To do/Not to do

[Mike&Nancy1539128145]

Hi,

 

We will be in Aruba from 8:00 am to 1:00 am 2-05. The next day we are going thru the Canal starting at approximately 7:00 am ( I mention this cause the Canal is the whole purpose of the trip, and I don't want to miss it due to being hungover). Therefore, I'm looking at things to do in Aruba. My question(s) is this....what have you done in Aruba that you wouldn't have missed for the world, and what have you done that you could've lived without? I know they have lots of party excursions, and while those would be fun (we like to drink), we want to be up early and in good shape for the next morning. I guess what I'm trying to say is we want to have fun, but not tons of drinking involved. As we've never been there before, I don't want to spend the day at the beach either. Any help or ideas would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Nancy

[vossjemi]

Ok, we are on the same cruise but in jan. Our roll call is questioning the whole Aruba thing. Some excursions have been posted for both 1/17 and 1/18, so some thought we'd be in aruba for 2 days, and some thought just 1. Well, if we are in aruba for just 1 day leaving at 1am that night, the next day is really an at sea day, though not listed. you might want to check this out on your cruise as well. You could party late, then have your at sea day, then pc the next day. A poster in our roll call said there is no way the ship could get from aruba at 1am to the PC by 7am, so there must be an at sea day in between.

[Mike&Nancy1539128145]

I just checked our itinerary, and now I'm really confused. We depart Aruba at 1:00 am on the 8th, and arrive at the Canal at 7:00 am on the 9th. But I'm thinking this can't be right, because to add a sea day doesn't add up to the total number of nights for the cruise which is listed at 10. I guess I better figure out what this all means before I start looking for things to do.

 

I still would like to hear the good and the bad in Aruba though.

 

Thanks,

 

Nancy

[vossjemi]

If you leave at 1am on the 8th, that is just 1 hour past the 7th, right? So, what RC didn't explain very well in the itinerary was to show that the 8th is really an at sea day. Basically, they are trying to show you get 1 whopping hour of the 8th in aruba.

[Mike&Nancy1539128145]

Oh geez...that's too much thinking for a blonde after a long day. I knew there had to be a logical explanation for it, I just wasn't getting it. Duh!!!

 

I'd still love to hear others opinions on what to do again, and what to pass.

 

Thanks for setting me straight Voss. Now we can book any excursion we want. A whole new world just opened up for us. :D

 

Any ideas anyone???

 

Nancy

[vossjemi]

No problem Nancy. I just figured it out myself. I booked this cruise last feb and thought until today that we had 2 days in aruba. DUH!!! And, I'm a redhead! My fellow roll callers helped me figure this one out.

 

As far as what to do...I was thinking of a snorkel excursion through either MiDushi or Jolly Pirates (still researching), but most seem to be about 4-5 hours, include lunch and open bar. Then, I was thinking of eating dinner on the ship (we have early dinner) and heading back out through the ship's Kukoo Kunuku bar hop. Another poster on another thread pointed out that if you book direct through KK, it includes dinner and 3 stops (1 free drink at each), and booking KK direct doesn't have a non-dinner option. However, RC does have a 5 bar hop/no dinner option, which I think we will probably do. It starts around 7:45, so gives us enough time for dinner, I think. I guess it depends if dinner is 6 or 6:30, but we'll have to tell our waiter we are in a rush or something.

 

When I thought we would be there 2 days, I thought the next day we'd rent a car and explore, but I think that is out now. Oh well...guess we'll have to go back someday!

[lindyhop]

Oh geez...that's too much thinking for a blonde after a long day. I knew there had to be a logical explanation for it, I just wasn't getting it. Duh!!!

 

I'd still love to hear others opinions on what to do again, and what to pass.

 

Thanks for setting me straight Voss. Now we can book any excursion we want. A whole new world just opened up for us. :D

 

Any ideas anyone???

 

Nancy

DH and I went to Aruba for our honeymoon this past March- not on a cruise, but we got a good feel for the island.

 

We loved the sail & snorkel tour, we went with Red Sail Sports b/c they gave us the best deal. Other names I remember are Mi Dushi, Jolly Pirates, & De Palm. Breakfast and lunch were both provided on the boat (and good, too!). Most tours take you to 3 sites, one of them being a shipwreck of a German warship.

 

Another fun thing to do if you don't want to do beach/water is take a jeep tour of the island- you are part of a jeep caravan and drive around the island, particularly the "outback". Be prepared for rough terrain, dirt dirt dirt, and lots of fun. You can also do similar tours on 4-wheelers. DH and I had a self-directed 4-wheeler day, which we liked better. We got a little lost in the process, but the island is only 19 miles long and 2 miles wide.

 

Friends that have been on cruises liked shopping in the port city of Oranjestad, if that is your thing.

 

You can also go snorkeling at Baby Beach- it is a cab ride or car rental from port. There are chairs to rent there and a few shaded areas, also 1 food stand. We saw tons of colorful fish there.

 

The 2 main beaches are Eagle Beach and Palm Beach. Eagle Beach is consistently rated as one of the best beaches in the world. It is very peaceful and wide, the sand is fine and white. It is closer to port and located in the "low-rise" resort area. A couple miles down the road is Palm Beach where all the high rise resorts are- there is definitely more action on this beach, but it is also a lot more crowded. If you are looking for banana boat rides, parasailing, etc. I know you can get them here (but probably at Eagle Beach too). The nice thing about Aruba beaches is that there aren't people walking up and down trying to sell you stuff. I think that's against the law.

 

We heard mixed reviews about going to DePalm island, so we skipped it b/c the beach at our resort was pretty spectacular. They offer snuba there, which is like scuba diving except your air tank floats on the surface and you don't have to be certified. But several snorkel tours offer this as well. I think they also offer an undersea walk where you wear a space-helmet looking thing while walking on the ocean floor, and you are breathing the whole time! That looked pretty cool.

 

As far as party busses and boats, I say if you're on a cruise skip it. The upside is you pay your fee and it's basically free drinks for the night, but the bus is like one big bar-hop- kinda the same no matter wherever you are. If I were on a cruise the party boat would be kind of same-o same-o, except that you can slide off a waterslide into the ocean in the back.

 

Pack a hat or ponytail. Aruba is very breezy (but it helps keep you cool).

 

Sorry this post got so long! Hope it helps :)

[Mike&Nancy1539128145]

Thanks for all your help guys. Lindy, please don't be worried about the post being too long. You gave lots of good info and ideas...that's exactly what I was hoping to get. I haven't been able to research Aruba as much as I would've liked, but hopefully I'll get to it this weekend, and we can start making some decisions. Mike likes to scuba, and I don't. I don't have a problem splitting up, from what I've read, Aruba is safe and I'll be ok on my own. At least that's the impression I got...is this true Lindy? I want to check into the sunset cruise too. Anyhow, thanks again for all your help....both of you!!

 

Nancy

[lindyhop]

I think it's true that Aruba is safe- or at least I felt very safe there. I wouldn't have thought twice about going somewhere on my own, especially during the daytime.

[csteck]

Lindyhop Thanks for the information about the beaches. Do you know anything about the Easy Ride Reef Safari? It is suppose to be off the South Coast. They call it a underwater scooter. Sounds like fun. I was wondering if it was a single person vehicle or if you went in a group? Thanks for your help. Carla

[cruise memories]

We are going to be in Aruba 11/3/04, we are looking forward to finally seeing Aruba. I loved reading your review. It helped me decide what excursions that I would like..............Thanks

[tispwisp]

We were on the same cruise as you last February! This is an awesome itinerary and the Brilliance is wonderful! When we were in Aruba, we took the ship's tour of Aruba that showed us the major sights: Natural Bridge, Casibari Rock Formations, California Lighthouse, and the tour also was a semi submersible that showed us the wreck of the Antille (SP?). It was a really nice tour, in the afternoon we walked around town and did some shopping, in the evening (around 9:00 or so) we went to Carlos & Charlie's for about an hour just for the experience. We then went back to the ship for the rest of the evening. Aruba is beautiful - one of our favorite islands. If you would like to see pictures of our Brilliance cruise, you can click on this link to get to our webshots page: http://community.webshots.com/user/tispwisp

 

This is a great cruise - you'll have a fantastic time!

[Diva Onboard]

Hello Mike & Nancy,

 

 

I just spotted this thread. I believe you will be on the same cruise as we will. We are sailing February 4 on the Brilliance out of Miami.

 

If you are on the same cruise, we have a roll call thread started. Go to the Royal Caribbean Roll Call section and look up the Brilliance February 4 Panama Canal to report in.

[Murphy]

When we were in Aruba, we rented a Jeep for the day. You can easily circle the island and see all the major sights: Natural Bridge, Lighthouse, Caves and stop at a couple of spots to snorkel. We found Baby Beach to be a great snorkel locale. Driving is easy and there is basically one major road circling the island. Roads aren't marked very well though, so keep your bearings on which direction you want to go. Since our ship was leaving at midnight, I felt really safe renting a car. I figured even if we broke down on the farthest part of the island, we would still make it back to the ship by midnight, or in your cases 1:00am! We loved Aruba and just booked the Celebrity Century for next September specifically because of the stop in Aruba.

[CaribbeanBlue]

You MUST SEE the natural pool. It's a scary trip there over a very rocky mountain but well worth the trip. Bring along a small cooler (stop at a local grocery and get a small foam one and stock it wit6h juice, water, sodas) Be sure to wear a swim suit, bring sun block and a camera. The pictures you will be getting will amaze your friends.

 

CaribbeanBlue

 

http://www.*****.org

[bob4cruise]

in the evening (around 9:00 or so) we went to Carlos & Charlie's for about an hour just for the experience.

 

so how far a walk Carlos & Charlie's for the dock ??

 

thanks BobG

[Mike&Nancy1539128145]

Tisp,

 

The pictures are great...so much fun to look at. We'll be in the same cabin as you were, we booked over 18 months ago to get the aft cabin. It's getting close now and I can't wait. We still haven't figured out what to do in Aruba..thinking about walking around in the morning, and then see about renting a jeep in the afternoon. Guess we gotta make a decision soon. Still have to figure out what to do that night too, I'm sure C & C will be on the agenda, just long enough to watch the shenanigans and be thankful it isn't me (or at least, I hope).

 

Nancy

[Chefjacque]

We will be on the Summit in April, we were wondering about the Horse Back riding and if anyone had taken this tour. We are not youngsters for sure, but it sounds like something different to do.

 

We have done the beach thing, and would like to try something new beside shopping. We did the Butterfly farm and tour and it was very well done.

 

Thanks for your help

 

Bob and Jacqueline

[Deloresgardella]

I wrote to Jolley Pirates to ask about their cancellations policy. If you are planning on booking them you may want to read this.

Delores

 

Dear Delores,

Thank you for your message!



We do not have an "official" cancellation policy here. In the unlikely event that your cruise ship does not come into Aruba or there is bad weather, we would refund tickets. We do not however, refund tickets for sunburns, change of heart, late night head aches or luck in the casino.



We do have availability for Saturday, April 30, 2005. If you would like to make a reservation I would recommend that you visit our website's on line booking page for pre-booking discounts on your tickets