Curacao cruise port
Willemstad is a Dutch town built in the tropics and painted every colour there is, and the whole of it is a World Heritage site. The harbour runs through the middle of it: Punda on one side, Otrobanda on the other, and a pontoon bridge between them that floats and swings open for ships.
Worth knowing. The story about the paint is that a governor in 1817 blamed his headaches on the glare off whitewash and ordered the town coloured instead. He is also said to have owned a share in the paint company.
What to do in Curacao for free
It is about fifteen minutes on foot from the megapier into Punda, and the pontoon bridge on the way is the thing itself: it floats, and it swings open with people standing on it. A free ferry crosses while it is open, so that costs you a few minutes rather than the morning. Handelskade is the row of painted houses along the water that every photograph of this island is of. The floating market is a handful of Venezuelan boats selling fruit off the quay, and there are fewer of them than there used to be.
What costs money
The ship's own excursions usually cost more than booking the same trip yourself. Two things come with the price. The ship waits for its own excursions and does not wait for you. And if the port is missed, P&O refunds its own without you asking. A trip you booked yourself is a claim on your travel insurance, so check what your policy covers. The ship sells its own trips to all of these, and the desk is open on board if you would rather do it that way.
The Hato caves. Limestone caves north of town with pools, bats and drawings the Arawak left on the walls. It is a guided walk inside, and the steps up to the mouth are the hard part.
A beach on the west coast. Curacao keeps its sand in small bays under cliffs, half an hour or more west of Willemstad, so this is a taxi or a hire car. Cas Abao and Grote Knip are the two names you will hear.
Which ship calls at Curacao, and when
Every call here between 15 August and 28 November 2026, with the hours ashore P&O published. These times are a guide, not a promise: the captain gives the real ones the day before.
| Ship | Sails | Day | Ashore |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arvia | 17 December 2027, 14 nights | Day 13 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 18 December 2027, 14 nights | Day 12 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 20 December 2027, 14 nights | Day 10 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 25 December 2027, 14 nights | Day 5 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 28 January 2028, 14 nights | Day 13 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 29 January 2028, 14 nights | Day 12 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 31 January 2028, 14 nights | Day 10 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 5 February 2028, 14 nights | Day 5 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
How long you get ashore in Curacao
The published times give you about 11 hours alongside, depending on the sailing. Take off the time it takes a few thousand people to get off, and the time you need to be back on board before the ship leaves, and that is your day. P&O give the real hours the day before, and the all-aboard time is earlier than the departure time.
The other stops on these cruises
Every one of these is on at least one of the sailings that calls at Curacao.
- AntiguaNelson's Dockyard at English Harbour is a working Georgian naval yard that never fell down: Horatio Nelson was based here from 1784, hated it, and called it a vile hole.
- BasseterreSt Kitts was England's first colony in the Caribbean, in 1624, and the French took the other end of the island the same decade.
- BridgetownEnglish from 1627 and never changed hands, which is why the island kept its parliament, its cricket and its place names.
- CastriesBritain and France exchanged this island fourteen times, which is why the towns are French and the law is English.
- DominicaThe Nature Island, and the mountains are the reason: rainforest over most of it, and Morne Trois Pitons inland, a World Heritage site with the second largest hot lake in the world steaming in the middle of it.
- St MaartenThe island has been split between the Dutch and the French since the Treaty of Concordia in 1648, which makes it the smallest piece of land in the world shared by two nations, and there is no border to speak of.
- TortolaRoad Town has been the seat of these islands since the British took them from the Dutch in 1672.
Money and language in Curacao
Caribbean guilder (XCG), the same currency as St Maarten. US dollars are taken everywhere and plenty of prices are shown in them. Onboard is always charged in sterling, so this only matters ashore.
Dutch is official, Papiamentu is what the island actually speaks, and English is understood everywhere a ship calls.
| English | Papiamentu | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| Hello | Bon dia | bon DEE-ah |
| Goodbye | Ayo | ah-YOH |
| How much? | Kuantu ta kosta? | KWAN-too tah KOS-tah |
| Thank you | Danki | DAHN-kee |
| Please | Por fabor | por fa-BOR |
Free, and it works with no internet. Give it the dates you sail and it works out your own stops and saves the street map for each one. It shows you round the ship too.
All the ports written up so far, the things to do before you sail, or the ship pages for Iona and Arvia.