We pre-booked with Irie Tours for their “East” side tour. Approx 4 hour tour, that took us to the Curacao Liquor distillery (got to see how the Original ‘Blue Curacao’ is made and taste the different flavors for free), then drove through the Spanish water area, followed by a couple hours at Mambo Beach, before them taking us back to the ship. Not bad at all for only $25/person. Since we were there from 1-10pm and still had plenty of time (after our excursion), we decided to drop our port gear (backpack/stuff) in our cabin, had a quick bite to eat, then headed back out, walking from the ship to the famous floating bridge, known as the Queen Emma Pontoon Bridge (in Willemstad). Even though it got dark, never felt unsafe for one minute there. Such a beautiful place, especially seeing different colorful houses on the Curacao Waterfront, and also seeing the ship all light up at night.

Fun fact on the colorful homes on Curacao Waterfront: It is said that a former governor of the island who suffered from severe headaches, believing his malady was aggravated by the sun’s brilliant reflections off the white buildings, mandated that building exteriors be painted any color but white. Despite later discovery that the governor was a shareholder in the island’s only paint store, the tradition of painting in vivid colors has endured, making Willemstad’s Dutch and Spanish colonial style architecture one of the most stunning sights in the Caribbean, and in 1997 Willemstad’s historic inner city and harbor was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status.