Our Honeymoon

Divi Aruba Beach Resort

Andrea at sign
Andrea in town
View from hut
At the beach
Together at sunset dinner
Together after sunset dinner
Together on boardwalk
Sunset silhouette
Andrea poolside
Andrea at breakfast
Mark on beach
We arrived at the airport shortly after 5:00 a.m. in the morning after we were married. The only Sun Country flight to Aruba that weekend left early that morning. We had a longer than expected layover in Detroit which was only memorable because we had to wake up and get off the plane for a period of time.

The tour bus was waiting for us as we emerged from the terminal in Aruba and dropped us off at the resort within a few minutes. The ride took us through the main city and by several of the attractions. Despite contacting the Divi via fax and telephone to verify our honeymoon accommodations, they were unable to provide us with an ocean-view room upon our arrival. We fought with the desk manager over the matter but did not get very far with him. In the first 24 hours we had three different rooms assigned to us.

The Divi provided a nice package of specials and discounts for those of us who were there on a honeymoon. They greeted us with a bottle of champagne and organized other special gatherings.

After the initial hassles, the remainder of our honeymoon was all we hoped it would be. The staff was friendly and attentive, the food and refreshments kept us more than satisfied, the vendors and entertainment were great, and the sun and beach provided the tropical relaxation that makes a dream honeymoon possible. In fact, we only left the resort for part of an afternoon and went into the main city but returned after discovering that we weren't missing out on much. It was fun to walk through and see the various shops and to enjoy the Dutch architecture.

Each evening after sunset there was a show in which local talent would perform. We made a point to enjoy this most evenings. There were vendors on site a couple of nights as well. Their offerings and prices were at least as good as what we found in the main city. There was also music and dancing each night along the boardwalk and gazebo.

The highlight of our trip was a special honeymoon dinner at the Phoenix. The Divi arranged for a busload of honeymooners to enjoy a romantic sunset dinner on the beach there. We will always remember dancing on the beach under the stars to the distant sound of the band.

After the first few days of recovering, we developed a routine. We got up relatively early and reserved a hut before going to breakfast. Most mornings the huts as well as the snorkeling gear were all reserved before 9:00 a.m. We usually spent some time rolling in the waves with fins but didn't bother with the mask and snorkel because of the rough surf. We heard that there are some wonderful places to snorkel.

If you ever think about staying at the Divi, feel free to contact us and we will offer more information and a few cautions.

The following pages are a collection of photos that we took while we were there. We didn't get too much into the photography -- after all, we were on our honeymoon!

Mark and Andrea

P.S. We returned there for Valentines Day!

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Honeymoon Photos