Today we pulled into port late. This allowed us to sleep in a bit and have a leisurely breakfast. At 1 p.m. we docked and were able to get off of the ship. The line to get off was loooooong! We finally made it off the ship and quickly looked for our tour guide. We booked the East Side and Aquarium Tour. Rosie was our tour guide and she was hilarious!

First, Rosie drove us up and over the tallest bridge in the Caribbean. The view was amazing from the top. We then toured around the island and visited a rum factory. At the factory we were able to see how both the liqueur and a “spray air conditioning” were made from the skins of special Curaçao oranges. We also tasted a few flavors of liquor. The chocolate flavor was yummy!

After the liqueur factory tour we headed to the aquarium. On the way, we drove through the suburbs of Curaçao. The aquarium is an open aquarium that is open to the sea water and the outside. The animals here get to be outside all the time. While at the aquarium, we were able to see a sea lion and dolphin show. They also have a large touch tank where you can see and touch many sea creatures from lobsters to sea cucumbers. They also have nurse sharks – not to pet though.

The aquarium was very nice, but it did start to rain. So we headed back to the ship instead of the beach afterwards.

On the way to the beach, Rosie drove us through historic Willemstad. This area is an UNESCO heritage site.

We made it back to the ship when, of course, it stopped raining. We decide that we would go back out walking since the ship would not leave until 9:30 in the evening. We walked through the areas near the port, walking back through the old fort and to the historic area. To get to the area we crossed a very cool floating bridge that was lit up with christmas lights.

After walking around, we headed back to the ship for dinner. For dinner, we went to the main restaurant. We had an encore soup with a chilled bing cherry bisque. After dinner, we headed to the room to go to sleep as we had an early morning.

Reflections and tips:
Sleep in when you can : You will be about and around on the ship and during island excursions. If you have a late port day, take the opportunity to sleep in and relax.
Pick up some history: Many cruises will dock in a historic area. Take the opportunity to take in a little history that might be a one of a kind experience.
Tip your guides : Particularly if you have a funny, attentive and/or informative guide, make sure to tip them for their service. For this assure you have some US dollars (don’t worry the ship should have an ATM on board).