Ships docked during Punda Vibes in Curacao

[dacf]

Hi

We are hoping to do the ABC Dutch Islands.   I'm having a hard time finding a cruise that is docked late in Curacao on Thursday evenings.   It seems like Carnival, RCCL and NCL dock late in Aruba and Bonaire but not Curacao.   I don't know why they stay late in Bonaire - not sure what to do late in Bonaire.  Does anyone know of any ships that are docked late on any Thursdays in Curacao?  Thanks for any help you can offer 🙂  We were hoping to go either April or May 2024, but we're also flexible too.

[njhorseman]

16 minutes ago, dacf said:

Hi

We are hoping to do the ABC Dutch Islands.   I'm having a hard time finding a cruise that is docked late in Curacao on Thursday evenings.   It seems like Carnival, RCCL and NCL dock late in Aruba and Bonaire but not Curacao.   I don't know why they stay late in Bonaire - not sure what to do late in Bonaire.  Does anyone know of any ships that are docked late on any Thursdays in Curacao?  Thanks for any help you can offer 🙂  We were hoping to go either April or May 2024, but we're also flexible too.

Go to cruisetimetables.com . Click on the "Cruises To" tab, then click on the listing for Willemstad Curacao. Click on the itinerary listings for April 2024 and May 2024 and determine which cruises ships are in port on the dates you're interested in. The port arrival and departure times will be listed.

 

Please note that this website just takes its information from published cruise line itineraries, and while usually fairly accurate cruise lines can change what dates and times they are in port at will.  There's no guarantee that a port call in Curacao appearing to meet your expectations today might not have its port call date and times in Curacao changed by the time you actually cruise, even at the last minute.

[rodndonna]

29 minutes ago, dacf said:

Hi

We are hoping to do the ABC Dutch Islands.   I'm having a hard time finding a cruise that is docked late in Curacao on Thursday evenings.   It seems like Carnival, RCCL and NCL dock late in Aruba and Bonaire but not Curacao.   I don't know why they stay late in Bonaire - not sure what to do late in Bonaire.  Does anyone know of any ships that are docked late on any Thursdays in Curacao?  Thanks for any help you can offer 🙂  We were hoping to go either April or May 2024, but we're also flexible too.

 

Not sure the Canadian Cruisers is the best place to look (maybe the Caribbean ports forum?) but you can search through the timetables for April and May 2024..

 

https://www.cruisetimetables.com/willemstad-curacao-cruise-ship-schedule.html

 

 

[dacf]

Yes, that's true.  I remember once we had a cruise with one of our ports going to Grand Turk but because of a virus circulating the island, they decided to miss that port.  I'll take a look, thanks a lot for your help 🙂

[dacf]

Thank you:)

 

[Fouremco]

You might want to check the listing provided by the Curaçao Port Authority: https://hms.curports.com/webx/dashb.ashx?db=curps.public&MENU_ID=WEBX-TB-PUBLIC-CRUISE

 

While it only provides a 3-month window, making it too early to check for April or May of next year, you'll get a pretty good idea of which cruise lines regularly stay late, then check them for April and May.

 

As many of the ships that visit Curaçao during the winter move to Europe or elsewhere in the Spring, you might be very limited if you stick with April and May. As an example, Celebrity has no ships staying beyond 8:00PM for those months, but does in February and March. They even have overnight stays in Curaçao, giving you ample time to discover Willemstad and the rest of the island.

 

But... You may have to dig deep to find a cruise that not only stays late, but also does so on a Thursday night.

 

We've visited Curaçao many times, and will be returning on an RCI cruise in January. We've stayed late, but never on a Thursday, so we've never experienced the Punda Vibes, but there is so much to see and do that I wouldn't expend a whole lot of energy trying to find the perfect cruise itinerary. 

 

As for late nights in Bonaire, they stay late if they are going on to Curaçao the following day, a short, leisurely sailing. But if Bonaire is the last of the ABC's on the itinerary, they'll sail in the late afternoon.

[Host Kat]

8 hours ago, dacf said:

Hi

We are hoping to do the ABC Dutch Islands.   I'm having a hard time finding a cruise that is docked late in Curacao on Thursday evenings.   It seems like Carnival, RCCL and NCL dock late in Aruba and Bonaire but not Curacao.   I don't know why they stay late in Bonaire - not sure what to do late in Bonaire.  Does anyone know of any ships that are docked late on any Thursdays in Curacao?  Thanks for any help you can offer 🙂  We were hoping to go either April or May 2024, but we're also flexible too.

 

Hello @dacf

 

Your new topic/thread has been moved to the correct forum.

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat

[dacf]

19 hours ago, Fouremco said:

You might want to check the listing provided by the Curaçao Port Authority: https://hms.curports.com/webx/dashb.ashx?db=curps.public&MENU_ID=WEBX-TB-PUBLIC-CRUISE

 

While it only provides a 3-month window, making it too early to check for April or May of next year, you'll get a pretty good idea of which cruise lines regularly stay late, then check them for April and May.

 

As many of the ships that visit Curaçao during the winter move to Europe or elsewhere in the Spring, you might be very limited if you stick with April and May. As an example, Celebrity has no ships staying beyond 8:00PM for those months, but does in February and March. They even have overnight stays in Curaçao, giving you ample time to discover Willemstad and the rest of the island.

 

But... You may have to dig deep to find a cruise that not only stays late, but also does so on a Thursday night.

 

We've visited Curaçao many times, and will be returning on an RCI cruise in January. We've stayed late, but never on a Thursday, so we've never experienced the Punda Vibes, but there is so much to see and do that I wouldn't expend a whole lot of energy trying to find the perfect cruise itinerary. 

 

As for late nights in Bonaire, they stay late if they are going on to Curaçao the following day, a short, leisurely sailing. But if Bonaire is the last of the ABC's on the itinerary, they'll sail in the late afternoon.

Thank you for your post.   I'll check out the link you sent me.   It's nice to know that there are other things to keep us busy in the evening and I would still like to see the bridge and Curacao lit up at night.   Someone said "it's a magical time". 

 

Maybe we can look at March.   We hope that will work with our work schedule here at home.

 

I'm already aware that the first two ports of the ABC islands generally stay late and the third stop leaves earlier so they can get back to the US.  But what I don't understand (and maybe you or someone else can shed some light on this topic), is why they choose to stay late in Bonaire and not Curacao?   All they have to do is reverse the itinerary, instead of Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao - their stops can be Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire - with late stays in Aruba and Curacao.     I would think that A & C would have more to offer than B would in the evenings.  Wouldn't that make more sense?

[Fouremco]

18 minutes ago, dacf said:

 All they have to do is reverse the itinerary, instead of Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao - their stops can be Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire - with late stays in Aruba and Curacao. 

There are multiple factors involved in determining the ports to be visited and the order in which they are visited. For example, while Aruba and Curaçao can accommodate multiple cruise ships on a given day, Bonaire has a single berth, so the itinerary has to take into consideration port availability. As the ABC's are a popular destination, multiple cruise lines will be vying for spots, so it's not always possible to visit in your preferred order.

 

Another factor is the itinerary prior to reaching the ABC's. For example, a cruise that works its way down the eastern Caribbean before swinging west would reach Bonaire first. If it's available, it would make more sense to stop there for day 1, then move on to Curaçao and Aruba for the following days. It reduces operating hours for the ship with a resulting saving in fuel costs. Of course, if Bonaire isn't available, for day 1, then the ship might well have to juggle the order.

[dacf]

2 hours ago, Fouremco said:

There are multiple factors involved in determining the ports to be visited and the order in which they are visited. For example, while Aruba and Curaçao can accommodate multiple cruise ships on a given day, Bonaire has a single berth, so the itinerary has to take into consideration port availability. As the ABC's are a popular destination, multiple cruise lines will be vying for spots, so it's not always possible to visit in your preferred order.

 

Another factor is the itinerary prior to reaching the ABC's. For example, a cruise that works its way down the eastern Caribbean before swinging west would reach Bonaire first. If it's available, it would make more sense to stop there for day 1, then move on to Curaçao and Aruba for the following days. It reduces operating hours for the ship with a resulting saving in fuel costs. Of course, if Bonaire isn't available, for day 1, then the ship might well have to juggle the order.

Ahhh yes, ok that does make sense too.  Thanks for weighing in 🙂   If it doesn't work for our schedule, then it doesn't work, but I'll see if we can go in Feb. or March where we may have more options available.