Tropical Contact Highs: Eight Breeze-y Nights in the Southern Caribbean (Part 7)featured
So here’s a new one. I usually start a new post about a new day with “Blah blah blah the sun was shining. The clouds were gray. Yadda yadda etc.”
Not this day.
I woke up and our toilet wasn’t working. Mom found our steward in the hallway, who assured us it was a floor-wide issue and the ship’s crew was actively working on a resolution, but man, that’s not something you ever want to hear.
Anyways, the sun was shining and we were already docked in Aruba.
This was going to be a really exciting day for us for a few reasons. Mom has always wanted to visit Aruba (for no real reason – that’s just how she do). I needed to visit Aruba (it sits at the very top of my Kokomo bucket list…literally). Stephanie is obsessed with any island that boasts fantastic beaches. And back to me…I had big plans for Aruba. Expensive plans. But more on that later.
We didn’t have much time before we had to be on the dock to meet our excursion, so we grabbed a quick breakfast up on Lido (which meant more arepas!).
We were running a little late, but as we were rushing out to catch an elevator, I noticed that all of the lounge chairs were occupied – by towel animals! I had to stop and take a picture, even though we were running late.
To get to the parking lot where the excursions meet, you have to walk through a building that has a lot of local vendors selling various wares (very similar to the building you have to walk through to re-enter the cruise ship dock in Nassau). It’s not a long walk, but not a short one, either.
As luck would have it, my stopping us to take a picture of the towel animals was a blessing. Instead of getting pushed as the last people on a packed bus where we likely wouldn’t be able to sit together, we were the first people to board a new bus.
We debated what kind of excursion to do in Aruba for awhile and we ultimately settled on the Best of Aruba and Beach tour since it would allow me to see the island and Stephanie to get to a beach. And while it was a solid cultural tour that showed me nearly everything I wanted to see on the island, the time management for this tour was incredibly poor. We’d be told we had 15 minutes at a stop, but some people on our bus would linger for an extra 15-20 minutes before our guide would go get them, which made the tour longer than it needed to be. That said, Aruba is a gorgeous island. The landmarks, formations and vistas are breathtaking and the island, like Curacao, was generally well kept. We made stops at the Baby Bridge and Natural Bridge, the Casabari Rock Formations and the California Lighthouse.
It rained hardcore for about five minutes when we were at the Baby Bridge, but the sun came out shining brighter than before and we chalked it up to Caribbean storms. Our beach stop was at Eagle beach and did not include a chair (the tour guide told us it was normally $10, but they negotiated a $5 price point for us per chair), and as we were on our way, the skies really started to gray up. Our tour guide offered if anyone didn’t want to go to the beach, they would drop us downtown and come back to pick up the beachgoers in an hour. We took him up on the offer. As much as Stephanie really wanted to go to the beach, this beach didn’t look too great and we were sure it was going to rain.
And as luck would have it, moments after we stepped off the bus and I snapped that picture, the skies opened up to one of the most massive rainstorms I’ve ever been caught in. We took shelter in a nearby shopping center. There were dozens of souvenir shops…and a Tiffany & Co. inside Little Switzerland. I was a good girl and just browsed because I had bigger plans in mind.
See, I’d been working a lot of hours at work (and it was only going to get worse with holiday). And my reward to myself was…a new handbag. So once the rain let up, we made our way over to the Renaissance Mall inside the Renaissance resort.
I don’t even care that this bag cost me more than my cruise fare. Or my rent. Treat yo’self 2013.
In all honesty, though, I’d been contemplating buying myself a new LV bag for a while leading up to this trip, and the fact that there was a Louis Vuitton store inside the Renaissance Mall, which was in walking distance from the port, helped me make my choice. Not only was the bag slightly cheaper than it was in the US, but I saved a boatload in sales tax (which is around 9.5% in Chicago, which I believe is either the highest or amongst the highest in the United States). I started buying my Tiffany jewelry in the Caribbean a few years ago for that reason – you can sometimes save twenty or fifty bucks in the Caribbean, but you’ll hit the real savings in the sales tax. Especially, apparently, if you’re a Chicagoan.
Two things to note there, though. One, always do your research. Before we left, I checked the Louis Vuitton Web site for the address of the store. If the address isn’t listed, it likely isn’t an authentic store (or an authorized seller). Two, always call your bank and let them know you’ll be making a large purchase, the location and the date. I learned this lesson last year in Florida, when my bank blocked a purchase I was making at the Michael Kors outlet because I was making too many charges in too many states. Sometimes, especially if you use your debit card, an additional step will need to be made – even though I called the bank and told them I’d be making a large purchase at the Louis Vuitton store in Aruba on October 31st and they assured me all was noted and approved before I left, my card was declined. The associate allowed me to call my bank in the US through their landline and 20 minutes with fraud prevention later when all they could tell me was yes, they could see the note of my previous call but no, they didn’t have a reason for why the purchase was declined anyways, my card was approved and the Totally PM bag in classic canvas was mine.
We made a quick stop at the I Love Aruba sign just past the mall so I could take a picture with it to stamp Aruba off my Kokomo bucket list before heading back towards the ship.
We detoured back into the mall to get some souvenirs and found a Starbucks. We were parched and where there’s a Starbucks, there’s free wifi, so we took a little layover.
There’s a lot of souvenir shopping available near the ship, in the shopping centers across the street from the dock and in the flea market in between the two. We found the flea market had the best selection and prices. Stephanie had bought the last tie dyed beach bag set at one of the shops and I was super green with envy because tie dye everything is my jam, but I found the same set for five dollars cheaper in the flea market without having to barter.
It’s a bit of a long walk back to the ship. The pier is long and you have to walk through a small market to get to the ship. The flea market inside the terminal has more local goods (including a booth with locally produced booze) and is air conditioned, so the long walk isn’t all that bad.
We dropped our bags in the room and headed up to the Lido deck for a quick lunch. There are some nice views of the island from the ship, and the higher up you go, the better the view.
I took a shower when we got back to the room and just totally passed out afterwards. I was out for hours. This vacationing thing gets exhausting sometimes. I’m not even being facetious. We leave for our next trip a week from Friday and we’re actively looking for ways to get more rest when we travel so we don’t come home more exhausted than when we left. I think the problem is when you’re in new places and there’s so many things you can do, you don’t always want to take the time to relax – you want to see and do everything.
I saw and did too much. Out after lunch, up right before dinner. Around the ship, while I got ready for dinner, they were getting ready for the Halloween festivities for the evening. Carnival goes all out for Halloween. We loved it last year and we were equally impressed this year.
It was starting to storm again when we got to the dining room, which explained why it wasn’t too crowded – between Halloween and the rocky seas, it seemed most people either opted for alternative dining arrangements or a much later dining time.
Dinner was excellent. The petite filet was bigger than I remember it being in recent cruises and turkey tom night is always Stephanie’s favorite. To finish it off, there was a ridiculous dessert that made my jaw drop.
Lasagna Bolognese (Starter Portion)
Shrimp Cocktail
Chicken Tenders Marinated in Thai Spices
Vine Ripe Beefsteak Tomatoes and Buffalo Mozzarella
Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup
Oven Roasted Turkey
Petite Filet Mignon and Braised Boneless Short Rib
Special Halloween Dessert
After dinner, we headed up to Movies Under the Stars, where we grabbed some margaritas from Blue Iguana to sip on while we watched Casper. Props to Carnival on the movie selection, by the by. The nostalgia gave me the warm and fuzzies (that might have been the margarita, but I’m going to go with the nostalgia). “Can I keep you?” Seriously. My pre-teen self swooned all over that stuff way back when. Whatever happened to Devon Sawa?
We headed back to the room after the movie to get ready for the evening’s Halloween festivities. I have a hard time coming up with costume ideas and all of Stephanie’s ideas involved zombies or gore.
“Rainbow Brite?”
“A zombie Rainbow Brite?”
“How about Minnie Mouse?”
“Zombie Minnie Mouse?”
Mom settled on a devil costume, Stephanie a pirate and, inspired by a random post I saw on Pinterest, decided on Holly Golightly. The non-Zombie version, much to Stephanie’s disappointment.
Everyone around the ship was dressed up and there were decorations and activities at every corner, which made for a lot of fun. After a few laps around the promenade, we headed to the Red Frog for some drinks. There was a singer there that we adored. His set list was acoustic covers of rock songs, which was right up my alley. The drinks were nice and strong, the scene lively. We couldn’t ask for more.
Between the mojitos, the rocky seas and the Halloween spirit, I didn’t last long after we left the bar. Once my face was scrubbed, my teeth brushed and my pajamas on, I crawled into bed and passed out. With our last port day ending, we had two days at sea left to recharge with.
Today’s Lido Lunch Menus
Today’s Lido Dinner Menu
