De Palm Island Excursion vs Occidental Day Pass

I'm considering 2 all-inclusive beach days. Princess offers De Palm Island for $99. The Occidental with round trip taxi fare on a Sunday works out to be about the same cost.

I'm inclined to think the Occidental would be a better experience for 2 adults, plus they have a pool. The De Palm sounds like it has good snorkeling plus the added benefit of having transportation included, but it seems more geared to people with children.

Have you been to either of these places? I'd love to hear about your experience.

For the same money I would go the Occidental route unless you want the snorkling. The Occidental is very nice and recently remodelled.

Have a great day! Don't forget your sun screen and buy some after sun from Aruba Aloe, you will need it.

K

I'm considering 2 all-inclusive beach days. Princess offers De Palm Island for $99. The Occidental with round trip taxi fare on a Sunday works out to be about the same cost.

 

I'm inclined to think the Occidental would be a better experience for 2 adults, plus they have a pool. The De Palm sounds like it has good snorkeling plus the added benefit of having transportation included, but it seems more geared to people with children.

 

Have you been to either of these places? I'd love to hear about your experience.

I've narrowed it down to these two as well. Hope you'll get some additional responses to help us both decide. :)

Can anyone (Arubalisa maybe) tell me approximately what time you have to leave either of these resorts? Or in general how long you have at either?

I've read guidebooks and decided on one of these two places. We want someplace to spend the entire day all inclusive style. 3 adults, 2 kids. Please if you've been to one or the other, I would appreciate some insight.

As far as I am aware the Occidental all inclusive is until 6pm. I am not sure about De Palm, it should say on their website, but you may also be "required" to book De Palm Island through your ship. ;)

Thanks I will check Arubalisa. We would have to book DePalm through the ship. I'm fine with that but I want as much time as possible. Occidental's prices per kid is cheaper. Have you been to DePalm? Any thoughts?

We never do AI's...or excursions for beach days....kind of expensive! You can go to any beach, rent a lounger/umbrella and have a great day! Food/restrooms are pretty much everywhere. Come and go on YOUR timetable!

If our goal for a particular port is to spend the day at the beach, I will always opt for an AI if one is available.

There's 5 of us, maybe a 6th joining. By the time we pay for chairs and umbrellas, food, and drink, it's not anymore than if we had done it ala carte. I AM going to nix De Palm island though. I'm glad Arubalisa redirected me to their website. Looks like they shut things down by 4:30. We don't arrive in Aruba until 1pm. No thanks! We're going with Occidental most likely.

We don't get to Aruba until 1 pm either. I'm planning on calling the Occidental to see if we can stay until later because of that. Will update this thread when I get some more info...

We are arriving on RCCI in March and are looking at the Occidental. $78.00 per person for all you want to eat and drink, plus use of the pool and facilities. Sounds like a good deal to me.

We don't get to Aruba until 1 pm either. I'm planning on calling the Occidental to see if we can stay until later because of that. Will update this thread when I get some more info...

I contacted them as well. I will also update when they reply back!

I emailed the GM_GrandAruba@occidentalhotels.com this past week and I got this reply within 2 days:

"I would like to thank you for taking the time in writing to us. My Name is Alejandro Espindola I’m a Guest Service Clerk for the Occidental Grand Aruba Hotel.

Day passes are available and can be bought in advance. The Day pass has a cost of $ 78.00 for adults and kids under the age of 12 pay half price $39. The day pass starts from 9:00a.m. up until 6:00p.m. and Includes food, all drinks and non-motorized watersports.

In order to facilitate the request I have attached a Credit Card Authorization form kindly fill this out and sign it so we can process your request and a copy scan of your credit card back and front

If you require any assistance do not hesitate in contacting us, We are here to serve you!"

So I don't think my family will be buying these passes because we are in port until 10 pm. Too bad because it seems like a good deal!

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I've been to both Occidental and DePalm. I think that AIs make good sense in a lot of places, but it just isn't needed in Aruba. As others have said, just tell the taxi to let you off in Palm Beach, either near the Radison or near Moomba. You can rent an umbrella and chairs much cheaper. There are plenty of places to grab a bite to eat and drink right there. Frankly, I'm not impressed with Occidental. We did a tour when we were thinking of buying a timeshare. The beach is very narrow and there aren't a lot of places to get shade. If you are coming to Aruba in the afternoon it definitely isn't worth the expense. The food is mediocre. I like DePalm better, but it is very pricey.

We've enjoyed going to De Palm Island excursion through the ship many times and have always had a very good time. :D

LuLu

After doing more research, I don't think DePalm would be worth it for us with the time we are docked. Anyone have thoughts on Nikki Beach/Reflextions?

Relextions is right next to the restaurant, Barefoot. It is on a very small stretch of beach, not the wide ocean that you would find at Eagle or Palm Beach. It does have a pool and restaurant/bar. There are a lot of small boats in the water there. Some people have reported that they played loud hip hop music when they were there. Some people like it. Some don't. There are some threads about it here on CC.