ABC & Labadee? Easy as 123 & 4!

[Fishbone]

This post is specifically for anyone traveling to the ABC islands & Labadee with kids, or at least a very energetic 7 year old boy who keeps going & going & going!

 

I had a difficult time finding the specific island information I needed for our just completed 9 night Southern Caribbean cruise aboard Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas, so I thought I’d share my experience with others.

 

We’re a party of 3, plus Oma!

 

Here’s the Curacao portion (the other portions can be found under their respective ports of call):

 

CURAÇAO

In Curaçao, we walked into town, across the Queen Emma Bridge to the public bus stop. It took us about 15 minutes to get there, but we stopped & took lots of pictures along the way. Curaçao was beautifully decorated for the holidays & there were lots of fantastic picture opportunities (including a cow bench, a wooden clog, a wooden sleigh, Christmas trees, snowmen, etc).

 

The bus stop was not hidden, but I left my instructions to get there on the ship & thus we walked about a block too far & had to ask for directions once. Ok maybe twice or even three times, but we got there quickly enough.

 

Once at the bus stop, we asked the attendant at the window if we needed to buy tickets or pay on the bus. She told us to pay on the bus & asked where we were going. I told her we were headed to Mambo Beach & she pointed me to a white van that was just about to leave. The driver waved us onto the bus & we paid him $2 per person (US $). The public bus looked like a random white oversized unmarked passenger van.

 

Less than 10 minutes later we were dropped off at Mambo Beach. We walked down the stairs to the beach & walked to the section filled with hot pink chairs. I picked that section specifically because I had noticed a small playset on the beach via Google Maps, which we never ended up using, but it would have come in handy, if necessary.

 

I approached a beach attendant & asked for the cost of the chairs, which were $3.50 per person (US $).

 

We picked out 3 chairs under a very large rectangular palapa (umbrellas made with palm fronds). The palapas are free & the shade is plentiful - so much so that we ended up moving to a more sunny spot later in the day.

 

Shortly thereafter another beach attendant came & collected the Mambo Beach access fee, which was also $3.50 per person (US$).

 

We spent the rest of the day building sandcastles, swimming & snorkeling (which was very good). The water was much colder than two days prior in Labadee, Haiti, & in the morning it was also very windy. Fortunately, Mambo Beach has a man-made break off the shore which enabled us to swim & snorkel without issue. Before the cruise, I worried about going to Mambo Beach because of the break (will it ruin the view, etc), but it served us well - both protecting us from the large swells & providing us with good snorkeling.

 

Mambo Beach has free bathrooms & lots of food & drink establishments. We bought subs from Subway which we ate on the beach. Oma bought a beer at the Aloha Beach Bar & we were able to use their WiFi to send a message or two to Opa to check on him & our dogs. It was slow, but it worked.

 

We watched the sun set from the beach & then headed back to the ship. We went up the stairs & walked back to the area where we were let out. Many taxi drivers tried to get us to go back with them, but we insisted on taking the bus.

 

Shortly thereafter, a taxi driver told us he’d take us back for $2 per person too, so we jumped in. He dropped us off at the bus stop. We walked back in the dark (15 minutes), but felt completely safe as there were many people walking about. We stopped along the way to take more pictures as everything was lit up for the holidays, including the Queen Emma Bridge. When we got to the bridge, it was swung open, so we waited a few minutes until it closed & we could cross. We made it back to the ship with maybe thirty minutes to spare.

 

If we had to do it all over again, we’d head back to the ship slightly earlier (but then we’d have missed the sunset). Also, I had planned on getting poffertjes at Lekker & Zo, but we were all so full after eating the subs that we didn’t bother. Now I wish we’d have eaten the little Dutch pancakes instead of the subs! Next time!

 

Also, just a side note, although Google maps shows an aqua park at Mambo Beach, it’s not currently there.

 

Overall, we though Curaçao was fantastic & look forward to visiting again!

 

 

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[ronpes]

Thank you very much for taking the time and trouble to post this detailed account of your trip.

It is good to know as we plan on things to do for our visit in January.

[Cruzinbabe06]

Thank you for taking the time to post your review:)