Honeymoon at the Divi
After months and months of planning, my
honeymoon in Aruba finally took place at the Divi Beach Resort. We had an absolute blast! Here's the lengthy
scoop from our trip. Hopefully it helps out at many people as the previous reports
helped me. Okay, here goes nothing...
My wife and I left for Aruba on Monday June 10, flying on USAir from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
to Philly to Aruba. Flights were ontime and uneventful. We arrived in Aruba at 12:30pm and
took a taxi to the Divi. There was no line when we arrived, allowing us to check in right
away. We opted for the Casitas for the free honeymoon upgrade and requested via Lisa
Cusson for a room ending with "6", so that we'd be closest to the beach.
Sure enough, we were given #356, which is toward the Sandpiper Bar. After dropping the
luggage in the room and changing into bathing suits, we were on the beach by 2pm. Not too
shabby! Later in the afternoon, we grabbed a pizza and 2 Balashis at the Cocoa Bar before
checking out the resort orientation at 4pm, where they gave you the lay of the land. We
ate at the Red Parrot that night, where I had the churrasco steak and my wife had
something else. There were salsa and merengue dance lessons that night, but we were pooped
from lack of sleep over the past few days and decided to call it a night early.Tuesday we
decided to check out the Divi's free windsurfing clinic. Unfortunately, it was very windy
that day and they did not recommend any beginners out that day, so after the clinic we
decided to venture out on a sea kayak. It's a lot harder than it looks, especially when
you go into the wind and the waves! Much of the rest of the day was spent on the beach. We
did play some pool volleyball that afternoon and got free t-shirts just for participating.
That night, the Divi had their weekly Carnival show around the pool. They set up the
buffet dinner by the pool and put tables around the area. After dinner, the show begin. It
was pretty neat to see all of these elaborate costumes. On Wednesday, again we mainly
stayed on the beach to work on our tans. We were using SPF30 and only got burned a tad on
the tops of the shoulders. Everything else was tanning quite well. That night, we went on
the honeymooners' dinner at the Sunset Bistro over at the Phoenix. It was a set menu, but really nice to eat dinner as the sun
set in front of you.We ventured into the downtown during the morning on Thursday. The Divi
runs a free bus 10am-2pm to tour the area and shop. We bought a few t-shirts and a couple
of other miscellaneous items. We were amazed by how many jewelry shops there were! Ate
lunch at Mambo Jambo. That evening, the Divi had their honeymooners' fiesta, where they
gathered the newlyweds at the two resorts from 5-6:30 and played some funny, risque games
(anything involving bananas, balloons and zucchinis is always fun!) Dinner again was at
the Red Parrot, where I had the coconut shrimp. On Friday, we went on the Taste of Aruba
snorkel tour aboard the Mi Dushi. They take you to the coral reef near the lighthouse
and then to the Antilla and finally back to another part of the reef. Breakfast consisted
of donuts, pastries and muffins from Dunkin Donuts. Lunch was surf and turf with beef
wellington in a puff pastry shell and a seafood chowder. It was excellent! That night,
there was a limbo show at the Divi. We took the De Palm island sightseeing tour Saturday morning. It
is on a
bus, where they take you to the California
lighthouse, the Casibari
rock formation, and the natural
bridge as it circles the island. The driver was great at pointing out various subtle
things along the way too. Red Parrot for dinner once again, this time I had the lemon
teriyaki chicken. Sunday was our last full day at the Divi, so we took advantage of a day on the beach. That night, we went
on the DePalm sunset sail, where they take you out for 2 hours on the Palm Pleasure, a 70'
catamaran. Open bar
throughout the cruise with some light snacks; an olive and cheese skewer and a grilled
chicken skewer. When the sun came up on Monday, we knew it was time to start packing the
bags for home. We checked out at noon and hung around the Divi for a while to get lunch. Around 1, we took a taxi to the airport
for our 4pm flight on USAir back to reality. Flights again were on time and uneventful.
The weather: The weather was gorgeous! It was very windy the first few days, resulting in
rather choppy seas. By Thursday, the winds relaxed a bit, but were still around 20mph all
the time. We had a 1 minute sprinkle on Tuesday afternoon, another one on Thursday
afternoon, and a 5 minute downpour while out at Casibari.
Skies were partly to mostly sunny every day.
The food: We thought the food at the Divi was pretty good. The breakfast consisted of all American staples:
made-to-order omelets, pancakes, french toast, croissants, bagels, danishes, bacon,
sausage, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes and fresh fruit. The lunch buffet varied from day
to day, but I was pretty happy with grilled chicken or a burger plus a salad. We tried to
make sure to alternate between the buffet dinner and the Red Parrot. It
seemed like a good idea since we never got tired of either. The pizza and grilled
sandwiches at the Cocoa Bar were pretty good. The drinks were plentiful and strong, almost
too strong at times. The beer available is Miller Lite, Amstel Lager and Balashi. We
didn't drink much beer though. Almost any hard liquor you could want was there, with the
exception of Kahlua and Tequila (I never noticed them). There is a different "drink
of the day" each day and so we tried one every time.
The Divi itself: We really enjoyed the resort. There were a lot of
20-something honeymooners while we were there. The beach was never crowded and there was
no problem getting a hut as late as 10 or 11am. The beach was cleaned by a sweeper every
morning. The pool was always clean, as was the entire resort. The rooms were nothing
special, but were in excellent shape
and always clean. That was good enough for us, as we used it for little more than sleeping
and showering.
Overall, we loved the Divi and would go back in a heartbeat. We would highly recommend it
to anyone. We missed out on was the Kukoo Kunuku and we never got the chance to check out any of the
restaurants downtown as we were tired after each day in the sun. Nevertheless, we didn't
think the food at the Divi was bad at all and the evening entertainment was amusing.Anyone
who like to email questions to me is more than welcome to.
Stephen
Leyton
