How close is the pier to downtown Willemstad?

[cruzincanuck]

I was planning to walk from the pier (where the Adventure of the Seas docks) to downtown Willemstad however I do not recall how long the walk is from our previous trip in 2004. As we will have my husband's aunt with us (83 years young ;)) I want to make sure that the walk is reasonable. How much time will it take us ?

 

As a alternative, are there any taxis are the pier who can bring us to the downtown area? cost?

[cruiseapril]

Hi- You may want to take a taxi with your aunt even though the walk is only about 15 minutes from the large dock and (10 minutes from the inside harbor dock. ) There are always plenty of taxis and we always set a good price beforehand.

[cruzincanuck]

Thank you April ! I will definitely take advantage of the taxis and I prefer that she keeps her energy for the walk downtown.

[cruiseapril]

Have a fine cruise and let us know what you did in Willemstad- IMO a beautiful small city- a World Heritage site.

[Dushi]

If you dock at the Megapier, you will walk through the newly built Renaissance Resort towards the Fort - 15 minute walk along the water then past the shops and restaurants.

 

If you dock near the Floating Pontoon Bridge and Ferry, you will see the colorful buildings of Punda from your ship, 5 minutes away.

[cruzincanuck]

If you dock at the Megapier, you will walk through the newly built Renaissance Resort towards the Fort - 15 minute walk along the water then past the shops and restaurants.

 

If you dock near the Floating Pontoon Bridge and Ferry, you will see the colorful buildings of Punda from your ship, 5 minutes away.

 

Thanks Dushi for the info :D

[lillulu]

Dushi

 

Do you happen to know which doc HAL docks at?

Thanks in advance

[jshli]

Does the Celebrity Millenium dock at the Mega Pier? If it dies, is that closer to the Renaissance Hotel or the Howard Johnsons which appears to overlook the Pontoon Bridge?

[Romy40]

This may sound odd, but an umbrella for the sun would be a good idea for her. The walk is easy, but hot.

[2CoolCanucks]

But it is ALSO very breezy there (unless there is a hurricane in the Caribbean) so make sure your umbrella is a sturdy one!

Large sun hats are good too for the elderly.

Be reminded that if your ship docks at the mega pier, the Taxi will have to take you the LONG way to get to downtown Punda. It cannot drive across the swinging bridge and so it will have to go over the large bridge (towards the refineries.)

Not sure how much the taxis will cost but the local bus vans are quite inexpensive and do the same thing. Just a thought... :)

[jshli]

I noticed that there is an Avis car rental desk at both the Mege Pier and the Renaissance Hotel. They seem to be located very close to each other. Does anyone know the distance between the two and is there an advantage to booking at one one location over the other.

[DANofNORTH]

When we docked there last year there were 2 docking areas. The Sea Princess docked by the floating bridge & another ship docked further out.

 

Both are within walking distance of the shops.

[snowcat]

Distance between the two rental places is not very far. I suppose the advantage would be in being closer to where your ship docks.

[ithaca gal]

We walked off the ship right over to the taxi stand. The published rate is $15 for one to four people. The taxi has to take the long way over the tall bridge to get to the downtown area. We didn't realize how easy the walk was and made sure to take the floating bridge route to walk back.

[Dushi]

lillulu-

 

I haven't checked the CUR Boards in a while. I hope this response is not too late. When we were on the HAL Rotterdam, we docked at the Megapier but that was because there were two Italian cruise ships already docked near the Ferry stand under the big Queen Emma Bridge.

 

jshli-

The Renaissance Hotel is 5 minutes from the Megapier. The only advantage is that it may be air conditioned while at the Pier, it is an open, tented area. The Millenium is a larger ship so it will probably dock at the Megapier.