Aruba and Curacao - Harmony of the Seas

[CoolChange37]

Hello everyone! We are going on the Harmony and will be visiting Aruba and Curacao. It's our 25th anniversary and we always like to do something different. We been to both places, it's more about checking out the ship and getting away. Unfortunately, all the "different" is already sold out for shore excursions. Anyone suggest something they did outside of RCCL's shore excursions that was fun and different? Appreciate all suggestions! Would love to hang with the flamingos but can't remember the name of the hotel they are at. Thanks so much!!

[colesc15]

10 minutes ago, CoolChange37 said:

Hello everyone! We are going on the Harmony and will be visiting Aruba and Curacao. It's our 25th anniversary and we always like to do something different. We been to both places, it's more about checking out the ship and getting away. Unfortunately, all the "different" is already sold out for shore excursions. Anyone suggest something they did outside of RCCL's shore excursions that was fun and different? Appreciate all suggestions! Would love to hang with the flamingos but can't remember the name of the hotel they are at. Thanks so much!!

We've rented a jeep in Aruba before and did our own exploring. Super easy island to do it on and really impossible to get lost. Found some gorgeous local beaches. 

 

We're doing a car rental in Curaçao this upcoming January to explore on our own. 

[orville99]

There is a large Mangrove nature preserve about a block away from where the ships dock in Curacau where you can explore via kayak or elevated trail.

[cruiseguy1016]

A few years ago we did an excursion in Aruba with Trikes Aruba. It was a fun way to tour the island.

[Mum2Mercury]

We just took the public bus to Eagle Beach.  I think it cost $2.65 /person /each trip.  Wonderful beach.

[ARandomTraveler]

The place with the flamingos in Aruba is the Radisson, but you need to book that pretty far in advance because they limit the number of people who can go to the island, and Radisson Hotel guests get precedent. I think it's around $100/pp. 
 

Aruba has a tour company called ABC Tours that does ATV tours. There's also Aruba Trikes as someone mentioned above, they do a 3-wheeled motorcycle tour (make sure to ask for an automatic trike, not a manual one, even if you can drive manual, your tour will be more enjoyable with the automatic). 
 

Curacao also has a beach with flamingos. I can't remember what it's called, but I do remember that when I was there and asked about it, it was a pretty far drive away from the cruise port area so we didn't bother to go. We went to Mambo Beach which sucked! 

[Arubamoose]

We've been to Curacao quite a number of times and I agree - Mambo Beach has seen better days.

 

In the past we rented a car right at the cruise port.  We've used Advance Car Rentals before - get in touch with Celestino De Freitas cvdefreitas85@gmail.com.

 

We will be using Advance Car Rentals in February.   Here is his email back to us:

 

We can offer you a " Mid size  " car.  The price will be 125 USD for "One day Rent". The car is full insured. NO DEDUCTIBLE. No extra charges.

Total to pay in cash ( included GPS ) = 125 Dollars ( in cash ! you can pay when you receive the car or return it back) We don't accept credit cards! In this price included a cell phone in case you need help or you want to extend or return the car earlier. Also you will get a map of the Island and a programmed GPS with all the best beaches of Curacao.

We can deliver the car outside " The Mega Pier" when you walk, search for the security and find the gate on the yellow wall to come outside. I will be There with a paper and with your name on it! That you can recognize me. ( THE MAIN GATE WHERE THE TAXI ENTER TO THE PARKING LOT OF THE CRUISE PORT.)

Only thing to keep in mind is timing - not sure what ship you are on and their port time.  Curacao is a big island and you don't want to miss the boat!

Edited September 30, 2022 by Arubamoose
Addition

[like2cruise99]

I second the Trikes in Aruba. I have done that the last 3 times we went to Aruba and our family loves doing this. In Curacao we were supposed to ride the tuk tuk cars but a hurricane prevented us from stopping there. I have also found a lady that does massages and she picked us up at the port, took us to the beach, gave us massages, and took us back to the port. All for about $45/massage. That's been a few years. Whatever you do you need to walk across the floating bridge.

[Tromler]

We were just in Aruba last week...rented a UTV from Viator.com (they have a app too) and the company was Jeans UTV's.  We had it for a full 8 hrs and were able to go on our own anywhere on the island, we went from one end to the other, stopped at many beaches on the way and also went off roading.  It was a blast and like others said Aruba is very hard to get lost on.

 

 

[MiniChunks]

Another vote for Aruba Trikes. We've done it twice and loved it both times. The trikes have seen better days but they got hit hard by the COVID shutdown. The people are fantastic as well as the tour of the island. 

[Ashland]

Just outside the the gangway there should be vendors also selling excursions.

[jsf]

We'll be renting a Jeep for the day in Jan, done it before and had a great time