Top Drive Aruba

[MBCruising]

I wanted to share our experience with Top Drive jeep rental in Aruba, since I could only find limited reviews prior to our cruise.  

 

For booking, I emailed our requests to Top Drive and they were extremely helpful.  We were given options to pay upon rental or pay prior upon arrival.  We chose to rent from the Manchebo Beach Resort, which was a short $20 cab ride for 4 from the cruise port.  It was very easy getting a taxi upon immediate exit from the cruise terminal building, with the taxi stand on the left. Upon arrival at the Manchebo Resort, the staff were extremely friendly and courteous, directing us to the Top Drive section of the main hotel's front desk.  The jeep was ready as booked and the staff were so prompt and nice, bringing the jeep to us and looking over the vehicle.

 

We rented a jeep gladiator with the beach package, which included 2 chairs, 2 snorkels and a cooler.  The jeep and beach equipment were in excellent condition.  We enjoyed having the gladiator as it gave an easy area to keep the beach chairs and keep the jeep clean.

 

For the day, we drove to the aloe factory, the donkey sanctuary, the red anchor, seeing the wild donkeys, Baby Beach with lunch at Big Mama's, finishing at Boca Catalina.  We got gas at Citgo Sasaki (where they were very friendly helping us tourists figure out their system), before returning the jeep to Manchebo Beach Resort. 

 

We had arranged for a later drop off with Top Drive since we're in port so long.  Since it was after hours, the keys were given to the resort front desk, and the staff kindly summoned a taxi very promptly.  

 

Of note, Aruba does not follow daylight savings time like our cruise ship did (Carnival) so in November, the time on Aruba was one hour later than Ship's time.  This is important when booking the times of the jeep.  

 

All in all, we had one of the best port days we've ever had.  I highly recommend Top Drive, for their friendly service and great equipment.  We loved having chairs at the beach of our choice.  Of note, the people of Aruba had to be the most courteous drivers we've ever met.  Maybe it helped that the jeep identified us as tourists with the logo on the side.  

[IBookHePays]

Thanks for your review of Top Drive. We have been to Aruba twice and are going again in September. So far, nothing has worked out for us, be it weather, or arrangements. I am thinking having our own transportation would be a plus. 

[jbrinkm]

Thank you for this! I have a reservation with Top Drive for our March cruise and we want to do some of the same activities that you did. Could you say more about which of your stops you really enjoyed, and also what the current entry fees are running?

[MBCruising]

On 12/25/2023 at 10:30 PM, jbrinkm said:

Thank you for this! I have a reservation with Top Drive for our March cruise and we want to do some of the same activities that you did. Could you say more about which of your stops you really enjoyed, and also what the current entry fees are running?

The Aloe Factory was free admission, though the aloe products were a little pricey.  It was interesting but we probably wouldn't do it again.  The Aloe factory has a store in the cruise terminal instead.  The Donkey Sanctuary is a do not miss in our opinion.  It's free to enter but everyone visiting was making donations or purchasing things in the gift shop to help the Sanctuary.  I believe the food for donkeys could be bought for $5 for a small pail.  If you have time, stop by a grocery store and pick up some apples or carrots and bring in.  That said, don't let the donkeys see them until you reach the feeding platform.  One lady brought apples and the donkeys saw them and wouldn't move out of the way for her to enter the Sanctuary.  Parking at the beaches we went to were free.  The lunch at Big Mama's was on par for tourist food.  We really enjoyed Baby Beach with clear calm water.  Boca Catalina water was choppier and, on the day we went, was too cloudy to snorkel. We're going again next year and might also spend some time at Eagle Beach.  Traffic was easy all day, with a some near the busy port.  Hope you enjoy your trip.

[drvmywifecrzy]

On 12/16/2023 at 1:55 PM, MBCruising said:

I wanted to share our experience with Top Drive jeep rental in Aruba, since I could only find limited reviews prior to our cruise.  

 

For booking, I emailed our requests to Top Drive and they were extremely helpful.  We were given options to pay upon rental or pay prior upon arrival.  We chose to rent from the Manchebo Beach Resort, which was a short $20 cab ride for 4 from the cruise port.  It was very easy getting a taxi upon immediate exit from the cruise terminal building, with the taxi stand on the left. Upon arrival at the Manchebo Resort, the staff were extremely friendly and courteous, directing us to the Top Drive section of the main hotel's front desk.  The jeep was ready as booked and the staff were so prompt and nice, bringing the jeep to us and looking over the vehicle.

 

We rented a jeep gladiator with the beach package, which included 2 chairs, 2 snorkels and a cooler.  The jeep and beach equipment were in excellent condition.  We enjoyed having the gladiator as it gave an easy area to keep the beach chairs and keep the jeep clean.

 

For the day, we drove to the aloe factory, the donkey sanctuary, the red anchor, seeing the wild donkeys, Baby Beach with lunch at Big Mama's, finishing at Boca Catalina.  We got gas at Citgo Sasaki (where they were very friendly helping us tourists figure out their system), before returning the jeep to Manchebo Beach Resort. 

 

We had arranged for a later drop off with Top Drive since we're in port so long.  Since it was after hours, the keys were given to the resort front desk, and the staff kindly summoned a taxi very promptly.  

 

Of note, Aruba does not follow daylight savings time like our cruise ship did (Carnival) so in November, the time on Aruba was one hour later than Ship's time.  This is important when booking the times of the jeep.  

 

All in all, we had one of the best port days we've ever had.  I highly recommend Top Drive, for their friendly service and great equipment.  We loved having chairs at the beach of our choice.  Of note, the people of Aruba had to be the most courteous drivers we've ever met.  Maybe it helped that the jeep identified us as tourists with the logo on the side.  

 

Great review.  How much did the rental cost for the day?  Did that include insurance?

[canadiangal40]

BUMP

 

[MBCruising]

We paid $330 for a jeep gladiator with the beach package.  We did not get insurance as we had it included in our regular travel insurance (purchased separately, not from the cruise line).  There were jeeps that were a little cheaper that the beach package could be added to.  They built my quote via email and they were very quick with replies.  info@arubatopdrive.com

[jbrinkm]

On 3/18/2024 at 2:10 PM, canadiangal40 said:

BUMP

 

I'll have my Top Drive experience on March 27 and I'll try to remember to report back in early April if not before.

[jbrinkm]

$224 for a full day in an automatic Kia Sorrento (7 passenger) w/ beach package, their insurance and an extra driver + taxes. The only downside is that you have to go to them. Their main rental place is inside the Hyatt resort, go through the main open entry and around to the left to find their counter. We returned the car to Manchebo. They have a lot to the right with spots marked for Top Drive returns and then you go into the building across the street (not in front of the parking but across the street you drove in on) and leave the keys. We took the bus round trip to get the car and get back for $5pp. 

 

They were very professional and the car was in good shape. The beach package had nice quality chairs and a FULL sized cooler (I wasn't expecting that and we had trouble fitting it with our 6 people filling up seats).

 

We drove from the Hyatt to Hadicurari Pier where we found free parking, did our drive, drove back, and had lunch at Willem's Dutch Pancake House just a few blocks away. My parents ended up staying at the Hyatt for the beach, casino and restaurant while we drove down to our dive. Then we came back for them and actually returned the beach package early so we could fit all of us in the car. Once we picked up my parents, we drove to the Butterfly Garden, then dropped my son off back to the cruise ship because he wasn't feeling well (very, very hot at the Butterfly Garden), drove to the Donkey Sanctuary, dropped our daughter and my parents back off at the cruise ship (we left them at the Citgo across the street which seems to be a popular place for small van tours to drop people), got gas, returned car and took bus back. 

 

It seemed like we didn't use much gas from the gauge but we filled it at the downtown Citgo - I think it was more expensive, we paid $7 to bring it back to actually full. You have to pay inside, at least there - we couldn't put the card into the gas pump.