It was in Willemstad, which is in Curacao, which is close enough to the northern part of South America that you can see it from there.
There we experienced what it was like to be on a cruise ship that was leaving after dark. Among other things, this enabled us to have a late dinner on shore 20 minutes from the port, to walk the streets of Willemstad in the evening and to take that picture of the ship…you may have noticed we like taking pictures of ships, almost always in broad daylight.
The ship was the Carnival Freedom and we had to be on board by 10 p.m. for an eleven o’clock departure.
Frankly, we loved it…but it could have been better.
This is pertinent — okay, appropriate — today because Celebrity Cruises is going to do some serious experimenting with overnights in Caribbean ports. It will happen on 43 itineraries in 2016. The experiment will be in six places where, presumably, Celebrity has negotiated a good deal on port fees: Cartagena, St. Maarten, Barbados, Cozumel, Aruba and…yes, Curacao.
All six are places we’ve visited and would love to see after sunset but, so far, that’s only happened at Curacao.
Why would you want to be in a cruise port at night? Any number of reasons…experience local entertainment from music and dancing to theatrical performances…enjoy the port’s cuisine when it really is dinner time…even take in a sporting event. Think about the last day of your cruise from the Bahamas to Florida, for example: Would you rather be on a ship traveling slow enough it could be going in circles to kill time (and sometimes is) or on the streets of Freeport?
This philosophy has been common in Europe for a long time — the cost must be less — but it’s relatively new to the Caribbean. So while our late-night departure was good, overnights are better.
There’s no curfew.
In the news…
• Cozumel cruise visitors: 7 per cent increase in first four months of 2015
• Oceania Marina launches cruise season in Corner Brook, Newfoundland
• Sales today: Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Norwegian, Celebrity, Holland America
Today at portsandbows.com: Another view of Celebrity's port strategy
Norwegian Sky
3 nights
July 10, 2015
Miami (return): Nassau, Great Stirrup Cay
Inside: $299
Cost per day: $99
www.ncl.com