Divi/Tam ala carte restaurants

[Arubalisa]

Just from an information point...One of the concierges told dh point blank that he could call instead of wait in line, but because all of those/these people took the time to stand there, she was going to give them "preference".

In a perfect world , I would like to see an advance reservation where folks could make their dinner reservation from home for their first night's dinner.

I am not too thrilled about buffet dinners, but more so after waking up at the crack of dawn and traveling all day. It is nice to sit and relax and have someone else serve the food. Just mho.

For all you frequent visitors, if you have any "secrets" to get around that issue, please feel free to PM me.

[staciarn01]

Hi there.,
My husband and I went in Sept last year and we did have to wait until night #2 to get a reservation. We actually didn't realize that we needed a reservation and showed up at the Red parrot with 2 of our friends and we able to get in by chance.....
We called on the phone in the room. I hope that we are able to get reservations and palapas without too much issue when we go the first week of october. I also hope that it isn't the "rainy" month done there.
Have fun.....it is truly a beautiful island!!

Stacy

[mgenestra]

How is eating in there resturants for breakfast and lunch? Do you have any problems with that?
Also, has anyone stayed at the Holiday Inn? How does that place look?

[Arubalisa]

Originally Posted by mgenestra

How is eating in there resturants for breakfast and lunch? Do you have any problems with that?

No problems with finding eating space at the buffets. When we were at the Tamarijn in June and the resort was sold out they opened addtional seating.

Also, has anyone stayed at the Holiday Inn? How does that place look?

When trying to decide between the Holiday Inn and Tam, our travel agent guided us toward the Tam in that she stated the food was much better. We have not had any complaints about the food at the Tam and think an even bigger advantage is the all oceanfront, beachfront rooms.

[agill72]

We are going to the Tam in 3 weeks and I have been going 3 years in a row now, You can get dinning most nights you want them however if you want to eat right at opening for example you will need to get in line early if you want to wait till 6:30-or later you can make it a day before or day of

[Arubalisa]

I can just say from our experience in June, that the later openings, 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. were a bit easier, but not always guranteed. The Palm Grill was very difficult to get. Our friends tried every day of their 10 night stay and were only able to get in once. They took the only time availalbe, 7:30 p.m.

[BostonLager]

Does anybody know if people staying at the Divi Village have to get up at the crack of dawn to stand in line for reservations for the ala carte restaurants?
I'm just curious.

So if we arrive on a Saturday night we can't make reservations until early Sunday morning and that would be for Monday night? Is there a chance we could get reservations for Sunday night if we get in line Sunday morning? Or is that doubtful?

thanks,

[Arubalisa]

I could be wrong, but I believe the Dutch Village guest would make their reservation at the Tamarijn. So yes there will more than likely be a line.

So if we arrive on a Saturday night we can't make reservations until early Sunday morning and that would be for Monday night?

When you arrive you can make a reservation for Saturday's dinner as well as Monday.

The question is will there be anything available.

When we were at the Tamarijn in June we could not get anything for our first night, but did get a "decent" reservation for the following night.

Is there a chance we could get reservations for Sunday night if we get in line Sunday morning?

See above. You will be able to make reservations when you arrive on Saturday for Sunday night.

Imo, go with the flow. Not everyone likes to eat at the ala carte restaurants. Not everyone makes reservations the day before. Some will wait until the day of and see if there is any availability anywhere knowing they can eat at the buffet if they cannot get a reservation.

There are a variety of restaurants with a variety of seatings. I know already for December there will be nights we will not be able to get a reservation until maybe 9 - 9:30 p.m. but the pizza bar offers plenty of variety of things to snack on to hold us over.

In June we knew we wanted to eat dinner off property a few nights so made one of the reservations for the night of our arrival knowing that our chances were slim of getting a dinner reservation for one of the Divi/Tam's restaurants which was exactly the case.

For December, on our first night, we will pay the $30 pp surcharge for the 3 course dinner offering at Windows on Aruba at the Divi Links. This assures us of a reservation and their food is above par than that of the Divi/Tam's restaurants.

[BostonLager]

Originally Posted by Arubalisa

I could be wrong, but I believe the Dutch Village guest would make their reservation at the Tamarijn. So yes there will more than likely be a line.


When you arrive you can make a reservation for Saturday's dinner as well as Monday.

The question is will there be anything available.

When we were at the Tamarijn in June we could not get anything for our first night, but did get a "decent" reservation for the following night.


See above. You will be able to make reservations when you arrive on Saturday for Sunday night.

Imo, go with the flow. Not everyone likes to eat at the ala carte restaurants. Not everyone makes reservations the day before. Some will wait until the day of and see if there is any availability anywhere knowing they can eat at the buffet if they cannot get a reservation.

There are a variety of restaurants with a variety of seatings. I know already for December there will be nights we will not be able to get a reservation until maybe 9 - 9:30 p.m. but the pizza bar offers plenty of variety of things to snack on to hold us over.

In June we knew we wanted to eat dinner off property a few nights so made one of the reservations for the night of our arrival knowing that our chances were slim of getting a dinner reservation for one of the Divi/Tam's restaurants which was exactly the case.

For December, on our first night, we will pay the $30 pp surcharge for the 3 course dinner offering at Windows on Aruba at the Divi Links. This assures us of a reservation and their food is above par than that of the Divi/Tam's restaurants.

Thanks Arubalisa We will definitely go with the flow. That's very good advice. I'm sure everything will work out just fine.

[Arubalisa]

Originally Posted by BostonLager

Thanks Arubalisa We will definitely go with the flow. That's very good advice. I'm sure everything will work out just fine.

I have to tell you, our first stay we were extremely anxious about what to expect from the entire all inclusive experience, a first in Aruba for us, never mind all of the very mixed reports on tripadvisor, regarding the Tamarijn itself.

Upon arrival it took us a good 3 days to get used to a new kind of vacation, as well as our first stay in the low rise area vs. the high rise area, but once we did it was terrific.

As to the reviews on TA, we decided if you took the good with the bad, the truth really did come out in between.

Hopefully you will enjoy it half as much as we do.