Slow Start

I apologize here in the beginning as it is a lot of reading to start and not much photos. The photos come later and are worth it. Keep in mind, I often write these so I remember what we did and how we did it in case we ever return again some day.

Today we get to our first port, Aruba! We actually don’t get there until 1pm and have a late departure so there was really no reason to wake up early to reserve a deck chair. Chris was up first however and I believe he managed to snag a few chairs. The remaining Auger’s slept in a bit this morning. Heather and Sophie decided to give the MDR a try for breakfast as they thought maybe it had more to offer for breakfast there.

Unfortunately it did not. Heather said it was slow service with half the staff and and much extra to offer on the menu compared to what you get at the buffet. No one tried the MDR for breakfast after that.

Chris wanted to check out Deal or No Deal so I went with along with Ella. You go to the Liquid Lounge (the theater) and buy your cards. I believe the deal was 1 for $25, 2 for $40 and 3 for $50 or something like that. Chris bought 3 for $50 so we each got a card. On the bottom of the card was some random numbers and if they called your numbered ticket you got to go up and play Deal or No Deal, just like the TV version. Top prize was a $1000 in this instance. But if you didn’t get called you could still play along. If you matched cases, you could climb the ladder of prizes. So when the person on stage opened Case 12 and it was $1, if your Case 12 also had $1 it was a match. Prizes were free bingo card, $50 in casino play, $200 on board credit, $1000 credit, Free 5 Day Cruise, and $10,000….or something like that. We never won anything this day BUT, stay tuned for another day as we tried it again!

Before we left the ship, some people decided to run up and have some lunch, I think I was the only one that did not as I had enough during breakfast. We also watched the pilot approach the ship to get on board.

TAXI!

Normally I do a lot of research before we cruise out of our ports. I did my research for Aruba and asked the group what type of beach they would rather go to, a quiet beach with more waves and a little bigger drop off, or a busy beach but shallower and calmer waters. The kids decided the busy beach would be better so we decided to do Palm Beach. Now beyond this, I didn’t have any good plan on how to get there. I knew there was a bus station nearby and that there would be taxis.

We get off the ship and I figure lets just walk and get to a main street. Once we are out the gate a lady said she had a transport and asked where we are going. I told her Palm Beach for 10 of us, she told us $50 and I asked if that’s round trip…no only one way. I knew I could find a ride a little cheaper than that so I said no I can find something cheaper, hoping she would bite, she said, “OK, good luck”. I asked where to find a taxi, she said go across the street.

We asked a local and he frantically tried to find us a taxi on the busy street. Many were already taken. He tried to get us on a bus but it was a fun bus going around town and they wouldn’t let us on. He finally got one to stop but the comedians coming off the ship needed to catch a flight out and really wanted our taxi so we (Chris) graciously gave them the one that stopped for us so they could make their flight. The guy would go way down the street and finally we got one to stop. It was a van and was hoping they would take all 10 but he said, “no I’ve gotten in trouble already for having too many people”. Actually at this point we already resigned to the fact that we would have to split up so me and the 2s and 3s got in. I asked the driver where he was going to drop us exactly and he said in a broken English “Palm Pier” I wasn’t exactly sure what he said so I shouted it a couple of times to Heather and Linda where he was taking us and we hopped in and he quickly took off still not exactly sure where he was taking us.

He dropped us at De Palm Pier, as he said he would and I asked if I just wait here later today and some taxis will be here. He said, “yes yes, taxis come here all day”. It also turned out to be a “holiday” which I didn’t realize so when taxis are normally $15 to get to Palm Beach, today it was $18. So I gave him a $20 and told him keep the change.

So we waited there. A little anxious mind you as to whether or not the other groups taxi driver would take them to the exact same location. While waiting I asked another guy who was picking up people if this is where to wait for taxis later today. He asked how many of us are there and told him 10. He gave me his card and said to call him and he would take us for the cost of 2 taxis. I thought that was fair so I kept his card.

So this is the middle of the day already, around 2 or 2:30 and it’s hot as we are waiting there. I tried sending texts and even emails in case they would think of checking those to tell them where we were but nothing went through. We waited a good half hour and the rest of the crew finally showed up. I had thought to myself, I’ll give it an hour and if we don’t see them we just go and sit on the beach and maybe walk the beach and see if we spot them.

Palm Beach

So we walk down the walkway and the beach is beautiful. We aren’t sure about where exactly we can sit so we try to squat in some Hilton cabanas. About the time we all get lathered up, security came to chase us away. Enough cabana boys asked us if we wanted drinks in between that they must have caught on quickly and brought security.

He told us we could use the chairs out on the beach so we just grabbed those and set our stuff down and got in the water. The chairs were close enough to keep an eye on our stuff so we were all able to get in.

Water was awesome and admittedly it was nice to be on a beach after a couple of days at sea and wading and playing in the water and doing some activity. We did see a sea turtle pop it’s head up once in a while out of the water. It was quite shallow around there that you could tip toe out quite a ways and even bob a bit and touch the ground at times in between waves so I tried to go find the turtle but never did. I did bring my snorkel gear, but there didn’t look to be any good snorkeling areas at this beach. There was plenty of boat traffic around so it was fun as at times you would get bigger swells come just because of the boats. The shore right when you walked into the water dropped off quick but once you were it in was shallow for quite a ways. We noticed some people have a couple drinks as they were in the water, come to find out they were Hilton patrons and drinks were 2 for 1. They looked tasty, too bad we weren’t allowed to squat there. After a while, we all got out and sat in the chairs. It didn’t take long and the adults went for a walk down the beach

There was a pier with shops and a bar/grill at the end. I think they were doing karaoke or had someone singing.

Chris had to use the bathroom so he found the boys room and walked in with no shoes. It looked a little sketchy and as he was in there we saw a sign that said you were supposed to pay $1 to use the bathroom. I had forgot about that piece of information I read that you have to pay to use the bathrooms. Well, he managed to do it for free but said there was liquid on the floor and wasn’t sure if the “mystery liquid” was water he was stepping in or urine.

We walked past RIU and some building we weren’t sure if it was being erected, torn down, or renovated.

Strolled down the path of a rocky pier and saw some crabs.

As we walked back Chris was trying to figure as he always does, on how to make money on Aruba so we can live there permanently. We also came upon this large catamaran that was loading up to take people out on a sunset cruise.

We got back with kids just in time to watch the sun set

Dinner

The other group said their taxi guy told him to call him as well but my guy could take all 10 of us, it was just a matter of calling him. Palm Pier is right by RIU so I walked up the massive driveway and walked into the beautiful lobby of the RIU and asked the desk person if I could use their phone to call a cab. I called the guy, he said he’d be there in 5 minutes and about 8 minutes later he showed up.

He was a nice guy and I was happy I ran into him. One thing I thought I knew what we were doing is where we were eating. I told our driver we wanted to eat at Iguana Joes. He said…”oh! That closes at 5″ In all my reading I never came across that so that was a surprise to me. I asked where’s a good place, he said go to Lucy’s. He has to drop us at the port but told us to walk down the street a few blocks to Lucy’s. 

It’s dark out by this point but never did we feel unsafe. We did learn that Aruba was actually a pretty safe island to be on and you could tell. They very much relied on tourism and so they did not want to do anything to disrupt that.

We some some beautiful architecture as we walked.

We get to Lucy’s and every table is full. We talk to a waitress that there is 10 of us as she continues to run around and after a while she comes back and says there’s no tables. Chris asks how long will it be and she says, “mmmm, 2 hours”. Oh crap, now what do we do? If we wait 2 hours and what if it takes 2 hours to eat then we are pushing our time to get back on the ship! All aboard was 10:30 pm.

We step back on the street and wonder what to do and Kate says, “that large group is paying and getting ready to leave” so I quickly ask another waitress if we can just grab any table as it comes open and she says, “yes” so as soon as those people were getting up, we jumped onto the table.

The waiter who grabbed our table was awesome and helpful. He helped move the table so we had more room and grabbed a couple extra chairs. Today was Taco Tuesday and also $5 margaritas! So me, Heather, Kaitlyn, I believe Alley, and also Ella…because she was 18 and legal in Aruba, had margaritas. Chris / L had beer last minute. Shots came later for Kait. Little cryptic, but save it for later.

It was a beautiful night at this spot. There was a DJ playing some loud music on the other end of this large establishment that was right along the water. The tacos were $3 a taco so we ordered a variety. We also ordered some apps that came out quick beforehand. Our waiter did warn us that the kitchen was backed up and food could take a while, but it didn’t take long at all. We were just taking it all in at this point anyway and didn’t care.

Ella was loving the Gucci store across the street.

We had never been to a port late like this so to be able to have dinner out here like this under the city lights was just fantastic.

We finish up and walk back to the ship. We went looking for souvenirs for Aruba and found my usual magnet. Ella and Kaitlyn found some clothing I believe. Surprisingly, Heather was looking at jewelry and really wanted to buy one so we wound up buying a ring. Sophie, who loves jewelry, was looking at Heather’s ring and kind of wanted one, see we bought her one as well. A big unfortunate part, Sophie was real sad the next day when the stone fell out of her ring. That’s what we get.

Kate wanted to look for more souveniours and the rest of us were just wanting to get back on the ship at this point and I started to get a headache. So Linda, Heather and the 3s stayed back and shopped and got some pictures.

For me, it was too late by the time I had taken aspirin. I got the worst headache that I have had in quite some time. It put me out to the point where when I got up to go to the bathroom, I got dizzy and saw stars. So I am not exactly sure what everyone else did the rest of the night. Some took pictures as the ship sailed away.

Chris and Leighton went to the IMax and saw Aquaman. It was $16 a person and not worth the price. Especially for such a bad movie. It was after midnight and I was finally coming out of my horrible headache. Some were back in the stateroom at this point and had recapped about what they heard at the adult only scavenger hunt in the Liquid Lounge. Apparently boobs were flying out of their shirts everywhere and our CD Lawrence got a lap dance. It was adults only but Leighton mentioned how he did poke his head in there and there was no one there to stop him. Continue to find it crazy how he can’t get into the 18+ comedy show or the club at night but no one would stop him from seeing boobs and a lap dance. Apparently there was even a secret sign you would flash to indicate you were at the show, like…respect.

Anyway, I wanted fresh air before I turned in so I went up to the front of the ship. Off in the distance I saw lights from the shores of Venezuela. Sure wish I brought my phone with to take pictures as I could show that I have seen Venezuela but I did not. I walked back and I think was back in bed before 1am.

Tomorrow another port…..Curacao!—–>

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