I will categorize if you don't mind.
Makes for easier reading, ? maybe.

weather
december weather with lots of rain showers and lots of sun. well, maybe a little untypical as there were some really heavy downpours that lasted more than the usual 5 minutes.

the ocean was 81 degrees
pool temperature at lacabana was 78 degrees

accomodations and Lacabana BRC commentary
Lacabana BRC we had a 1 bedroom unit using our bluegreen points unit 127c and it was more than adequate. our son joined us on dec 24 and he had the living room as his "pad" for a week. he had the patio door key and was able to come and go as he pleased.

many many kind guests and workers at lacabana. it is such a pleasure to see old friends and new friends year after year. now my commentary.......................... where do some of the guests get off thinking that their SHI* does not stink?

example of a few cases:
guest to pool worker "you, clean this table. i have been coming here for 17 years and i have never seen anyone work as slowly as you"

guest to kirk @ the front desk at 1 am "I am not paying you to read the bible while you are working"

guest to samuel @ the pool slide "you are not a real police officer and do not tell me that we cannot make a train of people going down the slide. what is your name? i want to speak with your supervisor

me to an arrogant *itch of a woman "lady, you take the cake! i now know the answer as to why so many people hate americans. you are the poster child for hating americans. thank you"

Casinos
1st of all, Rogers is ill (the genie at Alhambra)
he has been in the hospital for a month or more..........prostrate and diabetes difficulties. Prognosis unknown and he is getting out of the hospital this weekend.

Alhambra, as smokey as ever. Air conditioning could be colder. Drinks plentiful.
Machines were tight. Craps was fun.

Riu, is a great airy well ventilated casino. We had no luck there, but the wine was served in nice wine glasses. AND they had a real christmas tree (balsam) in the casino. can we spell fire hazard?

Marriott, we won a few dollars here. very few. BUT, after all was said and done my husband thinks we were about even on the entire stay. So, staying even is just like winning, imo.

Ling Grocery
put on a terrific fireworks display on Dec 30!
Awesome show, better than any i have seen in USA.

grocery bags.............Ling was giving out reuseable grocery bags and bottles of turning leaf chardonnay! terrific.

we did a grocery order at lings and only spent $145 for basic staples....breakfast and lunch supplies.

Meet and Great
Paul, Kevin and i had the honor and pleasure of meeting
ArubaLisa and her husband Jerry and dear daughter, grandmother, parents, and brother!
We also met Cheryll Caron of the "arubahouse" fame.
We met and had a drink with EBB Eagle beach Boy aka Gary and his wife!

Along the way as the week progressed, different folks said to me "are you the mderator lady?" i denied everything


more to follow...................
andrea

Great way to write a report. Very readable.

What rudeness you encountered! Hubby and I have encountered rudeness abroad as well - only by Americans. Yet the French say the Germans are worse. (As a German-American, where does that leave me?)

Questions:

Did you eat at the Captain's table at all ?
Does Ling and Sons also have paper bags ?

Aruba Trip Reports

continued.............................

DINING
In no paricular order:
LAVISTA @ Marriott , we ate here only because we had a ton of marriott food and beverage credits from the years playing at marriott casino. we ate there one night for the italian buffet which by the way was fabulous!

then, we went back the next night to the seafood buffet which was even more awesome.

italian consisted of...................everything imaginable. pasta, shrimp, beef, chicken, terrific salad fixins and tiramisu and other fancy desserts.

seafood night consisted of........................omg sushi and more sushi and it was delicious! grilled salmon, grilled grouper, grilled mahi mahi and grilled swordfish.
crab legs, shrimp cocktails etc......
i would not hesitate to go back!

PAM PAM this place is terrific too. all entrees are $9.50 and the visit aruba card also gives the diners the "pam pam cocktail" which is a fruity, rum and vodka killer! 2 thumbs up. We ate there 2x.

BUCCANEER my son's all time favorite is Buccaneer. We had a good dinner there.
Baked shrimp stuffed with crabmeat. We all ate the same entree and their $1 salads are worth $2.

MADAM JANETTE my husband's all time favorite. We ate here 2x. 1st time we all had grouper and it was deelish. (christmas eve) No room for dessert and the mosquitos were plentiful The 2nd time we ate at MJs was on the 30th of Dec. Mosquitos were still plentiful but we were well sprayed with off. That evening we all had lobster ravioli for appetizer and then each had a chicken cesar salad for our entrees.

Service both nights was top notch.
Food excellent.

Activities
We rode horses with LaPonderosa and I rode once with Gold Mine Ranch.
I highly recommend both of these places.
(we did the private tours)

we, played at casinos, we napped, we read.

Hey, sounds like you are having a great time !! Enjoy. To put things in perspective, its snowing here, its cold and nasty, and I wish I was there ! Be safe, love the reports, thanks!
have a safe trip home, cindy

Cindyo

Girls at the Maid of the Mist- Toronto
Boat ride to Rennaissance Island
Next Aruba trip in

Great report

I go in November
I only enjoyed 2 meals 1 at El Gaucho & 1 at show at Divi Phoenix
when we went back following week I didn't care for it

continued........................

more dining

King Ribs
we picked up 3 combo dinners of King ribs. paul and i ate 1 for dinner in our room one evening and we had divided up the other 2 dinners into tupperware containers for lunches/snacks. our darling son arrived on december 24 and scoffed down the king rib leftovers in less than 24 hours.

TULIP
we dined at tulip 2x and both times meals were wonderful and the service was good. per usual i had the chicken sate' and paul had the mixed grill.

all meals excellent
all staff at all restaurants attentive
especially happy with Pam Pam restaurant.



FLIGHTS

we bought our air thru priceline. (never again)

1. our flight on dec 20 from boston to aruba was on Delta with a connection in atlanta. by the time our flight left the gate on dec 20 early a.m., we had missed our connection as we were running so late.

(plane had to be de-iced a couple of times and then there was a medical emergency onboard, then we had to be de-iced again, then there was no gate staff to back us out of the gate area.)

2. in atlanta after crying and having a melt down, delta put us on a flight to miami as we had missed our connection to aruba.

3. in miami we were then put on AA for their flight into aua. that flight was very late and we did not get in til after 11 pm.

return
1. our flight on dec 31 (United) was ok and on time once we boarded. we were denied our boarding passes and delayed at the counterin aruba for the better part of 75 minutes due to priceline's error in a ticket number. finally all was corrected and we got to dulles and then on to boston.

and united charges $44 for the "privilege" to sit in the wing emergency row!
how ridiculous.
the emergency rows were empty on the flight from aua to washington
no one was willing to pay the up charge!

priceline/name your own price = never again for airtickets.
i'll stick with booking them myself with AA or UsAir.


We had a very enjoyable time.
Again, met lots of nice folks and had a good time.

This is so very sad to read.....whatever happened to good manners and common sense and treating people graciously and nicely and....and.....just makes me shake my head in disgust and sadness.

~Amy~®

18th Trip to Aruba (Sept. 11-28, 2008) in

i agree amy, and these people's bad manners were outrageous.
talk about rude!!!!!

met up with your pal and mine eagle beach boy and he is well and enjoying his 2nd week of 8 at AM.

the staff at AM says hi too.
the renovations look good and that resort is so friendly and comfortable!
no, cranky americans there.

back to work now.....................if i were still in aruba, it would be nap time!

Awwww....I miss everyone at Amsterdam Manor. Haven't booked flights yet for April but booking our flights for Sept. by the end of today since the fares are decent.

Did you see ArubaLisa, too? Oh wait....duh! I read that you did in your trip report!

Maybe people need to take a "cranky test" before being able to travel to other countries. If you don't pass and are a "cranky traveler" then you're not allowed to leave the U.S. Of course, I'm kidding.....sort of.....

~Amy~®

18th Trip to Aruba (Sept. 11-28, 2008) in

Yet another question. (I'm like the bad penny that keeps turning up)

Where is Pam Pam?

Aruba Trip Reports