aruba has far too many great restaurants to choose from. an ai is good for an island that has no place else to go other than your resort. imho!

It said it included like 15 restaurants. Is the food and drinks expensive in Aruba?

We stayed at the Divi last year half our vacation and stayed at Bucuti other have. We loved the Divi the beach is great and the food wasnt bad at all. Plenty of different things and they have alot of resturants to choose from. Great beach vacation....just have to get up and everything is there. We loved it so much we are going this Sept. for 5 nights. But we also are staying at Bucuti again. So this way we get to eat out also. But we did try some places for lunch when we were at Divi. I loved it there!

Sharon

Aruba has some fantastic bars and restaurants, and yes - it is expensive, and while $250.00 per day for the two of you sounds a bit on the high side, if you figure the daily cost of breakfast and lunch and a few beachside drinks at the DIVI at their off-the-menu rates, then add the cost of dinner and cab fare to go off-site each evening, then yes, you will likely spend more-than this amount each day!

However, if you choose the all-inclusive meal plan, then the DIVI will have you as a "captive audience" and you will miss-out on some wonderful island experiences and the true flavor of Aruba!

Our best advice if money is a factor, consider skipping breakfast by sleeping late, eating just "brunch" at the hotel, limiting yourself to one or two drinks at the beach (or better yet - wait till happy hour starts), and then treat yourself by going out to dinner every night! There are many reasonably-priced establishments where you'll spend far-less than at the DIVI.

Hope this helps!

TravelPro198 said: However, if you choose the all-inclusive meal plan, then the DIVI will have you as a "captive audience" and you will miss-out on some wonderful island experiences and the true flavor of Aruba!

Respectfully, In all of my many stays in Aruba (some AI some not)I have never felt the need to stay solely "on resort" for meals when using the AI option or as you say be held as a "captive audience". The Al allows me the freedom to stay on resort during the day to eat and drink without the running around to get breakfast and lunch. This allows me to maximize my beach time, and IMHO if you are not going to Aruba for the Beach you have probably missed the boat so to speak. During the evening if I choose to go to Madame Janettes or a Dinner cruise on the Morning Star, or to any one of the other finer resturants (which I have on many occassions) that Aruba has to offer then that is what I do. I would never say that an AI is for everyone, but for many after looking at the big picture it does have it's advantages when visiting Aruba.

TJ: We're so glad that you can afford to purchase all-inclusive features AND go off-site to some of the finest (and costliest) restaurants in all Aruba without worrying about the added cost to your travel budget!

But in this economy, for most people, if you are spending $250.00 per day on an optional all-inclusive plan, the likelyhood is that you will consume all your meals and beverages on-site using your all-inclusive features, rather than having to pay again for something you've already paid for! Hence, you are a "captive audience" by choosing this plan, especially at the per diem rate that the DIVI is charging!

From spending quite a bit of time on this forum over the years, I have seen MANY people opt for Tamarijn/Divi as an AI option because their AI pricing is so reasonable in comparison to most.

And, because of that pricing, it affords them to have a meal or three away from the resort.

Have a happy day.

You can go to Madame Janette's and two or three other higher priced restaurants if you mix in

dinners at more moderately priced restaurants

(e.g. Iguana Joe's, Casa Tua, Pizza Bob's). Add in 5 drinks pp/daily and bus/taxi fares. Total daily cost would be around $200/couple. I have figured this out several times in the past. So, $250/day for a restricted dining option or $200/day for more freedom of choice?

I also am of the opinion that it doesn't make sense for MOST (not all) people to go AI and also dine off premises.

TravelPro said: TJ: We're so glad that you can afford to purchase all-inclusive features AND go off-site to some of the finest (and costliest) restaurants in all Aruba without worrying about the added cost to your travel budget!

But in this economy, for most people, if you are spending $250.00 per day on an optional all-inclusive plan, the likelyhood is that you will consume all your meals and beverages on-site using your all-inclusive features, rather than having to pay again for something you've already paid for! Hence, you are a "captive audience" by choosing this plan, especially at the per diem rate that the DIVI is charging!

I dont know if you are speaking for yoourself or for others on this forum so I dont know who "We're" are but I'm happy to here you're glad. If I spend 250 USD for the AI this same 250 includes a room. What will you spend per day once you pay for a room and then add to that a budget for 3 meals a day plus beverages. Your right this is my vacation...I may cut corners week to week but on vacation, nope I'll do exactly what I want. Regardless of the econony I personally know many people that feel the same. Some day when the pinch gets tighter it may be different, but I'm not ready to compromise on my vacation and I wont be made to feel guilty about it.

If you choose a reasonably priced AI (such as the Divi or the Tam), you can still go out for some nice dinners at night without "breaking the bank" so to speak. Aruba's nicer restaurants are about the same price as most higher end restaurants in major U.S. cities (at least they're very similar in price to those in Minneapolis so they don't seem expensive to me.)

We've done that several times in Mexico. We're not big AI fans but if we see a good deal at one we'll take it for the drinks, breakfasts, and lunches on the beach or at the pool - for dinner we'll usually go out. But we typically do a little math first to make sure we're getting the most bang for our buck.

It's really a personal decision. We all have our own "budgets" and know how much we want to spend (or not spend) and when we want to splurge.

The beauty of Aruba is that it has so many different hotel options - there's something for everyone's own personal tastes (and budget!)