This trip report was written by Holly, who sailed the Disney Wonder on January 20, 2019 on a 7 night Southern Caribbean cruise from San Juan, Puerto Rico. You can start the trip report from the beginning by clicking here.
Day 5: Curacao
It was raining the morning we sailed toward Willemstad, Curacao. One of my favorite things to do at least once during a cruise is to get up early enough to watch the sunrise. This morning I woke up before 6:00, got coffee from the drink stations on Deck 9, and enjoyed the morning views from the upper decks.
We didn’t have any excursions planned for this port and decided to spend our time here walking around and visiting the historic buildings, floating pontoon bridge, and floating market.
That morning we relaxed and had breakfast (Cabanas) and lunch (Tritons) on the ship. After lunch, we went ashore.
When we got off the ship, it was incredibly windy. I almost lost my hat a few times! I’m glad we didn’t plan a beach day or resort day pass that would have had us outside as we would have been wind burnt. High winds are typical for the time of year. Here is a video of the Wonder docked at the port:
The port is connected to the Rif Fort which is in turn connected to the Renaissance Curacao Resort. In the secured port area there are several shops which include most tourist brands you see in the Caribbean, but there was also a very nice Delft pottery store where I picked up a pretty coffee mug and ornament on our way back to the ship.
Once you leave the fort/hotel area you are in Willemstad proper. We followed this self-guided tour and this printed map to tour the area. Everything we went to was within easy walking distance and somewhat easy to navigate. It was nice to just wander around without a checklist or agenda.
We walked across the floating Queen Emma Bridge over to the Punda area and back which included Queen Wilhelmina Park. We saw the signs, admired the buildings, and browsed the floating market.
On our way back to the Queen Emma Bridge we got a little, um, lost in the neighborhood and took an unplanned trip on an overpass which gave us a great view of the Wonder.
As we were crossing the Queen Emma Bridge to make our way back to the ship, the alarm sounded that the bridge would soon be moving and it was time to get off of it. Here’s a video of the bridge opening.
Before getting back on the ship, we walked around the Rif Fort (which was free) and took some pictures of the Wonder.
Once back on the ship, we went to Deck 9 to watch the Wonder sail away and then got ready for our dinner at Palo.
I don’t have any pictures of the food, but I had the Gnocchi and Beef Tenderloin and my husband had the Calamari and Sea Scallops. For dessert, we had the famous Chocolate Souffle. We had the same server as the day before and she continued to provide excellent service. The food was wonderful! After dinner, we took our usual walk around Deck 4 and spotted a crew member at work in the kitchen.
Tomorrow we would arrive in Aruba!
.
Up Next: Day 6 – Aruba
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.