Travel Notes
Mainly as a reminder for myself (but I guess it might be useful for others), some notes on the flights from/to Curacao. Don’t get scared. It’s not as bad as it looks :)
Take great care when you book the flight. Stay at least 7 days, or it’ll be way more expensive. Also, a week is just about enough to not ‘feel’ the jet-lag when you get here, or when you get back. Try to fiddle with the days a bit. Going on a Tuesday instead of a Monday might save you as much as 100 euro. Keep in mind that booking a round-trip is (always?) cheaper than a single flight.
Good question. Carnaval, Christmas and other holidays are usually booked full, or terribly expensive unless booked early. A lot of people take the opportunity to visit their relatives, with the whole family (hint: small kids. 9+ hr flight. Do the math.). Apart from that, you should be ok. Do mind though, there are several different flights to Curacao, differing in time. KL735 (AMS-CUR) and KL736 (CUR-AMS) are both direct flights, and take around 9 hours. Other flights make a stop in St. Martin (KL785) or Aruba (KL783). This does not mean changing aircraft, but does mean additional landing/takeoff, waiting, and perhaps re-boarding. This extends traveltime to ~ 11 hrs.
Ofcourse, you could choose ArkeFly. I have no experience with their service onboard. But I know for a fact they leave terribly early from AMS, which means you’ll have to be there in the middle of the night for check-in, boarding, etc. They leave from Hato in the afternoon, which basically makes your last day useless.
Easy. Make sure you have an E-ticket, and check-in online. Do it as soon as possible (30 hrs before flight at the earliest), to pick a good seat. Good seats are the aisle seats in the center of the plane. (You’ll have only one direct neighbour that needs to pass by, while you can move freely yourself:). Try to pick a seat near one of the exits. At Hato, there will be 3 staircases attached to the plane, to get people off it quickly. There’ll be one at the front, one in the middle, and one at the back. I’ll explain why later on. Keep in mind seats in the “front” of a compartment (facing wall) usually have little kids/babies, and so will the ones with no direct seats in front of them. Seats at the end of a compartment will not ’tilt’ all the way back, which might be uncomfortable on the flight back (since it’s a night-flight). I usually find the ones halfway down a compartment the best, as you’ll be able to watch the movie without breaking your neck.
While still in NL, do not try to exchange your money for ANG (or Netherlands Antilles FLorin). The bank doesn’t have it, for some reason. Take US dollars instead, as they are widely accepted accross the island. Before you do, though, keep in mind that you can pay everywhere with your creditcard. Everywhere. Supermarket, Restaurants, Gasstations, even Burger King. All Dutch bankcards with “Maestro” logo can also be used to pay in most stores, shops and restaurants directly. And, ofcourse, you could always use a local ATM.
It takes a while to offload your luggage. Sometimes longer. I’ve once waited 2.5 hours for my luggage at Hato. When returning to Schiphol, KLM treats you on a bloody long walk, since the Gate/Belt couldn’t be further apart. That said, my suggestion is: take hand-luggage only. You can bring a fairly large bag (~10kg), some reading material, drinks, and a laptop. In the cabin. Sure, that might not be enough for everyone. But if it is, or almost is, do so. You’ll save yourself a few long waits, as you don’t have to drop it off, wait for it at Hato, or wait for it at Schiphol. Not to mention you can arrive 15 minutes before boarding time (In theory :). Be sure to not take any knives, lighters, or other obvious “prohibited” stuff with you, ofcourse.
Eat. Do not think “I’ll get lunch once we’ve taken off” because it’s near lunchtime. You will get lunch, but in one or two hours from takeoff. Also, the KLM flights have a reputation of departing late. Once you’ve passed security (at the gates), they’ll tell you. And then there’s no place to get food. So, eat before the flight, either a decent meal, or some quick snack. While you’re at it: buy something to drink, preferrably water. Ofcourse, you’ll get some on board. But you’d have to ask, or wait until they ask you. And you’ll get a cup, so you can either drink it or get it thrown over you within the next 10 minutes ;). Usually I get myself a 0.5l bottle, which is enough for me. Consider bringing your own music, book, something to do on board, as sometimes the audiosystem onboard is failing (no movie, no radio, no nothing). Should you decide to bring a suitcase, be sure to drop it off as late as possible. The later you drop it off, the sooner it’ll get unloaded at Hato, in general.
Put your luggage in the overhead-compartment. Don’t put it under your seat. Sure, it’s allowed, but it’ll start bugging you in the next few hours, and then the compartments will be filled already. Keep your passport and a pen near you, as you’ll need them when filling in The Form, and nothing is more annoying than searching for a pen and passport while 300+ people are doing the same. Other than that, sit back and relax, read a bit, listen to some music, sleep, whatever. It’ll be a while.. One thing, should the cabincrew ask you to change seats (for whatever reason), be sure to check -what- seat they’re putting you in. Remember you have to stick to that seat for the next 9 hours, and it’s no problem putting your own comfort before some random stranger’s :)
To enter Curacao, you’ll need to fillout a form, stating who you are, where you came from, where you’ll be staying, how long you’ll be staying, etc. When the crew gives these to the passengers, you’ll see lots of them getting up, searching their luggage for a pen and their passports. (You’ll see :). Anyway, enter everything they ask for, and make sure you got the address of the place you’re staying. (My address can be found elsewhere). Should you not know where you’ll stay, or for how long, be sure to enter something. Just tell them you’re staying at the Trupial Inn, for 14 days, for example. Do not leave the fields blank, as the Immigration-people will be a pain to you. You can safely enter anything you like, as long as it looks somewhat legit (and doesn’t exceed the 3 months limit :>). They will not hunt you down.
Right. Flight’s almost over. Soon, you’ll feel the heat. But before that, grab your bag from the overheadcompartment. Put it on your lap, or under the seat in front of you. You’ll want to get out of the plane as soon as possible. If you’re lucky, you’re near one of the exits. Walk towards the big building, and keep your passport and immigration form ready. Show it to the kind people there, and run for the exit. It’s usually pretty crowded, make sure to just walk out of the crowd, to some place viisble. To the right are the taxis, to the left is probably more advisable. We’ll find you anyway. :). The reason for getting off the plane fast ? You’ve just had a 9 hour flight, there is no airconditioning in the building, there are 300+ people waiting in line to get through immigration. Trust me, you don’t want to be there a second longer than you need to. Ofcourse, if you have to wait for your luggage, this beats the purpose a little bit. Not much, though. :)
Yes. Hopefully :). Lots of things to do, places to visit, stuff like that.
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