Anniversary Cruise! Aruba

Aruba – One Happy Island!

Aruba. Yes, please!
Photo by Chris. All rights reserved.

As the ship docked in Oranjestad, I slathered on the sunblock in happy anticipation of a quiet and restful time under a palapa at Druif Beach.

The wind was blowing a gale today, and the sunshine was bright. Aruba is busier, noisier, more industrial at first blush than Bonaire. The ship docks right in town, as opposed to miles away from where you want to be. Turn right from the dock, and you're downtown. Turn left towards the resorts, and you walk quite a distance past an unphotogenic industrial zone, then there's an abandoned resort (which one hopes is now being refurbished). But keep walking, because...

Oh, yeah!
Photo by Chris. All rights reserved.

Then...then...the most incredible white-sand beaches and aqua water and coral reefs, right there. Stunning. Gorgeous. And hot. Very hot. Thank goodness for that gale.

Druif Beach, Aruba
It was a national holiday, so the beach
was "crowded."
Photo by Chris. All rights reserved.

We walked in the sand in the "low rise" section past the Divi Dutch Village, the Divi Tamarijn, and Divi Village [and there are two more Divi resorts in Aruba. The Divi Village is where we stayed last time we were in Aruba. Thanks again, Dave!] to Druif Beach. I felt so grateful and blessed and overwhelmed to be there. It felt like home. Welcoming. Calm. Familiar. And delightful! [The "high rise" section is at Palm Beach, a bit farther north. As I said in my previous Aruba post, we preferred the quietness and slower pace of the low rise area.]

Nice place!
Photo by Chris.
All rights reserved.

We pulled some lounge chairs under said palapa, went swimming in that incredible, amazing, surprisingly cool  and wonderfully salty water. The sun kissed us. We wandered lazily up to the Divi Aruba [leaving only the Divi Phoenix unvisited this time!] and ordered pina coladas at the beach bar.

[Special side note to Divi Resorts:  Say, how about a free stay at one of your resorts for all this free advertising?]

The scenery in the background is so gorgeous,
you don't even notice the folks in front, eh?
At the Divi Aruba. Photo by the other Chris.
All rights are reserved anyway.

Oops. The Divi Aruba is an all-inclusive, and there's no cash register or credit card machine at the bar. So, I had to go to the reception desk to pay for a couple of libations. When I got back to our table, I found that a guest at the hotel had ordered a second round for us. I guess he thought it was bogus that I'd had to run around from here to there to here just to get something to drink, but I didn't feel that way at all. Which is not to say I wasn't grateful for the beverage. Quite the opposite! Thank you, Chris from Long Island in the news business. We chatted with Chris and his wife for a while, relaxing by the beach and enjoying our brief time there. So, Chris from Long Island, thank you again for your thoughtfulness. You and your wife are lovely folks, and we're very glad to have met you.

This table is reserved for you.
Notice the crowd on the beach.
Photo by Chris. All rights reserved.

The Divi Aruba is a beautiful, quiet resort. It would be fantastic to stay there for, say, a week. At least a week. Leaving Aruba again was such a sad, sad experience. But I'm so grateful to have had an opportunity to visit again, though not for long enough. Part of the cruise experience is to spend a little time here and there, with the idea of finding places you want to visit for longer periods of time. I already knew I wanted to go back to Aruba, so it was a bonus to find it on the itinerary.

This is what I'm talking about.
Photo by Harry. All rights reserved.

The Sanctuary hot tub felt really good after a day at the beach, and here's what I had for dinner: Seafood appetizer, tomato soup, endive salad, lobster tail, and passion fruit souffle. YUM.

Still there. Love this shot.
Photo by Chris.
All rights reserved.

The show tonight was a musical, “Piano Man.” We caught a little karaoke in the lounge, too, and the singers were pretty good, actually.

And now we have begun the sail back to our port of departure, San Juan, Puerto Rico, where more adventure awaits us!

Just a reminder:  To take full advantage of information provided for you in my blog, be sure to click on the links!

These are everywhere. Don't feed them.
It only encourages them.
Photo by Chris. All rights reserved.

Me, by me. 'Cause you can't get enough background shots
of the beaches here!
All rights reserved.

Souvenir shops at the waterfront.
Oranjestad, Aruba
Photo by Chris. All rights reserved.

Higher end souvenir shops. Oh, the crowds!
Photo by Chris.
All rights reserved.

Aruba! Getting There (Part 2)

Sunday

Well, I didn't get much sleep on the plane. Surprise! There was a loud child, the child's mother, and the grandmother sitting behind us. So many questions, so little time. But I probably wouldn't have slept much anyway. And airport lay-overs aren't very sleep inducing for me, either. But I did doze a little bit on the final leg to Aruba, which was the part of the flight I actually wanted to be awake for. Figures, right? But only a little bit, so it was exciting to spot the islands in the Caribbean and to see the beautiful sea, and landing on Aruba was an experience!

Here's this tiny island at the far side of the world (seemingly, though it's just off the coast of South America), and you can see all the sights from the air. The lighthouse, the chapel, the hotels, the entire island brochure is right there. Aruba is a desert island without a lot of camouflage to cloak it in secrecy. As we approached, I had a fleeting moment of anxiety as I saw the diminutive size of the sliver of land before me:  What was I going to do with myself here on this speck in the water for an entire week? (Well, I hadn't been there yet, now, had I?)

From the air, the water was a marvelous shade of aqua, with sailboats bobbing here and there. The approach to the airport was down the west side of the island, offshore, so I could see all the resorts lined up on the breathtakingly white beaches as we zipped past, practically at eye level. You can pick out the one where you're staying, no problem. Well, I could, anyway, having investigated everything online ad nauseum. I think I had the whole island memorized already.

A very quiet taxi driver delivered us to Divi Village, which in my opinion is the nicest resort on this part of the island. I haven't seen the other resorts close-up yet, so it's hard to tell. But it's definitely the nicest in the “low-rise” section (as opposed to the “high-rise” section, where the many-storied resorts are lined up on Palm Beach).

View of pool area from balcony.
Photo by Chris. All rights reserved.

We were greeted by the friendly staff with a Planter's Punch in the open-air lobby as we checked in, and we made our way to our room. As I mentioned previously, Divi Village is a timeshare resort. It has golf courses and restaurants, and the beach (Druif Beach) is right there. I have nothing to compare it to insofar as timeshares go, never having stayed in one before, but our room is very, very nice.

View from the balcony.
Photo by Chris. All rights reserved.

It's a studio with a perfectly equipped kitchen. Everything you need is there, including a toaster and a blender and good knives (in case you are going to cook...). Well, everything except food, that is. The bathroom has a whirlpool tub and shower and comes completely outfitted with Aruba Aloe bath products, shampoo, lotions, and potions. The floors throughout are tile, it's air conditioned, and, best of all, we found that we had a roomy, covered balcony with an incredible view of both the swimming pool area and the unbelievably turquoise Caribbean waters! Thank you, God!

It's very hot and muggy today, but the strong tradewinds make it comfortable. Don't let that fool you. Wear your super-duper sunblock.

Setting off on foot, we went looking for the grocery store, which is nearby. However, it's Sunday. So, it closed at 1 p.m. Oops. You might want to arrive on Saturday so that you can stock your fridge with goodies. We kept walking about and came to a flea market, which is right up my husband's alley. It was not in the most spruced-up touristy area and looked a little sad and in need of a serious revamp. Actually, so did the folks shopping there. Including us, probably!

We walked back to the Divi along the beautiful, white-sand beach. The water is amazing. It is perfect. The sound of the sea lapping at the shore, the wonderful aroma of clean salt air, the stiff breeze blowing my hair back from my face, the warmth of the sun, the feel of the hot sand between my toes...really, what more do I need?

Food. That's what. There's a buffet at the pool-side “Sea Breeze” at the Divi (at least, there was at the time), and they feature a different cuisine each evening. It isn't included, so you don't feel as though you “have to” eat there. This particular night, we decided to try “Italian Night.” Everything was very tasty, and there was plenty of it (always a good thing when you're really, really hungry). Pastas, salads, fish, chicken, desserts, all well-presented and appealing. And tasty. But I said that already. I thought I would try one of the local beers with my meal. As it turns out, there's only one: Balashi. It was a light and refreshing pilsner, which was just what I wanted. The bottle was kind of tiny, which I understand is normal in these parts. That size is perfect for me, but a lot of people will want two!

Back at the room, I relaxed in the jacuzzi, looking forward to sleeping like a log. And what book was I reading as I soaked, you ask? You know me so well! Where Is Joe Merchant? by Jimmy Buffett. Yes, really. His books are a perfect vacation read. The Aruba Aloe body wash? It's amazing.