bup1224

4 hours ago, CntPAcruiser said:

I suspect the straw market/art market vendors along the canal will still be there, restaurants and bars will be open, and of course many of the sights are there to be seen by just walking around: the fort, the waterways, the floating bridge, and the lovely buildings in town. Oh, and the giant Curacao sign!

 

Some of the vendors along the canal on the Otrobanda side are usually there. 

The Marshe Nobo (round market) on the Punda side is closed on Sundays.

10 hours ago, jlocole said:

Continuing my search for a beach visit.  I think Mambo looks too busy. Blue Bay - maybe.

I have found mention of the 2 beaches in my subject line.

Are they far from the port?  Easy to get to via taxi?

Is one better than the other?   Prices?

I don't want to go on a 4 - 7 hour tour. Just want a couple hours at a nice beach, then wander around what ever is walkable from the port at Willemstad.

Any info / advice is appreciated.

A taxi to Porto Mari is $50 each way, $90 each way to Grote Knip. 

Porto Mari has an entrance fee and a chair rental fee, Grote Knip no entrance fee but a chair rental fee.

I would suggest renting a car (much cheaper and you can beach hop) or stick to Blue Bay. 

4 hours ago, whitford said:

Took a HAL tour, nice tour guide and look at the country side. Cave minimal but still fun.  Back to city center and the main center park. Nice but the place is really messy, cups, papers and garbage most every place. Much more noticeable that any other island in our cruise. The island needs to hire someone to pick up the trash. Huge shopping area, which was nice. Floating market is done due to embargo from US on Venezuela, sad for many reasons. Lots of negative impact from the embargo on the locals. Had the best lunch, local, see picture, you must go, 1 1/2 grouper, beans, rice, plantains and a baked something for $10 US. Great do not miss lunch place next to the "new market" round building. The floating bridge is nice, as are the locks. The shopping is local across the bridge and corporate by the ship. All the history is across the bridge. Fun place. Ship left at 11 pm so we got to see all the late comers running to the ship, great sport, they all made it.

Glad you enjoyed our island. 

The Floating Market has been closed for over a year (sadly). While there is a negative impact, our locals have adjusted as needed.

In Punda (the city center as you call it), our trash company picks up trash daily (Monday-Friday) in the afternoons typically. I know as I work in Punda on most cruise ship days. There are also employees who do "clean up the steets" on a daily basis there as well.

10 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

From the New York Times Travel Section coming this upcoming weekend, they will have this headline: “36 Hours in Curaçao” with these highlights: “Turquoise waters, delicious seafood, colorful snorkeling and white sand: There are a lot of places in the Caribbean that have all these wonderful things, but Curaçao is one place you might not have discovered. Sandwiched between Aruba and Bonaire, and a short boat ride from the Venezuelan coast, Curaçao is bigger than its island neighbors and packed with memorable treasures for enterprising travelers to discover. Of the Dutch West Indies, Curaçao may very well be the most Dutch; the island’s capital, Willemstad, looks like a colorful mini Amsterdam, and Curaçao’s currency is the guilder, the former currency of the Netherlands (though United States dollars are readily accepted across the island). Restaurant menus often feature both bitterballen (fried Dutch meatballs) and kabritu stoba (Antillean goat stew), and when the Dutch soccer teams play, the bars are packed with orange shirts drinking Heineken and speaking Papiamento, the local language. Amid this blended culture is a beach hopper’s dream, and the best way to enjoy everything the island offers is by renting a car and roaming the island’s roads until you find the perfect blue cove.”

 

Many options and potential are outlined in this profile.  There is an interesting interactive map, plus a wide range of visuals, place for dining, etc.  Brings back nice memories from our fun on this interesting island.  

 

Full story at:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/travel/what-to-do-36-hours-in-curacao.html

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Sydney to NZ/Auckland Adventure, live/blog 2014 sampling/details with many exciting visuals and key highlights.  On page 23, post #571, see a complete index for all of the pictures, postings.  Now at 228,885 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

This 36 hours article,  I must say, has some inconsistencies. 

First the local language is Papiamentu,  a large majority of our lodging is not concentrated in Pietermaai, Pirate's Bay is not in Otrobanda,  and quite frankly,  I'm not sure what type of vehicle the author was driving to get from point A to point B so quickly (locals can't even drive to those places in that order as quickly) or what kind of "speed service " she was getting in the places she ate to move around on that timeline. 

21 hours ago, Hoosierpop said:

On Thursday. Based on one site, we are the only ship that 

If you are renting a car, maybe Cas Abou won't be as crowded 

2 hours ago, Hoosierpop said:

Hi All,

 

We will be getting into Curaçao at 1:30. Anyone have recommendations for a beach in the afternoon that may not be packed at that time? We are looking for a good beach that has food/drink near.

What day are you here? Beaches are pretty crowded on cruise ship days (Mambo, Blue Bay, Grote Knip etc.) but may be less crowded if you are the only ship here

4 hours ago, purplephenom said:

 

Is Copperstone the store with the resident cat? 

 

 

We are planning on loosely following this walking tour, but detouring if we see shops/other interesting things to see: https://travelhelix.com/2019/04/16/self-guided-walking-tour-of-willemstad-curacao-otrobanda-punda-pietermaai/

 

Is Copperstone anywhere near anything on this path? 

 

Yes, same street as the synagogue. 

1 hour ago, croozen said:

Ooops did not see your post and just entered a very similar question. we are particularly interested in jewelry shopping. (watches)

Most will be open. 

11 hours ago, shiny1 said:

Any suggestions on things to see and do on a Sunday in port? I understand some places are closed. 

Stores in Punda are typically open from 10 am to 2 pm or 3 pm when cruise ships are in port.

Beaches are always open.

9 hours ago, mattR said:

I believe it was Kleine Knip.  We also could have gone at another place close by Playa Forti where we stopped for lunch that was probably twice as high but we opted to just do the smaller jump.

Was it Grote Knip (Kenepa Grandi)?

Punda is a walkable area 

4 hours ago, tdoner said:

I'm curious to know if there are golf carts or something explore the city?

TIA!

 

No golf cart like in Bonaire. 

40 minutes ago, littysmom said:

Do u know how far Blue Bay is from the cruise ship port?

15 minutes or so.

2 hours ago, littysmom said:

Any recommendations for a beautiful beach experience while in Curacao?  Most of what we heard, were that the beaches are about a 45min drive from the cruise port.

I saw the suggestion of Mambo on your other post.

Blue Bay would be another option, more cove like beach, might need water shoes there.

Has a bar/restaurant,  does get crowded on cruise ship days 

On 1/26/2020 at 4:54 PM, NCteacherlovescruising said:

We have all our excursions booked for our cruise except Curaçao. I’m debating between these three. Which would be your choice for a couple in their 50s and why?  We enjoy beaches and sight seeing/tours, so either sounds appealing. 

If you want to see our island with a smaller customized tour,  Gone Caribe is fabulous. 

Irie tours is also good but you could be with "x amount" of people on your tour.

If you haven't been here before, skip Santa Barbara unless you just want to chill on the beach with food and beverages.

With Gone Caribe,  you can customize your tour!

1 hour ago, Suzyq52201985 said:

We would like to do a city tour during our stop in Curacao next month and trying to choose between Irie Tours, Ben's Tours or Casper Tours. Would love to hear your experience with any of these. If it matters, we don't get into port until 1 pm so limited amount of daylight, which is why we are looking at the 2 hr tours. Thank you!

Casper tours guides are so nice and informative. 

Irie tours is as well.

I believe Casper is less expensive than Irie if that is part of your consideration 

13 hours ago, Mullwi said:

hi! Our private tour fell through for next week. Our top things are to see flamingos, swim with turtles and spend most of day at nice beach that has shade or umbrella. Has anyone taken a chance and found a driver at the port? Would appreciate any advice especially regarding swimming with turtles. I believe we are only ship in port, but heard it can get crowded especially when busses get to turtle snorkeling beach. Is there any entrance fee there? Better to go there first? Ship docks at 9. Again, I would appreciate any advice. Thanks!

No entrance fee at Playa Piskado where the turtles are.

Yes it gets very crowded,  they actually closed the road to it last week.

On 1/22/2020 at 2:24 PM, prekcruiser said:

Hi, we are also renting a car from Advance and have the same plan....to visit several beaches on our own.  Our ship is in port from 8-4 so we have a little less time.  I am planning on starting the day at Playa Piskado with the turtles, then moving on to Grote Knip ( Kenepa Grande) then going to Grote Knip or Playa Lagun, then on to Porto Mari, then Playa Daaibooi.  Then on back to the pier.  Bup1224, does this sound doable in the amount of time we have?  We are planning to snorkel a bit at each beach.  Also, which beach has the best lunch in your opinion?  Also, how bad would the traffic be around 3:00 when heading back to the pier?

It's alot but can be done with short stops at each. 

Porto Mari has a decent restaurant. 

Traffic normally is not terrible at 3 pm.

42 minutes ago, brookie848 said:

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

Yes...we are on the Epic, but we dock on 2/27. When we booked the cruise, we were supposed to be there all day on 2/26, but then the itinerary changed (not thrilled about it). We in port from 6:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.

Thank you.  We have a friend on that ship (we live here so we are going to meet her)! I meant the 27th.

There is also a store in the Rif Fort that sells local art, Mon Art I believe is the name.

21 hours ago, brookie848 said:

We will be visiting Curacao in February with horrible port times -- from early morning until 12:30 p.m. -- so we will need to be back on the ship by noon. 

 

We would like to do something with Blue Curacao. I've looked at the factory tours, but that would require a taxi and I'm not sure I want to deal with that with our short port time. Plus, it didn't get great reviews. I'm now looking at the Blue Curacao Experience downtown. Has anyone does this and is it worth it? 

 

Does anyone have other shops we should not miss when we are wandering around downtown? We prefer "local" shops as opposed to the same souvenirs (although those can be fun, too). 

 

Thanks!

There is a store called The Lokale on Breedestraat in Punda that is full of local art.

Also Copperstone at the back of the Gomezplein has a local artist as well as regular souvenirs. 

If you don't mind me asking, which day are you here/ship are you on? Is it Norwegian Epic on the 26th?

21 hours ago, OCruisers said:

Actually Mambo Beach is beside the Seaquarium and often called Seaquarium Beach.

Yep, on the eastern side of the island. 

2 hours ago, Kbud said:

The cruise excursion we wanted to book for a Sunset Harbor tour is sold out. Does anyone know of any sunset harbor tours outside of the ship excusions in Curasao?

Check with the Pelican,  Blue Finn, Blue C sports 

49 minutes ago, ICANDIGIT said:

I found Blue Bay Beach but couldn't find Mambo beach. Which way from port?

Mambo is East.

8 hours ago, the_scarecrow_in_oz said:

Bon dia. What is the parking situation like at Grote Knip, Kleine Knip, Playa Lagun, Playa Piskado, and Playa Santa Cruz? Is it plentiful, or do I have to worry about finding a place to park? How much does it cost? Is it safe? Do I have to worry about it being broken into or stolen? Should I lock the car, or leave it unlocked?  Danki, Scarecrow.

Bon Nochi Scarecrow! Imo, Playa Piskado is very popular now so parking might be crowded, go there first if possible. 

Don't leave anything in your rental car (I live here and don't leave anything in mine). I always lock my car.

All the beaches you mentioned are free, Santa Cruz is still a more local beach so be aware of what is going on.

1 hour ago, Heatherco said:

We are open to anything.  We are snorkeling on Bonaire so don’t have to on Curaçao.

I still say snorkel here too.

Playa Lagun,  Playa Piskado for the turtles (go there first), Grote Knip (Kenepa Grandi) is a beautiful beach (not the best snorkeling though).

Klein Knip is next door and a smaller beach.

There are restaurants at Playa Forti (where the cliff jumpers might be). I like Blue View Terrace there.