Very Subjective....How Young is too young? Perfect age?

[Andrea J.]

I have a dear friend who says NO GrandChildren on Aruba!
She has a mess of grandkids from age 7 to about 5 mos.
No way, no how will she and her husband ever allow them to travels with them while in Aruba, says they are too young.

I respectfully disagree...sort of.

We had our son travel with us as an infant thru senior yr in high school and then a few times in college (ya do not do that) and now as a married man with kids.
I find that when the kids are not mobile..........infants, that is perfect!! One does not have to chase them at the beach.
However keeping them in the shade is a task indeed.

Toddlers.............ya, maybe toddlers in Aruba or any kind of travel is tough, toddlers are RUNNERS!! ........I remember seeing photos of me having a harness on that zipped in the back and being tethered to a clothes line. Is that even allowed today? In defense of my parents, the both had polio and walked with the aid of crutches and leg braces............so I get the fact that the needed to be able to keep me close and safe. Toddlers truly are "bulls in the china shop"

Perfect age...........6.
Old enough to know right from wrong....well maybe.

What do you think is too young for Aruba?

(perfect age for a cruise.......35)

[coldsteel337]

We have had Grandchildren with us since out first trip back in the 90's. Our grandson was 10 or 11. Since then we've had one that was 2 and others ranging in age from 5 thru 12 with us ( and their parents ) on various trips. It has always been a pleasure for us to have them with us and to show them things they have not seen or experienced before. Note: we have never had the Grandchildren with us for more than a week on Aruba and so have had time by ourselves also. The one exception was that first trip in the 1996 or 1997 where we fell in love with the island. That was a one week stay at the Dutch Village in a duplex apartment.

[Aruba4ever]

We started bringing our son when he was just 2. Two was young but worth it for us. He loved it...we loved it- all good. I guess it depends on the kid/family and the behavior/expectations of all involved. We did not dine fancy when he was 2....but we did starting at about 5 at the Ritz with him. They made him feel like a star and we loved every second of it! Our son is now 12 and has been here at least 20 times is my best guess. In a few years he is going to have so much going on with sports/friends etc I am glad we took him so often while he was young and could build a love for the island.

[Tuckahoe]

Last July we hoped to bring our grandchildren to Aruba for a week. Unfortunately my son tested positive and they canceled the trip two days before they were to join us. The babies were 2 1/2 and 11 months old. This year they will be 3 1/2 and 2 years old but are not joining us. My son is nervous about the return Covid testing to the USA. Also my DIL is pretty strict about keeping the kids “on a schedule.” For my husband and me the “schedule “ is the first thing we discard upon arriving to our happy place so watching them worry about the babies taking 2 hour naps , eating at exactly 5:30 pm and in bed by 7 pm would just make the vacation stressful for everyone.
We’ll revisit the idea next year but I think it’s going to have to wait until the youngest is 4 or 5. We took them to Disney World this past February for 4 nights and it worked out okay. We’ll do that again next year.

[robin]

I don't have grandkids, but raised two of my own and they went everywhere with us. Took our older one to Florida when he was 6 months old to visit friends. Drove all over the place with them including 12 hours to Canada(over 2 days) almost yearly. We really didn't fly with them both until they were 4 and 5 because we just didn't have the $$$ to do so. They both knew from an early age how to behave in a restaurant, in a store, in public, on a plane, on the beach, etc. There is lots to do in Aruba with kids-pool, beach, Phillips, Butterfly Farm, etc. It's a matter of what type of vacation people want. If you want to sit by the pool and drink and/or just relax and do fine dining, then you don't bring the kiddos. When our kids were young, most of the trips were centered around kid activities. Even when Stu's company(it was structured differently then) had conferences, he went to the meeting and the kids and I did other things such as, museums and then we did family things once hubby was done. Other people I know, did the opposite-left the kids with the grandparents and had adult time. We did avail use the kid programs(which many of the hotels in Aruba do have) and had time for ourselves. So, basically it depends on what type of vacation you want-adult or family or a little bit of both. Personally, for us, it was giving the kids life experiences and creating memories and if they are really young, just stimulating those brain cells with different experiences.

[Tuckahoe]

My husband also traveled quite a bit when our children were young. The kids and I would join him. We did the same as you: museums, but mostly zoos! My kids have visited 25 states. Their teachers weren’t always thrilled about them missing school but they took their work and we made sure to get it done in the morning over room service breakfast. To this day room service breakfast is a must do in our family!

I don't have grandkids, but raised two of my own and they went everywhere with us. Took our older one to Florida when he was 6 months old to visit friends. Drove all over the place with them including 12 hours to Canada(over 2 days) almost yearly. We really didn't fly with them both until they were 4 and 5 because we just didn't have the $$$ to do so. They both knew from an early age how to behave in a restaurant, in a store, in public, on a plane, on the beach, etc. There is lots to do in Aruba with kids-pool, beach, Phillips, Butterfly Farm, etc. It's a matter of what type of vacation people want. If you want to sit by the pool and drink and/or just relax and do fine dining, then you don't bring the kiddos. When our kids were young, most of the trips were centered around kid activities. Even when Stu's company(it was structured differently then) had conferences, he went to the meeting and the kids and I did other things such as, museums and then we did family things once hubby was done. Other people I know, did the opposite-left the kids with the grandparents and had adult time. We did avail use the kid programs(which many of the hotels in Aruba do have) and had time for ourselves. So, basically it depends on what type of vacation you want-adult or family or a little bit of both. Personally, for us, it was giving the kids life experiences and creating memories and if they are really young, just stimulating those brain cells with different experiences.

[Andrea J.]

We told the teachers and school admin.........we ARE taking our son, and if you choose to give him work, that is terrific. If not, that is fine too. We will take this trip as family time is so much more important than anything else.

I had a tee shirt that has met its demise. On the back it read, "It is better to have traveled a thousand miles than to have read a thousand books>

My husband also traveled quite a bit when our children were young. The kids and I would join him. We did the same as you: museums, but mostly zoos! My kids have visited 25 states. Their teachers weren’t always thrilled about them missing school but they took their work and we made sure to get it done in the morning over room service breakfast. To this day room service breakfast is a must do in our family!

[Jayshea]

Aruba is a no kids zone for us. When our kids lived with us we explained to them that it was Mom and Dad time ( beside the fact that we could never afford to take 3 teenagers with us). Maybe when we retire we would be willing to ask kids if they would like to come but for now this is our time away from stress and work!

[arubamark]

No Grand Kids yet(no rush either) but we have brought our kids to Aruba every year with us since they were born and do not regret a minute of it. So many great family memories as we watched them grown up. We are all doing Aruba this November and looking forward to it! Hopefully we keep this tradition going on for a very long time. I think dear wifey and myself do need a little quick trip just the 2 of us for a little break nut it would only be for a night or 2 tops lol Been busy last few months traveling looking at colleges for my daughter but not the same as a vacation.

[robin]

As a retired teacher, I used my personal time and we went. I asked the teacher well in advance for work and they did it, if we were flying on the plane, and if not whenever we could. The education they received while traveling, whether it was a museum, caverns, the Alamo, Boston Tea Party ship, Pearl Harbor, a plantation, driving around an island to see how others left, or many of the other places we went, the experiences were so valuable than reading about history or cultures in a book or reading about stalagmites and stalactites.