Cruising During the Pandemic--Curacao

 

Bill and I had on previous visits to Curacao, taken some of the tours, so we decided to just do our own thing.  

If we would have been paying attention we would have realized that we didn't need to bring a mask.

This was suppose to be Tortola but due to changes in the Covid status the captain changed to Curacao instead.  I can't imagine all the logistics that had to be changed quickly.  One passenger complained about the change of plans and said they were changing ports because it was probably cheaper for them.  The captain during his announcements said that it costs the company an additional $200,000 in fuel to sail to Curacao but that he was happy to work for a company that allowed him to make changes.

There was a very nice walking tour which we enjoyed.  The wind was blowing in case you couldn't tell by my hair.

We walked around Rif Fort established in 1828, which I don't remember seeing on our previous visits. It's been changed to a shopping area.

Here's a view of the port from the our balcony.

On our previous visit to the island the ship had to go through a swinging bridge.  Our ship is docked at the pier before the bridge.

I made the photo larger so you can see that the Queen Emma Bridge was originally built in 1888.

We walked across the Queen Emma Bridge to the major part of town.  Willemstad is divided between the Punda and Otrobanda neighborhoods. The Dutch influence was scattered around.  You would go into one store and there would be a lot of Dutch things and another wouldn't have anything Dutch.

These love locks look better than the other ones we've seen in Europe where they were covering fences or bridge structures.  How nice they are in the shape of a heart.

As we were walking back across the Queen Emma Bridge I heard something ring but didn't pay any attention.  All of a sudden a guy came up and told us to hurry.  It seems the bridge started to open up.  It does not open in the air it swings out on one side.  As we got to the other end, the fellow put his hand out and told me to jump.  He then held out his hand to Bill.  It was amazing to watch the bridge in action but I would have preferred to have been completely off it.  

Willemstad is the capital of Curacao.  It was established in 1634.  The populations is around 150,000 people.  It's probably one of the prettier islands in the Caribbean.  The houses are painted bright colors and I love the architecture. 

It turned out to be another beautiful and relaxing day.  I think this is exactly what we wanted for our first trip since the pandemic.  

I neglected to mention that the corn hole was very popular on the ship.  One time they had a bunch of passengers line up and throw the corn pads (not sure that's what they are called) while the crew members were lined up against them.  It was a timed event and the passengers won.  I have to say Bill is pretty good at the game, even though he only plays a couple of times a year.  He beat me 21 zip!

Turtle Safely........