harryfat1

Oh, I didn’t realize this was a rare event. They did it back in 2017 so I assumed it’s part of the RCI shoreside service. We didn’t get any cooling towels. We only got cold water. The cooling towel photo was from 2017 when Celebrity Cruises handed them out to their passengers. We didn’t get any on the RCI side. Just the more basic iced water with lemons.

Modesty prevents me from calling my pictures great but I will say our various Cuaraco photos are my favorites from this cruise. My cover picture from way back on post #1 is from Curacao so that tells you how much I like the Curacao pictures.

After lunch, we made it back to the cabins to rest to cool off from the heat outside. Curacao blue skies at 2:45 PM from our cabin's balcony. So we rested inside the cabins until 3:30 as we needed to be up on the pool deck by 4 PM for the highly anticipated North Star appointment.

As it was a warm day, I had some ice cream after lunch. Or what RCI calls ice cream. More like ice milk as there’s not much of the fat and creamy content you would find in an average ice cream shop back home. The RCI ice cream is just a cold flavored milk product but at least it’s cold as that’s the only cold dessert they have in the windjammer.

Anyway, just be happy you have iced cold water at the pier and do not have to wait until Windjammer to feel refreshed. It’s always humours to me that we can’t wait to get off the ship to see a new island in the Caribbean so we rush off the ship and then after a few hours of wilting in the heat, we rush back to the ship ASAP as we needed a break from the heat. Similar to the famous Monty Python’s famous “Run Away, Run Away” meme. If you are too young to understand that reference, Google it. Made it back to the ship and went up to our cabin to drop off our backpacks and freshen up before heading to Windjammer for lunch at 1:40 PM. Tip: Before leaving the cabin for the day, turn down the thermometer a few degrees to 70 or lower. You will appreciate the cool air when you first get back to the cabin after walking around for a few hours outside. Obviously this only works if you are on the hot weather cruise. Do the opposite in Alaaks or Norway cruise. Room already cleaned

We made it back to the pier where RCI has set up a little tent area to provide iced water for all the returning cruisers. At this point, my BFFs are the 2 guys working at the tent area as you never appreciate how good iced water tastes until you have been walking around in the heat/humidity for 3 plus hours. This reminds me of back in 2017 on our Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Independence of the Seas where we were docked next to a Celebrity cruise ship. I assume everyone knows that RCCL owns both RCI and Celebrity and Celebrity is marketed to be a higher-end experience than RCI. Anyway, one difference you can tell between the 2 lines is the welcome back area. For RCI, we had the more basic iced water but Celebrity has better water with more fruits inside of their water dispensers. In addition, they had much better seats underneath their tent versus the harder back ones for RCI. RCI basic water and harder chairs Celebrity with better water options And better seats You get what you paid for in life…

If the bridge is closed for a long period with lots of marine traffic going by, they run a ferry system whereby they load the pedestrians onto the ferry and shuttle them across. Back to Rif Fort where we started the tour. Northstar is up and running

Back on the bridge and retracing our steps back to the ship.

Ok. It’s been miserably hot and humid all morning and we’ve been walking for 3 hours now. Time to head back to the ship and rest and chill out (literally). Few more pictures of the Punda side before we are done

Interesting tour. Thanks for the info. I will take a look at the details later. We are only going to be in NYC for a week so the list of things to see will be longer than we have time for. NYC has more than enough things to do for 2 weeks so it's more of a question of how many places we leave off the list than what we can do. Especially in the summer when it'll be hot and icky. Not looking forward to the heat.

Yeah, the cheapo lock was bought online as CFKACD was trying to save a few bucks in getting a small lock. But, hey, it's red, right? 🤪 My wife finally found a spot in the side somewhere near the bottom to squeeze it in So we are part of the love heart

OK. Locks. Like in Paris where they have a bridge full of locks, Curaaco has a lock display area by the bridge. Wanting to join the process, cheapo me bought a cheap ass lock online to try to put it on the display along with thousands of other locks. The thing is that the display was so full that it took a while to finally find an opening for a small lock. So if you plan to add a lock to the collection, don’t be cheap like me. Bring a very long neck lock so you can put it on easily...🤪

Onward with the trip report ++++++++++++ Dushi and Curacao signs. Obligatory tourist picture spots.

You are welcome. Thanks for the kind words. I am just a volume shooter. When in doubt, take a picture as if you take enough of them, some might be decent enough to be uploaded online. Like you, by the end of the tour, I was pretty tired and hot walking in the heat/humidity that day. The brain/memory shut down after a while and I just let the pictures do the talking in the trip report as by then I don't remember which artist painted what and why. It's just easier to post the pictures and less editorial on my part since I don't remember what was what almost 2 months later. Maybe some people actually prefer it this way…🙂

Yeah, the tour guide mentioned the background of the Synagogue during the tour but by then my brain had melted from the heat/exhaustion that I forgot which building was what. At the risk of pointing out the wrong building, if I don’t know for sure, it’s best not to give out any info if I’m uncertain.

There are various free walking tours at different cities/islands. Per this website, there are over 85 cities in this community: https://freetourcommunity.com/ Every time you go to a new place, Google a free walking tour for that city to see if they have free tours there. On a side note, we are thinking about going to NYC this summer, and from my initial research, I have found a few walking tour operators for various parts of NYC so will likely book a couple of those. Personally speaking, I would rather pay someone a tip to show me some sites I would never have found on my own. Just walking around aimlessly and taking a few pictures without much insight is less interesting in my opinion.

Very nice. I was hoping for a free ride for some photos/video of the event but it wasn’t meant to be. Oh, well, guess it’ll have to be the next visit when I see the rest of the island as well as Bonaire as I need to complete the ABC island set. Just note the walking tour can be hot and tiring. Hopefully, you will get the wind to cool you off which was absent during our visit.

Familiar pose as previous artwork. The sign on the left explains this ChiChi sculpture and the corporate sponsorship during the tough Covid times. I like to think my claim to fame here on CC is my usage of the “Baby Got Back” song in trip reports. At least my buddy @BIBPhotography only remembers me for this 🤪 13 Million views can't be wrong:

I was curious about how much a stay at the Elements Hotel would be for say 5 nights in the same Christmas period for 2024. Expedia quoted me $700 for 5 nights for 4 people in a double queen bed. Not bad considering what other places could charge you. Anyway, a few last pictures before we take the elevator downstairs and look for the famous Curacao and Dushi sign. There are probably a lot of people up here at Sunset/nighttime with the Rooftop Bar drinking and chilling

Looking back at the Odyssey way in the back. Dang, we walked pretty far to get here as we looked back at where the ship was and afterward we had to walk back there in the heat. OK, the tour is over. Time to tip the nice man and we are on our own to explore the town before going back to the ship for lunch. CFKACD not paying for lunch off the ship… Zoom into the ship with the North Star up and running

OK, we have arrived at the last segment of the walking tour where RaeRae took us to the rooftop bar of the Elements Hotel for us to rest and check out the view. I am almost certain 99% of the average cruiser will not find this place on their own.

More scenery:

You can add your own editorial here to the artwork. Anything I say will be used against me in being banned for life from CC:🤪

More cool mural artwork on just about every street. Paint stores in Curaaco must have a lot of business

People from the tour bought popsicles here as I saw someone on YouTube recommending this ship Bet you that you won’t see this Santa back home from your neck of the woods. I would have queued up the “Here Comes Santa Claus” song from a YouTube channel but I think everyone is tired of Christmas songs by February so we will move on.