Our Aruba Wedding

Instead of wedding favors (giving our guests a trinket with our name on it), we decided to treat them to a sailing / snorkeling excursion on Friday, the day before the wedding. After much deliberation, we decided to privately charter Mi Dushi. (Linked here is a post that can tell you more about why we chose Mi Dushi.)

We decided to schedule our sail from 3:30-6:30pm. We knew the sun was supposed to set around 6:15, so we wanted to give our guests a little bit of a ‘sunset sail‘ on the way in. The biggest downside was that Mi Dushi leaves from the DePalm pier down by the Westin, which is probably a 25-30 minute walk (or 5 minute cab ride). Since many of our guests are older (and it was 90º!), we asked those that wanted to take a cab to meet us in the lobby at 2:30. We started running late because we were waiting on the fruit and cheese that the La Vista Restaurant was supposed to have packaged up for us (left over from our welcome party the night before). A little before 3pm, we started loading guests into cabs and sending them on their way. Cab ride fares are fixed – I believe we paid $6 per cab to get to DePalm Pier. (Available to us were nice Toyota truck cabs that could take 5 people each – maybe they were Land Cruisers?) Finally we got into the last cab only to have OUR cab driver drop us at the WRONG pier! He got us about halfway there and we walked the rest of the way down. At least we were the ones needing to walk, not our older guests. We just laughed it off.

Boarding the boat is supposed to be at 3:15. They load everyone onto a ferry shuttle that takes you out to the ship which is anchored further out. We liked the crew the moment we met them! They did a great job in reading our group – they knew how to get the party started. They were fun without being ‘in our faces’. The bar is a premium open bar which includes local beer, premium liquor and a couple specialty drinks like the Aruba Ariba (yum)! As soon as our guests were situated they introduced themselves, told us what to expect and then started taking drink orders!

As we are on our way to our first stop, the Antilla Shipwreck, they start passing out gear which included disposable mouthpieces. I was surprised that probably 70% of our group actually got in the water! (Also, all but 3 of our guests joined us on the excursion – those three weren’t feeling well that day.) One of our concerns when weighing Mi Dushi against Jolly Pirates was that JP takes you to three snorkeling spots and Mi Dushi, only two. I have to say that I was GLAD we did only two. I don’t know how we would have worked in three. I think it would have felt too rushed. We chose the Antilla Shipwreck and one ’shallow reef’ spot.

After everyone got back on board after snorkeling the Antilla, it was time to ramp the party up a bit! People were having a blast and the drinks started flowing. Needless to say, not nearly as many people snorkeled at the second spot because now they were in party mode. We had people standing on the roof of the cabin and dancing and having SO much fun. And, at the second snorkeling spot, out comes the ROPE SWING! It sounds kind of cheesy – who’s really going to get excited about a rope swing?!? Well people just LOVE that thing. It was going non-stop from the time they brought it out til it was time to leave. And for even more fun, you could swing ‘piggy-back’ on the captain who would do flips. I’m not sure if the ladies were interested in those flips or wrapping around his hot bod, but they sure had fun!

While Mi Dushi might not be the sexiest boat on the water (she’s seems a little worn), she and her crew make you feel at home. She’s not as big as Jolly Pirates but holds up to 60 people. Our group of nearly 40 felt perfect – everyone had plenty of room, but you didn’t feel ‘lost’ as you might have on a larger boat. We liked the cozy feel.

Since we privately chartered Mi Dushi, the crew tailored the snacks for our group as we had vegetarians on board. I had read reviews that the snacks were pretty bad so I kind of warned people the food might not be great. They brought out trays of little chicken drummies that our guests snatched right up, and my dad actually liked the ‘Dutch sausage’ that even I wouldn’t try. They also had mini fruit and cheese kabobs that were nice and fresh. And of course we had the extra fruit, veggies, cheese and dip from La Vista that was worth the delay. And I had brought along the individual packs of Oreos that I had forgotten to put in the welcome bags. So we snacked and headed back, enjoying the gorgeous sunset! We had gotten a later start than planned and the crew was gracious enough to extend our time, though we knew they didn’t have to. We got the feeling that they were having as much fun with us as we were with them.

We made it back, took the ferry again to the pier and for many the party was just getting started! There was live music playing at the pier that was calling out to me but we had to get the kids back. The guests kind of scattered from there, most walking back, hitting whatever bar caught their attention.

My husband and I had this grand plan where we would grab some dinner, but then he would go back to the room with his two boys (his boys were staying in a room adjoining his parents) and I would go back to our suite. He’d have that night to spend quality time with them and wouldn’t see me again until the wedding (or at least our pre-ceremony photos). Well, the kids were just exhausted after doing so much snorkeling and the rope swing, so we realized they were going to pretty much pass out after getting some food!

We were on such a high after the excursion that we decided we didn’t want to split up – we wanted to spend that night together. We were SO HAPPY with the decision to have the excursion and were glad we were in a position where we could pay for it. For us it was great to have that opportunity to spend time with them, away from the hotel, phones, wedding planners, meetings… For them, it was an opportunity to cut loose and have fun without having to spend a penny. We were also lucky that no one got seasick, overly drunk or had a bad experience in the water. While I don’t remember hearing the snorkeling was that great (I didn’t get in the water), no one seemed to mind – it was really just a fantastic event all around.

Hosting the sailing excursion and choosing Mi Dushi is without a doubt, one of the BEST decisions we made and was worth every dollar!