The last port of call on our Odyssey of the Seas cruise takes us to Curacao.
Since the distance between our previous stop of Aruba and Curacao is quite short, the ship docked around 8am and we had a full day to enjoy the island.
We had no plans for the day other than not going to another beach. After three beach days in a row, the family wanted something different. With that in mind, we decided to just wing it and see what happens.
Breakfast was in Cafe @ Two70 for how quick we can get in and out for time onshore.
Odyssey of the Seas docked a reasonable distance from downtown, with an easy walk from ship to shops.
The day started out cloudy and quite humid. As the day went on, we had an occasional light rain shower, but the clouds eventually cleared. The humidity, however, did not go away.
Before you can get to the real part of downtown, you have to go over a pontoon bridge. This bridge will sometimes move to make way for boat traffic, which is a neat sight to see.
Once downtown, we started meandering to look for souvenirs and anything else interesting. We had no agenda, just see where the streets would take us until the kids complained too much.
We ran across Mikve Israel-Emanuel Synagogue , which is the oldest surviving synagogue in the Americas.
We had visited it a few years ago as part of a Royal Caribbean shore excursion, but the kids are older, so we decided to poke our heads in again.
At first, I just wanted to give the synagogue a couple of dollars to see the inside of the temple and take another glimpse.
The first synagogue building was purchased in 1674, and the current building dates from 1730.
Something else unique about this building are the sand-covered floors.
There's also a small museum that tells the story of Jewish community in Curacaco, dating back to the late 15th century.
We continued our walk around town and get to the main square, where the kids took an ice cream break.
We did some more shopping before stopping for lunch at a restaurant along the water.
The food was nothing special, but the views of the water were nice.
At this point, the humidity was a bit too much, so we decided to head back to the ship.
We rested up for the evening, as it was Thanksgiving.
The ship didn't do a ton for Thanksgiving, but it covered the basics. There is a special menu in the main dining room and a few Thanksgiving activities in the Cruise Compass.
Prior to dinner, we took the kids to get a drink from the Bionic Bar.
They loved watching the robots make the drinks. I find the drinks too sweet for my taste, but they loved it.
Next was dinner in the main dining room. We were on My Time Dining because when you book the Unlimited Dining Package, you automatically get moved to My Time to free up a table in traditional dining.
The earliest time you can book is 6:45, but we wanted to dine with our friends in the first seating of dinner at 5:30.
We got downstairs at 5:30 and asked and they said to come back at 6 once they knew who the no-shows were. Sure enough, we were seated at a table right next to them at 6pm.
It's hard not to appreciate the beauty of the main dining room on Odyssey of the Seas because it's a different look than dining rooms across the fleet.
There's the normal main dining room menu, along with a special Thanksgiving menu.
I had to get turkey, along with the butternut squash soup. My wife opted for the honey baked ham.
After dinner, we went to the Schooner Bar for "Name That Tune: Thanksgiving songs". If you're like me, you can't think of any inherently Thanksgiving songs.
Sure enough, the idea was song titles that could double as Thanksgiving references, as opposed to songs synonymous with the holiday.
We weren't sure where to go next, so we headed up to Playmakers to watch the evening NFL football game between the Patriots and Vikings.
We didn't intend to stay for the whole game, but had a good time so did so anyway.
I rounded out my evening with some time in the casino before heading to bed.
Tomorrow is a sea day.
