TravelFlea

We flew Delta from Atlanta to Aruba and then DAE from Aruba to Curaco last summer. We did have to clear customs in Aruba, then claim our bags, check-in at the DAE counter and then check bags and go through customs again as it was considered an international flight. Same thing in reverse on the way home.

Almost missed the connection both times with roughly an hour between flights - required LOTS of fast running through the airport and some begging at the DAE gate in one direction and the Delta gate in the other, as they "closed" the flight at the front counter at about an hour out. Pretty sure Delta wouldn't have let us on at all if we hadn't been flying first class. DAE wouldn't have let us on had my companion not run ahead to the counter while I was waiting at baggage claim to get our luggage from the original Delta flight.

That having been said, Curacao is a MUCH smaller airport than the one in Aruba, so moving about within the confines of the airport should be lots faster and easier. However, it did take an extraordinarily long time for us to get our bags in Curacao considering the size of the airport. We waited maybe 20 minutes and it was a small commuter flight on DAE not even 50% full.

If you have an option to make a slightly longer layover it might be worth it since Insel, DAE and the others tend to fly on more of "island time" than actual time. If there isn't another good option you can probably make it in the 55 minutes, but have backup plan just in case something goes south.