Hi there, my name is Tammy Uecker. I have been at Fox World Travel’s Fond du Lac office for 15 years now. My specialty is in all-inclusive vacations to both Mexico and the Caribbean having traveled there several times. I enjoy using my own personal travel experiences to help customize your dream vacation!       

When we arrived at the Riu Palace Aruba and checked in (which went quickly), we received an ocean view junior suite room with a full size balcony. Our room was very clean, and we had a wonderful view overlooking the ocean and pools of the resort.

The Riu Palace Aruba has 4 specialty restaurants which we did take advantage of and ate at all four.  The Krystal was the French Restaurant, Sayuri was the Japanese, Milano was the Italian Restaurant, and there was a Grill and Steakhouse. The food and service were excellent and with several good choices on their menus. I was impressed with how good it was because I’m a very picky eater.  My favorite was the Japanese Restaurant. They offered two dining times daily one at 6:30pm or 9:00pm. We opted to do the 9:00pm daily, which had more availability and openings.  In the evening of one of the nights we saw a show at the Riu.  It was okay but I think they could work on this and be more creative. The Sports Bar was a great place to hang out, especially in the evenings. If you’re looking to listen to music or play some pool or foosball this was the place to be. The people are so friendly and very helpful!

The Riu Palace has such a great location, and the beach is gorgeous and the ocean has amazing turquoise water. I really like that you can either take a stroll on the long beach or you can walk the boardwalk all the way down and  check out all the shops and see different resorts or hotels along the way.  For anyone who needs to buy extra items such as sun block, aspirin, energy drinks or any other last minute items needed, I would recommend walking next door to the Westin. They have more selections and they’re half of the cost.

During our stay we booked two excursions through DePalm Tours Aruba. They are very easy to work with and had more tour options than others. On our second last day, we did the Jeep Safari off Road Adventure Tour.  This was by far my favorite.  On our third day, we did a sailing and snorkeling tour on a catamaran for 4 hours.  It was lots of fun and the snorkeling was fantastic—I saw many tropical fish, and the island view was breathtaking. What a great adventure to see the entire island of Aruba and learn the history and cultures as well. We got to see Aruba’s most intriguing sites such as Natural Pools, Aruba National park, churches and the lighthouse.  Moreover, our driver Rock (Yorge) was wonderful. He made the tour—he was so much fun and full of energy.  I would highly recommend this tour to everyone!

Overall, this resort was wonderful, had beautiful grounds, and was well-kept.  I would highly recommend this resort in Aruba to people of all ages!