Okcmama

We recently returned from a 9-day Southern Caribbean cruise on RCCL's Explorer of the Seas.  We visited Labadee and the ABC Islands.  Aruba was our first stop after Labadee and we arrived on NYE and were in port from 8 AM to 8 PM.  There were 3 other ships along with ours in the morning and I believe a 5th arrived in the afternoon.  I think that had SOME impact on what I have to say as well as it being 12/31.  Based on how busy a port it was, we decided to make reservations at a hotel resort for the day to ensure we had chairs, umbrellas, food, drinks etc., to ensure a relaxing and enjoyable day at the beach.  Based on other threads on this topic, we chose Barcelo.  Made our reservations online at caribbeandaypass.com for $77/ person for our party of 6.  Got off the ship and easily made it to the resort before 9:30 AM.  There was hardly anyone on the beach, HOWEVER, every flipping hotel chair had a hotel towel on it as if to signal it was being used.  Apparently, hotel guests come down at 6 AM and put towels on all the chairs until they are ready to come to the beach.  We finally found some chairs that we are able to pull together and settled in.  Right around 11 AM, the beach was busy and hotel guests started filtering in.  We were situated right next to the beach attendant station and it was a revolving door where hotel guests came over, livid that the chairs they reserved at 6:30 this morning were no longer there.  There was yelling, tantrum throwing, belittlement of the young men.  One couple insisted the manager bring in security.  Security came on the beach and tried throwing an elderly Asian couple (who didn't speak any of the languages) out of their chairs.  Then, moved on to another unsuspecting couple trying to tell security that it was their towels and chairs (no way of being able to tell since all the hotel-issued towels and chairs are the same).   This went on the entire time we were there.  It was not a relaxing day on the beach.  It ruined our day to be honest.  For $462, I thought the price of a reserved chair - and all inclusive food/drink was what we would get.  The beach was nice.  The pool was nice.  But I would never go there again.  The hotel does a poor job by both their hotel guests as well as their resort-for-a-day guests.  They oversell and don't have enough chairs to come close to adequate.  Either put aside the amount of chairs equal to the amount of day passes or don't sell day passes.  We overpaid for our day by, easily, $400.  The food was so-so.  There was no service on the beach at all.  Not a huge issue, but not what I expected based on past experiences.  I would not call this a resort experience.  Not like any of the others I have had on different islands and different resorts.  Maybe all the resort day passes on Aruba are like this.  I do not know.  If so, you are better off taking your chances for cheap bus fare.  Which, is really easy to use and very inexpensive.  Pass on the day pass to Barcelo.  It was, by far, the biggest waste of an island visit we have ever had.  Unfortunate, indeed.  We were looking forward to Aruba and really didn't enjoy it in the least.

We did it two years ago with Celebrity. Very cool. My 3 kids loved it!

We did an Eastern Caribbean 2 years ago with our two kids (now 8 and 11 as well) on Celebrity Eclipse and are going next month on a Southern Caribbean with our kids on the Celebrity Summit. As for the Eclipse, their kids club was fantastic. We have done a Disney cruise with them as well. And, my kids enjoyed Celebrity kids' experience over Disney's. They are really excited to get back to the kids club next month.

We visited St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Puerto Rico. In Puerto Rico, we did a kayaking trip (or something similar) in the bioluminescent bay and my kids had a blast. As did my DH and I. Really Cool. In St. Thomas, I think, we did a snorkeling trip. and, in St. Maarten, we visited a beach and did some shopping. I may have St. Maarten and St. Thomas mixed up...

This time, we are leaving from Puerto Rico and then going to St. Croix, St. Kitts, Dominica, Grenada and then back to St. Thomas. We love sailing Celebrity and has been our favorite experience out of the several lines we have sailed on.

We did sail to Alaska with Holland America a few years and absolutely loved it. So much, in fact, we are planning on doing it again this year. We did not take the kids on that one, however. So, can't speak to the kids' experience. And, we don't plan on taking the kids the second time around either. Mainly because of timing and school. But also because we will probably go in September and the cool and wet weather will not be my daughter's cup of tea.