Beyond ABC Itinerary - Excursion Advice Please!

[Super27]

We are doing the August 24 ABC cruise on Beyond, and it will be our first time on this itinerary. I generally only get off the ship at ports where there is a beach right there (e.g. Grand Turk, Bimini, private islands), and spend most port days enjoying the quiet ship. On my solo cruises I actually never get off the ship...I know, I'm weird 🤣. But, since this is new to us my S/O talked me into booking excursions at all 3 ports. Wondering if anyone has done these through Celebrity recently and can give me any feedback on whether we made good choices!

 

Aruba:

 

Bonaire:

Curacao:

 

Any reviews/opinions/better suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I will say I generally default to Celebrity's "small group" excursions, as I'm not big on group travel in general and usually find those more tolerable. Also just wondering if there are any of these ports where it's not worth it to do pay for an organized excursion or even get off the ship? Thanks in advance for advice!!!

[mac_tlc]

We just did the Beyond in February and stopped at Aruba and Curacao. We did not do any ship excursions, just got off ourselves and wandered around. Curacao was fun walking to the floating bridge and then wandering through the old part of the city. 

 

We really liked the ship and the itinerary.

 

More info and pix on what we did here:

 

mac_tlc

Edited March 12 by mac_tlc

[1Virgo]

Aruba. Do a whole island tour offered by Celeb. Quite interesting.  Curacao. Get off and wander. Enjoy a beverage by the moveable pier/deck. Bonaire. DH did land sailing.  Absolutely great.  Many options. Depends on what you are into

[Crazy planning mom]

Bonaire is known for scuba and snorkeling so if you enjoy that, it seems like a good choice.

[SkystheLimit]

Golf cart in Bonaire.  

 

[awhcruiser]

Bonaire...Highly recommend Woodwind Snorkeling.  

[kptbylorraine]

Check out Woodwind Bonaire for a great snorkeling trip. 

[mauimary]

1 hour ago, SkystheLimit said:

Golf cart in Bonaire.  

 

We just did the golf cart a few weeks ago. That was a fun DIY excursion.  It does have to be arranged ahead of time. 

[NMTraveller]

Snorkel in Bonaire.  Take a tour with beaches in Aruba.  Do an island tour in Curacao.

[jenp123]

Aruba- pretty easy to get off, grab a taxi to do a quick tour and get dropped at a beach for the day.

 

Bonaire- try and book woodwind snorkeling tour through their website ($85 and it's a quick walk to the dock)  Amazing trip and a fraction of the cost of the trip you listed.  You can also rent a gold cart for $100 and drive the whole island yourself, stopping at beaches, photo ops etc...  It is a fun day

 

Curacao-also taxis and tour opportunities when you get off of the ship.  Taxis always running to mambo Beach if you want to do it on your own.  Great place to wander into town and sightsee 

[wrk2cruise]

Another vote for Woodwind in Bonaire if they still have spots available.  They always sell out early.  Best snorkel trip I've done.

[Rick&Jeannie]

One of our most memorable excursions we've taken was in Curacao.  We are *definitely* not the off-road type, nor are we "spring chickens"...but we thoroughly enjoyed an ATV tour of the island.  This was one where I actually drove our own ATV...not sitting idly in the back while being driven around.  It was great!  

 

Note however...we were a bit surprised when they gave us bandanas at the beginning.  It didn't take long though, before we understood the need!  Our faces were rather dirty when we got back to the ship.  Had to immediately take a shower before heading to the MDR!

 

[smojeo]

We took the same Curacao excursion a few years ago and enjoyed it very much.  We chose to stay at Mambo Beach for longer than the excursion, and shared a cab back to port with a couple we met on the excursion.  

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

4 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

One of our most memorable excursions we've taken was in Curacao.  We are *definitely* not the off-road type, nor are we "spring chickens"...but we thoroughly enjoyed an ATV tour of the island.  This was one where I actually drove our own ATV...not sitting idly in the back while being driven around.  It was great!  

 

Note however...we were a bit surprised when they gave us bandanas at the beginning.  It didn't take long though, before we understood the need!  Our faces were rather dirty when we got back to the ship.  Had to immediately take a shower before heading to the MDR!

 

 

Which company did you use? I get several that pop up when I google ATV tours Curacao.

[Rick&Jeannie]

12 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

Which company did you use? I get several that pop up when I google ATV tours Curacao.

It was a ship excursion.  I did a bit of detective work! According to Google Maps, it was Curacao Buggy Adventures.

Edited March 13 by Rick&Jeannie

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

2 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

It was a ship excursion. 

Ah. They don't do it anymore I guess. 😞

[Rick&Jeannie]

5 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Ah. They don't do it anymore I guess. 😞

Check my original response...I edited it to give the company name. 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

9 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

It was a ship excursion.  I did a bit of detective work! According to Google Maps, it was Curacao Buggy Adventures.

Thank you!

[mac66]

We've been to the ABCs a number of times. The last time this past Feb.  I usually dive, my wife snorkels but before I started diving we did snorkeling trips or other stuff.

 

Always enjoyed the off road ATV/UTV/Jeep trips to the wild side of the island in Aruba. If you've not been there it's worth it. We usually booked private tours. This past Feb we took the city bus out to a beach and snorkeled on our own.

 

On Bonaire we've done Woodwind catamaran trips a couple times. Highly recommended. The last time we were there in Feb we rented a golf cart and toured by ourselves. That was very fun.

 

In Curacao we've either dived or did snorkeling via private company. This past Feb we just walked around in town then went swimming off the dock next to the ship.

[MarkWiltonM]

We did Woodwind snorkeling in Bonaire. They know what they're doing. There's also a donkey sanctuary there that I missed last time but will be visiting next year. If you are walking around historic Willemstad in Curacao, make sure you venture far enough to enjoy the charming Pietermaai district. Just ask for directions or look at a map. It's just a few blocks beyond the dingier central part of Willemstad and has a number of small hotels, shops, and cafes, many on the water. 

[Arubamoose]

We've done Bonaire Cruisers (who rent the golf carts) several times.

A lot of fun!!  On the south route - do stop at Foodie's for lunch.

They book out quickly so if that's what you want to do - don't wait.

[39august]

Eagle Beach on Aruba is fairly close to the port and is a picture perfect beach with a white beach, aqua water,  some native shade and chair and umbrella rentals. We always took the bus, but a taxi shouldn't cost much. Palm beach is a bit  farther and is where the big hotels are, so I wouldn't want to go there. 

[Notagoose]

Aruba is very safe. If you like the beach, grab a bus or taxi and get dropped off at Eagle Beach. There's a nondescript food truck that sells cheap and delicious food near the Chalet Suisse restaurant if you get hungry, and you can rent chairs/umbrellas or palapas from a few different vendors. It's quieter and nicer (imo) than Palm Beach, although if you want lots of action, Palm Beach is the place to be. 

 

In Curacao, it's easy to explore right from the port, lots of little shops and restaurants in easy walking distance. We actually went to the Rif Mangrove Park which is just outside the port security area to your left. It's a small park with some interesting birds, if you're into that sort of things. We found it to be a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours, although it got HOT!

 

Bonaire has wonderful snorkeling, the best I've done from among 20 or so islands. If you want to do it on the cheap, there are places to snorkel within walking distance from the ship, or you can book with a reputable vendor.

 

I wouldn't personally see any need to book a ship excursion for any of the ABCs, but do what feels most comfortable for you!