Great tour, company willing to work with late arrival in port!
359stephend, 20-07-2022
We had originally booked this tour through a third party and unfortunately, our cruise had a port change and we would NOT be in until later in the day and that would have interfered with being able to see all the items on the itinerary.
I canceled my original reservation and reached out directly to Aida Travel and they were more than willing to set up a tour and try to get to as many of the same sites as possible due to some closing times.
We arrived in port, but the ship had issues clearing customs and getting everything in place to for us to get off until 30 minutes late.
We met up with Rossanna at the Internet/Private tours tent and she teamed up with Jude for our private tour! Jude had was very knowledgeable and nice and he also had a great young man(sorry do not remember his name) with him learning the ins and outs of the tour with us. Both were outstanding and offered insights about how Jewish life influenced the island and some local customs.
The only stop we were not able to make was at Beth Haim Bleinheim due to our late arrival and was no fault of our guides.
Our highlight was the visit to the Mikve Israel-Emanuel Synagogue. We toured the synagogue and the museum there and were impressed with all that we saw. This is on our bucket list of synagogues to visit as we have already been to Hebrew Congregation of St. Thomas.
Jude also showed us the Shaarei Tsedek Jewish Center and other Jewish building through out Willemstad.
We also had a stop at the 17th-century plantation house Chobolobo, owned by a Jewish family, where Curacao liquor is produced. A nice stop to learn how the liquor is made and the samples were nice as well.
This was an outstanding tour and one I would recommend to anyone looking at how Jewish life influences a local places and Jewish history.
Knowledgeable, friendly guide. Fascinating trip. Well worth it! It's a different Carribbean experience.
Lawrence H, 30-12-2021
Interesting history of Jewish life in Curaçao.. Ralph knows his stuff. If you have an interest in Jewish history- this is for you.
We had a fabulous tour.
Vacation20639, 13-04-2020
They had a very interesting tour. It was Avery interesting tour. There was a lot to see there. It was most interesting. They had all the information at the synagogue.
Thanks to Aida
U5781ZNjoelf, 18-03-2020
Upon arriving for the tour Aida Matos, the Aida of Aida Travel Services, informed us that our tour was cancelled because the tour guide was ill and the replacement was unavailable. Aida immediately told us that we would receive a full refund and that her City Tour would provide us with a part of the tour that was cancelled. She said that there would be no charge for this tour. We took the tour and the guide, Leonardo, was exceptional and informative. We were very impressed with how professionally this was handled.
Interesting Tour
982scarlettg, 15-06-2021
Our tour guide, Jude, was great. Very friendly and extremely knowledgeable. We had to make some adjustments due to COVID closures, but Jude did a good job of substituting different sites. The Aida guides met us at the dock - it was very easy.