Ive included a few photos and heres the answers to your various questions:
1) I booked the excursions myself but its very easy to do because the tour companies have a desk stationed at all the major hotels. You can easily be any excursion you want when you arrive - if you want to see the different tours, activities, descriptions and prices, check out www.depalm.com and www.redsail.com. Both companies are excellent an very reputable.
2) A 1 bedroom unit sleeps 4 (just like at DVC) - 2 on a king bed and 2 on the sofabed in the separate living room.
3) we went to Aruba on Feb 8th & just got back Feb 15th.
in the second to the last picture there.. is that flying fishbone? If so, we ate there too on our honeymoon last september and LOVED it... oh your pictures are making me miss aruba like mad!
I remember we would wake up every morning.. look out our window .. and just say "geez, how much perfection can one person take?" .. it was like the movie groundhog day only everyday was just.... well, perfection! The weather, the beaches, oh man.. I can totally feel like I"m back there if I close my eyes. Thanks for the pics and the trip report!
in the second to the last picture there.. is that flying fishbone? If so, we ate there too on our honeymoon last september and LOVED it... oh your pictures are making me miss aruba like mad!
Yes, the next to last photo is Flying Fishbone - we went there for Valentine's Day to enjoy a fantastic fresh-caught Shrimp & Lobster Dinner and enjoy the sunset. What an amazing restaurant - the food was fantastic and the "decor" is unbelievable!
Wonderful pics and trip report. I love hearing about the exchanges others have tried. We use our points mainly for Disney, but I'd love to see other parts of the world.
I just got my membership a couple of days a go, and my wife and I are actually planning to visit a Disney property every 2 - 3 years. We want to take advantage of the World Passport options as much as possible. I am not much of beach guy, but some of the UK/Ireland locations look great as do some of the various US and Canada locations. Glad to read that someone really enjoyed one of these non-Disney vacations.
The first thing we did after we got off the Repo cruise was call MS and ask about trades to Aruba next year!
We loved Aruba and will definitely go back. Once we nail down our dates, Im going to pay the $95 and start a search.
Thanks again Dave for sharing. My Dh really enjoyed his sail n snorkel excursion and then we took the kids to Eagle Beach (didnt know it was topless! ) and then a night out at the casino.
I agree that we should have a forum to discuss and compare II trades. The longer we own, the more willing we are to trade out so it would be great to know which resorts are worth the points.