Tiff

My family and I had a fantastic time. We traveled with our fifteen year old, and her two best friends. We stayed at the Marriott, and I really don't have a bad thing to say. It was a lovely resort, very clean, very safe. We even got a room with an ocean view and didn't request one. I would be willing to answer any questions for anyone. Here are some highlights: snokeling off the resort was great, the girls went kayaking and had a great time. We went into Willemstad one morning to shop and that was nice. The girls got massages, and their hair braided, they enjoyed that immensely. Lots of relaxation, sun, the pool area is great, and right off the ocean which I found particularly wonderful because usually you have to choose between laying by the pool and laying on the beach, but we were able to have both the sound of the relaxing waves and the pool to dip in to cool off. The resort food was good. I would saying the poolside food was better than the average pool food. The on-site restaurant, Portofino, was delicious (Italian) food. Room service was good, especially their soups. They also have a delicatessen, "Voila", which had great sandwiches on bagettes or croissants, and excellent pizza. They also had hand dipped ice cream, and several other items to snack on.
Again, I would be happy to answer any specifics, all in all, we had a lovely time. Thanks again to all who responded to my earlier posts, thanks to you we had a terrific vacation. T.
And p.s. Anyone who saw my post about having 'notarized letters' giving permission to take the kids out of the country, we did need them. Thanks again.

rahmanbar

Since we're booked into the Curacao Marriott a couple of months from now I was glad to see that your opinions regarding this resort are consistent with the others I've come across online.

I've got to make plane reservations so I'm curious as to your experience in that regard.

Which airline? Connecting airport (if any)? Reentry/Customs/Security experinece etc. etc.

Lastly, what's your take on a car rental? Would it be better to pick one up at Hato (using it for the trip to and from the resort) or simply rent it and drop it off at at the Marriott (I know they've got a National desk there)?

Thanks again - I've read some of your other posts and it appears that your tastes/standards/conclusions are very like my wife's and mine.

PS - You mentioned a "comped" upgrade -I just qualified for their "Platinum" level and hope we luck out as well.

DOCK

Were there enough loungers at the pool and on the beach, or did you have to get up early to reserve one? Also any comments on the refinery as I believe there is one on the island. We are trying to decide between T&C, Curacao and Aruba for our Dec. island vacation so any info from someone who has just been is welcome.Thanks.

mnag

Dock: We stayed at the Curacao Marriot in oct of 2002. The resort is nice with lush grounds etc. There were definately enough loungers by the pool as well as on the beach. The sunsets were great also. The refinery is far from the resort and we never had a problem with smells etc. It is definately the best resort on the island. The island also had some very nice restaurants Fort Nassau and Fort Wahzzamied (sp??). That being said, we've visited other islands in the carribean like anguilla and bvi and curracao fell short compared to the both in terms of beaches (anguilla) and vistas (bvi). Also to me Curacao did not have the island feel that I was looking for....Turks and caisos consistently gets great reviews and that would be my choice.

Tiff

Hi Rahmanbar-I would look into American Airlines. That seemed to be the more widley used airline there. We flew a charter (Sun Country). Originally it was a direct to Aruba, and then we were to fly Dutch Carib to Curacao. But the closer the departure date got, Sun Country changed the times and route a couple times which I know is typical of charters (We ended up having a stopover in San Juan). I would not do the airlines we flew again with the kids, mainly because of customs, and having to scurry around and check in with Dutch Carib and claim our bags, and recheck them. Security and customs all went snoothly, it just got to be a bit much for the girls. BUT, it also gave them a GOOD taste of what flying internaitonally entails. I would look into American. See what they have to offer. Regarding the car rental, we did not rent a car, so perhaps someone else could comment on this, but I think I did see a car rental place right off the lobby. I don't know how difficult it would be to rent and drive independently vs. taxi's etc. Enjoy, it is really lovely. Do go into Willemstad, we so wanted to see a couple of the museums there, but of course the kids had little interest in that, they just wanted to to shop, ha. Lots of jewelry stores though, if your wife is into that.
To Dock: What we found was there are plenty of chairs, both poolside and on the beach if that is your thing. But the umbrellas are the hot commodity down there, and they go fast. If one of you is an early riser. Run out early and claim your chairs/umbrella with towels. My husband was out there by 8 every morning and then came back for coffee with me, and we didn't have a problem, so it's not like you have to go out there in the wee small hours of the morning or anything. You will need the umbrellas if you plan on laying out for more than a couple hours. We would be out there most of the day coming and going, and we would just move our chairs out if we wanted some sun, and then back into the shade after a bit to read and cool down, it really was heavenly. Also, thanks for reminding me about the oil refineries. It was a worry of mine beforehand, and it wasn't a problem at all. None of us noted any smell/scent int he air. Nor was there billowing black smoke of any nature, etc. I worried needlessly.
Thanks again to everyone that answered my questions. I am more than willing to answer any others if you think of more. Happy travels! T.

alex

Tiff,

Welcome back and I am so glad to hear you had a nice vacation in Curacao!

We flew American from Chicago to Miami and then to Curacao. Due to the times, we had to overnight in Miami ($50/night at the Wyndham Miami Airport through Priceline) and then flew straight to Curacao in the morning. On the way back, same stopover in Miami but all in one day. We had no problems at all.

Alex

rahmanbar

Tiff -

Thanks so much for this (and your other well-written trip reports).

Our Curacao Mariott reservation (read: commitment) was my doing based in large part on what you and others have posted about it.

I'm confident that it's a good one (as opposed to *others that I can name, sometimes even w/o blushing).

*For instance, there was this Double Tree in Syracuse, NY that gave dumps a bad name...

Tiff

Rahmanbar, I think that Alex has got it down. I would much rather have done his route, especially the flight on his return with connecting through Miami all in one day. I think if your connecting city can be one in the US, it will be much more convenient. And just think of the time you will save filling out those customs declaration forms, ha. I filled out, let's see here, five going into Aruba, five going into Curacao, five returning to Aruba, and two returning to our great country. (Thank heavens the US only has you fill out one per family vs. one per person.) Time better served in other areas, hee.
Plus, if you fly with one airline, you won't have to recheck your bags and yourself in with another carrier.
Let us know what you find out. Again you will love the Marriott. Ohhhhhhh, and I thought of one thing (how good it was that it took me this long to think of the only marginal caveat...) They were a little lax on the housekeeping, so when you are leaving your room for the day, give them a quick call to requesting your room to be cleaned. Not a big deal IMHO, after a couple days in a row of being gone all day and returning to an unclean room, we just gave them a call before leaving for the day and it always got done then, no problems after that. Remember everything is on island time, so you must adjust to the slower pace, it is actually refreshing to me, it's just like when you're in Hawaii, no one moves fast, because no one has to, including you! Remember to let us know which airline you go with, I'll be interested to here your options.
Safe journey! T.

alex

We did not have to stay overnight in Miami but my husband has a thing about timing connections too closely at MIA. Also, if we had left that morning from Chicago, we would have had to be at the airport around 4 am so we figured we would be "fresher" the day we arrived in Curacao if we overnighted in Miami. But it can be done in one day. AA also has a non-stop to San Juan from ORD and then a connection to Curacao and Air Jamaica has a non-stop from ORD to Montego Bay and then a connection to Curacao.

rahmanbar

<font color="green">TIFF</font><b> &amp; </b><font color="orange">ALEX</font>

We're not traveling until summer, but I'll definitely post a report.

You folks confirmed what I suspected, that if we could make the connections in the US it would be our best bet.

So, even though it is *ridculously early, we booked American from New York (Laguardia) to Curacao with a change in Miami. Connection time on both is 2 hours. This necessitates a <i>very</i> early start (1st flight departs at 6AM).

That translates into being in the airport at 4, but what the hey, we can both snatch some sleep on the trip (planes bore us anyway, so that's never been a problem). In any case, we'll stay at the airport the night before in order to maximize sleep time, but it's really no huge deal (I remember a 3 AM wakeup in Maui in order to arrive in time for sunrise on Mt. Haleakela.)

One thing though - we're checking luggage, but on the return we'll still have to retrieve it in MIA in order to go through customs I would think.

*It did get us a pretty good deal on 1st LGA-MIA/MIA-LGA and Bus. MIA-CUR/CUR-MIA. Certainly more expensive than coach, but it is a vacation, the first real one we have had time for since 2002.

alex

Yes, you do have to pick up your baggage and go through customs on your return when you get to Miami but you have plenty of time and it actually went very quickly last time we did it.

Tiff

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