Reliving our trip Trip Report, Pt. 3

[beachma]

Wednesday, June 2, 2010
We slept in…6:30 AM! Five AM being the norm at home…we don’t hit the beach early just to secure a chairs/palpa…it’s actually our favorite time of the day! We found coffee in the lobby to take to our chairs and set up camp for the day. The sun was just beginning to rise…there was a cruise ship coming in to port…blue sky…a few puffy clouds and water so turquoise blue pictures can’t even begin to capture it…paradise found!
We spent the entire day on the beach…eating, reading, enjoying yummy drinks from the bar and naps and conversation…walks….maybe boring in some opinions…but a perfect day for us! I was thankful for my towel clips that I purchase on recommendation from this board! The winds were constant but our towels were secured! I purchased mine from Target…2 sets of 2…they worked out perfectly all week! I was also thankful for my vacation vault purchase…we were able to secure our camera/keys/phones in the vault with no worries when we went to the bar, took walks, made our way to the pool etc.
We found the food in the buffet to be over and above even the 6* resorts we’ve experienced in Mexico. Plenty of variety…attentive waiters….no complaints the entire week. We absolutely loved being right on the beach for every meal at the buffet…the view was magnificent!

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After watching the sunset on the beach, we cleaned up for our meal at the Paparazzi at the Tam…we took the shuttle and enjoyed a bit of music at their pool/beach bar before dinner. The dinner was excellent…service exceptional and we loved the piano music during dinner…light jazz. We had a lobster/seafood bisque from this restaurant that was absolutely delicious! I’ve had many meals in very high end restaurant and their seafood bisque ranked right up there with the best of them!
We shuttled back to the Divi for a night cap and once again left our balcony door cracked to catch the sounds of the waves as we drifted off to sleep…

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Thursday – Friday, June 3 & 4
Up again to catch the breaking of another day in paradise on the beach. We pretty much repeated the previous day…I was a little anxious because my 78 year old dad was scheduled for a hernia repair this day. Thankfully I have siblings that were able to be with him and kept me posted. I rented a cell phone from Aruba Discount Cellular…Trees was fantastic. She was so accommodating and it gave me great peace of mind knowing that I had immediate accessibility from/to home. All went well with Dad, he was even sent home that day without any complications.
We did a sunset snorkel sail with the Blue Melody/Black Pearl. We taxied to the Marriott Surf Club and got our first glimpse of the “high rise area”. Again, I was very thankful we chose the low rise…everyone has a preference; while the beaches were beautiful…they were a bit over crowded for our liking. We did have a drink at the infamous MooMba Beach Bar. We had a nice conversation with a young Dutch bartender…he was only 19 years old! The sail tour on the Black Pearl was also perfect for us. It was very low key…only about 20 or so people. We snorkeled in two places, one being the Catalina Beach area, I don’t remember the other one, but we saw lots of beautiful fish in both places. The captain snorkeled and brought up a starfish for us to see and another of the deck hands brought up enough silver dollars to give one to each couple on the tour. They had an open bar and also served yummy cheese sandwiches. We were also treated to an acrobatic windsurfing demonstration on our way back to the pier. One of the crews’ younger brother is training for the competition that is held in Aruba in July. He was quite amazing! I would not hesitate to recommend this snorkel/sail tour to anyone who wants a step down from the Jolly Pirate type tour…while they all looked like they were having a great time…we enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere of the Black Pearl.


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We taxied back to the Divi, cleaned up and had dinner at the buffet. The food was very good…they had prime rib and yummy mashed potatoes w/pumpkin! Quite gourmet for a buffet!!! I know there was some kind of show/music, but I’m not remembering what it was.
To bed again falling asleep to the sounds of the ocean…
Friday was spent at the resort all day doing more of the same as the previous 2 days! At some point we walked down to the Tam to have a drink at the Bunker Bar…We decided that we were again very happy with our choice of the Divi for our stay. The Tam seemed a little more crowded and the beach at the Divi is much nicer, so much more room for palpas and chairs. That evening we had dinner at the Ginger restaurant at the Tam and thought it was very good. So far we’re eating our way to 5lb. weight gain by the time we get home! Tomorrow is our tour with Cerry and some time spent shopping/exploring in Oranjestad!

[sunnysmiles]

I'm enjoying your reports. Thank you for sharing! It brings our March trip back to the surface and relaxs me a little.

[Love Aruba]

I am enjoying your story as well. It makes me feel like I am back there. I see you went on a tour with Cerry. I can't wait to see what you felt about him. We really enjoyed our tour, but it wasn't long enough, which was my fault. Next year we will see the rest of the island.
Pat

[beachma]

I am enjoying your story as well. It makes me feel like I am back there. I see you went on a tour with Cerry. I can't wait to see what you felt about him. We really enjoyed our tour, but it wasn't long enough, which was my fault. Next year we will see the rest of the island.
Pat

We felt exactly the same...not long enough! Cerry was such a charming man, we will definitely book another tour with him as well when we are able to return!

[Andrea J.]

yes indeed he is a good man!

We felt the exactly same...not long enough! Cerry was such a charming man, we will definitely book another tour with him as well when we are able to return!