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ncl sun aruba barbados curacao shore excursions

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hladygirl

hladygirl

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Has anyone done any shore excursions on the Norwegian Sun aruba Barbados curacao ports of call?

 

In Barbados we have gone twice on ncl copacabana beach excursion. It is $30 pp but you are on carlye bay but don't have the crowds that boatyard does.

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negn

negn

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You can get some good info from going to ports board. We've done all the ports mentioned. Went to Boatyard, close and inexpensive (they will provide transportation back to ship) If there are a lot of ships in port will get VERY crowded. Really enjoyed snorkle with turtles thru private company (can not remember name) Aruba is for beaches Got a taxi to eagle Beach and rented palapa and chairs from Amsterdam Manor No crowds. Liked it so much spent a weeek there in October. Cab catch the bus back as stops right in front. Curacvao just walked into town and caught a local tour (inexpensive) Enjoyed the cafe and casino after. Not fond ot the beaches there

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sns1009

sns1009

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You can get some good info from going to ports board. We've done all the ports mentioned. Went to Boatyard, close and inexpensive (they will provide transportation back to ship) If there are a lot of ships in port will get VERY crowded. Really enjoyed snorkle with turtles thru private company (can not remember name) Aruba is for beaches Got a taxi to eagle Beach and rented palapa and chairs from Amsterdam Manor No crowds. Liked it so much spent a weeek there in October. Cab catch the bus back as stops right in front. Curacvao just walked into town and caught a local tour (inexpensive) Enjoyed the cafe and casino after. Not fond ot the beaches there

 

Thank you for this! I've been trying to decide if it would be better to do a beach day in Aruba or Curacao. Aruba it is!

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romrai

romrai

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been to both locations twice. we rented an open car in Barbados (think dune buggy) and drove around the island. nice. traffic was not aggressive, however, they do drive on the left. we finished with a stop and stroll around town. lots of snorkel and dive tours available on shore as well. port within walking distance of town. where you dock in Curacao is also a walking distance from ship, lots of shopping/casino. we also had gone to a beach resort, being told that all sandy beaches are man made. i think it was about $5 each to get in. (that was about 4 years ago) personally, i thought the town/market was the best.

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newmexicoNita

newmexicoNita

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We are doing this cruise in Feb, I am always looking to see what others have done. We have been to Aruba before so it will be a beach day for us. Some of the resorts will sell you a day pass ....

 

That is what I would probably do in Aruba. We didn't do anything a few weeks ago except a very little shopping. There just isn't that much to do in Aruba even though it is one of my favorite islands. To the OP, check ports of call; there are so many great tours in Barbados. We have been there about 4 times and still not seen everything. There used to be a tour guide named Sarah, I don't know if she is still in business, but if she is, check her out.

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BlueJai

BlueJai

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In Aruba, we went to Ambassador Manor. It is on Eagle Beach and we took a cab from the port. They have chairs for rent on the beach, a nice bar with food and drink and when you are ready to leave,they will call you a cab and take you back to the port.

It was a nice place. The day we went there, there was a big volleyball tournament and all the chairs were sold so we grabbed a table in the 'bar' area where we were able to order food and drinks, but also take advantage of the beach and go swimming.

Bluejai

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IndyColts84

IndyColts84

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Wife and I have been to all three on our most recent cruise on the Dawn.

 

Barbados was on our own visiting the terminal area then going to Bridgetown by taxi. We only walked around there for an hour and a half before heading back to the ship. Probably could have done more but we will save that for another trip.

 

Curacao may be one of our favorite islands now! We did the Curacao Sea Aquarium and had a great time. The wife and I are both really into seal life and zoos in general so we might be a little more enthusiastic about this than most. The aquarium is much more hands on than our zoo/aquarium in Omaha. We were able to touch and hold many types of sea life, feed nurse sharks and lemon sharks, see a dolphin show and much more in the span of about 4 hours. All that is included with the price of the excursion. Not to mention our tour guide was Richard and he was absolutely one of the best parts of the aquarium. Richard is just one of those guys who genuinely loves coming to work and doing his job and it shows!

 

Also in Curacao, the port area is absolutely wonderful! It seems like most of the port areas we've experienced are industrial or a cab ride to anywhere "touristy." Curacao is very walkable and very well done. There is a hotel/casino within a 5 minute walk but if you keep going you will get to the Rif Fort which was pretty cool. Rif Fort is an old fort on the outside but inside it is a shopping/restaurant mall type area. A little further and you're at the floating bridge (we never got to ride the bridge!) and on the other side of the bridge is the main shopping area which again is all very walkable.

 

In Aruba we did the See and Sea tour which is basically a bus/boat tour. A bus tour with a little narration about the island culture and people, an underwater boat tour of a shipwreck complete with narration and then another bus tour to a lighthouse, land bridge and rock formations. This tour was about what we expected, however, it was to be a 3 hour tour and ended up being 4.5 hours because a generous amount of our tour group were elderly and needed much assistance especially when boarding the boat to take you to the underwater boat and vice versa. Because of this we did not get to wander around some of the shopping and areas adjacent to the port but we still we had a wonderful time nonetheless.

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chelle74

chelle74

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In Curaçao, Irie Tour is great fun and priced well.... Pictures on page 2 & 3...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1677753

 

We also did Irie Tour in Curacao! You CANNOT beat the price, it was a lot of fun, and at the beach stop (a pay beach, but included in the tour price!) they gave us the option to stay an hour, or to stay two hours. They made two trips from the beach back to the ship to accommodate everyone.

 

The guides were informative and fun, and they were very happy to distribute LOTS of beer, sodas and water. My husband drank a couple of sixers, at least.

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