food cost in Aruba?

glamorous0813

I was talking to a travel agent today about booking a trip to Aruba and they told me to make sure I budget for the food because it is INSANELY expensive. She said that the food alone would cost about 2,000 or more for only 7 days! Is this true or an exageration??

Maggie0829

I have never been to Aruba but are you by any chance looking into an AI resort?  If so, food won't cost you anything.

But typically at resorts on islands food does cost more because of the fact that much of it needs to be imported to the island.  $2000 or more?  I guess it depends how high end the resort you are looking into is and if you are getting full blown huge meals 3 times a day plus whatever drinks you consume as well.

glamorous0813

No, we are not going to get an all inclusive bc we heard that there are so many amazing restaurants there. We don't plan to have full blown meals every day or for every sitting. I am not a big eater and my FI is average. 2,000 seems like an out of the park figure to me for 7 days. That's a whole other vacation!

allychase

We went to Aruba for 10 days and you're definitely right not to get an AI. We went to Barefoot restaurant (must go-to!! INCREDIBLE!), Passions on the beach, windows on aruba, wacky wahoos, madame jannete's (also delicious!), papillon restaurant, and a few others I can't remember. 

For ten nights worth of dinner (we ate lunch at the bar, not too bad a price) we brought 1300 dollars with us. That covered dinners, tips, lunch, alcohol, souvenirs, taxi rides, and shopping in downtown Orenjastad for my birthday. Aruba, like any other island, is expensive to eat out every night. But soo worth it, IMO. 

Tip to save money is going to the chinese supermarket down the street from the main strip and pick up alcohol, bread, peanut butter and jelly, etc for your room. We also brought with us packets of tuna fish, crackers, and other dry snacks to bring to the beach and hold us over between meals.

Hope that helps!

ETA: To answer your question, yes, it is a huge exaggeration.

aimers1525

$2000 seems a little exaggerated. Maybe if you have three full sit down meals a day like PP's said? Honestly, we just went to little cafes/restaurants to grab a bagel or fruit for breakfast, ate at cheap places for lunch or ordered a sandwhich to split from the pool bars, and then went out to nice dinners.

coraleetbwed

Aruba is expensive because everything has to be imported.  If you eat 3 full meals out a day for 7 days, it's going to cost you, but if you're smart like PP's mentioned, you should be fine.

Getting2Vowels

2000?? I hope that's a family of 5 for a week. I went a few yrs back and didnt spend amything mear that, I was there for a week. With adult beverages I think I remember spending about 500.. thats skipping breakfast here and there, a few drinks and dinner out every night.

SachaBee

http://www.restaurantsaruba.com/

This website has tons of reviews, but many of the restaurants also provide menus which include prices. I browsed a few at random, and it seemed like for my tastes and appetite, $2000 would be an exaggeration, but you can see for yourself.