Disney Cruise: Cheers To Curaçao (And Pirates)

Out last port day was in Curaçao. There were parts of Curaçao I loved and parts I was less than thrilled with.

I loved getting to see more flamingos in the wild. This was an unexpected treat.

Our taxi driver, whom I loved getting to speak a little bit of Dutch with, promised us that Kokomo beach was amazing. Honestly, I was mostly excited to visit it because of the song. After the beautiful beach we were at in Aruba though, this one was very disappointing.

The bottom was very rocky so it hurt to walk on (Dave stubbed his toes twice on the rocks), there wasn't any sand to play in, and what little sand there was was covered in beach chairs. Which you couldn't use unless you paid to rent them. Also, the water got quite deep quite quickly, so the kids couldn't even swim in it very well. It was a very sad beach experience and we were glad we didn't stay there for very long.

We got back on the ship for lunch and Sam headed to Edge. Dave and I wanted to head back into the town, and we wanted to drop Rachel off at club for the afternoon. However, Rachel desperately wanted her hair braided so we said she could come with us as long as she was okay to walk all over town after her hair got braided with no complaining. Dave and I were skeptical that she could do this but she promised she would be happy.

I loved the colourful houses of Willemstad. It felt like being in The Netherlands but in tropical heat. It was so weird but awesome too!

We found someone to braid Rachel's hair and she was in heaven! You can probably tell from her smile :)

Then we walked across the historic pontoon bridge. It was built in 1888 and has been renovated a few times since then. It connects the two sides of Willemstad with each other and swings open to allow large ships to leave the harbour. It is a pedestrian bridge only.

 

I couldn't leave Curaçao without having a drink with Blue Curaçao -- the famous liqueur. I was happy that the drink of the day was only $5. It was delicious.

Well I was enjoying my drink by the water, we got to see the pontoon bridge swing open to allow a large ship to pass through.

This little ferry boat runs people back and forth across the water when the bridge is open. Sometimes the bridge remains open for up to an hour.

Yes, that is the bridge moving back into position. I was fascinated by this process.

After we got to see the bridge open and close we walked around Willemstad for a bit.

Rachel loved checking out the huge wooden shoe and I loved shopping in the Delft store. This was where I bought my mug for this trip :)

Yes, it's another picture of Rachel with the ship :) She was so well behaved this whole afternoon and never complained. Dave and I really enjoyed this one-on-one time with her.

The night we left Curaçao was pirate night. We dressed up and I sent Rachel to my mom and dad's stateroom so Oma could give Rachel a piratical makeup look. When I saw how awesome Rachel's was, I asked my mom to do mine. (Yep, I wore makeup which NEVER happens.)

Then my dad got in on the act, remembering how he loved to paint our faces for Hallowe'en costumes. He made me a skull and crossbones and Sam got a scar, a sword dripping blood, and an anchor. It was so fun!

Then the kids and I went up on deck to watch our ship leave Curaçao. Farewell beautiful island!

Rachel wanted to see what would happen if she visited Bibbid-Bobbidi-Boutique. You can sort of see the "mermaid snot" (glitter gel) on her cheek.

Our family of fierce pirates.

I was disappointed that the sunset was always during our dining time so this night I snuck away from dinner for a bit to capture these shots. It was totally worth it.

I don't know what was going on here but clearly the kids were having fun with Opa!

I had heard this might happen on your cruise if you were lucky and we were so happy it did. Our stateroom host put character sheets on the kids' beds about halfway through our cruise. Rachel was thrilled with her Moana sheets and Sam got the Avengers.

That night was the Pirate Deck Party! It was crazy and so much fun!!! You can see Rachel partying with her cruise BFF on the bottom left of the picture on the right.

And the fireworks off the side of the ship were amazing!!! This really is such a fun, magical night.

The fireworks ended about 10:30 and then we hit one of the restaurants for the pirate buffet. The kids and Dave had tacos and crepes and I just had crepes. I so wish I had a picture of us eating amazing crepes at 11:00 at night. Insanity I tell you!!! But when you're a pirate on a Disney Cruise, anything can happen :)

*You can read about our last day here.