In port until 10...how to plan our day?

[purplephenom]

We will be visiting Curacao next February, and our port hours are 1:30-10 pm (approximately, might be off by a half hour).

 

I sort of want to do some sort of excursion, the person I'm traveling with wants to skip an excursion and wander around the city on our own.  He normally likes excursions- he just doesn't want to miss out on shopping/exploring if everything is closed after an excursion.

 

Are we better off skipping the excursion to explore/shop?  With this option, we could do a night time tour excursion or something.

 

Or if we did an excursion during the day (the ones we are looking at go until about 5:30 or 6:00 pm), would there be enough for us to explore/shop after?

 

By shopping, we're not talking about anything expensive- just little touristy things. We've been to Curacao before and really enjoyed walking around the downtown area..but last time our port hours were different and we could do that after an excursion.  

 

Can someone help us settle this debate..otherwise it will go on for a full year😉 

[cruiseequalsfun]

We are in Curacao 8am - 8pm.  We will get off the ship (hopefully by 8:30!) and walk around the downtown / shop on our own for 3-3.5 hours, then find a place to have a quick bite of lunch 12-1.  We then have a private excursion from 1-5 that will take us to Shete Boka Park, swimming with turtles at Playa Piskado, see the flamingos, view point at Santa Martha.  This way we get the best of both!  See the downtown on our own and see some of the key sights. 

 

Check what time the sunsets even if you are there until 10pm!  You won't see anything good in the dark!

 

Also I imagine some of the shops will close at 5pm but that is just a guess on my part.

[cruiseequalsfun]

Sorry, I just realized that you don't get to port until after lunch time!!  That changes things for you dramatically!!  Sorry, my advice doesn't help you too much then!

 

Maybe see the downtown on your own (taking your swim stuff with you) and then when you are done take a taxi to a beach to swim or snorkel (before it gets dark) - again though, check the sunset time.

[purplephenom]

On 3/9/2019 at 10:51 AM, cruiseequalsfun said:

We are in Curacao 8am - 8pm.  We will get off the ship (hopefully by 8:30!) and walk around the downtown / shop on our own for 3-3.5 hours, then find a place to have a quick bite of lunch 12-1.  We then have a private excursion from 1-5 that will take us to Shete Boka Park, swimming with turtles at Playa Piskado, see the flamingos, view point at Santa Martha.  This way we get the best of both!  See the downtown on our own and see some of the key sights. 

 

Check what time the sunsets even if you are there until 10pm!  You won't see anything good in the dark!

 

Also I imagine some of the shops will close at 5pm but that is just a guess on my part.

 

 

Hmm..i like this idea.  we get in later than you do, but I'd be up for a quick hour or 2 walking around/shopping, go to the beach for awhile, go back to the ship to change and then go take some pretty pictures at night. I want to find the Curacao sign, and it looks nice at night- and of course the bridge.  We get in late, but one way or another, I want to make the most of our port time, since this is my favorite port. 

[bup1224]

On 3/11/2019 at 11:43 AM, purplephenom said:

 

 

Hmm..i like this idea.  we get in later than you do, but I'd be up for a quick hour or 2 walking around/shopping, go to the beach for awhile, go back to the ship to change and then go take some pretty pictures at night. I want to find the Curacao sign, and it looks nice at night- and of course the bridge.  We get in late, but one way or another, I want to make the most of our port time, since this is my favorite port. 

Most shops in Punda close at 6 pm, unless you are here on a Thursday, when some stay open until 8 pm or 9 pm.

 

[purplephenom]

46 minutes ago, bup1224 said:

Most shops in Punda close at 6 pm, unless you are here on a Thursday, when some stay open until 8 pm or 9 pm.

 

 

thanks.  We will be there on a Wednesday- I see right now Curacao is the same time as here in Maryland, but in February, Curacao is an hour ahead, is that right? 

[bup1224]

4 minutes ago, purplephenom said:

 

thanks.  We will be there on a Wednesday- I see right now Curacao is the same time as here in Maryland, but in February, Curacao is an hour ahead, is that right? 

Yes we will be 1 hour ahead of EST.  Sunset time in February is between 5:30 pm- 5:45 pm or so.

 

[purplephenom]

37 minutes ago, bup1224 said:

Yes we will be 1 hour ahead of EST.  Sunset time in February is between 5:30 pm- 5:45 pm or so.

 

 

Thanks.  In that case, I think walking around and taking some pictures of the bridge at sunset seems like a good idea.  Since I posted this, i'm now leaning towards Carnival's nightime cocktail tour excursion.  I'm hoping that goes by some good spots to take pictures, but it looks like a new excursion and there are very few reviews.