Besides the few awesome beaches, there is not al lot to do in Aruba. There are Aloe factories and Rum distilleries but other than that, not a lot.

We took the Aruba by Shore | Aruba by Sea excursion. Ride a bus with no windows through crappy neighborhoods to visit a lighthouse a fake gold mine and a catholic church.

At each location, the driver would say - you only have 10 minutes off the bus, so please hurry.

At each location, there was a disgusting bathroom facility that charged $1 - $3 to use.

The Aruba at Sea portion was a boat ride (that did not have enough seats for the 25 people) from a beach where the bus ended back to the cruise port. You get two free drinks (alchoholic) and a bunch of stories that you dont understand because its to hard to hear the guy telling them.

1-10 for that excursion.

As I mentioned, the beaches in Aruba are always rated in the top 10 on the planet, but go off the boardwalk a block or two and it just feels like your not in a neighborhood you should be in.

Nothing to do at the cruise port either - all parking lots and petroleum refineries. So you have to get transport out of that area.

I have been to Curacao about 10 times and each time I go there, it reminds me of how much fun it is.

The shopping (close to the port) - The Fort and mall are also close and always have good food to eat.

The Queen Emma pontoon bridge is always fun to hang out at- and of course right across the bridge is more really cool shopping.

The BEST THING about Curacao are the people. The cab drivers NEVER try to take you, the people are always nice, helpful and friendly and it's just a nice place to be.

One side note- regarding Mambo Beach. Mambo beach is the ultimate beach to visit. It has a Coral breaker about 100 yards out so the beach area is secluded and fabulous. - However. they charge you a fee to get on the beach (only 3.50 USD - which is well worth it) but then they try to assign people chairs. The color of the chair and the style of the chair determine the rental fee. The issue is that nobody polices it. 'Can I see your receipt for the chair you are sitting in please' is not something you will hear. So as the chairs fill up, they are moved and stacked and its just a free for all by the late afternoon. Then there are the 'sectors'. There are usually about 4 roped off areas on Mambo (for people that pay for the Mambo excursion or when the resorts need more beach space) but again, a rope isnt going to stop a group of 4 teenagers from sitting at an open picnic table that other people paid to sit at. DONT GET ME WRONG - IT IS BEAUTIFUL, clean, and fun, it just needs to be a little bit more organized for the amount of people that visit.

I have been to Mambo probably 5 times and there is always a tree or a space to sit if there are no chairs to rent. They also try to accommodate everyone. And they do a pretty good job. EATING AND BARS are right on the beach and they are all great.

So this was my first visit to Coco Cay although I have been on other RC Cruises since we had the boys with us this time, we selected an itinerary that included it.

Let;s start with the sticker shock. There is a killer water park at Coco Cay that costs about $125 per person USD to get into. There are 2 pay restaurants that are reasonably priced, and there is a exclusive Beach Club for people that want to shell out $450 USD per person for the private beach, spa and all that. That all sounds like your gonna pay a lot of money to enjoy yourself on Coco Cay, but there is a secret to having a good time. DONT PAY FOR ANY OF THE EXTRA STUFF. 1/4 of the island is the Beach Club, 1/4 of the island are the two pay restaurants and pay to participate pool areas, BUT THE ENTIRE OTHER HALF OF THE ISLAND IS COMPLETELY FREE. There are hundreds of beach chairs, tons of white sand, umbrellas, shops and the huge FREE eatery in the middle (which was having taco bar tuesday when we visited- FANTASTIC) -

The water park is cool, but I would rather snorkel around and see some fish or something or swim out to one of the many swim platforms they have (which a 6' person can almost walk all the way to)

The Beach Club would be nice, but I just found 4 chairs, 2 umbrellas and 2 tables right at the waters edge for my family to sit at. SO ENJOY COCO CAY without PAYING FOR COCO CAY!

ADDITIONALLY - you can still ENTER the pay areas like the waterpark, but you need a wristband to ride. But you can walk through all the areas on the island and take the tram to all 5 stops and just sight see. That was a fun activity.

Not much to say here. BUT READ THIS SO YOU DONT GO THROUGH THE MAIN DOOR TO THE TERMINAL AND SEE 5000 people and pass out.

The terminal is BUSY outside and in. They just got 5500 people off the ship and now they have to get 5500 new people on it, so it appears overwhelming at first. But its really just a lot of cars and vans dropping off people who then droop their luggage in the baggage area and then go into the terminal.

Once inside, you will need (as of August 2022) your negative covid test result from the previous 2 days, your passport your boarding pass and your vaccination card.

They are going to check those 4 items THREE TIMES. And there are fast moving lines all through the facility that you can hop into. NOTE THAT THE DESKS THAT ARE IN THE CENTER OF THE TERMINAL ARE ONLY FOR PEOPLE THAT NEED ASSISTANCE WITH PAPERWORK OR SOMETHING ELSE. At the third check - they check you onto the boat and you can walk right on.

We got out of the hotel van at 11:30am - dropped off our luggage at 11:45 - walked into the terminal building at 11:50 and we were EATING IN THE WINDJAMMER RESTAURANT AT 12:25. (That included the 10 minutes it takes to get to the WindJammer once you get on the board and try to find your way around) -

It looks intimidating but it is a well oiled machine - organized - secure and safe.

AGAIN- DONT PAY FOR THE 'KEY' so you get to go to the 2nd floor (which always looks more empty) and save 5 minutes to do the same thing that the people downstairs are doing.

Terminal was well protected, clean, felt secure and was very organized.