Day 9 - Curaçao
This morning, I happened to be on deck as Captain MacAry and his Bridge Crew guided Star Pride to our dock position in Willemstad, Curaçao.
Captain MacAry docks Star Pride in Wellemstad
By 10:30am, we were off the ship and walking toward town. We stopped at a local market where some vendors were selling souvenirs.
Local vendors selling souvenirs
We found a hand-painted Christmas ornament with "Curaçao" printed on it and the lady who painted them agreed to customize it by painting "2016" on it, a reminder of when we visited Curaçao. We then crossed the pontoon swing bridge than connects to Willemstad's city center.
Rickee in front of pontoon bridge
The Dutch heritage of the island is evident in the architecture of the buildings, designed to imitate the rooftops of Amsterdam.
Dutch architecture
After we cross the bridge, we are in the middle of the city, amidst numerous shops, restaurants, cafes and government buildings. We walked for several blocks, taking in as much of the local atmosphere as we could. It was very hot and humid here today, so we took a slow pace.
A shopping street in Willemstad
Even though the photo above does not reflect it, there is a large Holland America ship docked here today and some of the streets were crowded. You will find all of the typical Caribbean shopping places here, like Diamonds International, Carihola, DelSol, etc. But, there are a lot of local shops, too.
By noon, we started making our way back to Star Pride. Lunch in Veranda is served from 12:30 until 2:00pm, and we arrived back just after service began. We enjoyed another delicious lunch today including a wonderful Chicken Noodle Soup.
Delicious chicken noodle soup
After lunch, we headed back to our suite to begin packing (yuck). This is our last day aboard Star Pride and there is nothing more depressing than having to pack for a trip home. But, our room steward, Anto, has the luggage protectors on the bed in anticipation of our packing duties. I find Anto in the hallway and present him with a CruiseReport cap, which he dons as I take his photo.
Anto, our fantastic room steward
This evening, everyone was invited to the Lounge for a disembarkation talk. Gonzalo gave us all of the pertinent information after which Captain MacAry introduced many members of the staff. It was one last opportunity for the guests to show appreciation for the great service we have received over the past nine days.
Staff members receive a standing ovation
We decided to have one last meal at Amphora Restaurant. We got our favorite table for two (table 89) and Trishna was our waitress. Rickee had a duo of fresh fish (salmon and halibut) while I enjoyed the lamb chops. The meal was excellent, as all meals have been in Amphora.
The menu at Amphora restaurant
Tomorrow, we will disembark Star Pride in Aruba and transfer to the Renaissance Hotel for a one-night stay before flying home to DFW. It has been a wonderful nine days aboard Windstar Star Pride. Work now begins on our final, in-depth review, so watch CruiseReport.com for more coming soon.
