Thursday, April 14th

Since we had pretty much finished up the food, we fixed coffee.  I forgot to mention that the coffee we didn't get back was the Costa Rico stuff while the second one she brought we did get back because I suppose it had not yet been opened.  We decide we will finish packing, cleaning up the unit, get dressed and do our checkout and have the porters keep our luggage (gutsy choice after the porter incident a week earlier) and have breakfast at the pool restaurant where we ran into the Cincinnati Kid yesterday.   I called down before we left to have them check on the charge that wasn't mine and Debbie went down and brought up a luggage cart so we didn't have to carry or drag anything.  When I checked out, they had removed the charge that wasn't mine and my total bill was $60.06 after all our dinners, cocktails etc.  Pretty cool although we both said it would have been awful to have to live through another day without the AC as this morning it was hot.

After a pleasant breakfast and playing Words with Friends, which dear Lady Kay, is like Scrabble that you can play on your iPhone, Android phone or iTouch, iPad etc.  It is quite fun and addicting.  I wanted to clear out all the games waiting for "my move" before I turned it off for the trip home.  The porter got us a cab and while riding to the airport we realize this is the first cab ride we have had this trip!  In prior years we took many cab rides since we never rented a car.  We are the first in line at the Delta counter which isn't even open yet.  We chat with some others that get in line behind us and 20 minutes later the employees show up and we check in and head to customs and then Homeland Security.  We look through the shops as I wanted to get some aloe lotion.  They are remodeling the airport too so things are very different than the last time we left there and also gone was the shop I bought my watch in...bummer as I wanted to look in there again.  But we see a sign with an arrow that says "casino" hmmmm do we dare look for it?  We find it as did the couple that was behind us in line at the counter.  The girl staffing the area said they have 3 now and one is on the concourse across from the gate we are leaving from.  Obviously this is a good omen so we head to pick up our screened luggage and go through Homeland Security and deposit the luggage on the belt again and head through the last security checkpoint.  Yippee we are up the escalator and down the concourse into the casino which is directly across from our gate.  I put $20 in a quarter machine and on the 3rd roll hit it for $130!  Debbie is playing a penny machine and having fun and the time passed quickly.  Soon we were boarding and had an extremely annoying male flight attendant in first class but like the rest of our trip, how bad can it be in first class?  We ask for a specific drink and they don't have it.  He would constantly come up with reasons they didn't have this or that.  Anyway we had Bloody Mary's, dinner and watched "The King's Speech" which is an awesome movie.   Soon we are landing in Atlanta and our vacation is over...just like that..its done, finished...dammit Debbie!  Debbie spent the night at my house and then drove home the next day.  We determined it was our best trip to Aruba regardless of the things that happened.

Thanks to Lady Kay for reading our adventures after she returned from her cruise.  Stay tuned for future adventures.

Wednesday, April 13th

It is warmer in here this morning when we get up but certainly not horrible.  We do our usual morning thing and decide to head to the pool. While looking for a place to sit we see the Cincinnati Kid (he was from Ohio) and his wife having breakfast.  He looked a little rough and said he didn't leave the casino until after 3 AM but had made a come back before leaving.  We had a lazy day on the lazy river laughing and relaxing then playing our Words with Friends.  We actually had a Mud Slide sitting by the pool.  It's hard to believe it's almost over already.  There was so much that happened to us this trip that I just had to blog this more for Dede and I so we wouldn't forget the details.

We had a great afternoon and then decide we will either go back to the sushi place for dinner or try to find the other hotel restaurant, La Vista.  We also had to start gathering our things to pack.  I check my email too and find that we have been upgraded to First Class on the return trip so we are happy.  We did a pretty good job of getting packed while getting ready for dinner.

We follow the signs and it is actually in a building that is near the hotel pool and just past Ruth Chris but you have to go outside to get there.  We went in and read the menu and decide we will stay and it turns out to be a wise decision.  They had a seafood buffet or you could order from the menu but after walking around to check out what they had on the buffet, we decided on the buffet.  It was a good decision...the food was great! We really enjoyed it more than Ruth Chris and they had a carving station with prime rib that was awesome (even Debbie loved it and she doesn't really eat much meat), a station with crab legs, shrimp and oysters, salad station with antipasto section of olives,  cheeses and bread.  The entire center was all hot seafood dishes that were continuously replaced.

We of course head to the casino after dinner and the tables at the end where we have been playing are not open yet so we play slots.  Debbie played blackjack and I played 3 card poker later and did very well again.  I played with the same girls that were at the table the other night who were staying at Playa Linda.  They were a lot of fun.  When we head back our little Filipino man was waving at us as he sped to the door to get us.  We had some tea and talked about how great the trip was and with all the drama it was still so much fun.  We have to check out at 10 in the morning.  We have most of it done and the bill was under the door when we got back and there is a charge on there from the pool bar that is not mine so I will need to have them check on that in the morning.  It is the end of another beautiful day in paradise but it is getting warmer in here.

Tuesday, April 12th The Letter

I don't think I moved at all last night and when I wake up Dede has already fixed coffee and is reading the letter we tossed on the counter last night.  She declares that they are turning the power off at 9 AM for two hours.  It further states that they will be coming to each unit to disconnect the AC because they have a leak and it needs to be off during the repairs.  I take the letter from her and continue reading and to my horror I believe it says that we will not have AC for 48 hours as once the repair is made to the pipe, it must cure before they can turn it all back on.  I hand it back to Debbie to verify I am not just delusional from too much alcohol last night and I have read this correctly.  When she verifies that I am correct in my interpretation of the letter I race for the phone.  It is now 8:50 AM...10 minutes to no AC or power...OMG!  I call the front desk and ask first if the elevators are going to be working when the power if off and then I tell them that we can't stay in this unit without AC and they have to move us.  She was very pleasant and understanding but said they were very busy trying to move people (that weren't drunk when they received the letter so therefore have a head start in getting them to do something) but yes the elevators would work and second she would have someone call and let me know what they could do as soon as they were able or leave us a message if we weren't there.  We head to the pool and again have trouble finding a place to sit with wifi coverage but we finally do.  After awhile I said since we were close that maybe I should go to the front desk and see what's up so we do.  There were a couple people ahead of me discussing the same thing and I hear that they are giving $100 per bedroom credit on your account if you decide to stay in the room...that's $200/day for me.  I called to Debbie  before I get to the counter and we discuss and think we will be fine with the fans they were sending to the rooms and we can have dinner on them.  We had already moved once this week and didn't want to have to pack everything up again.  When I get up there the girl says they have found us another unit in a different building and I should call them when we are packed and ready to move and they will send a porter to move us.  I tell her we have decided to stay but would like them to send us an extra fan and we will be happy with the daily credit offered.

We get back upstairs and the place is not really much different.  The fans are doing a great job.  Since we will now have a credit we decide to make reservations for dinner in the hotel at Ruth Chris.  We walked through the shops in the Ocean Club on our way to dinner.  There is one in there with just amusing things to look at.  We enjoyed dinner as I had never been to a Ruth Chris before.  It was good but like any other expensive steak house but the service here was superb.  Of course we head to the casino again where we played blackjack but Dede wound up playing slots and I had a good time with a guy at the table who sat next to me I referred to as the Cincinnati Kid.  He was my girls age and was very funny.  I didn't win but managed to keep from losing and had a good time in the process.  I hate it that Dede and I never seem to be able to have a good night playing the same games in the casino.  We left again just before midnight and our Filipino friend came flying up to the door to pick us up.  He had someone else to drop off this time so we really were flying around from one building to another.  The fans are cooling the place nicely and we don't have any problems making it through our first day without AC.

Monday, April 11th

Debbie is up when I wake up and Susan and Kevin are going for their morning walk.  When they come back we all have coffee breakfast and discuss what time they need to leave to be at the airport on time.  They want to do a little shopping downtown before turning their car in so they leave at 11 AM.  Debbie and I clean up a bit around the unit and then since the pool noodles are now ours, we head to the pool/lazy river area.  Since we didn't have our chairs tagged early, we had a hard time finding a place to sit that wasn't already taken and that had wifi reception.  We are under a palapa in the sand by the adult pool.  We need to take a walk to Playa Linda to see Lois and Alyson this afternoon and let them know we have uninvited them to Madam Janette's.  Does this mean we are bad people?  I just hate wasting that much money when it wasn't that good this time.  We take a walk down there and find them on the beach with Nancy and Kevin too.  I had been several years since we have seen Nancy and Kevin.  We chat for awhile and then head back by way of the Holiday Inn casino.  We had played in here several times since we got here the first week since we had the car and now because we can walk.  We usually have fun in there even if we don't win but today I won about $100 on a penny machine.  We walk back to the unit for lunch and then floated the afternoon away in the lazy river....that is so cool and fun.  I had issues as did Dede trying to balance on the noodle while being pulled around by the current.  It was fun and we laughed a lot.  We played Words with Friends and took pictures of the beautiful sky.  Debbie also spotted the moon in the sky.  It was a beautiful day here. 

The second to last photo above was on our walk from Playa Linda towards the Holiday Inn.  The last building of Playa Linda is on the right and there used to be a beach bar where this little park is now.
We head back to shower.  We have plenty of left overs in the fridge we can have for dinner so we do that and then go the the casino.  We had a really fun night and I had a very profitable night playing three card poker.  Both of us had more than our share of free drinks but I definitely had way more than Dede.  By the time we decide to head back it is almost midnight.  We walked out the side door of the casino and our little Filipino friend in the cart is waving and driving (fast) up to get us.  There is a lady that took us over and he brings us back.  She handles the speed bumps in the parking lot slowly...our little friend speeds around and over them and you better hang on or be tossed into the parking lot.  When we get home there is a letter that was on the floor and had been put under the door.  Dede picks it up and we put it on the counter.  I honestly don't know how long we were up but I don't think it was long for me as I passed out shortly thereafter.  Dede took a photo to prove it so that I will not post here.

Another day in paradise has come to an end.

Sunday, April 10th

I woke up and everyone was up and staring outside...it was raining.  Oops, the first time in over a week we have had any rain.  It is before 8 AM and it seems to be passing so we have coffee and breakfast and by then it is clearing up and we head to the pool.  Susan and Kevin had bought some noodles for the lazy river and it was quite warm out at the pool today.  As it was the day before, they left and went to Moomba Beach to have a couple beers and Debbie and I played Words with Friends and took photos of the iguanas that were plentiful in the lush vegetation around the pool and grounds.

Our plan for dinner tonight was to go to the Paddock downtown which is near the port.  We had coupons for a free shot which was in the empty bottles called the "Paddy" in the photo below.  Debbie said it tasted like cough syrup.  The cruise ship in port today is none other than the Emerald Princess!  We were here on this same ship in October and it poured rain so much that we couldn't even leave downtown because it was so flooded.  We enjoyed dinner and decided to stop at the Hyatt tonight to play in the casino.  All these hotels have remodeled their casinos since we were here last and we just didn't enjoy them as we had before.  They all look and smell a lot better but just not the fun we had in the past.  Debbie and I had the most fun at the Marriott and the Westin this trip.

Susan and Kevin leave tomorrow and Debbie and I need to go talk to Lois and Alyson.  We originally asked them to dine with us Tuesday at Madam Janette's.  I don't want to go back there so we will give them the option of taking our reservation and going with someone else or we will just let it go.  It's hard to believe that we only have 3 more days here.  The time has flown by with so much happening.

Saturday, April 9th

When Debbie and I got up Susan was already back from her walk down to the Divi and back and she had left Kevin behind.  She had already tagged our chairs by the lazy river so we do coffee and everyone gets some breakfast.  I had also rented a palapa on the beach in case the kids wanted to be on the beach. Debbie and I had to return the car today so Kevin and Susan followed us down there and then we came back and gathered our things to go to the pool/beach.  We did go down and sit on the beach for awhile but the kids left to go the the beach bar and after an hour when they didn't come back, we gathered everything and carried it up to the unit and fixed some lunch.  We spent the afternoon at the lazy river and it was really nice there.  We were also in a hot spot for the wifi so we were playing Words with Friends on our iTouch's and enjoying the day.  Susan and Kevin went to the room to take a nap.

Debbie and I came up at about 4 to see what everyone wanted to do for dinner.  When we get up there they were annoyed that they were unable to sleep as there seemed to be kids above them bouncing a basketball and someone next to them running a broom along the balcony railing.  Debbie and I didn't hear anything but did see the maid in the unit next to room they were in.  We decide to have dinner at the sushi restaurant in the hotel and it was very good and very fresh.  Debbie and I did stop that afternoon before going upstairs from the pool to get more Pelican Pecan Pie and the lady in the deli said all the pastries and prepared foods were made on premises in the hotel.  The sushi restaurant in the hotel is next to the pastry bar and we could smell them as we walked by...yum.  After dinner we went to the casino where I had a really good night playing 3 card poker and Debbie did well playing blackjack.  Susan and Kevin played the slots and Susan did well playing the same machine on the original money for hours so a good time was had by all and the drinks were free.  There is a golf cart type shuttle that runs from the casino between the properties.  We were able to catch it going tonight and a little Filipino man was on the late shift.  Debbie and I would get to know him and he would look for us each night.

Friday, April 8th

We fixed coffee and I called Susan and they will make the flight.  We sat on the balcony and had our coffee and took in the view here.  It is beautiful.  It is at Debbie's too but her view is now covered by vegetation that has grown taller over the years.  Here we are lucky to be in the building that faces the ocean and being on the 6th floor our view is unobstructed.  It is another beautiful morning.  We make a list of the things we need to get at Ling's and take our time getting ready to go.  Debbie wants to stop at the Divi to speak with the manager before we go in case they are going to give her compensation for the missing items.  Susan and Kevin's flight is due to land at 1:20 this afternoon so we have plenty of time to do what we need to do.  We took a stroll around the grounds to see where everything is and had to stop by the front desk as they didn't give us the wrists bands for the Lazy River and our chair tags so camera's in hand this is what we saw:

This is an absolutely beautiful complex.  The grounds and the units are equally as gorgeous.  The only drawback is the size of the buildings.  This means it's a long walk to anywhere on the property and if all the units are full, it will be crowded daily poolside and on the beach although the beach is at it widest point here.  This is the reason for the chair tags.  You may pick out a lounge poolside or by the lazy river beginning at 7 AM daily and put your tag on it.  If you do not show up for two hours they will remove the tag and you have to get another from the front desk.  There is security everywhere you look here and they are looking for the wristbands and they do an excellent job of keeping things under control on the property.  After taking the camera and wristbands and chair tags back to the unit we head to the Divi for round 2 of negotiations.  We arrive and the girl at the desk says we should have a seat and she will call  as the manager is out on the property.  She calls Debbie and I decide to wait in the lobby while she goes to speak with him.  They immediately take her to an office as I don't think they want anymore people to hear what has happened.  She is gone for about 20 minutes and when she comes out she doesn't appear to be happy.   She said we need to go to her unit as the maid brought more stuff back and put it in there.  While we walked she said he was condescending to her and said they could nickel and dime this situation to death but he agreed to zero her balance which was $118 providing she didn't charge anything else...what a jerk.  We get to the unit and on the counter is a bag.  There was a bag of unopened lettuce and edamame...both on the counter, not in the refrigerator so what good was that now?  Stupidity!  We left and went to Ling's and bought the things that we didn't get back as well as some beer and snacks.  We get back and get it all put away and make up a snack tray for pre-dinner cocktails as we will go to Madam Janette's tonight for dinner.  It is now a bit after 2 and we decide to walk down to the entrance and wait for Susan and Kevin to arrive.  You can tell when the planes begin landing each day and the number of porters increase and people are walking around the pool area in long pants and jackets....it's like that at all the hotels here not just the Marriott.  The Marriott however has a steel drummer playing in the lobby during check in hours, cool towels and bottled water which is a nice touch.  The people from their flight are arriving but we wait an hour and they don't show and we head back to the room.  Shortly after we got up there they arrived and they had apparently stopped for a cocktail downtown after they got their rental car.  They are impressed with the unit and we have drinks and chat and shower and head to dinner.  Debbie and I always look forward to dinner at Madam Janette's and you have to have reservations before you get to Aruba or generally you don't get in.  It is outdoor seating but there are lots of trees and they have them all lit and a combo plays guitar and sings so its a nice atmosphere and the food is always wonderful.  We get there early and are seated right away.  It is enjoyable but not as good as it has been in past years.  Susan and Kevin do really enjoy theirs.  We head back and decide to go play in the Marriott casino.  Kevin is exhausted as he hasn't had any sleep since getting off work  36 hours ago so he stays and the girls head over for a bit of slot play.  We had fun but all of us are tired from a long day and since we had walked over it was now time to take the long walk back from the hotel.  I wish I knew exactly how far it was walking but hotel has 3 buildings, then its the Ocean Club property with 3 more buildings and then the Surf Club is the biggest of the 3 but it is just a long way. Debbie and I had stopped in the Marketplace store/deli at the Surf and found this "Pelican Pecan Pie" that looked awesome so we bought two of them that afternoon.  We got back and cut each of them in half and had tea and OMG they were so good...so yes Lady Kay, there was PIE!  We decided we would go back tomorrow and get two more which was enough for 4 of us.  With a full day behind us we turn in.