Nov 30th we were off to Aruba to celebrate Caitlin and Mark’s wedding. A few ‘first-time’ events for us: First all-inclusive resort; first destination wedding; and first (for me) Caribbean trip.
Why Aruba ? The package deal by Sunwing is more affordable than many other Caribbean Island destinations and the venue “Riu Palace” offers fully catered wedding packages. Being a Dutch island the food scene is reputed to be very good and Eagle Beach is known as one of the best beaches in the Caribbean. The island is also a snorkelers paradise and it’s location is outside the “hurricane belt” which means they have consistently good weather.
We had to add a couple extra days to our itinerary to allow for travel delays (living on VI we have to contend with ferry delays, as well as possible airport delays).
The first leg of our trip went quite smoothly. The flight to Aruba though started out a little precarious when a passenger had a medical emergency just before take-off, resulting in having to taxi back to the terminal, unload his baggage (which took over an hour to find), and then wait for new flight plans. The air hostess said they almost scrapped the flight due to time constraints, but knowing there was a wedding party on board they pushed to go ahead – Thank-you !!
4 hours later we were flying over the island and looking down upon the iconic azure Caribbean waters. Getting through security was quick and easy and then Sunwing herded us onto buses. An hour later we arrived at Riu Antillas. The resort has an adult only side, and a family friendly area where we were staying in order to be close by our Grandbaby. We had upgraded our room to have more space and better views, and we were not disappointed. Our suite had direct view of the ocean, pools, and the balcony looked down upon a stage which provided us with nightly entertainment.
After settling in we went to check out the buffet for dinner. Food choice was abundant and everyone was happy with the quality when we were done. The wedding was three days away, so the next couple days were spent playing in the pools and ocean. During our stay, we got up very early a few mornings to secure a Palapa and chairs on the beach, a necessity, in order to have shade and a place to relax during the day. We spent a lot of time playing in the kid zone with Freya and she quickly warmed up to us after a couple days.
Wedding Day: The day started with a mid-morning stylist visit – so, no beach today – and then an afternoon spent relaxing before the big event. The wedding was scheduled for early evening so it would be cooler and was set up directly on the beach. Chris waited in the downstairs lounge to walk Caitlin “down the beach walkway” with Freya leading the way, throwing (with Mom’s help), rose petals. The Officiate did a great job with some very nice words of wisdom and a smattering of humour. After the ceremony the guests were directed to one of the bars, (open for wedding guests only) where delicious appetizers were served. Photos were taken and then dinner was served at beachside tables with a dance floor ready to go. The servers seemed a little confused at first (we observed they did not bring the bride and groom drinks or dinner first) until someone in charge stepped up to direct them – apparently they had not had such a large wedding group before. Many of Mark’s relatives had come from Italy to attend the wedding, so we were over 40 guests. Dinner consisted of salad, then a plate of fish, chicken, and beef with sides, and the wedding cake for dessert. After speeches, dancing started and everyone appeared to be having fun.
We were told by a few people that the resort is one of the best all-inclusive they had been to. Being our first we have certainly been spoiled then ! The warm water, beautifully fine sandy beach, and good food made our stay very enjoyable – but we all agreed at the end of the week that we’d had enough buffet.