Party & Dinner Cruises
Tattoo Party Cruises currently under renovations (tel. 297/586-2010; www.arubaadventures.com/tattoo) follow the coastline, offering views of the island's lights. The triple-decker boat features a full-service bar (with $1, $2, and $3 drinks) and a dinner buffet (barbecue or Italian). The first deck boasts the island's largest floating dance floor and a live DJ, the second deck is dedicated to imbibing, and the top deck opens to views of the moon's reflection on the water. You're encouraged to don your bathing suit and swing on a rope or slide down a slide into the Caribbean. The crew puts on a show, and guests are invited to join various contests. The crowd is foolish and young (chronologically or at heart), but no one's under 18. The party takes place Wednesday (which is Ladies' Night) and Friday from 8pm until midnight. The ship boards at 7:15pm from the De Palm Pier on Palm Beach between the Aruba Grand and Radisson. The damage is $49 per person.
Jolly Pirates (tel. 297/586-8107; www.jolly-pirates.com) boards at the Moomba Pier, between the Holiday Inn and Marriott, and offers a very casual evening sea cruise. The buccaneer theme can only mean walking the plank and singing "Yo, ho, ho, and a bottle of rum." The sunset sail features an open bar and rope swing (Mon and Fri 5-7pm; $30 per person).
Party Buses
Kukoo Kunuku (tel. 297/586-2010; www.kukookunuku.com) invites you to party on a colorfully painted school bus. A bar-crawl on wheels, going on this bus is like getting drunk with the Partridge family. The coach has no glass in its windows -- the fresh air will do you good -- and every reveler gets maracas. Prepare to sing a solo and do the Macarena. The carousing attracts a mixed crowd with a surprising number of folks over 40; the minimum age is 18. The price of $59 per person includes champagne at sunset, an Aruban dinner under the stars, and the first drink at each of three watering holes. The carousing begins at 5pm and lasts until about 8pm, Monday through Saturday. Pickup and drop-off is at your hotel.
In the same vein but without dinner, the Banana Bus (tel. 297/593-0757; www.bananabusaruba.com) rolls Tuesday through Thursday from 8pm until 1am. After your guide and driver rounds up the gang, you zoom away to three local bars. For $45, you get free drinks on the bus, door-to-door transportation to three bars, and five free drink tickets.
Movies
Aruba now has four indoor movie theaters. One is at the Renaissance Cinema in the Renaissance Marketplace shopping mall in downtown Oranjestad, L.G. Smith Blvd. 82 (tel. 297/583-0318; www.thecinemas.aw). The six-screen complex shows first-run films -- mostly Hollywood blockbusters -- in English. Midnight flicks are popular on Friday and Saturday. Tickets range from $5.25 for kids to $7.50 for adults. Also downtown in the Renaissance Mall, a multiplex theater took over the show lounge next to the Crystal Casino.
The two other movie theaters are in the High-Rise Area. There is a six-screen multiplex on the second level of the Paseo Herencia Mall where movies cost $9 (tel. 297/522-6742) and a Caribbean Cinemas Megaplex 8 with 3D movies at the Palm Beach Plaza (tel. 297/586-0074).
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.
