Curacao Ferry?

[swimsimcoe]

I have a very nice picture of the Curacao waterfront and it shows a small ferry type boat. Returning to this beautiful port and wondering if anyone knows where this boat goes and any othe details.May be something we would like to do.

Thanks for any input.

[CruiseBoy48]

When we docked in Curacao, there is a walkway that goes from one side of the port to the other.When ships come in or leave, the whole walkway moves open. When this happens there are 2 small ferries to help people continue to cross untill the walkway moves back. When we were there, we saw ferries arrive from Venezuela, but I do not think they take passengers. You will enjoy that lovely city.:)

[cruz chic]

This is a very nice port. Whenever I have been there I've had to take that ferry. There hasn't been any other access.

[Copper10-8]

That bridge is the Koningin (Queen) Emma floating/pontoon bridge named after the current Dutch Queen's great-grandmother. It connects the Otrabanda district with the Punda (the side where the colorful Dutch-style houses are on) district. When it opens for ship traffic, the whole thing moves sideways and you can stand on it when it does this.

The two little passenger ferries you are asking about run a regular, free shuttle service between the two districts. A third way to get from one side to the other by car is by traversing the much larger Queen Wilhelmina (The current Queen's grandmother) bridge.

Last time we we there, we crossed the Queen Emma bridge going to Punda and took one of the ferries to return to Otrabanda just to experience it

 

 

 

 

[cf_chuck]

I have a very nice picture of the Curacao waterfront and it shows a small ferry type boat. Returning to this beautiful port and wondering if anyone knows where this boat goes and any othe details.May be something we would like to do.

Thanks for any input.

 

My guess is what Copper said. Be aware that there are 2 places that cruise ships dock, one "in town" and the other at the edge of Otrabanda. Being at the "in town" dock is more interesting, but the walk from the other dock isn't that far.

[Love the beach]

Copper 10-8-- Thanks for the beautiful pictures!! I love Curacao-- having visited once in Jan. 2000-- don't remember seeing the ferries then, but I might have overlooked them. Can't wait to visit again-- in Jan.09!

[Copper10-8]

Chuck is correct! Willemstad has had two separate cruise ship docks since 1999 when the new mega-cruise terminal, located at the Otrobanda seaside, west of the St. Anna bay harbor entrance (#12 on the map), was built. This facility consists of a T-shaped jetty that can accommodate large cruise ships over 70.000 GRT. It can handle one mega-cruise ship at a time and has a covered pax terminal plus bus and taxi stops.

As you can see on the pic of the ferry with Celebrity Summit in the background, cruise ships can still berth at West Wharf I ( (#6 on the map) and West Wharf II (#5 on the map) almost underneath the large Queen Wilhelmina bridge

[ontdi]

Copper-----your pictures are perfect! How did you manage the lack of pedestrians? I just love Curacao & the floating bridge is such a great way to cross from Punda to Otrabanda. The second time I was in Curacao,(a few years ago) the Queen Emma floating pontoon bridge was out for renovations. Disappointing. All is back in order now as can be see from the pictures. Also for anyone wondering about location of piers, either will really work for your day in port. Enjoy, as I will do again in Jan/09.

[Krazy Kruizers]

For the last 3 or 4 years that we have been at Curacao on several different HAL ships we have been at the International pier -- in the heat this can be very hot walk to the bridge for those that have any kind of problems.

 

We had a situation one time when the bridge was being repaired and everyone had to use the ferries -- which made for an even futher walk for many.

 

When people found this out -- they went as far as Rif Fort and returned to the ship.

[swimsimcoe]

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE INFO.i REALLY APPRECIATE IT.

[sail7seas]

Enjoy Curacao. It is high up on our list of favorite Caribbean ports.