zeenichka

The best thing we did in Aruba was to catch the local bus from the Oranjestad cruise terminal to Palm Beach (for $2 roundtrip) and simply walk the beach. It was fabulous!

 

http://aruba-island.com/palmbeach/

Thank you this was very helpful.

Zina

If you are looking for generic advice about a port instead of Princess-specific advice, you are better off posting on the Port of Call Board found here.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=168

 

Better yet. Take an hour or so and read through the many existing threads and odds are you will find out everything you need to know. For example, just one or two posts down, there is a 5 page thread on Aruba Beaches.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2145343

Hi Jimmy,

I was searching for the Port of Call Board and could not find it that is why I started a new thread. Thank you for providing a link. :)

Zina

Thank you for taking the time to post a response they were all very helpful.

:)

Zina

Greetings,

We're booked on the Island Princess cruise of Panama Canal, November 1st. One of the first ports is Aruba and we were interested in just going to the beach and perhaps doing some snorkeling.

Any recommendations on a beach that may have snorkeling gear for rent? I am assuming there are taxis by the port that we can hire to take us?

The excursions offered on Princess did not interest us.

Thank you for your time,

Zina

Hello all,

DH likes manhattans and we decided to do a bar set-up in our room with knob creek. My question is, will celebrity supply us with sweet vermouth and cherries or is this something we have to bring on board or purchase?

I'd love some feed back from those who have done this.

Thank you!!:)

Just returned from a 14-day cruise and my DH and I both had the premium alcohol package. The answer is no, if you order a drink costing over $12 you will pay the full price.

Thank you, Lynne!!!:)

Not only how much you drink but what you drink.

If you drink Martini's and wine get the premium.

A martini is 11.50 with grats.

A glass of wine is 9.20.

if that is all you drink per day don't buy.

If you add a premium cafe or two a day, a bottle of water(for shore excursions, your room etc), 3 beer or two pina colada's and a mixed drink at the show. you add 36-40 dollars to the above. Then buy.

The convenience was worth 10 dollars a day. However you will drink more if you have the package than if you did not because when your signing those bills you look at the cost and decide not to try that paradise martini because your not sure if you will like it. We made a habit of getting a good cafe in the morning, meeting at the martini bar before supper and having wine with dinner because we had the package. If we had not purchased the package we would have not done this and yes not spent what we had spent on the packages.

We were on vacation though and never once had to think about what we were spending.

To those who will answer I don't care what my bill will be at the end, it is because you know yourself and have done the number crunching or are way too rich to care if you do spend more. For us it allowed us freedom to choose.

But as I said, if you only drink a few drinks a day don't buy. If you want the freedom to try different drinks and not worry if you have budgeted enough, then do the number crunching and if you come close to the package price buy it. If not then you have planned ahead and know what your bill (roughly) will be after your trip.

We are cruising on Equinox in June and I went ahead and bought the premium package. Based on your post and others as well.

DH is on the fence. Last night he asked if I ordered a drink that costs more than $12.00 do you pay the difference or? I couldn't give him an answer. I would assume the answer is no.

Any ideas out there?

Thanks!!!:)

Wonderful ideas, thank you!!!!!!:)