Aruba - getting around?

  • Thread starter rather-be-sailing
  • Start date
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rather-be-sailing

Guest
Hello Experts,
We have decided to NOT book an excursion with Princess on our Oct. 10th cruising on the Golden. However, we would like to see a couple of beaches and do some snorkeling on our own. Does anyone know of a tour operator/taxi that we could hire, inexpensively, for the day? Thanks! & happy cruising!
 
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Cruise cutie

Guest
:wave..we cruise in Aruba, and have a timeshare too..I do not know of a excursion for hire...BUt if you go to www.Aruba.com and click on that link it will get you to someone who can do this...:thumb...Have good luck. :)...Joanne
 
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tg_lindo

Guest
Granted I was in a gigantor bus when I was there, but the drivers and road conditions did not scare me as much as they did on other islands....driving was on the right, I'm pretty sure. Next time on the "happy island" I'll rent a car or see if the public transit bus routes work...I took a short bus ride and it was fast and clean.
 
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Cruise cutie

Guest
:wave hey Todd..they do drive on the "american side of the road"..:grin.. and while they are not as NUTS as a rule..I did get sideswipped at the airport last October in a rental.....:( and thank God the driver had insurance as US CAR policies are 99.9% NOT COVERED, you have here at home on Aruba cars..you have to purchase supplimental driver insurance in Aruba...and I did not have it in October.( thinking wrongly we were covered).....I was there with my sister and son, and nephew...so when DH Mark and I went this last March for 2 weeks we GOT INSURANCE...sigh..better safe than sorry.. so of course we had no accidents..:)..but we did have 2 close calls.......=eek.......the result of no insurance we were told..you are then the proud owner of a car on the island of Aruba..:(...as in you have to pay for the cost...so have a great time driving..the island is super..and the bus system is clean and reasonable!!..:cheers..Joanne
 
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rather-be-sailing

Guest
Thank you all for the advice! Just reserved our excursions for Grenada & St. Kitts. Starting to get REAL excited now.
 
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rather-be-sailing

Guest
I'm thinking more about renting a car in Aruba. We want to go to Baby Beach, and some other places to snorkel. Are there places to park? Do you have to pay for parking? I was considering the buses, but on another board, they said you spend a lot of time WAITING. With one day in port, we don't have a lot of time to wait on others. I also read that some taxis charge more, or even do not allow wet swim suit/sandy folks in their cars - another pro for renting. Am I asking for trouble? I've rented cars in England, and did OK there, so I should be good to go, yes? THANKS!!!
 
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taxmeg

Guest
try wix tours. wixtours.com should be the website.
we used them last summer (2003) when we were there for a week. much more personalized service than depalm. they have a jeep tour, and a van tour. but maybe they would work with you. it's worth a shot....they were dependable and lowered their fee to match that of another smaller company we were going to use but was sold out. we had such a blast that we paid MORE than he asked. (i think 30 bucks instead of the 25 he was price-matching. the 30 was his original price.
 
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taxmeg

Guest
try wix tours. wixtours.com should be the website.
we used them last summer (2003) when we were there for a week. much more personalized service than depalm. they have a jeep tour, and a van tour. but maybe they would work with you. it's worth a shot....they were dependable and lowered their fee to match that of another smaller company we were going to use but was sold out. we had such a blast that we paid MORE than he asked. (i think 30 bucks instead of the 25 he was price-matching. the 30 was his original price.
 
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Cruise cutie

Guest
Renting a car is easy..you can book ahead online.as we do..the only thing with the jeeps just as an FYI..there are a LOT of dirt roads..and tons of people around your vehicle drive like bats out of hell and you are EATING DIRT>>>> as in filthy all over by the time you get back to the ship...My best friends did the jeep safari ride as a tandem group..of 2 and were near a caravan of drivers..sooooo there were dirt clouds all over the place..=shrug..whatever works but I figured I'd mention it..also the jeeps have no locked storage area to "hide your cameras, bags, etc, so whatever you bring..if it cannot be left out..you'll need to "watch it"..and while I have never had any crime in my 4 visiits..others have..:(..so just a weigh the option..we rent a regular car, with air..(Aruba is HOT!.) and lock stuff in the trunk..Have a wonderful time..we =love Aruba....:)..Joanne
 
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LBcruiser

Guest
We rented an air conditioned car and it was AWESOME- we were our own bosses and got to see everything we wanted when we wanted for $80 total. There's no way to see all the beaches and other sites that cheaply and conveniently without a car (bus stops are along dirt roads in the baking sun- nobody should be that much of a cheapskate on vacation). There's plenty of free parking at Baby beach and pretty much everywhere else we went (downtown is probably pay parking but that's right off the ship so we just walked around there after we returned the car to do a bit of shopping). It's a beautiful island.
 
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carl

Guest
Rent a car. you caant get lost and you can get to baby beach quickley. While there go to charlies near the oil refinery it is a great place to have a beer and some lunch.


Carl
 
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