Which is a better port to do your own thing at ??

[Ykgorbie]

We are sailing in a few weeks :D and already pre-booked a couple of excursions. Was wondering which of the following you would choose to just go exploring on your own - Aruba or Curacao ?

Thanks in advance !!

[NCteacherlovescruising]

[quote name='Ykgorbie']We are sailing in a few weeks :D and already pre-booked a couple of excursions. Was wondering which of the following you would choose to just go exploring on your own - Aruba or Curacao ?

Thanks in advance !![/quote]

I've never been to Curacao but we spent a week in Aruba. What do you want to do? They have a lot of shopping downtown if that's your thing. While we were there, we rented a Jeep and drove around the island doing our own tour. It's really easy to get around and too small to get lost. You need something like a Jeep if you want to go to the natural pool. It's really cool! They also have good snorkeling and beautiful beaches. It just depends on what you want to do.

[golfadj]

We got to Curacao late in Feb and only had about 2 hours of dayight so we just walked downtown across the floating bridge.

Based on that would do our own thing again there.

Aruba thought a tour was very helpful and next time would go to other side of island to a beach.

[hattack]

What ship and which week are you cruising?

[hattack]

Sorry, did not read your tag line..

[Ykgorbie]

I looked closer at our itinerary and we are at Curacao from 2-11pm and at Aruba from 8am to 4pm. We like beaches and snorkeling so it's looking like it'll be better to do that in Aruba. SO, can we just take a taxi to a beach in Aruba on our own? Safe?

[kcwingwalker]

[quote name='Ykgorbie']I looked closer at our itinerary and we are at Curacao from 2-11pm and at Aruba from 8am to 4pm. We like beaches and snorkeling so it's looking like it'll be better to do that in Aruba. SO, can we just take a taxi to a beach in Aruba on our own? Safe?[/quote]

Aruba is very safe and the people helpful and friendly. Have not been to Curacao, but have heard that it is not as safe as Aruba.........maybe or maybe not I'm not sure.

Aruba has a good bus system for tourists and will take you to the beach for a reasonable price.

[LBumb]

both stops are awesome

[2 cruzen]

[quote name='Ykgorbie']I looked closer at our itinerary and we are at Curacao from 2-11pm and at Aruba from 8am to 4pm. We like beaches and snorkeling so it's looking like it'll be better to do that in Aruba. SO, can we just take a taxi to a beach in Aruba on our own? Safe?[/QUOTE]

Ditch the taxi and jump on the bus for about $1.50 pp. The bus stop is across the street after you walk through security. Very safe, easy, and CHEAP. There are many nice beaches....we did an excursion on the Black Pearl so took the bus to their location. Afterwards, we walked back to a bus stop and returned to the ship...it was later as our ship was there until 10:00 but we went back around 8:00. We were in a group.

[lucy2mb]

We were on the Breeze this past year and went to both ports on our Southern Caribbean cruise. We just walked around downtown in Curacao. I had done a lot of research before we went and had read that it was less than $3.00 to take the bus to a good beach for snorkeling in Aruba. I can't remember the name of the beach right now but I am sure you can find it on cruise critic. I read that the bus came by every hour to pick up people to take back to the port. We found an open air jeep outside the port area and the man said he would take us there for $5.00 p/p. It was a nice ride over and he told us a lot about the area. We went by a lot of very nice hotels on the way to the beach. The snorkeling according to my family was pretty good. There were a few small boats in the area-probably people who booked excursions through the ship. The jeep driver told us the local bus would come every 15 minutes to pick up people. Well, that was wrong. It was actually an hour wait just like I had read online. When we got on the bus at the bus stop, the driver said it was free and if we wanted to pay him something, we could. We paid him $3.00 p/p. He was a very nice driver. If you want me to, I can find out what beach we went to. Before the Breeze could leave the port, we had to wait about 30 minutes because of a few people coming back late. I figure they were told every 15 minutes the bus would come by and they had to wait for the bus for an hour. We only shopped in Curacao because we wanted to eat dinner at 6:00 on the ship. Some of our group went back out shopping a little after dinner. Hope this helps!

[hancogran]

As others have mentioned, taking the bus in Aruba to Palm Beach or Eagle Beach is a cheap and easy excursion. I believe it's the #10 bus that goes to Eagle Beach first, then on to Palm Beach passing all the big hotels on the way. We always get off by the Holiday Inn and spend a good few hours on the beautiful beach. Have a great time ! :) We love Aruba.