Our first stop was Aruba. It was completely different than I imagined. While eating breakfast on the ship, I caught a glimpse of the island out of the window and was amazed at how different it was from any other island we've been to before. It was flat except for a few small mountains in the distance, very arid and dessert like, and much more urban than any island we've visited before with tall buildings and parking lots and tons of visible streets. We were so excited to get out and explore. They announced a flash-sale on a beach excursion and we already had our swim suits on thinking we'd just walk to the beach and relax but since we couldn't see any beaches within walking distance, we booked the beach excursion....on the party bus last minute. Yep, that's right, the party bus. The party bus part wasn't mentioned on our tickets. It just said beach excursion but there were maracas, loud music, and no windows on our colorful reformed school bus. Sean and I looked at each other with that 'oh my what have we gotten ourselves into' kind of look, laughed a little, and hopped on board. The bus took us through the city, explained a little about their climate, their language, how they get their water, and that their trees only grow sideways because of the intense, constant wind that they have. Once we got to the beach, it looked gorgeous but very touristy. Not exactly the kind of place we like to hang out. The waves were so calm and there were so many people in the water that the oily sunscreen and hair (eeewww!) from our fellow beach goers just kind of sat there in the water with us. Drew and I got an umbrella and enjoyed the beach while Sean and Maddi got tan in the ocean. On the way back to the bus we passed a huge black man with dread locks and a pack of dogs selling drugs to tourists so this definitely wasn't the most family friendly place to be, but it sure was beautiful. We headed back toward the ship with music blaring, maracas rattling, and huge smiles on our faces. 
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