Author Topic: Arubian Nights: Mr. and Mrs. Bob's Weekend on the "Happy Island"  (Read 22424 times)

Offline Emkay

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Re: Arubian Nights: Mr. and Mrs. Bob's Weekend on the "Happy Island"
« Reply #40 on: December 21, 2015, 01:17:24 PM »
The laptop I used to book the glitch was good. The Coke on the flight was very good at first, but then not as good as it got watery. The room was good.

/Template79
Lol

Offline dealvr

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Re: Arubian Nights: Mr. and Mrs. Bob's Weekend on the "Happy Island"
« Reply #41 on: December 21, 2015, 01:21:00 PM »
What was amazing?
It's a dated hotel on an island without natural beauty other than being on the ocean.
Nice getaway I suppose especially on a glitch rate, but there are much better islands and hotels to choose from.
Within the same distance from NY, and a Hyatt in that category or higher, what are your suggestions for a beach vacation?
Hey there! I am using WhatsApp.

Offline David Smith

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Re: Arubian Nights: Mr. and Mrs. Bob's Weekend on the "Happy Island"
« Reply #42 on: December 21, 2015, 01:26:06 PM »
I'd have to do a lot more preparing and picture taking to put one of mine on DDMS.

I literally did 0 planning for this trip. I booked flights and tickets in 20 min. told my wife a week later. Packed some frozen meals, got upgraded at hotel, went wave running and went home.

It was amazing. End TR. Suppose I may do a longer one with pics sometime this week.
That's why you should ask the Mrs. to do the TR. I suspect she'll be a bit more verbose.
Who do you think you are fooling? You think you are going to pull a quick one on your Creator? Good luck with that.
JTZ

Offline mrprez27

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Re: Arubian Nights: Mr. and Mrs. Bob's Weekend on the "Happy Island"
« Reply #43 on: December 21, 2015, 01:46:56 PM »
Written by Mrs. Bob

Planning:
Two Tuesday's ago I was sitting at my desk at work minding my own business, when Lou texted me, "So-and-so booked a Hyatt glitch in Aruba and offered it to us. Are we in?" Always down for an adventure, and particularly for one booked with just 8 days notice, I responded with an enthusiastic, "YES!" Then the search for flights began. AA had no direct availability and SW didn't fly the route on the days we needed, but UA had availability in both directions for 35K RT p/p. Only thing is, we were out of UA miles after draining our accounts to date, to vort, and to marry. Armed with plenty of MR, and knowing that there was tons of availability for partners to book, we decided to transfer to SQ and book with them. We completed the transfer and spent the rest of the evening constantly double checking that the award space didn't magically disappear. Around 2:00am, our points appeared and Lou called up SQ, was subjected to a long wait filled with awful music, and successfully booked us onto the flights we wanted. Great, right? Ha.

Not ten minutes later (mind you, this is around 2:45 am), he suddenly exclaims, "Oh no, I didn't check JetBlue!!" I rolled my eyes, and rolled over in bed, hoping he'd just go to sleep too. Alas, I was out of luck, and sure enough, JetBlue had availability . . . and for less miles, and less tax! I'm sure those of you who have been playing this game for a while can understand the feeling of horror upon realizing you didn't get the absolute best valuation for your points and money . . . but all I cared about was sleep. Miraculously, I convinced Lou to go to sleep and worry about it in the morning. A word to the wise: always listen to your wife; not only will it save you agmas nefesh, but it'll save you money as well. "How?" you may ask. The very next day, aided by a semi-decent night of sleep no doubt, Lou suddenly recalled a friend of his who can use a Sooper Seekrit way of getting us cheap revenue flights. (PMs not accepted, so don't even try). Suffice it to say, we cancelled our SQ flights, and booked the revenue ones. With SQ miles valued around 1.35 cents per mile, we had saved enough on the flights to practically cover the food, the hotel, and all the activities.

We were ready to roll!
Nice TR...looking fwd to the pics...Is the "bob" name from your side of the family

Offline 12HRS

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Re: Arubian Nights: Mr. and Mrs. Bob's Weekend on the "Happy Island"
« Reply #44 on: December 21, 2015, 01:48:04 PM »
That's why you should ask the Mrs. to do the TR. I suspect she'll be a bit more verbose.

new rule, I do the games and take you on nice vacations. you write up the trip reports. deal k

Offline David Smith

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Re: Arubian Nights: Mr. and Mrs. Bob's Weekend on the "Happy Island"
« Reply #45 on: December 21, 2015, 01:49:04 PM »
Nice TR...looking fwd to the pics...Is the "bob" name from your side of the family
Sheesh.
Who do you think you are fooling? You think you are going to pull a quick one on your Creator? Good luck with that.
JTZ

Offline Dawie

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Re: Arubian Nights: Mr. and Mrs. Bob's Weekend on the "Happy Island"
« Reply #46 on: December 21, 2015, 03:17:24 PM »
+100

<3

Nice, TR! Seems... "familiar" :)
Well spotted

Offline Lou Bob

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Re: Arubian Nights: Mr. and Mrs. Bob's Weekend on the "Happy Island"
« Reply #47 on: December 21, 2015, 04:14:30 PM »
Friday/Shabbos
The tour that we booked started at 9am, which meant that our guide, Toto, picked us up at 8:30am. We had considered renting our own jeep and going off-roading ourselves, but in the end we decided that Friday was probably not the right day to attempt an activity which was guaranteed to get us lost. (If anyone should go for a non-weekend, I would totally recommend that though.) All the real jeep tours didn't give the option of driving the vehicle yourself, which is why we ended up in a UTV, which is basically a two person ATV with a canopy covering you.

Toto picked us up and drove us to Aruba's largest wildlife sanctuary, Philip’s Animal Garden. Apparently the guy who started the tour also started a shelter for rescued animals, and made that the first, mandatory, stop on the tour. While animals are neither mine nor Lou's favorite things in the world, we did manage to make it through,  and even feed a few, all while avoiding Toto's massive dog which trailed us. (For the record, I'm not afraid of dogs, but when I encounter one that's literally my size, I do my best to stay out of its way. And those of you who may have met me know that this is no gross exaggeration.)

After the animal show, we picked our UTV and got ready to start the real part of the tour. Toto gave us bandanas to cover our mouth and nose, and let me tell you, I was very grateful. Not just because we looked ready for a bank heist, but because when we finished the whole tour, the one strip of our faces that wasn't covered by sunglasses or the bandana, was coated in mud and dust. I shudder to think how much of that we would have ingested had we gone sans bandanas.

The UTV tour took us to the Alto Vista Chapel, the Bushiribana Gold Ruins, the Natural Bridge (which collapsed during Hurricane Ivan), the Baby Bridge, and finally the Natural Pools. Normally, the final stop of the tour is the Natural Pools, where you can swim in the beautiful blue waters. However, the waves were so choppy that Toto warned us that entering the water would be suicidal. Needless to say, we stayed out. We then headed back to the animal sanctuary, loaded back into the jeep, and were driven back to the  Hyatt. Overall, we both really enjoyed the UTV. Although the first hour or so started out a drop lame with the animals and the relatively tame driving, Toto definitely stepped it up a notch once we got to the more rugged parts of the island, and we got to drive over rocks and through rivers. I particularly enjoyed seeing a side to the island besides the white sand and sparkling water. (A link to the company we used can be found here._ Just one last anecdote about the tour: we were only asked to pay when we first got to the animal garden. Lou pulled out his Amex to pay (see his signature), but we were told the company only takes Visa or MC, which neither of us had on us. Toto waved it off with a ‘no problem, we’ll figure it out,’ and continued with the tour. When we returned to the hotel, he informed us he would come back with the card processing machine in about an hour, call our room, and we can come down and pay then. Sure enough, he did and we paid, but I have to admit, I was pretty astounded by the trust he had. Definitely not in Kansas anymore.
   
After bidding a second adieu and thank you to Toto, we headed over to Superfoods, the big grocery store located just 1.7 miles away from the hotel. We decided to take the city bus there, for the low cost of $2.30 per person. The bus stop is hardly a block away from the hotel and the bus ride took around 6 minutes total. Just be aware that even if you pay in USD, the bus driver will hand you change in the local currency. From the bus stop it was a short walk to the store. We raced around Superfoods, picking up what needed, primarily two disposable grills. We emerged victorious and quickly headed back in the direction of the hotel. It was quite difficult to get a taxi right outside the store, so we walked back to the stop where we waited about ten minutes for a taxi. (But, lemme tell you, those ten minutes felt like an eternity with the sun beating down on our already sunburned and dehydrated selves!) When we got back to the hotel, Lou set up the grill while I went up to raid the Regency Club for bottled water and soda cans for Shabbos. Unfortunately, the wind was not blowing in our favor and the grill only got hot enough to slightly mark the outside of our chicken cutlets with grill marks, so I had to finish cooking them on the electric burner that we had brought. (Lou: next time I'll need to start up the grill earlier   :-[)

After Lou came back from davening at the Chabad next door (literally, it’s in the hotel next door), we ate the Friday night meal with JJ and co. in his suite. His wife and I had coordinated beforehand who would cook/bring what, and we enjoyed a very nice meal together. After the meal, we went down to the lobby and had a bellman escort us back up to let us into our room (a decision we were more comfortable with than any duct tape option). (Lou: nice size minyan for such a small island. I think they have fri night/shabbos minyan every week)
                              
On Shabbos we ate lunch in our hotel room and spent the afternoon just relaxing and soaking up the sunshine. We walked around and explored a nearby hotel that, thankfully, also had no automatic doors. Once Shabbos was over, we walked over to the area situated on the left of the hotel. We spotted a Menorah before we found ourselves inside a very American looking mall, complete with a water fountain show and all. We headed out and spent time browsing through different outdoor vendors, picking up souvenirs for our families and, of course, awesome shot-glasses for ourselves. When I tried bargaining with one of the women, she just laughed. I guess most tourist don’t bother in Aruba, but I still walked away feeling good about the few dollars I had saved.

We then headed back to the hotel and entered through the casino . . . an hour and a half later we left the casino, not a penny poorer. Nah, we didn’t gamble, but we did enjoy a spellbinding blackjack show in which one man walked away from the table over $7,000 richer than he was when he sat down. We picked up a well overpriced but oh-so-delicious Haagen Daaz from a hotel shop and then meandered over to a bar where they were showing the Jets vs. Cowboys game with free shots for every Jets touchdown. Once we realized that only meant a free shot of some nasty green looking stuff, we went back upstairs, fired up our second grill, and watched the rest of the game enjoying some delicious, very non-green skirt steak.

The UTV Tour:


      









The Gold Mill Ruins from outside:


The Gold Mill Ruins from inside:


The fallen Natural Bridge (with a water smudge on the camera case):


Natural Pools




Directly across from the bus stop:


Grill #1:


Menorah:


The Mall:


Grill #2
Always use an Amex, you'll thank me one day.

Offline Marco Polo

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Re: Arubian Nights: Mr. and Mrs. Bob's Weekend on the "Happy Island"
« Reply #48 on: December 21, 2015, 04:22:07 PM »
Very nice write up. Glad you enjoyed.
Quaerite et Invenietis.

Offline Lou Bob

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Re: Arubian Nights: Mr. and Mrs. Bob's Weekend on the "Happy Island"
« Reply #49 on: December 21, 2015, 04:27:20 PM »
Very nice write up. Glad you enjoyed.
there is still more. Stay tuned ;)
Always use an Amex, you'll thank me one day.

Offline meshugener

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Re: Arubian Nights: Mr. and Mrs. Bob's Weekend on the "Happy Island"
« Reply #50 on: December 21, 2015, 04:27:53 PM »
First day is all written... Just need to upload pictures...

You still haven't uploaded pictures for the first post of planning day.

Take it one step at a time.
Love me or hate me. I still love you.

Offline Marco Polo

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Re: Arubian Nights: Mr. and Mrs. Bob's Weekend on the "Happy Island"
« Reply #51 on: December 21, 2015, 04:28:09 PM »
there is still more. Stay tuned ;)
This is like a roller coaster.
Quaerite et Invenietis.

Offline A3

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Re: Arubian Nights: Mr. and Mrs. Bob's Weekend on the "Happy Island"
« Reply #52 on: December 21, 2015, 04:29:04 PM »
Nice!. TY


Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Arubian Nights: Mr. and Mrs. Bob's Weekend on the "Happy Island"
« Reply #53 on: December 21, 2015, 04:56:48 PM »
Nice pictures an TR so for. Weird to see a desert-like landscape complete with cacti on a Caribbean island so close to the equator.

Offline mrprez27

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Offline yakrot

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Re: Arubian Nights: Mr. and Mrs. Bob's Weekend on the &quot;Happy Island&quot;
« Reply #55 on: December 21, 2015, 06:20:13 PM »
Most of the pictures are not loading.

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Arubian Nights: Mr. and Mrs. Bob's Weekend on the &quot;Happy Island&quot;
« Reply #56 on: December 21, 2015, 06:21:23 PM »
Most of the pictures are not loading.
Are you using mobile? They all loaded just fine online.

Offline David Smith

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Re: Arubian Nights: Mr. and Mrs. Bob's Weekend on the &quot;Happy Island&quot;
« Reply #57 on: December 21, 2015, 06:30:45 PM »
?
Lou? Bob? Get it? Think Crown Heights.
Who do you think you are fooling? You think you are going to pull a quick one on your Creator? Good luck with that.
JTZ

Offline Dan

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Re: Arubian Nights: Mr. and Mrs. Bob's Weekend on the "Happy Island"
« Reply #58 on: December 21, 2015, 06:39:38 PM »
Lou? Bob? Get it? Think Crown Heights.
-1
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline yakrot

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Re: Arubian Nights: Mr. and Mrs. Bob's Weekend on the &quot;Happy Island&quot;
« Reply #59 on: December 21, 2015, 06:54:24 PM »

Are you using mobile? They all loaded just fine online.
im on mobile