Travel to Aruba

Oranjestad, Aruba
Monday, Dec 14, 2015

We woke up very early in the morning at a hotel in Panama City, Florida and drove to the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (ECP). We parked our car in the long-term parking lot and took our luggages to fly to Atlanta. We were at Central Standard Time Zone.

Panama City (ECP) airport

Our flight was by Delta Airlines and we checked in early with Zone 1 boarding and headed off to Atlanta. Unlike previous night we could feel the skies were getting cloudy and there was a possibility of rain. However, we arrived in time in Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. We flew an MD-88 and there were no beverage services. We left at ECP Gate 5 and arrived at ATL Gate B11 after an hour. We were at Eastern Standard Time Zone. 

We had plenty of time for our next flight via Delta to Queen Beatrix Airport (Aeropuerto Internacional Renia Beatrix) in Oranjestad, Aruba. So we stopped by the Terminal E food court and had our breakfast. The rain that was delayed in Panama City caught up with us and started to rain. I was lucky to see that our luggages were being loaded into the belly of the airplane. Then we took our flight to AUA around 10:30 AM and arrived at Oranjestad, Aruba late in the afternoon. 

Our luggage (blue bag) being loaded to our flight

As we started to fly the rain stopped and I could see the blue green seas of the Bahamas on our way into Aruba.

On the way to Aruba, the Bahamas can be seen below

During the 3 1/2 hour flight there was no free food but only snacks. We, however, ended by buying some food. We flew on a Boeing 737 with movie entertainment. I watched one movie and some others segments. 

The flight was okay. We left ATL Gate E2 and arrived Gate 6.

We then went through some customs and passport checks. Once outside the airport, the Hertz Car Rental was walking distance. We picked up our car and took full protection and gas tank surcharge (the latter was unnecessary as there were pumps next to the airport).

Queen Beatrix Airport, Oranjestad, Aruba

We then drove few miles to get out destination hotel Tropicana Resort. It turned out there was a big super market for food called Super Food Plaza and Taco Bell fast food just next to our resort. We had dinner at Taco Bell and purchased groceries as our room was a full fledged one-bedroom apartment with separate bedroom,  bathroom, living room, kitchen with stove, fridge, microwave, coffee machine, toaster, plates, cups, knives, pots and pans. We also got local currency (Aruba Florin and cents)

Aruba Florin (Afl or Awg) and cents 

We then went to bed at a new time zone (Atlantic Standard Time)