Siglaw1893

Here are some pictures from our day in Aruba at the Radisson, by the way.

Just curious if anyone has been able to get a day passes recently with the Radisson?

I was there two weeks ago and got day passes at the Radisson for me and my family. Here's as detailed a description as I can give of the whole experience.

You get off the ship and take a taxi from the Oranjestad cruise terminal to the Radisson. It's very easy, the taxis are right there when you come out and are numerous, and the Aruba laws are strict on the amount taxis can charge. It was only $14 for the whole cab (there were 4 of us). American money is as welcome and ubiquitous in Aruba as is the English language. You may feel like your'e in Florida half the time.

It's a 10 minute ride to Palm Beach past the Wendy's, the Taco Bell, the Pizza Hut, and the KFC. You will get dropped off at the front of the Radisson, which is across the street from the Hard Rock Cafe, and can go straight into the lobby (which is open to the outside to allow the trade wind to blow through). The Radisson is very well appointed and designed to incorporate the tropical theme they have going on, which includes lots of caged exotic birds, parrots and macaws. There are colorful lizards (blue, green, purple) wandering about, as well. You will go to the second desk (which is registration, the first desk is the concierge) and tell them you want a day pass. The person there had to call someone and ask if they could do that to make sure there was availability. The availability issue relates to the number of palapas on the beach, which go to hotel guests first. The day passes are $18 each, and that includes tax. They may charge you $19 apiece, however, because there is a $1.00 optional charitable donation to the World Hunger Fund or something like that. It wasn't optional for us. They made us pay it.

You then walk out the back and go towards the pool and a little to the right to a hut where you get towels. The towel hut is also the palapa registration. This is where you will discover that all the good palapas are taken or are reserved by the guests. Day passers get the left-overs. You will want a palapa as far to the right (when facing the sea) as possible. This is for two reasons. One, the public beachgoers who rent umbrellas from the many vendors on the beach (all the beaches are public) plant those umbrellas right in front of the hotel palapas and they start from the left (when facing the sea) and move right. Thus, the palapas on the "right" have an unobstructed view longer. Two, on the "right" you're a lot closer to Gilligan's, the hotel beach bar (which is very nice) and you will get much more frequent service from the roving beach waiter. Don't worry too much about getting a palapa up front. They will be all reserved by the time you get there anyway. And, while you can get a palapa closer to the front on the "left" side of the beach, it soon won't matter when the independent umbrella guy comes along and plants one right in front of you.

Besides the second dibs in terms of choosing palapas, be warned about the bathrooms. There are nice bathrooms by Gilligans in the spa building (which is to the far "right" of the property when facing the sea). But, you can't use these unless you get there just as someone is coming out because they require a room key. There are some changing huts at the pool on the opposite side of the property, but there were only two and one was being completely remodeled as of two weeks ago.

We didn't use the pool or go into the casino. We spent the day in the surf. So, in hindsight, I can't say that the day pass was worth it. What we got for $19 per person could have been bought for half that price from the beach vendors, and we would have gotten a front row seat on the beach instead of a back row palapa. The palapas at the Radisson are the standard ones made of dried palm fronds.

Remember also that, without a room key, the Radisson staff may assume you just walked up off the beach. While not unfriendly to others, they are apparently trained to focus service on the hotel guests.

The Radisson is a great central location for Palm Beach, in any case. The pier next door between the Radisson and the RIU Palace has food and rentals. There are rental tents everywhere selling parasailing and windsurfing. There is plenty of real estate to go around. So, even if you don't get a day pass, I recommend taking the taxi to the Radisson and making the beach there your hub.

Have a great time!

For those of you who used Thenford, did it take a little while before her confirmed your tour reservation? I booked online for my March cruise about a week ago and still have not had any confirmation.

When I booked with Thenford Grey for our up-coming March 18th cruise on RCCL's Adventure of the Seas he got back to me almost immediately, I think the next day. That was several months ago. I just reconfirmed with him the day before yesterday and he got back by email within hours to confirm our reservation and to express his looking forward to meeting us "if God so wills."

Our day pool pass per day per person is $18 and we don’t charge for children.

You can use our Hotel facilities the pool, get towels, chairs and a hut.

You can purchase the pool pass the front desk.

 

Hope to inform you accordingly,

So, I think there's some confusion based on conflicting posts about the Radisson day pass. At least one other recent post in another thread say that you don't get a chair and a hut/palapa with the Radisson day pass, and this suggests you do. There's also some confusion with the difference between an $18 day pass and a $75 day pass. The latter, as I understand it, is all-inclusive and would entitle you to the all-inclusive lunch, as well as access to other hotel amenities that one would only expect to enjoy if you were a hotel guest. The former, as I understand it, grants you license only to what is quoted above, although I'm still unclear on the chair and palapa.