Just got back!

[Boonie]

Thank you to this forum and to all on here - we just got back late Sat from a wonderful island trip! I honestly can see why Aruba has repeat visitors, we met people that go back annually or more and stay longer than a week. This was a 40th birthday trip for my fiance who is still in awe as it was his first time out of the country and traveling to an island destination.

I did a timeshare exchange into Aruba Beach Club. The best part about this resort is the LOCATION! Beautiful beach and never had a problem getting a chair no matter what time of day. This is a place that alot of people call their "second home" since it is a timeshare. We quickly got acquainted with the happy hour times - Beer is expensive! I had warned my fiance about buying American beer but of course he didn't listen, so while I was waiting to check in, he went off to the mini mart and paid $18 for a Coors Light 6-pack After that we drank Balashi and loved it, I wish we would have gone to the beer tour. We didn't have a rental car but would consider renting a car perhaps on our next visit. There is so much to do besides being a beach bum which is the best part Some of the places/things we did:
Pizza Bobs - great linguini and pizza
Matthew's - very convenient as it was next door, nice Aruban breakfast. But lots of mosquito's by the outer tables.
Tortuga Bar and Grill - this was the pool bar at ABC, good food but never had anything Turkey available.
Smokey Joes - the wings are the best that I ever had! Love the sauce. We had rib appetizer sampler that was very good portion sized.
Senor Frogs - we went around noon and we were the only table there. I think it's a happening place at night. My fish sandwich was good. They have the beer yard sticks here.
Old Fisherman - took a while for food but was delicious! The fiance had a sampler meal that was huge, this would have been good for two people.
Passions - this was the highlight of our trip! OMG what an experience, very romantic, right on the beach watching the sunset. It was expensive but well worth it.
We had drinks at Hard Rock Cafe, Soprano's, Moomba Bar at the Marriott, gambled at a couple casinos including Alhambra right by the resort.
Trikes Aruba - HIGHLY recommended! It was so worth it, we got to see 60% of the island that we never would have seen before including the Lighthouse and church. This was so much fun!
Black Pearl Snorkeling - very nice, the tomato and cheese sandwiches are so good. This is not a booze cruise. We docked next to Jolly Pirates and may consider doing that next time, the rope people were jumping from seemed like fun!
Kukoo Kunuku Party Bus - we had Mama and she was a riot! We met some really nice people, went to 3 local bars and danced. I liked that they picked you up and dropped you off and the dinner location was gorgeous.
LOTS of shopping, but the malls were too expensive for brands like Lacoste, BCBG, Tommy Hilfiger, etc. I could buy that at home. I didn't go into any of the jewelry stores but there were plenty of them. We did shop at the Harley Davidson shop which is a couple blocks away from downtown. I mostly liked the local shopping.
The local magazines do have coupons so if you have the time to leaf through them, we did miss out on a couple but I'm on vacation so wasn't worried about couponing...! But I did take advantage of a couple of them
The airport wait was 3 hours so give yourself plenty of time for that.

~ I'm looking forward to going back but would consider all-inclusive or renting a car. I felt very safe and love that you can leave the resort area. I hate being confined to restricted areas and everything was very accessible and didn't have to worry about money exchange.

Missing Aruba already!

[Andrea J.]

thank you boonie.
glad to hear that you liked all.
we have stayed at the ABC a couple of times on timeshare trades and loved it too.

thank you for sharing and if you have any photos, would you post in the gallery?

re: the saturday check in at the airport........did it take 3 hours from arriving there til getting to the gate?

Thank you to this forum and to all on here - we just got back late Sat from a wonderful island trip! I honestly can see why Aruba has repeat visitors, we met people that go back annually or more and stay longer than a week. This was a 40th birthday trip for my fiance who is still in awe as it was his first time out of the country and traveling to an island destination.

I did a timeshare exchange into Aruba Beach Club. The best part about this resort is the LOCATION! Beautiful beach and never had a problem getting a chair no matter what time of day. This is a place that alot of people call their "second home" since it is a timeshare. We quickly got acquainted with the happy hour times - Beer is expensive! I had warned my fiance about buying American beer but of course he didn't listen, so while I was waiting to check in, he went off to the mini mart and paid $18 for a Coors Light 6-pack After that we drank Balashi and loved it, I wish we would have gone to the beer tour. We didn't have a rental car but would consider renting a car perhaps on our next visit. There is so much to do besides being a beach bum which is the best part Some of the places/things we did:
Pizza Bobs - great linguini and pizza
Matthew's - very convenient as it was next door, nice Aruban breakfast. But lots of mosquito's by the outer tables.
Tortuga Bar and Grill - this was the pool bar at ABC, good food but never had anything Turkey available.
Smokey Joes - the wings are the best that I ever had! Love the sauce. We had rib appetizer sampler that was very good portion sized.
Senor Frogs - we went around noon and we were the only table there. I think it's a happening place at night. My fish sandwich was good. They have the beer yard sticks here.
Old Fisherman - took a while for food but was delicious! The fiance had a sampler meal that was huge, this would have been good for two people.
Passions - this was the highlight of our trip! OMG what an experience, very romantic, right on the beach watching the sunset. It was expensive but well worth it.
We had drinks at Hard Rock Cafe, Soprano's, Moomba Bar at the Marriott, gambled at a couple casinos including Alhambra right by the resort.
Trikes Aruba - HIGHLY recommended! It was so worth it, we got to see 60% of the island that we never would have seen before including the Lighthouse and church. This was so much fun!
Black Pearl Snorkeling - very nice, the tomato and cheese sandwiches are so good. This is not a booze cruise. We docked next to Jolly Pirates and may consider doing that next time, the rope people were jumping from seemed like fun!
Kukoo Kunuku Party Bus - we had Mama and she was a riot! We met some really nice people, went to 3 local bars and danced. I liked that they picked you up and dropped you off and the dinner location was gorgeous.
LOTS of shopping, but the malls were too expensive for brands like Lacoste, BCBG, Tommy Hilfiger, etc. I could buy that at home. I didn't go into any of the jewelry stores but there were plenty of them. We did shop at the Harley Davidson shop which is a couple blocks away from downtown. I mostly liked the local shopping.
The local magazines do have coupons so if you have the time to leaf through them, we did miss out on a couple but I'm on vacation so wasn't worried about couponing...! But I did take advantage of a couple of them
The airport wait was 3 hours so give yourself plenty of time for that.

~ I'm looking forward to going back but would consider all-inclusive or renting a car. I felt very safe and love that you can leave the resort area. I hate being confined to restricted areas and everything was very accessible and didn't have to worry about money exchange.

Missing Aruba already!

[Boonie]

Sure I will post pics once I download them. We left the hotel about 3 1/2 hours since there was lots of construction. I would say probably from the time we got there around 2 1/2 hours only because of the lines and some people travel with so much luggage! Someone mentioned on another thread about not overpacking and this is so true, you want to leave room for the souvenirs I brought home clothes with the tags still on because I never got to use them. I love the casual atmosphere!

[ace2063]

Thanks for sharing!
I will be there in September for a weeks and I am considering going for 2 weeks in 2013 for my 50th.
You only live once!!!

[minky1225]

Thank you for sharing! I enjoyed reading your review!

[sunworshipperII]

YOLO thats my motto....(you only live once) so go for it..

[cpjones]

Great report... thanks for taking the time. So glad you had a great time... You will be back!

[griff11]

Great trip report, sounds like you had a wonderful time.
Thanks,
Greg

[rapp110]

We took out first trip to Aruba in 2003 and we have been back 5 times, number 6 is scheduled for March 2013. Friends do no understand why we return instead of going to other islands. But we fell in love with Aruba and I am afraid if we went anywhere else it would not compare and I would be kicking myself for not going to Aruba. I feel like we found our paradise no reason to go anywhere else.

Thank you to this forum and to all on here - we just got back late Sat from a wonderful island trip! I honestly can see why Aruba has repeat visitors, we met people that go back annually or more and stay longer than a week. This was a 40th birthday trip for my fiance who is still in awe as it was his first time out of the country and traveling to an island destination.

I did a timeshare exchange into Aruba Beach Club. The best part about this resort is the LOCATION! Beautiful beach and never had a problem getting a chair no matter what time of day. This is a place that alot of people call their "second home" since it is a timeshare. We quickly got acquainted with the happy hour times - Beer is expensive! I had warned my fiance about buying American beer but of course he didn't listen, so while I was waiting to check in, he went off to the mini mart and paid $18 for a Coors Light 6-pack After that we drank Balashi and loved it, I wish we would have gone to the beer tour. We didn't have a rental car but would consider renting a car perhaps on our next visit. There is so much to do besides being a beach bum which is the best part Some of the places/things we did:
Pizza Bobs - great linguini and pizza
Matthew's - very convenient as it was next door, nice Aruban breakfast. But lots of mosquito's by the outer tables.
Tortuga Bar and Grill - this was the pool bar at ABC, good food but never had anything Turkey available.
Smokey Joes - the wings are the best that I ever had! Love the sauce. We had rib appetizer sampler that was very good portion sized.
Senor Frogs - we went around noon and we were the only table there. I think it's a happening place at night. My fish sandwich was good. They have the beer yard sticks here.
Old Fisherman - took a while for food but was delicious! The fiance had a sampler meal that was huge, this would have been good for two people.
Passions - this was the highlight of our trip! OMG what an experience, very romantic, right on the beach watching the sunset. It was expensive but well worth it.
We had drinks at Hard Rock Cafe, Soprano's, Moomba Bar at the Marriott, gambled at a couple casinos including Alhambra right by the resort.
Trikes Aruba - HIGHLY recommended! It was so worth it, we got to see 60% of the island that we never would have seen before including the Lighthouse and church. This was so much fun!
Black Pearl Snorkeling - very nice, the tomato and cheese sandwiches are so good. This is not a booze cruise. We docked next to Jolly Pirates and may consider doing that next time, the rope people were jumping from seemed like fun!
Kukoo Kunuku Party Bus - we had Mama and she was a riot! We met some really nice people, went to 3 local bars and danced. I liked that they picked you up and dropped you off and the dinner location was gorgeous.
LOTS of shopping, but the malls were too expensive for brands like Lacoste, BCBG, Tommy Hilfiger, etc. I could buy that at home. I didn't go into any of the jewelry stores but there were plenty of them. We did shop at the Harley Davidson shop which is a couple blocks away from downtown. I mostly liked the local shopping.
The local magazines do have coupons so if you have the time to leaf through them, we did miss out on a couple but I'm on vacation so wasn't worried about couponing...! But I did take advantage of a couple of them
The airport wait was 3 hours so give yourself plenty of time for that.

~ I'm looking forward to going back but would consider all-inclusive or renting a car. I felt very safe and love that you can leave the resort area. I hate being confined to restricted areas and everything was very accessible and didn't have to worry about money exchange.

Missing Aruba already!

[hockeymom]

My boyfriend and I just had that discussion this weekend. We were talking about trip #6 in the Spring of 2013. He suggested I might like to go somewhere else. He's been to many different islands. I asked why? We both love Aruba, he's been to a lot of island where you can't even leave the resort, we know the routine and where everything is now, we always have good weather and love the people...end of discussion! As soon as we can get some decent airfares, it will be book!