2nd Port of Call today ... Willemstad, Curaçao. This is a Dutch settlement and very colourful and pretty. We had no set plans for today but had organised to meet Heather and Tim in the Atrium at 8.30 to walk into town. We walked off the ship and walked past a few tour operators waving signs but there was no real hard sell, as we walked along the waterfront we noticed a weird pontoon that we thought was some sort of walkway but didn't think too much of it until we got further down and I got a little confused because the floating bridge that was supposed to be there just wasn't.... hmmm I'm sure I saw it there on Google Earth!! After a few minutes as more and more people gathered we realised that pontoon was actually the bridge.... It had opened up to let a US Coastguard boat through, well now I know it opens!!! This bridge is called the Queen Emma and the vehicle bridge is the Queen Juliana, lots of things here are named after the Dutch royal family! So once the bridge made it's way back into place, the alarm bells sounded and the gates opened and we ( and all the other hoards ) swarmed onto the bridge and over the river towards the Punda side. As we came off the bridge we saw some tour operators talking to people and heard them offer a tour for $15pp with a beach drop off/pick up for those that wanted to swim or snorkel, we walked on a bit and saw the I love Curacao sign, H & T had a look in some shops at some Go Pros and then we had a team meeting and decided we liked the idea of the tour so we went back and had a chat to them, made sure we'd heard right, put our names down for the tour that was starting in just under an hour and hightailed it back to the ship to pick up our snorkel gear. We got back to the tour starting point about 5 minutes before the allotted time, paid our money and hopped on the open bus... only problem was that the only seats were right up the front so we had a great view of the front board or if we sat up on the seats we could just see over the drivers cab.... Heather and I made Rodd and Tim swap with us so we could be on the window side! We had a great tour guide and she told us a lot about the island and it's history. Our first stop was at the Curacao liqueur factory where we got to sample some curacao... not bad... but we didn't end up buying any. Next stop was at a beach resort where we paid $3.50 to use their facilities for the day... lovely spot if a little touristy but it had all the mod cons.. pina coladas to sip whilst reclining in the sun.. a spot of snorkeling, shopping for those that wanted to pay resort prices and best of all free wifi where we could do a quick catch up. Heather and Tim later told us they went way up the other end under the bridge where the snorkeling was amazing... it was so-so where we were as it was all in a man made lagoon but still an enjoyable afternoon. Once we'd had our swim and were coming out of the water to sit and have a few drinks Rodd started talking to a couple as they seemed quite upset.. she had lost her wedding ring whilst swimming so Rodd offered them our snorkel gear so they could search for it, they never did find it but were very appreciative of Rodds kindness. At 2.30 we made our way over to the bar where our tour guide had said she'd find us, but before she came another bus arrived and some of the people on our tour went to get on board so we started to follow them, the tour guide on this bus told us we could come with her but we said no, we'd wait for our lady. Not 5 minutes later our bus and guide turn up and when we tell them the others had gone already she was furious... she made phone calls and we ended up having to wait for her boss to come to talk to her, all the way back to the port she went on about how unprofessional the other guide was taking her guests ... omg.... we all just nodded and agreed with her but ... really??? not our problem!!! Anyway all in all I'd recommend Caspers Tours for a brief overview of what Curacao has to offer. We had just under an hour to look around town and do some shopping before we had to be back on the ship so we made the most of it... I got my shot glass and magnet and also a dress and some shoes... Rodd may have got some stuff too!! lol. Back on board, showered and ready for the night we ran into Heather and Tim up on the pool deck so we sat and had a drink with them listening to the Calypso Trio, once they finished their bucket of beer they headed off to their cabin to get showered and changed for the night...... I have no idea what we did next but I know we popped into the Hypnotist show at Stardust and stayed about 10 minutes before leaving.... I do know at 10.30 we were in Dazzles because Tim, Heather and I all signed up for Dancing with the Sun Stars and Tim was picked to compete... there followed some hilarious entertainment with Tim being eliminated after about the 4th round, despite Rodd bribing Koala Karli, the judge, with Vegemite!! Another great day... can life get any better???