Oranjestad cruise port, Aruba
Dutch since 1636 and dry as a bone. Aruba sits below the hurricane belt with cactus and divi-divi trees where other islands have rainforest, and the trade wind has bent every one of those trees the same way. The town is low, Dutch-gabled and painted like a sweet shop.
Worth knowing. The island ran on gold, then aloe, then oil. It exported more aloe than anywhere else in the world at one point, and the factory outside town still cuts it.
What to do in Oranjestad for free
The terminal is in the town, so the main street is five minutes away, and a free tram runs the length of it if the heat is against you. The Dutch fronts along Caya Betico Croes and the marketplace by the marina are the walk. There is no beach you would cross the road for within reach on foot, which is the one thing to know before you set off.
What costs money
The ship's own excursions usually cost more than booking the same trip yourself. Two things come with the price. The ship waits for its own excursions and does not wait for you. And if the port is missed, P&O refunds its own without you asking. A trip you booked yourself is a claim on your travel insurance, so check what your policy covers. The ship sells its own trips to all of these, and the desk is open on board if you would rather do it that way.
Eagle Beach. Ten minutes north, and the wide white one in every photograph of Aruba, with the two bent divi-divi trees standing on it. The public bus from the terminal runs often and costs a fraction of the taxi.
Arikok and the windward coast. Cactus, dunes and a shore the Atlantic hits hard enough that nobody swims on it, over on the far side of the island. It is a jeep trip rather than a stroll, and it is the half of Aruba the beach photographs leave out.
Which ship calls at Oranjestad, and when
Every call here between 15 August and 28 November 2026, with the hours ashore P&O published. These times are a guide, not a promise: the captain gives the real ones the day before.
| Ship | Sails | Day | Ashore |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arvia | 25 February 2028, 14 nights | Day 13 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 26 February 2028, 14 nights | Day 12 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 28 February 2028, 27 nights | Day 10 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 4 March 2028, 22 nights | Day 5 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
How long you get ashore in Oranjestad
The published times give you about 11 hours alongside, depending on the sailing. Take off the time it takes a few thousand people to get off, and the time you need to be back on board before the ship leaves, and that is your day. P&O give the real hours the day before, and the all-aboard time is earlier than the departure time.
The other stops on these cruises
Every one of these is on at least one of the sailings that calls at Oranjestad.
- AntiguaNelson's Dockyard at English Harbour is a working Georgian naval yard that never fell down: Horatio Nelson was based here from 1784, hated it, and called it a vile hole.
- BasseterreSt Kitts was England's first colony in the Caribbean, in 1624, and the French took the other end of the island the same decade.
- BridgetownEnglish from 1627 and never changed hands, which is why the island kept its parliament, its cricket and its place names.
- CastriesBritain and France exchanged this island fourteen times, which is why the towns are French and the law is English.
- DominicaThe Nature Island, and the mountains are the reason: rainforest over most of it, and Morne Trois Pitons inland, a World Heritage site with the second largest hot lake in the world steaming in the middle of it.
- Fort de FranceIn May 1902 Mount Pelee destroyed Saint-Pierre, then the island's main city, killing about thirty thousand people in minutes; a prisoner in a thick-walled cell was among the very few to live.
- La CorunaThe Spanish Armada sailed from this harbour in 1588, and it is still guarded by the Tower of Hercules, a Roman lighthouse from about the year 100 which has never stopped working: the oldest one on earth still doing its job.
- St MaartenThe island has been split between the Dutch and the French since the Treaty of Concordia in 1648, which makes it the smallest piece of land in the world shared by two nations, and there is no border to speak of.
- TenerifeMount Teide stands 3,715 metres over the island, the highest point in Spain and, measured from its base on the sea floor, the third largest volcano on earth.
Money and language in Aruba
Aruban florin (AWG, Afl). Pegged at 1.79 to the US dollar, and US dollars are taken everywhere, so there is no need to change money for a day ashore. Onboard is always charged in sterling, so this only matters ashore.
Dutch is official, Papiamento is the island's own, and English is spoken all along the tourist strip.
| English | Papiamento | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| Hello | Bon dia | bon DEE-ah |
| Goodbye | Ayo | ah-YOH |
| How much? | Kuantu ta costa? | KWAN-too tah KOS-tah |
| Thank you | Masha danki | MAH-sha DAHN-kee |
| Please | Por fabor | por fa-BOR |
Free, and it works with no internet. Give it the dates you sail and it works out your own stops and saves the street map for each one. It shows you round the ship too.
All the ports written up so far, the things to do before you sail, or the ship pages for Iona and Arvia.