I'm going to break this up into different sections since not every experience is related to each other. We went for ten days and stayed at the Occidental Grand, which is all-inclusive.
Travel Agent - Liberty Travel Cherry Hill
My DH did not want to use a travel agent but I insisted because if something went wrong I wanted to be able to call someone. We ran into numerous problems along the way, like our travel agent not responding to e-mails, finding cheaper prices online, etc. A week before the trip we were so fed up once we heard what friends of ours were paying, we decided to call and complain. To compensate the fact that we were finding the price so much cheaper online, they were able to upgrade our room. The manager at the branch, Carol, was very helpful in these situations. We also had flight issues and even though they couldn't get our trip extended by a day, Carol was able to get us upgraded again. I probably wouldn't use a travel agent again unless it was for a trip with multiple destinations.
Airlines - Delta
Our flight was scheduled to leave Tues. Aug. 2nd at 6:30 in the morning, we had a layover in Atlanta and would leave there at 9:50, bringing us to Aruba at 2:00. At 6:25 when we were supposed to be boarding, they announced they were waiting for the flight crew, even though the pilot and the plane were ready to go. At 6:40 they said another 15 minutes. At 7:00 they said the flight was canceled and rescheduled for 10:00. This clearly meant we were missing our connector and of course, delta barely had any other flights to aruba that day. We were able to switch and take a flight to Miami at 12:30 and have another 4 hour layover, leave there at 7:30 and arrive in Aruba at 10:30, 8 hours after we were supposed to be there. All delta would do was offer $100 vouchers for future flights which didn't help since I had no interest in flying with them again and $18 total for the day in food vouchers which barely covers one meal at the airport. When we switched flights we also switched to American Airlines which was fine and delta was ok on the way back. Overall, I would not fly with them again and would probably fly nonstop from Newark.
Occidental Grand
My DH has stayed here before and really wanted to go back again if we were going to Aruba. I at first booked the RUI but we changed our mind because we liked the tropical feel of the Occidental more than the palace feel of the RUI. Due to our trouble with the travel agent, we were upgraded from a deluxe partial ocean view to a full ocean view with grand concierge service. When we went to check in, we found out they were not able to extend our stay one day because the resort was completely booked for Friday. Instead, they upgraded us again to oceanfront with a huge jacuzzi, which was nice. The staff at the Occidental were always helpful, the poolbar was awesome, and the food was great. Halfway through our stay, DH wanted to see if room service breakfast was available, which it is only if you are Royal Club. A few people had recommended it but I really didn't think the extra expense was necessary. When he was told at the concierge that it was only an additional $30 per day to be royal club, we signed up. You have access to another restaurant, bar with premium liquors, room service, free wi-fi, and priority seating at dinners. We felt it was well worth for the room service alone. The only cons we saw was that our last night dinner at the Italian restaurant was screwed up because they overbooked, the food manager came to talk to us about it and ended up bringing DH lobster for dinner which he loved. Also people not only reserve beach huts and chairs and pool chairs cabanas early in the morning, but they leave floats and towels on them at night as well. It didn't bother us too much since we're usually in the pool or ocean, but it was still annoying. Finally, there were a lot of kids. I assume it was time time of year and if you went when school was going on, it wouldn't be that bad, but it was not always a pleasant experience, especially when you're on your honeymoon. I think for our next vacation we're going to do adults only.
Excursions:
Kuku Kunukoo - This is a drinking party bus, and it's awesome. You go to dinner and from there three local bars when your first drink is included. We had a great time and met a lot of people.
Jolly Pirate - It's a replica ship that takes you snorkeling at three different sites. They provide a small lunch and at the last site have a rope swing. This was a lot of fun but reapply sunscreen, I got crazy burnt!
ABC Jeep tours- We did a half day tour to the natural bridge, natural pool, goldmining site, and donkey sanctuary. The jeeps were fun to ride in, especially down to the natural pool. We could have done without the donkey part though.
Overall, we loved Aruba. You always hear people say not to do all-inlcusive there because the restaurants are so nice, but we're not big foodies and didn't want the hassle of having to deal with money all that much.