And man, where to start? First off, I had no idea what to expect. Which is a good thing, because it was so beyond my experience that any assumptions would have been wrong. It was a big corporate vacation for the top 10% or so of the company-- about 250 people, plus their guests. This had its pros and cons. Mostly pros, admittedly, but a few things that could be seen as cons from the perspective of this poor bohemian grad student.
First off, the climate was absolutely perfect. It was between 80° and 90° F every day, with a constant breezes. The island itself is more of an arid desert than most of the Caribbean, but the wind off the ocean added just the perfect amount of humidity. After three days, my dry chapped winter hands had healed, and my skin felt gorgeous. The ocean was warm and beautifully, almost unrealistically clear.
We stayed at the Westin Resort, which is probably ties with Halifax's Admiral Nelson as the fanciest hotel I've set foot in. All of our meals were provided: we got breakfast at the hotel buffet, for lunch we had meal tickets worth $40 per person (!), and dinner each night was arranged as a group. The dinners themselves were spectacularly set up, with elaborate settings and decor. Oh, and the food... the food was delicious. For example, one night, we had dinner on the beach, literally about five yards from the ocean; the buffet included both steak and lobster, as well as a raw bar with oysters and ceviche.
The company arranged activities for us. Jim and went on a "catamaran snorkel sail," which is exactly what it sounds like! We got on a catamaran at 9:00 in the morning with maybe thirty other careerbuilder people; the boat sailed up the island to picturesque spots and let us off to snorkel and sightsee. There were three snorkel stops in total, two close to shore and one in deeper water by a shipwreck. (The shipwreck was awesome, and was probably a highlight of the trip for me!) In between snorkel stops, there was an open bar, and around noon a lunch buffet.
On our "free day" Jim and went into Oranjestad, the capital city of Aruba. It was very tourist-oriented, of course, though in kind of a weird way; the shops were either selling cheap trinkets or expensive jewelry! (Jim and I wondered about the number of diamond stores. "I guess Aruba is a romantic getaway," I said. "Is an engagement ring really something you buy impulsively on a vacation, though?" Jim argued. I've since found out that it's more because of the lack of U.S. taxes and duty on diamonds. Still weird to see everywhere.) Still, the city was very pretty, and the bus ride into the city gave us a great opportunity to see a bit more of the island. For our second activity, we were supposed to do another snorkel cruise, but the day it was scheduled for was very windy. Other people who had gone on the cruise in the morning told us that the water was too choppy for good snorkeling, so we decided just to skip it and laze around on the beach. Which, really, was a great decision. :-)
The cons were all directly a result of it being a corporate vacation. Our meals were all paid for, but they were limited to a few restaurants at the hotel. The hotel was wonderful, and the food was great, but by the last couple days we were getting tired of the same restaurants. The fancy resort was absolutely lovely and decadent, but it didn't feel any different than, say, a resort on the Florida gulf. 90% of the people we talked to were Americans, and 100% of them spoke English. I suppose, when it comes down to it, being that American tourist is not something I'm wholly comfortable with. I'm, as mentioned, a poor bohemian grad student! I'm used to staying in cheap hostels and eating cheap local food. The whole time, I felt like I should be working at the resort, not staying there.
It was great to spend time with Jim, of course. It's the first time we've flown somewhere, and definitely a new experience overall for both of us. I also got to meet a lot of his friends from work, which was really fun as well. Overall, a wonderful week, and over too soon.
On to a crapload of pictures! Jim and I shared a camera most of the time, so assume all the good pics were taken by him. (Click to embiggen.)
Aruba from the air:
Jim held a parrot!
Pool deck. Beautiful, not to mention comfortable!
Palm trees!
Pool deck from the patio. On the left, you can see the workers setting up what looks like a wedding. Nope. That was for us.
Sun rising over the island, from our balcony. Beautiful.
The resort and beach, seen from aboard the catamaran! The resort is the one with the green column.
The color of the water was just unreal. Beautiful.
Jim and I on the catamaran! Yes, it was really windy...
Aruba from the boat.
Pirate ship!
One of the snorkel stops, and a good shot of the island's trees and rocks.
Jim's album cover!
The Piña Coladas. Oh god the Piña Coladas! Best Piña Coladas I've ever had. They were made of real coconut milk and pineapple juice, for one. Then, the coconut milk and pineapple juice were frozen into a sort of soft serve, and filled in a cup with dark rum. Soooooo good!
Shopping plaza in Oranjestad. Pretty!
Railings at the shopping plaza.
Oranjestad street. So colorful!
I held a cockatoo!
Jim also held the cockatoo. We also got to pet it!
The last night in Aruba, we had a big poolside party dinner with an '80s theme.
Centrepieces at the '80s-themed dinner. Bowls of water with floating flowers and the CareerBuilder logo!
Lizard at the pool deck. Ok, a note on the lizards: they were EVERYWHERE. Like squirrels in Michigan... every time you looked at a tree or bush, you'd see one.
Lizard close-up.
Looking down from the hotel patio. Pretty tree, right?
Do you see anything strange? No? Look closer...
EVERYWHERE!
