I could say more about this port or fun stuff but it was really just OK. I think we all found comfort in the ship. It was a nice experience to be on an Island at night but nobody went crazy. Even though we were all kid free.
We went back to the ship and met everybody at the casino bar and drank and hung out until 1am. Again picked up the kids and had pizza before heading to bed. My family was back and in a happy mood. We had quite the surprise when we picked Lorelei up. She had become a tiger!!!
Oh, Lorelei also found where she wanted to spend her money that day...Cherry on Top. The ship candy story. Every day after dinner we would let her buy 1 pack of candy before heading to Camp. She loved it and lived for it...daily!!!
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