It is time to begin the "ABC" part of our itinerary with a visit to Curacao.
Being New Years Day, you might imagine it was a little slow going that morning. We had no excursion booked, so we all slept in and did not get off the ship until almost noon time.
The plan for the day was to walk downtown and shop/eat, then go to a beach later in the day.
The walk is fairly short from where the ships dock, with the highlight being walking across the pontoon bridge.
It was a hot day, but luckily there was a nice breeze that kept it comfortable.
With it being New Years Day, it was a government holiday and that meant many more stores were closed than I thought would be considering there were a few cruise ships in town.
We ate lunch at an outdoor cafe that was right on the river, simple called Dock.
It was light fare, and featured some Dutch specialties, including a Gouda sandwich.
We did a bit more shopping after lunch, and then went to Mambo Beach for the afternoon.
Mambo Beach is a short taxi ride away (five minutes or so), and it features a lot of restaurants and bars. It reminded me of an entertainment district back home, but with a large beach scene.
The plan was to enjoy some time at the beach, with a view of the sunset at the end of the day. Unfortunately, everyone else seemed to have the same plan, because the beach was quite crowded and never got uncrowded.
We took in the beginning of the sunset, and then decided to head back to the ship. Freedom of the Seas was docked today until 8pm, so it was nice having more of an evening to enjoy.
Back onboard the ship, the kids were tired and we fed them in the Windjammer and put them to bed a little earlier than usual.
I rounded out my day catching up with friends in the Pub.
Tomorrow, we will be in Aruba.
Stray Observations
The ship formerly known as Monarch of the Seas was in port with us today.
