Port @ night

[Patty421]

We are going on an excursion from 2pm till 7pm. Just wondering if all the shopping by the port is still open at night. Anyone know?

[cb at sea]

You should probably do your shopping earlier....before the excursion...it's not likely that much, except restaurants and casinos will be open that late.

[Arubalisa]

Stores in Oranjestad will be closed.

 

For nighttime shopping head to Palm Beach.

[CDNJehn]

We are in the same situation, arriving at 1pm and leaving at 10pm (so assume 9pm all aboard). We are planning to book an afternoon snorkel tour with Jolly Pirates ... any suggestions for what to do in port afterwards. Preferably within walking distance from the ship.

[KAWS]

I just talked to Carnival. The rep told me that when the set the port times, they set them according to the time that the debarkation port is. So in our case, that's Miami time. So we have a 2pm to 11:30pm port time but it translates to 3pm to 12:30am ISLAND time. Weird weird.

 

We don't usually book through the cruise line for excursions, but I'm thinking for this port, the best bet would be to find something that Carnival is offering for the evening as opposed to walking aimlessly around Aruba.

 

I asked the rep why they would have such strange port times. He said southern ports are further away plus our cruise put Grand Turk in as a first port (useless port IMO) then DR, so to get from DR to Aruba it takes a long time so that's why we wouldn't get in till 2pm ship time. Just never had a port time that was an evening one like this before.

 

Long story, but my point is that perhaps you're looking at the same thing as we are which is to book something the cruise line is offering for Aruba.

[OCruisers]

I just talked to Carnival. The rep told me that when the set the port times, they set them according to the time that the debarkation port is. So in our case, that's Miami time. So we have a 2pm to 11:30pm port time but it translates to 3pm to 12:30am ISLAND time. Weird weird.

 

We don't usually book through the cruise line for excursions, but I'm thinking for this port, the best bet would be to find something that Carnival is offering for the evening as opposed to walking aimlessly around Aruba.

 

I asked the rep why they would have such strange port times. He said southern ports are further away plus our cruise put Grand Turk in as a first port (useless port IMO) then DR, so to get from DR to Aruba it takes a long time so that's why we wouldn't get in till 2pm ship time. Just never had a port time that was an evening one like this before.

 

Long story, but my point is that perhaps you're looking at the same thing as we are which is to book something the cruise line is offering for Aruba.

 

If you decide to do something on-your-own, there are no longer fun party places in the town area right at the port. You'll need to take a taxi to Palm Beach because that's where the action now is in the evenings. :D

 

LuLu

~~~

[WendyVF]

On our first trip to Aruba we wanted to do the Jolly Pirate but with a "2 pm" arrival, it didn't allow enough time. We ended up doing it on a subsequent visit when we arrived at 8 and had a great time.

 

It's a bit of a taxi ride to where you meet and they want you there early to check in. You may want to check with Jolly Pirates directly on the timing. Be sure to take your confirmation. I booked our trip early and they had difficulty finding it. They let me use their computer to pull up my e-mail to show them I had already paid.