We are planning to honeymoon in Aruba during the end of March. My fiance and I (early 30's) are very laid back. We want to experience blue waters, relaxing sun filled days, and friendly people. Is this a place we can count on? Is it outrageously expensive? Is it romantic? Any suggestions appreciated!

Jen: It isn't too expensive. They say anyplace can be romantic with the right couple there, but Aruba is romantic, yes. You can stroll from hotel to hotel during the day on the beach, you can take a catamaran snorkel trip (the boats are right on shore), you can take a sunset cruise, you can rent scooters at your hotel and drive over to the windward side and the natural bridge and lighthouse. You can enjoy many very good restaurants, take a bus into town and go to the festival every Tuesday night. You can stop in a casino, have a drink and walk on the beach before heading back to your room. The island is safe and the people are great. Congratulations and have a good time!

I agree, Aruba is great. One of the nicest things about vacationing there is that no one bothers you. The beaches are generally quiet with no vendors etc. You can relax at your pool or the beach during the day, walk the beaches at night and not be concerned.

Make sure you take a sunset cruise. And take a day to travel into the cunucu (inland portion of the island away from the high-rises and Oranjestad).

You will enjoy this vacation whether you do a lot or do nothing at all. The island is very relaxing and the people are friendly.

Restaurants there are no more expensive than a nice restauarant in the US. Drinks, however, are a little more expensive, but hey, it's vacation...and in your case honeymoon. Enjoy!

Aruba is the Atlantic city of the Carribean. If you go there do yourself a favor and stay at the Hyatt. We stayed at the La Cabana and although it was OK, it was no luxury resort. I would also advise against going to the Marina Purata restaurant as we were urged by a cab driver. I think in the future when I want to gamble I'll go to Vegas and when I want to lay on a beach in the Carribean I'll stick with Grand Cayman.

In my opinion romantic includes lush tropical vegitation. Aruba is aird with sand, rocks and cactus. I also did not care for the people. The hotels are the regular ones that you could find anywhere. I spent 10 days on the island and would not go again. If you want romantic I think that you could do better.

Just returned from Aruba two weeks ago. We were there during the low season, so got a pretty good air/hotel package. March will definitely be more expensive- a good air/hotel deal (from the notheast) would be from $850-1000 p.p. for 8d/7n. The weather is perfect- 80's to 90's, sunny but breezy- never too humid. It is, indeed, a desert but I think this added to its allure- especially if you like the American Southwest. One day should suffice to see the whole island- either by jeep or rental car. I agree the casinos there are a definite scam, and I would never go there primarily for gambling- but it adds a little entertainment value if you enjoy that sort of thing. Definitely stay on the Palm Beach Strip- we enjoyed "hotel hopping" during the day. The Wyndham, Hyatt and Marriott are the nicest on the strip, but pricey. The Radisson is pretty nice and a bit cheaper. The Americana and Aruba Palm Beach are even cheaper (we stayed at the latter) but perfectly adequate and well situated. The Holiday Inn is A DIVE! Definite musts: The Tattoo "booze cruise", snorkelling over the shipwreck "Antilla" and manager party hopping. Dining choices are extensive, generally very good to excellent but expensive (avg. dinner $60-$80 for two w/ drinks). Even two subs at Subway with soda was $18! I still think dining on your own is a better deal than any meal plans and given the excellent quality of food, prefer this over an all-inclusive resort. People are very friendly and you'll NEVER feel unsafe, but you will occasionally be hassled by individuals promoting time shares and restaurants (the latter give coupons too, so I usually listened!). Sorry this was so long; I hope it was helpful though. Congratulations and enjoy!

The Holiday Inn in Aruba was NOT A DIVE. I stayed there in March '96 and had a great time.

Aruba was great! We went there for 2nd honeymoon. Stayed at Bushiri Beach (all-inclusive) first time and Wyndham the second. Subway is not as expensive as the other guy says. It is same price as US, so are McDonalds, etc. Some meals can be expensive, depends on where you eat. If cost is a problem, stick with an all-inclusive. You can eat and drink as much as you want all day and night and it's included in the price.

Good diving (for the one who is not real experienced), island tours, sunset cruises, great beaches, good snorkeling, no crime (we went 2 miles into town one way in the dark and didn't have to worry about getting mugged), casinos, golf, great and friendly people and lots to do.

Enjoy and congrats!

Aruba in February '98 Help! We are planning a stay at the Hotel Sonesta Suites in Aruba soon. Anyone stayed there recently? Where are the best restaurents for the CDN $ and the most interesting things to see and do? We will only be there for a week so we want to maximize our experience. How much to rent a car and where to go for best deal? Ditto tours etc. Hope previous visitors will respond!

Get your questions answered at the Aruba bulletin board at:

www.olmco.com/bbs/index.cgi

Aruba is a great choice. For all you ever want to know go to Aruba Bulletin Board (olmco.com/bbs) Harriet

Would love to know what prompted the comment that the Holiday Inn is a dive!!!There are no DIVES on the whole island. We have stayed at the Holiday Inn three years in a row and am returning there again this May. The hotel is not as glitzy as some, but it is clean, well maintained, the beach is lovely, olympic sized pool, the rooms are a good size, and clean. The staff friendly and helpful, a good tour desk,the food in the main dining room is good, not great, but good.It is within walking distance to several hotels/casinos. A nice place and in the moderate price range. Don't hesitate to book there. See the Aruba Bulletin Board at (olmco.com/bbs) post your questions there. Have a great time. Harriet

My wife & I went to Aruba for our honeymoon in Oct 95. We stayed at the Holiday Inn. We had a fantastic time. The people were great and the Island is gorgeous. From the powder white beaches with blue water to the other side of the Island with it's rock cliff and cactus. We rode mopeds all over the Island and also rented a car to drive to The Natural Bridge and The Tunnel of Love. The only thing I would have done different was I would have rented a 4 wheel drive vehicle.
When we stayed at the Holiday Inn it was plain, but very nice and about $500.00(weekly) cheaper than the other hotels on Palm Beach.
BTW we are returning to Aruba in Oct 98.

My husband and I just returned from Aruba last Saturday. I guess it can be a romantic place, but since we spent 2 weeks in Hawaii last August for our honeymoon I don't think anything can compare to that.

I thought the sightseeing was a bit disappointing. If you rent a jeep for the day, please rent it from a respectable agency. Our jeep was very dirty inside and although it was suppose to be a 4-wheel vehicle it was not as we found out when we got stuck in the sand and had to wait for someone to come help.

There are lots of great restaurants! We ate at the Bucaneer (seafood). The food was great and between the two of us we paid a total of $45. A great spot for downtown lunch is Iguana Joe's (right next to Little Switzerland in town). We also heard that Frankie's and Gasparito are suppose to be good, but we did not make it to them.

If you are looking for true aruba soveniers, I strongly recommend you visit "Artisana". It is not located downtown, but is on the way it is in between Benihana restaurant and the Kong King supermarket (huge can't miss it). We unfortunately didn't get to shop there because we arrive two minutes before they were closing on a Thursday afternoon right before 4 and they are closed on Friday and Saturdays.

The natives are very friendly. Just be prepared to get stopped every now and then and asked if you are interested in buying time sharing. They have these offers if you go to a meeting you can receive a 2-day free jeep rental. We did not go.

Also, visit the Hyatt. Our buffet breakfast at the Radisson wasn't the greatest and we discovered the Hyatt's buffet breakfast and for the extra $6 it was definitely worrth it.

Have a great honeymoon!

you may want to look at www.arubatourism.com.

My family and I are going to Aruba in July 1998

We are going to renting a house from Hugh Lamle

I'm just checking on the house from anyone who knows

about it....Looking forward to visiting.

Thank You Harry