Renaissance Ocean Suites

June 2 - June 9, 2006 by Happy To Go

Aruba Forum Profile: HappyToGo

Just a little background for you. This is Tynne & Dave’s 3rd trip to Aruba, our first time taking our 9 yr old son, Bryce. We have stayed at a few different resorts while on vacation in Aruba they include; Renaissance Ocean Suites, La Cabana and Aruba Grand. Here is our adventure….

June 2nd

We were departing from Chicago O’Hare Airport flying UNITED at 6AM. Since we live over 2 hours from the airport we stayed the night at an area hotel and did the Fly & Park. We paid $82 very reasonable for the week parking and one night stay. We asked for the shuttle to pick us up at 3:30 AM, but they only ran on the hour so we wanted to be safe and so we took the 3AM shuttle out from the hotel. Well that was a mistake because none of the terminals open until 4AM. So there we sat for about 45 mins waiting. Then the ticket counters opened only to find out that the security doesn’t open until 5AM…Are you noticing a trend here? We got to excited and left about an hour to early! Oh well…we were going to Paradise… You can never be to early for that. Of course keep in mind that we have a very excited 9 yr old who was not happy with all this waiting! So we made it through security and headed to get some breakfast since we had heard that they no longer feed you on the flight. I found a great Bagel Shop and had them slice 3 different bagels into quarters and they were a great snack on the flight. We boarded the flight and had a pretty uneventful flight from Chicago to Washington D.C. then on to Aruba!

We arrived in Aruba a few minutes early which is ALWAYS a good thing! We made it to the Customs Line and we breezed through using the Flight Crew line. Then I decided to leave Dave and Bryce to wait for the luggage while I started the process of picking up the Jeep. We really like renting from Royal Car Rental. They are always very good to us, this trip included! (They always give us a free phone rental with our Jeep, I like that perk). When I got to Royal they told me that our Jeep was not available at that time…which was no big deal from past experience because they upgraded us to a nice SUV and made arrangements to meet us the next day and trade for the Jeep Wrangler. The SUV made getting all the luggage in much easier. So I finished up there and Dave met me at the SUV and off we went to start our week of Fun In The Sun! It only took us about 40 mins from the time we got off the plane until we were heading to the hotel.

We were not sure if our room would be ready for us because we were told that check in at the Renaissance was at 4 PM. It was only about 3PM. We thought we would just check in and test our luck. While I was standing in line I over heard the receptionist at the front desk tell 2 other couples that their rooms were not ready yet so I was not very optimistic that our room would be ready. To my surprise it was! ** NOTE TO INTERVAL INTERNATIONAL MEMBERS** On your confirmation letter it tells you to E Mail your arrival information and any requests to them to expedite your check in process. I believe it works because I had E Mailed that info along with a request for a Non- Smoking, Ocean view, ground floor room and I got all of my request and it was ready before checked in time. It is worth the 5 minutes it takes to E-Mail them!

Our room was very nice- #2145 . It was a beautiful ocean view lanai suite and we were very pleased with the location. Easy access to everything, parking lot, water shuttle to Private Island, pool and bar. I love to be on ground floor you don’t spend time waiting for elevators.

After we dropped off our luggage we headed to the grocery store. I have to say that we have tried a different grocery store every time and we like Ling & Sons a lot. However we had our Visit Aruba Card and we had a discount at the Certified Super Center- Mega Mall so we thought we would give it a try. I was please with their selection. We got everything we needed for breakfasts and a couple lunches and didn’t spend a fortune!

After unloading the groceries we headed out to the pool. The Renaissance has a very nice pool area. We are usually "Ocean Only" since we have a pool in our back yard, but I will say that they have a very nice pool. I like the free form pools it seems to give you a little more room to roam in the pool.

After the swim in the pool we headed out to one of our favorite places for dinner- RUMBA! I had been waiting for my Caipirinha for too long! It was just as good as I remember it…For those of you who haven’t tried it’s along the lines of a Margarita, but better. Dinner was great, for the 3 of us with tip was $75. Ricardo was a great server and a great photographer! I bet everyone in Aruba can take a great picture…I know we imposed on many Arubans to take a picture of us. After a great meal we made our way back to the hotel and called it a night!

June 3rd

Our first full day on the island we spent the majority of the day at the Renaissance Private Island. In my opinion the Private Island is the biggest perk of staying at the Renaissance. We have stayed at the Renaissance one other time, also in June and we are stunned by how quiet the Private Island is. I love it! We tend to go out there most mornings for a couple of hours then head back to the main land to get lunch and start another adventure. One morning we actually had no one on the beach other than the staff on the family side from 8-10 AM . We couldn’t believe it…The staff on the Island is wonderful. They are always happy to greet you and help you with whatever you need. We enjoyed snorkeling on both sides of the island, adult and family side. We did take our son to the adult side to see how the snorkeling was and I was glad that we did! We saw a huge Puffer fish, he was bigger than some of the Parrotfish you see in Aruba. We took a quick picture of him and went on our way.

Lunch was at Papagyos. It is your only choice on the Private Island, but it is very good (try the Flamingo Wrap-yummy). Lunch was late that day and it was a little more expensive than we normally spend, but it was worth it to be out on the island all day. We snacked at the room that night for dinner and skipped a full meal- Yikes!! We skipped a meal out…how will we ever get all of our favorite restaurants in?

That night we signed Bryce up for the Kids Club. We were not sure if he would like it or not, but we wanted a few hours to try our luck at the casino. So we dropped him off with Leidy at the Kids Club and off we went. We enjoyed our time at a few casinos and didn’t win a lot, better yet we didn’t lose a lot! When we returned to the Kids Club to pick up Bryce he was the only one there! I was bummed out for him that he pretty much was alone with the babysitter. I was afraid he was going to tell me how awful it was to be stuck there…I was so happy when he started rambling on about how much fun he had with Leidy. She played games with him, took him out to the pool bar and let him order anything he wanted off of the menu (dinner is provided in the Kids Club program but it is a hot dog and fries), I guess the bartender made him a chocolate milkshake and a flower out of a napkin. Then the best thing of all was that she taught him a few phrases in Papiamento! So all in all I feel that it was more than worth the $30 for 3 hours! Unfortunately they only offer the night program on Friday & Saturday nights so plan accordingly.

June 4th

Today we wanted to show Bryce the sights around the island. But first we had to make a stop at the Bucuti web cam. We were not sure if we would make it in time, but we did. We were the only ones there so if you look up June 4th you’ll see us! Anyway back to the sight seeing… we started at the Lighthouse and basically went all along the coast to the Natural Bridge. Stopping at the Alta Vista Chapel, Wish Rock Gardens and Gold Mine Ruins. Dave and I have built our Wish Rocks at the Gold Mine Ruins the last 2 trips and we have found them both times. The first trip we found mine standing perfectly, but this time we found them toppled over. So we built some more and took our pictures - a.k.a- our Treasure Maps so we can find them again on our next trip! Bryce really got a kick out of that. Dave wanted to bring his G.P.S. Unit along so he could locate them exactly. I think the pictures is good enough…we are serious about our Wish Rocks!

The Natural Bridge was a sad sight to see this time. Dave and I were so glad that we had seen it standing in past years, and so that made it a new sight for us to see this year. Still very amazing…After about 3 hours of sight seeing Bryce had his fill. We took the scenic route back to town… that is code for we got a little turned around….that is code for we got LOST! We made our way back to Palm Beach and stopped at Tomato Charlie’s for Pizza. We really like that place, and the pizza is great and the prices are even better. We made our way back to town and stopped at the Market. Since it was Sunday it was the only shopping open. We found a few souvenirs to bring back.

That night we went to Alfredo’s for dinner. Everyone on the board that commented on the large portions was right! They were huge! Dinner was around $65 that night (We had a discount again with our Visit Aruba Card). After eating we played miniature golf and I am not one for any king of golf, but we had a great time there. I would defiantly go there if you have kids with you. It is a fun night time activity! (Also a Discount with the Card- I get my monies worth out of that card- *smile*)

June 5th

Today I did a little shopping at the Royal Plaza and Renaissance Mall. Another great thing about staying downtown…shopping. I am not a big shopper when I am on vacation, but when you stay right downtown it is easy to walk down to spend just an hour or two strolling along the shops. I was looking for a new Wedding Ring for Dave as he upgraded mine a few years ago and he mentions it "all the time" I figured not only could I probably get a better deal in Aruba, but he would love the sentimental fact that it came from Aruba. We ended up buying one at the Gold Palace and they gave us a very good deal. I have to say that I feel sorry for our local jeweler here at home because Dave found jewelry shopping in Aruba much more enjoyable! We walked into one jewelry store and the gentleman asked me if I would like something to drink and I said "Yes, I would love a soda…" Then he asked the same question to my husband and he said "Well, I would really like a Corona but…" Viola` it was done, Dave had a Corona in hand, a couple of shops only had Balashi which was fine too! From that point on he found the rest of the shopping trip very pleasurable. I did too I got a beautiful Mystic Topaz Pendant! *wink wink*. Like I said our local jeweler may have to step it up a little more for Dave to jewelry shop in the states!

Dave and Bryce actually went golfing that morning before meeting me at the Royal Plaza. They went to the new Divi Golf Course. I am not a golfer, but they both really enjoyed it. Dave went there with the plan that Bryce would just ride along as the cost for 9 holes was a little pricey to have a 9 year old playing. He told the guy that Bryce was just going to ride in the cart with him and they wanted to change him $15 to do that. Then he said that for another $15 Bryce could play with Dave. So that is what they did. I believe that for 9 holes, club rental and Bryce playing as well it was a total of $145. Dave said that course was really very nice. It was hot, but I guess that is the way it goes.

That night dinner was at El Gaucho. We had made a 7PM reservation and I was glad that I did as it was very busy. We had a fantastic server and they also had 2 gentlemen serenading. It was so romantic even though we had a 9 yr old with us. We planned on having steak there, but we got there and Dave said you know I get good steak in the mid-west, but seafood is sometimes sub-par so I am getting seafood. Well the peer pressure was to much and so I caved and had the Salmon. It was not disappointing at all. I guess we will have to go back to try the steaks that we have heard so much about! That was probably our most expensive dinner on this trip. I believe for the 3 of us, appetizer, dinner and drinks ( 2 glasses of wine and 2 cocktails- no room for desert) our bill was about $130. Service at El Gaucho was some of best we have ever had on the Island, we tipped accordingly.

June 6th

Up and at it this morning… We had to get down to business as we were at the half way point of our trip! We went to the Private Island for a couple hours that morning. Then by 11AM we had made our way down to Baby Beach. When we pulled up we noticed something very new on the Beach. They had Cabana’s. I went down to ask the gentleman how much for the Cabana. He told me it was $30 for the Cabana, 2 chairs and a raft. Which sounded reasonable to me, but we went there to Snorkel and we just wanted a place to eat our sack lunch and put our stuff so it wasn’t covered in sand. I passed on that and I was glad that I did because the waves were very rough and hard for Bryce to swim against. We only stayed a little over an hour. But it was beautiful as always. Everyone that sees my pictures always comments on that colors from Baby Beach…

We also drove around that side of the Island for awhile showing Bryce some of the rough waves near Bachelors Beach. Did anyone notice the face lift that the Anchor got there? RED...what a great color against the blue of the ocean!

Then it was up to Boca Catalina where we hoped the water wouldn’t be as rough. It was perfect. Bryce found his favorite Snorkeling spot. The water was calm and very clear. He loved looking for shells and hermit crabs. He found plenty of both in that area. We spent most of the day in the water and finally returned to the hotel to get ready for dinner at sunset.

We went to The Buccaneer for the first time. It was a very neat place. Bryce thought it was very cool. We will go back when we have him with us. There were a lot of families there and that equaled a lot of screaming kids! I didn’t mind, but if I was kid-less I would not put it on my list of "must-go" places. The service was quick, the food was pretty good. Our meal was very reasonable at $65.

After dinner we planned to go to the Alhambra for the Magic Show. When we got there I went into the casino to ask about tickets and the lady told me that it was no longer there. It had magically disappeared!!!! We had gotten a flyer about it in the coupon books from the airport. I guess it must only be in the high season . Our son was disappointed about that so we thought we would cheer him up and take him to Palm Beach to hit some of the night shops and get dessert. We stopped in at Amici’s for a treat. They have great cheese cakes. That night they also had a great singer. We sat and listened to him for about an hour. We did a little shopping in that area. Dave likes the cigar shop by Tango’s. In fact the only time I have ever seen Dave clip a coupon is in Aruba for that particular Cigar Shop. I don’t think the owner was amused when he brought in 3 coupons one night to see what he could get. They worked him a very good deal…taking all 3 of his coupons! HeeHee

June 7th

This morning we got up and ate breakfast at the new Piazza in the Renaissance. I believe it used to be called La Terraza. I love the "new" retro look it has. I had some kind of pancakes that had coconut and pecans…Absolutely wonderful.

Then it was off to the pool for a little swim. We planned to take Bryce to De Palm Island that afternoon (half day). He really wanted to go back up to Boca Catalina, but we promised him the snorkeling would be better at De Palm. Well we got there and couldn’t believe the new additions to De Palm. They are not completely finished yet, but they are putting in a water park on the North side and the south side was completely different than what we remember from Oct of 2004. They have made 2 beach areas on the snorkel side which was a lot of fun when the big waves would come in. As for the Snorkeling area instead of having just one entrance into the water they have 2 or 3 now. Makes it much easier to get in and out. The fish are everywhere and they love to follow you. Dave saw a couple of sea snakes again this time, thankfully I didn’t see them. The food wasn’t as good this time as it was the last time. They used to have a pick up window that you could get a burger, chicken sate’ and snack foods like that. This time they just kept the buffet going the whole time so it was the same thing all day. The day that we were there I know they were having some electric problems because of construction they didn’t have power throughout De Palm Island- The frozen drinks were not frozen…yikes! Yet, we still drank them, go figure.

June 8th

Our last full day we left open for whatever Bryce wanted to do. He chose to go Snorkeling at his favorite spots and look for shells. So we jumped in the Jeep and headed up near the Lighthouse and worked our way down to Malmok. Another great day of snorkeling. We saw a Green Moray Eel near Malmok that was fascinating. It was a little scary too, again we took a quick picture of it and went on our way. We saw a lot of angelfish there too. At some point in our trip we bought the Snorkel Snacks sold around the island for $10-12. They were great although the fish swarm you. It was fun for Bryce to see them all up close…one hungry Bermuda Chub took a bite of my finger. I thought it would be a better option than the bread crumbs that I see people throw out to them.

We stayed to watch the sunset and it was beautiful. With a day so full of water activities I felt like I was still swaying with the waves all night. No it wasn’t the alcohol…I was sober! *Smile* We had dinner that night at Smokey Joes. We love the Mahi Mahi Caesar Salad. We stopped next door at Dunkin Donuts to get breakfast for the next morning since we had finished off all of our breakfast foods for the week.

Then it was back to the hotel and time to pack up…

June 9th

The day that we all hate to see come! We started out at the Private Island for one last Hoorah. Then to the Royal Plaza to buy some last minute gifts to bring home. Our tradition is to eat lunch at Iguana Joe’s before the flight home. We like the Mahi Mahi Club. After that mission was completed we headed to the airport.

Our flight was to leave at 3:30PM. We arrived at the airport about 1PM. Since we have always been to Aruba during low season we have gradually decreased the amount of time we allow ourselves at the airport by about 15 mins every time. I think that we have found the perfect amount of time. We made it through all of the security lines and check points and we had about a 40-50 minute wait at the gate before we boarded. I thought that was good timing. Everything went very smooth except for when our son forgot his backpack at the luggage pick-up. Thank goodness he remembered it before we went through U.S. Customs. I don’t know if they would have given us a hard time there or not. The flight was a non stop to Chicago. I would try to pack a Subway sandwich or something with you for a nonstop flight. We bought one of the United Snack packs and one of the meals and it wasn’t worth it. I should have splurged on the $7 box of Cheez-it Snack Mix in the Aruba airport. You learn something new on every trip.

When we got home the pilot informed us that it was only 57 degrees in Chicago, it was almost enough to send me into a temper tantrum, but I refrained knowing that our memories of our 3rd trip to Aruba will keep me warm until next time.

Thanks again to all of you who have answered my posts over the last few years I really enjoy hanging out with you all on the Aruba-travel guide board! It is like Home-Away-From-Aruba when we chat!

May all your days be sunny…

~Happy To Go & Family
a.k.a Tynne, Dave & Bryce