aruba at night

[78232]

our ship will not depart aruba until late evening. The shore excursions listed are for the morning and early afternoon. Any suggestions for the evening?

[SanNic44]

There are a few nightclubs right across the street from the cruise terminal. They're loud but good for dancing and that sort of thing. Just one suggestion. What types of things do you like to do?

[78232]

are there any good local shows or interesting resturants..something comparable to a luau in Hawaii?

[cruiseapril]

We enjoyed taking a taxi up to the Radisson on Palm Beach (12 acres of grounds there)- went to Radisson's Gilligan's Bar on the beach. They had a band playing. Nice atmosphere.

[NewPennCruiser]

We stayed in Aruba a few months back although we have not cruised into Port there before. (we will do that for the first time in 2009) There is a lot to do in the evening around the island and if you have the entire evening to explore, your options are pretty wide open. We typically stay in the low rise hotel area and end up spending a lot of our evenings in town so if you want to just wander Oranjestad, everything will pretty much be at your doorstep.

 

The main business district is very safe to wander around and there are many restaurants, bars, night clubs, shops and casinos to choose from. We’re not talking New York or Las Vegas here but I think you get my drift. The shops tend to close early unless a ship is in port. If there are ships in port, they will stay open longer. It’s a similar situation on Sundays when most shops are closed, unless a ship is in port and then they open up. Restaurants and bars are open all the time and generally open late into the morning hours. Everyone is friendly and we never noticed panhandlers or locals bothering anybody to sell things like you see in many Caribbean ports. Don’t be afraid to explore. Some interesting "local" restaurants in town that we liked include Que Pasa?, Rumba and the Old Fisherman although there were many others. Senior Frogs (formerly Carlos n’ Charlies right on the dock) and Iguana Joes across the street are nice places to relax, dance and drink if you’re looking for something like that. Iguana Joes is upstairs and provides a nice view of the sunset overlooking the Yacht area around the docks. Oh and I mentioned casinos, if that floats your boat, there are two within easy walking distance of the ship. If you’re looking for a more exotic dinner on the beach thing or something like that, De Palm Tours tends to own the tour business on the island and they might offer something like that. A trend on the island seems to be beach dining and one of the more famous restaurants to offer this is the Flying Fishbone. It is located on the southern end of the island and your best bet to get there would probably be by taxi. We did not go there but I’ve heard nice things about it. If eating dinner on the beach at sunset with your toes in the sand sounds intriguing, check this out. I think there are other restaurants that offer this but I’m not sure where they are.

 

If you’re looking to head out to the beach areas, you can catch the bus or take the taxi to the low rise or high rise hotel areas. It’s not far. Arubus runs buses (Bus #10) out that way every 20-30 minutes or so and it’s only about $2. The bus drivers will accept American or Aruban money and they make change. Buying a round trip ticket saves money and they give you a slip to use to get back into town. You can easily access the Manchebo, Eagle and Palm Beach areas and there are many other options for beach bars and restaurants in that area. I thought some of the restaurants out there were more trendy or chain-like going after the American family dollar and we usually preferred the smaller local places in town. But that was just us. The buses run late and you would have plenty of options to get back to the ship before you leave. The bus terminal in town is actually just right across the street from where the ships dock. If you're looking for some beach bars, live bands, etc, the high rise area is probably a good bet to find this.

 

Anyway, those are just a few ideas. Enjoy your stay in Aruba and I’m looking forward to cruising there next year myself.

 

Dave

[serene56]

Our cruise was in Aruba from 8am until 10pm.

we used ABC-tours for half day tour- Picked us up at the pier and dropped us off at 1:30. We went back to the ship for lunch and clean up a little. The jeep tour allows you to get quite dusty.

We then headed to Palm beach for Sun and watching the sunset. By the time the sunset it was after 7 and we headed back to the ship.

 

You also might want to check out kookunkoo bus tour for night time.

 

I have not read anything about a "show" one like you described. We loved our stop at Aruba so much we are heading there for a week in Sept.